Archiwum kategorii: eCommerce

Is mobile app a missing link in omnichannel sales?

In 2018, the omnichannel strategy seems to be the standard. All major brands having a chain of offline stores have merged online and offline sales to some degree. But except for combining IT systems, can we combine customer experience as well? Strong yes! And this is the role the mobile application should play for an online store.

Why didn’t it work out the first time?

The market boom for e-commerce mobile applications took place several years ago. However, the technology couldn’t keep up with the ideas. Applications for online stores were very simple. They were limited practically to the possibility of checking the products of a given brand and only sometimes there was an option to place an order or use a discount. However, the biggest disadvantage of mobile applications was the lack of a permanent connection with the sales system.

The applications were just layers to the system, with no real connection to it. Most of them didn’t have any processes of constant and automatic updating of information about products, availability or discounts in the online store. Working on the update itself was time-consuming and eventually, the brands stopped doing it. As a result, after the first installation, most customers stopped using apps. The website, along with its responsive design, has fulfilled the customers’ needs for mobile online shopping for the next few years.

Currently, the purchase process requires the presence of the company and its products in several sales channels. In order for the mobile application to be part of a multi-channel strategy (omnichannel) and to fulfil its role, it must always be up-to-date. This can be ensured by full integration with the brand’s e-commerce system. Therefore, the whole sales process, for both the online store and the mobile app takes place in one administration panel, which makes it much easier.

Available solutions and their capabilities

There are several types of mobile applications available on the market, such as native and hybrid. Hybrid solutions allow you to instantly create apps for two operating systems at the same time. IONIC is an interesting tool for creating hybrid applications. This rich framework uses the power of the native functions of the mobile device, such as: camera, microphone, location services or TouchID, and a blend of web technologies. On the other hand, the Cordova tool is responsible for the native part. Angular, HTML or SCSS are used in the case of IONIC. This framework allows you to create mobile applications for Android and iOS operating systems. IONIC has a huge database of components, allowing you to create advanced mobile solutions

Modern applications have many solutions that influence the creation and development of omnichannel strategies as well as sales. The most important of them include:

– checking the product availability in offline stores with a mobile app; more and more people check the product online; however, once they know what they want to buy, they do it offline; a good solution is to enable customers to check the product availability in the given offline store;

– checking the product availability in the online store while shopping offline; very often omnichannel is defined as the permeation of the internet world into the world of offline sales; however, the mobile application can extend these possibilities, for example when it’s equipped with the barcode scanner. functionality works when the customer in an offline salon, wants to read more information about the product himself or wants to order a different variant (color, size, model – depending on the product); then the only thing he has to do is to scan the barcode and the application itself will transfer him to the specific product in the online store; such a solution is also in line with the currently popular self-service model used by the younger generation. Then the mobile application acts as an additional store employee, thanks to which the customer can receive the necessary information about the product;

– push notifications. There is a significant difference between push notifications and text messages. According to research, they are much more often read and they encourage better interaction. Through integration with the e-commerce system, they can contain information about the status of the order, the status of the complaint or specifically tailored offers to the user.

Przykład powiadomienia push z CTA do obwiedzenia salonu stacjonarnego marki w celu odbioru zakupów

Custom ideas

There are other possibilities to use mobile app. Shop service can identify customers in individual places of a salon. In this vision, you just need to implement beacons. They will show the approximate location of the customer, as well as other data, e.g. the history of shopping in the online store, so that they can be used by store employees to build offers in real time. For example: when the client passes the shoes, the mobile application via beacon registers his presence, the e-commerce system checks if the client has recently browsed the product on the internet, and finally displays a special offer on the TV screen in the salon.

