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~ Intershop ~

ways and therefore requires a flexible solution, and Intershop that it was difficult to measure all due to all the things that
was the best match because some of the other platform happened in the world in 2020. And especially our line of
options were more targeted towards B2C.” business was hard hit during the time of the pandemic. In
fact, midocean was hard hit because companies immediately
And you remain with Intershop. Why? decreased their spending on promotional products.”
“Yes, we have. Mostly because it is a proven platform that
is really good at servicing B2B companies that are active And precisely at that moment, you were doing the
in multiple regions. And working throughout the whole of implementation?
Europe, we are dealing with a lot of languages and different “Yes, and I think it was the perfect moment to do so because
currencies. Thus, we are dealing multiple regional differences it gave us the opportunity to actually support the growth we
that we need to take into consideration to match our way of are now experiencing this year. 2021 was a year of recovery,
working for each region. And Intershop allows us to do that but now we can clearly say 2022 is a year of large growth.
in a pretty efficient way.” So, arriving at these growth times with a newly implemented
platform, more efficient and with better capabilities, as well
Implementation means investing in your efficiency as more fine-tuned to our needs, is really helping us in that
sense,” says Robbert.
Legacy systems and old software are pressing issues for
many companies. Indeed, working with an outdated software Robbert continues: “Before 2020, when we did that
solution, especially in the e-commerce universe, could implementation, we normally had stability issues with
easily spell disaster. And if you are happy with your current the webshop going down too often and all kinds of
platform but want it to remain relevant and on par with the technical issues. These problems were fixed during the
newest technologies, then the only option is to pursue the implementation. And currently, with these issues fixed, we
possibility of re-platforming and implementation. A process are really ready to take advantage and support the growth of
midocean undertook with Intershop, with the help of Fenego, the company. Looking back, it was an important step to do
Intershop’s implementation partner. the implementation of the new Intershop B2B commerce
platform.”
That’s why you decided to implement Intershop?
“We did an implementation of a new Intershop Commerce Do you feel that your online commerce platform is a
Platform in 2020, a green field implementation, where we vital component of your business?
started from zero, so we could really see what should be “Yes, and I think it will become more important in the near
improved, what issues we were currently facing, and what future. Because our industry is still partly paper-based. We
things could be done in a more efficient way. Our objectives still sell using paper catalogues of products, we do sales
were to fix the technical issues we had and increase the calls and take notes, and so on. But this is rapidly changing.
availability and performance of the platforms to the high And e-commerce, the platform, is vital for us. Because
level that we required. We did not only achieve the mark we are already the fastest supplier in the market, and the
but even got a little bit better results at the technical level. combination with the online platform allows any company to
Additionally, we increased the customer satisfaction score place an order with us today, the fully printed, personalised
from 6.8 to 7.6, which indeed was linked to the technical products will be shipped to our customers tomorrow. We are
issues we had,” Robbert continues. the fastest in the market.

Is this a process a company can do by itself? Or did Besides that, we had a merger recently with SOLO Group,
you have help? which was another big name in our industry. We have always
“We actually undertook the implementation with Fenego, focused on hard goods like notebooks, water bottles, and
who is an Intershop implementation partner. And we started umbrellas, while SOLO is focused on textile clothings. So yes,
with Fenego by the end of 2019. Before that, we had a this merger has a lot of potential, and, in fact, it has already
previous partner, but we noticed that Intershop is a platform turned us into the largest player in our sector. Traditional
that requires a solid knowledge of its mechanics from the companies like midocean are still in the middle of the digital
implementation partner side. So we understood that we transition. Our current e-commerce solutions support that
needed the best, and Fenego was labelled as ‘one of the best change and make sure that midocean is ready for the future,”
implementation partners for Intershop,’ and they proved that Robbert concludes. ••
that label was correct.”

Did you notice an improvement after this re-
implementation for midocean? An increase in your
sales or any other key KPIs?
“Definitely, I mean, we improved, but also, there is the reality

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