WEBREPS

The Challenge:

LAUNCHING AN EASILY MANAGEABLE AND SIMPLE-TO-USE WEBSITE WITH COMPLEX B2B COMMERCE CAPABILITIES

Working in the HVAC industry for several decades, Walker had limited knowledge of technology. He needed a site that would not only address the needs of the business, but one that would also be easy for him to maintain on his own. 

Like most B2B industries, there are a lot of complexities around ordering and purchasing in the HVAC industry. For example, buyers need to be able to configure the products they purchase based on their unique requirements — and they need the price to update as they make those changes. These complex products also require different custom product attributes, as well as product specs and options.

Product configuration functionality is critical because buyers today demand self-service purchasing options, and they need to be able to configure the exact products they want without having to call a customer service rep. 

Advanced search technology is also important. “Our customers have been in this industry for a long time,” said Cristina Vaughn, chief marketing officer at WebREPS. “They know what they want and need to be able to find it easily.” 

WebREPS faced another challenge. It needed its platform to easily manage its vast amount of supplier data. In the HVAC industry, suppliers provide the product data — product content, images and specs — that needs to be easily imported into the platform. 

And they wanted most, if not all, of these solutions to be out-of-the-box. “We really needed something that was ready to go, and quick and easy to implement,” Vaughn said. 

The Solution:

AN OUT-OF-THE-BOX PLATFORM TO KEEP COSTS DOWN AND GO LIVE FASTER

To address all the e-commerce challenges WebREPS was facing, QAD Digital Commerce was a perfect fit. 

After the project was approved, QAD Digital Commerce onboarded WebREPS as a new client. At that point, a project manager took the lead and worked closely with other internal resources to ensure that launching the site went as smoothly as possible. Once WebREPS was onboarded, QAD Digital Commerce implemented its wholesale platform A to Z — from scoping, design, implementation and configuration to training and support.

The QAD Digital Commerce product configurator tools let WebREPS customers build out their complex orders and see pricing easily. Its advanced search allows buyers to narrow their search and find what they want very quickly. The import/export tools made it simple for WebREPS not only to manage all of their supplier data but also to partner with more suppliers because of the ease of adding their products and associated data. 

And in line with WebREPS desire to keep costs down, QAD Digital Commerce was able to offer almost everything out of the box. “We wanted a platform that was pretty much pre-built so we could keep costs down and go live faster,” Vaughn said. “WebJaguar* was perfect because it already addressed many of the needs within our industry.”

As the business grew and B2B buyer behavior, the industry and technology evolved, QAD Digital Commerce was able to grow right along with it. As mobile commerce took off, WebREPS realized it needed a responsive site — and it was time to start offering their customers the ability to make purchases straight from their smartphones and iPads.

The Benefits:

A SCALABLE E-COMMERCE SITE THAT ACCOMMODATES B2B BUSINESS COMPLEXITIES AND MOBILE SHIPPING

With QAD Digital Commerce serving as their support team, WebREPS launched a fully functional, user-friendly site with tens of thousands of SKUs. And today, it’s a thriving mobile-friendly e-commerce site that gives WebREPS customers the easy, self-service buying options they demand. 

QAD Digital Commerce built a site tailored to WebREPS business and the HVAC industry. It used out-of-the-box tools, which kept costs down and increased time to market — all while addressing every one of the company’s challenges and more. And it vastly improved the overall shopping experience for WebREPS thousands of online buyers. 

“The WebJaguar team provided us with a fully functional, user-friendly, responsive site, almost entirely out-of-the-box, saving us money and time. And if there’s any issue, I know I can count on their team to resolve it,” Vaughn said. “It’s been a great fit for WebREPS.”

*WebJaguar was acquired by QAD and is now known as QAD Digital Commerce.