Informacja dla pracownika sklepu stacjonarnego ze wskazaniem klienta, jego lokalizacji oraz historii zakupów

The second option will benefit mainly customers. Retailers will be able to send personalized messages to them regarding special offers, discounts or events. Sending such messages will be possible only after the client agrees to analyze its purchases, preferences or locations. This solution will definitely not suit 100% of customers, but those who will agree and will demonstrate a large purchase commitment – may become natural brand ambassadors. Such a solution will also increase the involvement of the communities – clients or trade partners of the specific brand. In result, this system will be able to link different components of our client’s purchasing process in cause and effect way: from products, through history, to the location. For example: we can send information about the discount for an associated product with an earlier purchase, available only in the salon which the customer visits most often – that means we combine sales, e-commerce, mobile phones and location.

Przykładowe powiadomienia dla klientów ze specjalnymi ofertami czy wydarzeniami

However, it should be remembered that such data analysis requires a client’s declared consent. For this purpose, the mobile application must clearly indicate such intention. Therefore, the role of the brand is to show the client a number of benefits of expressing such consent.

The mobile application for online stores has gone a long way. The first versions were too simple, then the brands didn’t have an idea for its full use. Now all components of the new omnichannel dimension are available. All you need is a decision of retail chains and a person who would implement it in the retail world.

The article was originally published in Magazyn E-commerce, 2(2)2018.

Foreign expansion of Vistula with i-systems

Vistula brand begins to develop online sales on foreign markets. Together with i-systems, a new version of the brand’s e-commerce system has been prepared. The Vistula online store is now available in English and Czech, thus favouring the development of cross-border sales.

After the implementation of the online store on the domestic market, Vistula decided on further development of the services and to match its online offer to the foreign customers. In addition to the English version, which is adapted to a wide range of recipients abroad, the brand’s actions were also directed slightly to the South. The result is the launch of the store in the Czech language. The system currently supports deliveries to the customers from 25 countries.

New language versions of the store are not everything. Each of them has the equivalents of existing banners and graphics from the Polish-language store. Currency versions have also been designed to ensure automatic price recalculation. For the English version, the default currency is the euro. The Czech edition of the store, on the other hand, offers prices in Czech koruna. Prices in those currencies are visible after selecting the appropriate language version.

New language versions are a step towards expanding sales to the European market – says Aneta Kazanowska, Director of Online Stores at Vistula Group S.A. – Proper implementation of cross-border sales is possible when all processes related to online transactions are automated and ensure the free flow of information about orders. Therefore, it was necessary to integrate the system with the warehouse and accounting environment, logistics processes and discount policy – adds Aneta Kazanowska.

All above-mentioned solutions are matched to the appropriate language and currency versions, in order to efficiently process orders from English and Czech websites.

New language versions of the Vistula store are available here: evistula.cz and vistula.eu

Solutions for online stores Omnichannel solutions

The i-systems company in Inc. 5000 Europe ranking

Inc. Magazine has published the ranking of the 5000 fastest growing private companies in Europe for the 37th time. Median growth rate was 254%. In aggregate, the list shows three-year revenue growth of €102 Billion.

Founded in 1979, Inc. Magazine is dedicated to owners and managers of growing private companies. Total monthly audience reach for the brand equals 19,000,000 recipients today.

The i-systems company has made to the Inc. 5000 ranking, with a growth rate of 183%. The Inc. 5000 Europe represents the comprehensive look at what may be the most dynamic segment of the world’s economy: fast-growing private companies.

The 2018 Inc. 5000 Europe is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2013 to 2016. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generate revenue by March 31, 2013. They had to be European-based, privately held and independent.

Companies located in 42 countries took part in the ranking. There were also 16 companies from Poland, such as Meblobranie.pl, ITMAGINATION and Netguru. To make the top 500, a company had to have achieved a three-year growth of 1 013%.

The entire listing of the 2018 Inc. 5000 Europe appears at inc.com and key highlights are featured in Inc.’s March issue, which is available in both paper and electronic versions. Detailed results, including infographics and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, country, and other criteria, can be found atInc.com/inc5000eu.





i-systems in Inc. 5000 ranking





Accelerate the delivery time with the dropshipping solution

When selling online, it is often the case that companies do not want to freeze their income to store products from suppliers. This situation is often the result of a slower process of goods flow. Companies also face the problem of a long time that needs to be taken to fulfil the orders, caused by waiting for the delivery of products from the supplier. The dropshipping logistic model is the solution to this problem.

