Overview:
Makeen Technology was tasked at building an eCommerce platform for a very unique and specific business to business operations online. Makeen built a custom solution which offered flexibility and versatility while integrating with major suppliers directly and provided sales tracking, analytics, sale reports, and automated shipping and tracking
The Challenge
Denali required an eCommerce platform for a domain-specific service that integrated a unique business scenario around the way they sell and deliver products to customers. After researching current platforms on the market it was clear no existing platform could provide Denali with an all-encompassing solution. Makeen was brought on board to fully develop a custom eCommerce solution that would meet Denali’s requirements while keeping it user-friendly and intuitive for employees internally and customers externally.
The Discovery
The Makeen team arranged to meet directly with stakeholders on the project, customers, core users, and the sales and production teams to identify each of their needs. The primary goal was to gain as much insight as possible to fully understand the sales lifecycle, return, inventory, and supply management processes to truly align the solution with the company, employees, and with any existing IT strategy. Meetings were conducted primarily on premise with additional people outside the area receiving data to analyze.
The Design/Concept
The overall vision of the project by Makeen was to not only find the best technological solution to fulfill the requirements but would align with Denali’s overall IT strategy and infrastructure. The underlying factor was to figure out how to find something that will do exactly what they needed it to without spending a decade to build it. Additionally, while developing the solution Makeen had to maintain focus on international considerations, taxation law, shipping and handling, and localization.
Implementation & Delivery
The solution Makeen developed delivered an extremely easy to use system to employees internally that was built specifically to expedite sales order processing while automating the supply and inventory. Additionally, the developed system was integrated with major suppliers directly and provided sales tracking, analytics, sales reports, and automated shipping and tracking. The availability of this information in the system made it easy for Denali to track processes while giving customers regular updates on the status of their orders.
Now customers using the platform receive a personalized experience that helps them easily identify the products they need, order them quickly, and have high visibility on the entire process as it’s happening. Additionally, the system allows for bundling purchases while having the ability to add installation or customized service with an immediate quotation which allows for greater visibility on the status of the order and overall process. Lastly, customers received advanced functionality such as repurchasing options, keeping credit card information on-site, and an account to manage all their employees and branches all within one system.
Technology
The primary basis for this eCommerce solution is our in-house foundation which is built on SharePoint and provides storage authentication, workflow processing, and forms automation. Other technologies including CSS3, HTML5, ASP.NET, and Backbone.js were used in other parts of the project in bringing it all together.
Summary
Since its development, the Denali B2B eCommerce Platform has been launched and was successful in its functionality and implementation. Today, the system is still being used and represents an integral part of how Denali does online sales between businesses.