In this model, the order is sent to the customer directly from the supplier’s warehouse. The online store’s task, on the other hand, is to accept the order and redirect it to the supplier in order to deliver it directly to the customer. Sales profit in this model is achieved by imposing a margin on the wholesale price.

Process

The first step in creating a dropshipping logistic model is to collect information about the product offer from the supplier. Later, these products are imported into the admin panel of the online store. As the supplier’s product offer changes, it is a repetitive process. The next step is more complex because you have to map the structure from the supplier’s website into the structures in the e-commerce system. This takes several stages – mapping of producers, categories, VAT rate, profile fields and imposing margins for individual categories.

In order for business partner’s products to be properly displayed in the online store, a series of mappings should be defined first. One of them is mapping external producers from the dropshipping partner system into producers defined in the e-commerce system. The most important mapping, however, is category mapping. It allows you to associate the categories defined in the dropshipping system with the categories in the store. Categories are understood as product types, e.g. shoes – high heels, jackets – down jackets. During the category mapping process, margins are set as well. Taking into account the price in which the product was bought from the dropshipping partner, a margin expressed as a percentage may be imposed. This value is used to calculate the suggested sales price of the product in the admin panel. Assigning the margin is a guarantee of making profits on the partner’s products in a given category, without the need to manually set and later monitor sales prices.

A minimum margin is also set, in case the price from the producer has risen above the defined price in the store. The warning about this situation will then be displayed in the administration panel. Then, the partner’s VAT rates and profile fields are mapped to correspond to those in the online store. This is a very important operation because it allows you to display product parameters later in the store. Profile fields contain information, such as a colour or material from which the product is made. In the admin panel, in the mapping settings tab, the product import can be blocked, when the mapping data does not coincide in 100% with the supplier’s offer.

When all the products from supplier’s offer are mapped into the admin panel of the e-commerce system, they can be displayed in the online store, where they can be viewed by a potential customer. The publication is very simple, it only takes one button. Then, the previously mentioned variants, profiles and product photos are set. Later, the time comes to synchronize prices and stocks in the store, which will be periodically refreshed using the shared API. After setting the margin, the products are ready to be displayed. The online store administrator can also manually manage discounts on the supplier’s products using the e-commerce system functionality.

When adding the product to the basket, the system automatically checks its availability at the dropshipping partner’s warehouse. If the product is not available, a message is displayed that it cannot be added to the cart. Hence, payment for an order that a dropshipping partner cannot fulfil at a given time will not be accepted. In the cart, a visual division of products into dropshipping partners is displayed, along with a information explaining why the order is divided. The user of the online store is also informed that the selected product will be sent in a separate package if it belongs to the offer of a business partner. Despite the division, the whole order can be paid in one transaction, regardless of whether there are the products of the actual store or its external suppliers.

Benefits

The logistic model – dropshipping – brings a lot of benefits both to the company that owns an online store and for the customer. One among others is a possibility to expand the product offer, without the need to invest in reserves, as the payment for the products can be made after finishing the transaction by the customer. Limited assortment onsite means lower warehousing costs, which normally include for instance rent, more employees and security costs. The costs of shipping packages to customers are also lower because some of them are taken over by dropshipping partners. The customer ultimately receives the order earlier, because it is delivered to him directly from the source. Dropshipping is a solution both for the B2B and B2C sales models, that supports the company’s logistic processes.



See e-commerce solutions for brands

By Dziubeka makes of the e-commerce potential

By Dziubeka is a producer of the modern and extraordinary jewellery for women and men. In order to meet customers needs, concerning the forms of shopping, the company implemented new online store. The i-systems company has created the dedicated e-commerce system.

By Dziubeka was founded in 2006. The company operates not only in B2C model but also has many business partners. The offline salons are located throughout Poland. The new sales strategy of the well-known brand focuses on developing online channel and enabling Polish and foreign customers, both retailers and wholesalers, to make efficient purchases via modern e-commerce system. For several years, the original and colourful design of the By Dziubeka brand products have delighted not only Polish customers. The jewellery is exported to other European Union countries, as well as to Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Azerbaijan, and even America and Australia.

Dedicated e-commerce system By Dziubeka will satisfy customers who value efficient shopping on a daily basis through mobile devices, who often use social media when making purchase decisions and expect an individual approach from the brand. The brand’s online store has solutions for building consumer loyalty. These types of solutions include, among other things: collecting points after making a purchase and then exchanging them for products in the online store or creating by the administrator short-term promotions.

By Dziubeka plans further development of the e-commerce system with i-systems. The brand’s new online store is available at: https://bydziubeka.com.



More on our solutions here

The summary of Q4 2017 at i-systems

There is a lot of new energy after Christmas break in i-systems. But what was going on in the last three months of 2017? We invite you to read the summary of the last quarter of the past year. In the new year, the quarter summaries will be continued.

New projects

During the last months of the year, a ticket system for the service industry, that combines B2B and B2C models, has been implemented. Also, another two systems were created, one for Gastropuls from gastronomic industry, and the second for Secret Delivery from erotic industry.

Currently, we are working on implementations, which are the result of signed agreements in the Q4, for companies from the HoReCa and automotive industries.

A contract for business analysis has also been signed. It concerns designing B2B system that enables creating offers for customers and making purchases, through integration with many suppliers, including the commission system.

Trends in system development

Customer expectations change quickly and undoubtedly start to affect the approach to designing and implementing of e-commerce systems. The agile software development method becomes more and more popular. Its principles and values have been written in the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, and these are among others: regular delivery of subsequent parts of the work, the possibility of making changes at every stage of the project, close cooperation of the project team taking customer into account, and also focusing on the highest quality effect.

This approach doesn’t have to be applied only in software development. It can be also used, for instance, in the process of business analysis. Agile analysis can be pursued simultaneously to the implementation works and it can be performed, based on the cooperation with the customer and the entire implementation team. It provides information on project requirements in subsequent sprints. In other words, only the requirements for the next stages of work are discussed. When starting the agile analysis, it is important to define the system boundaries in its first phase and its functionalities according to the client’s expectations and needs.

Strategic development of the organization

The demand for professionals constantly grows in the i-systems company. Therefore, further actions were taken to encourage potential employees to submit their applications. This is why in the last three months, students from the School of Business in Dąbrowa Górnicza have visited i-systems. We had also an image campaign entitled „Do you see”. These and other activities have resulted in the employment of 12 new employees in the last quarter. Thus, right now the i-systems team equals over 100 people.

In the last quarter of 2017, the company’s representatives were present at industry events.  The aim was to expand brand awareness and create opportunities to meet new potential business partners. These events included, among others: the European Congress of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Targi eHandlu [eng. e-commerce fair], the Fashion Business Congress, and the event called Tailor-Made – Solutions for the fashion industry.

Presentation of e-commerce system implementation for Vistula case study Group S.A. during the eHandel Fair

Presentation of e-commerce system implementation for Vistula case study Group S.A. during the eHandel Fair

Internal projects for quality improvement

A mobile app, created by i-systems, is constantly being developed (how to use the app in omnichannel). The last significant change is the addition of the ability of browsing products and their categories without the need to log in. Previously, the application required logging in as soon as it was turned on.

The end of the year is a period of intense seasonal and holiday sales, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For this reason, i-systems activities were focused on improving performance tests (the process of preparing the system for heavy traffic) of e-commerce systems. They allow determining what the store’s endurance is, at a certain amount of traffic. These statistics are created based on the number of client requests per minute. When it is necessary to investigate whether the current amount of server resources is sufficient in relation to the planned traffic on the site, automatic performance tests are carried out, which are checked and analyzed by the i-systems tester. As a response, the client receives a report with the suggested amount of server resources, necessary for the proper functioning of the store.

Relic – the number of requests per minute

Relic – the number of requests per minute

Another interesting topic is the organization of Product Information Management. It is a system based on a central data repository, used to store information, among other things, about product attributes, media files, marketing descriptions or translations. The process of creating such a database consists of five stages. The benefits for companies are not only shorter Time to Market, but also data consistency in all sales channels, as well as reduction of costs related to the database creation process.

Internal work on Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery solutions is still being carried out. This is a new approach to the process of creating and developing e-commerce systems. There are plans to start first e-commerce systems based on the CI in the first quarter of 2018. We will write about these projects on i-systems communication channels. More about this solution can be read in the Research & Development tab – section Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery.

Selected awards

The Ekomersy competition takes place every year and its aim is to award the best products and services supporting online commerce. The i-systems company has won in the Best Implementation Agency category. The award was granted for the implementation of e-commerce systems for the Vistula Group. You can read more about the competition and the results on our blog.

Should you not miss the quarter summaries of i-systems development, we invite you to subscribe to the newsletter.



Sign up to our newsletter

Order completion module – quick and correct order fulfillment

The quick execution of orders is one of many factors determining the success of online sales. However, preparing the purchased products for the shipment in a rush may result in the incorrect completion of the order. Plus, wondering if you packed the correct product in a correct number and going back to the shelf just to be sure. In the end, the correct content of the package is one of the main determiners of customer’s satisfaction. The i-systems company has built the order completion module which makes collecting purchased items quicker and error-free. It is the last, but at the same time crucial stage in the whole online sales process, that can be automated by integration with e-commerce system.

Process

A tab with customers orders is available in the store admin panel. The listing includes the order number, customer name, price, date of placing the order, name of the warehouse employee and order status. Taking the last component into the consideration – there are three statuses – Completion has not begun, Finished – with the date of completion, and Not completed. After clicking the button Complete the order, the tab with product list is displayed. This is where the completion takes place. The list can be downloaded and printed which makes it easier to search for products in the warehouse. In practice it looks like this – the employee responsible for preparing packages has a barcode scanner, connected to the computer (i.e. by USB). After scanning the code of the product or entering EAN code to the system manually, products automatically change their backlight colour, corresponding to their number. If the number of products is correct, the backlight is green, too small – yellow, too big – blue. In case of mistake, the products can be rescanned. There is also an option to enter the number of items and scan the product only once.

iqsi-screenshot

The order doesn’t have to be completed at once. When given products are currently not available or there is a problem to find them, the employee can simply click the button The product is not available in the warehouse. This button triggers change of order status to Not completed. On the other hand, if all products are packed, the Forward parcel button appears. Next, the status on the list of orders changes to Dispatched for shipping and information about the date of its completion is displayed. Then, it is possible to print the logistic label and the package is ready to send. However, to search for the orders easier, there are filters, which allow selecting the orders, among others by the completion status.

Benefits

Having an order completion module brings real benefits, both to business owners, their employees and target customers. This tool significantly optimizes the packing time by automating the order completion process. By scanning products, the employee will always be sure that the package prepared by him is compatible with the order. The risk of potential mistake is therefore reduced. All of this contributes to the reduction of money loss incurred by the company as a result of incorrect order completion.



See B2B solutions

Mobile app in the omnichannel model

During the last couple of years the shopping process, as well as shopping triggers have changed. The customers often use a mobile device for shopping or searching for products. They expect to be in constant touch with the brand and consistent experience through multiple sales channels. A mobile app integrated with e-commerce system becomes an important channel. In this article, we present selected features of the mobile app taking as an example R-GOL.com – the store for football lovers in Poland.

Customers open push notifications more often

Push notifications are the messages sent via mobile app to the customers’ devices. Around 80% of target receivers open push notifications. This is because the solution is an answer to the current needs of the customers, who like to be in the uninterrupted contact with the brand. If the customer downloaded the mobile app from App Store or Google Play, it means that he or she would like to be able to check the offer of the brand at any time. They are also interested in company’s business.

The administrator can decide what kind of content he or she would like to send and choose the target group. Everything via e-commerce system. This solution makes it easy to inform the customer about the change of order status or to send a defined group of users a message about the additional discount or interesting form of sale.

Push notifications can be also helpful in decreasing the number of abandoned carts. The administrator, through e-commerce system, can receive the database of persons that have given up the purchase, and with push notifications send them an invitation to re-check the offer.

Check online and buy offline

It’s not rare that the customers prefer to find the product online before making a decision to buy one. Therefore, they can check its parameters or opinions of other users. Next, they finalize the purchase at the salon of the brand. This process is called the ROPO effect.

By connecting warehousing for online and offline stores, there is a possibility for customers to check the product availability in the particular salon through the mobile app. It is a very comfortable solution because they are sure that the goods they are interested in are available in the chosen traditional store.

See offline and buy online

The mobile app, equipped with a barcode scanner, is a solution which efficiently connects traditional and online sales. This feature is especially helpful in a situation when there are no desired sizes available or when a customer wants to know the additional parameters of the product. After scanning the barcode, the mobile app will display a product tab in the online store. The customer can read the detailed description of the product or make a purchase in online store of the brand. Mobile app for e-commerce system, along with the barcode scanner, is an effective solution for sales support.

Click&collect service in the mobile app

Click&collect service enables shopping through the online store and collecting the order in the chosen localization. Typically, the places where customers can pick up products are the brand’s traditional stores.

Implementation of the click&collect functionality requires a particular software and coherent warehouse management for online and offline. For the customers, it is a comfortable form of shipping. He or she can collect the product at a convenient time. The click&collect service can be an efficient way to increase sales, as the customer, while picking up the order, very often makes an additional purchase.

Consistent data in multiple sales channels

When making a decision to implement the mobile app one should remember about the integration with e-commerce system. Hence, all data about product availability, prices, methods of payments and delivery will be the same as in online store. Moreover, if anything changes in the e-commerce system, it will be automatically updated in the mobile app with no necessity to send those changes to App Store and Google Play. Mobile App integrated with the online store, with the features that enable development of the omnichannel model, is the answer to the demands of the customers and a way to efficiently build a bond with the customer.

I want to read about other features of the R-GOL’s mobile app

Mobile app for sports brand

The mobile application for an online store is a way to build constant interaction with the customer. Hence, the brand has its own place in the user’s phone. Dedicated mobile application for R-GOL.com was created by i-systems.

Multi-channel sales network of R-GOL.com

R-GOL.com has the largest professional football shop in Poland. Four brick-and-mortar stores are located in Ostróda, Gdańsk, Olsztyn and Warsaw. The last of these points of sale is the largest in Europe and the second largest in the entire old continent store with products for football lovers. R-GOL.com also sales online through an online store addressed to retail customers, a store for wholesale customers and a professional store addressed to players appearing in the top league, first and second league. Support for online sales takes place in one place, as part of a multi-store. The next stage of business development was a mobile application for the R-GOL.com online store.

rgolcom-salon

Intuitive navigation and full data consistency

The mobile application implemented for R-GOL.com has been fully adapted to the overall visual identity of the brand. It has been created for two operating systems – iOS and Android. The R-GOL.com mobile application allows you to log in in several ways: traditionally, by entering a login and password, through an individual Facebook profile or Google account, and by Touch ID. After logging in to the application, a home page that has been tailored to the needs of the brand is displayed. On the home page, there are category banners and particular sub-categories. The e-commerce system administrator can configure the design of the mobile app home page himself, being able to enter any number of sub-categories.

From the level of the home page, the user of the mobile application may go to the menu which includes among others a list of favourite products or the history of completed orders. The new sales channel implemented for R-GOL.com is fully integrated with the e-commerce system. Therefore, information on the product availability, prices, payment and delivery methods are exactly the same as in the case of the online store of the brand. The integration has also enabled the identification of application users and those who don’t have this solution on their mobile device yet. With customer segmentation, it is possible to personalize the offer for a given group of company’s customers.

Efficient product search

R-GOL.com has a wide range of products. The offer includes over 4000 products of the world’s most famous footwear and sportswear brands. The company is also a producer of sports equipment, signed with the RG brand. The R-GOL.com online store has filters that help you find the product much quicker. Exactly the same filters are also applied in the new mobile application. Users can select products by size, brand, colour, purpose etc. The application has also been equipped with an advanced search engine that allows finding a specific product, even after entering the name without Polish characters or with a typo.

Push notifications – direct contact with the customer

The mobile application allows the administrator to send push notifications. The solution, on the one hand, allows sending personalized content, for instance, change of order status to a specific group, on the other hand – it is an effective way to provide information about the sale or an additional discount.

rgol-

In response to the ROPO effect

The R-GOL.com mobile application has also been equipped with a barcode scanner. This is a useful solution in a situation where the customer is checking the product offline but prefers to buy it online. After scanning the barcode, the mobile application displays the product card to the user in the online store of the brand.

Customers who, on the other hand, prefer to find a product online, but finalize the transaction offline, can check if the product is available in R-GOL.com brick-and-mortar store using the mobile app. They can also use the map that will help them easily find the offline store.

– We want our brand’s fans to get acquainted with the R-GOL.com offer in a convenient place and time. The mobile application for the online store R-GOL.com entirely meets the expectations of today’s customers. Thanks to the full integration of the mobile application with the e-commerce system, different sales channels have consistent and always up-to-date data. In addition, the mobile application has been equipped with solutions that effectively support the development of the omnichannel strategy we have adopted – says Tomasz Naruniec, e-commerce Manager at R-GOL.com

Plans for further development

R-GOL.com sales both through offline and online stores. Together with i-systems, it introduced another sales channel – a dedicated mobile application integrated with the e-commerce system. As part of the development of the omnichannel strategy, R-GOL.com plans further work, for instance, introducing beacons.

Get R-GOL.com mobile app here:

Download

en_badge_web_generic-1

Read R-GOL.com e-commerce case study

Be ready for heavy traffic on Black Friday – run the performance tests of the e-commerce system

Seasonal sales, Black Friday, or just increased traffic in the online store. If you don’t have enough server resources, the sale, which was supposed to bring profits – will come to naught. This is because every sales system has a different need for server resources. At the moment when there are not enough resources, access to the store may be difficult for customers. However, we have a solution for this problem.

Performance tests, also known as load tests, check the performance of a given sales system. In other words, they let you determine what is the store’s endurance for a particular traffic. Such statistics are created on the basis of the number of client requests per minute.

Process

The owner of the sales system can monitor the amount of current server resources in his panel. When it is necessary to investigate whether they will be sufficient in the expected period of increased traffic, i-systems testers prepare appropriate performance tests in which they imitate the exemplary way of how a potential customer navigates the site. Such action can be entering the home page, listing of products or categories, or adding products to the cart. This applies to both logged-in and non-logged users. Performance tests can be carried out on an unlimited number of requests.

Relic - the number of requests per minute

Relic – the number of requests per minute

Load tests are performed automatically, and server security is constantly monitored. After testing, the JMeter tool generates a report in a CSV file with a summary. The file contains the type of request and codes specifying the correctness or error in the operation of the system. The tester checks and analyzes the report based on Relic – a tool for traffic diagnostics, and adds his comments. Then, the administrator suggests the amount of resources necessary for the proper functioning of the store. If the demand for resources is much larger than expected, a wider interference in the cloud infrastructure is necessary. The report is passed on to the i-systems customer, who decides if he wants to increase the amount of resources.

Benefits

At the time of rapid business development and the growing number of requests, it is worth monitoring resources and protecting against possible difficulties in accessing the sales system. Thanks to traffic diagnostics on the website, clear information about the recommended amount of server resources is obtained, allowing you to deal with large traffic on the website. After a period of increased traffic, there is a possibility to return to the previous state or decide to make changes permanently. With the right amount of resources, the owner can be sure that his online store will be available, for instance during seasonal sales or sales peaks.



See solutions for brands