TheAgileStartup

Integrating Magento with SAP - Overview

Last December I wrote about how we were dedicating 2011 to integrating Magento with SAP's Business Suite platform (R3, ECC, All-in-One) via our b2b2dot0 service.  We've learned a lot in the past seven months and today, on the eve of Office Relief's ecommerce website going live; I'm going to start to share some of our findings with the community as a whole.

Dealing With B2B eCommerce Channel Conflict

There is a right way, and a wrong way, for a Brand Owner to deal with channel conflict. 

The right way delivers a win-win-win solution to the entire demand chain. 

The Manufacturer drives traffic to their website and educates their potential customers 100% in accord with their brand promise.  If the consumer chooses to buy the product right then and there, the Manufacturer makes sure their distribution channel gets the order and fulfills and services it according to their contractual agreement.  In return, the distribution channel gets to "own" the customer and receive fair compensation in return for their services.  The consumer gets the right product at the right time at the right price.  Everyone plays their role like a fine tuned orchestra. 

Perfection.

The wrong way makes the end consumer pay the price for harmony in the distribution channel.

Unfortunately, I find myself on the receiving end of this lesson as I write this blog post.  It concerns my grandson, a missing key to a Thule car carrier, and the upcoming Memorial Day holiday.

It started innocently enough last Thursday with a call from my daughter.  She and her family live outside of Philadelphia, PA and I live in Raleigh, NC.  Since we were going to be meeting in Arlington, VA (exactly half way between us) over the weekend, she suugested that I bring our Thule car top carrier and give it to her as discussed weeks ago.  That would make it easier for her to pack all of the paraphernalia that a young family of three (and their dog) would need to spend the Memorial Day weekend with us the following week.

"What a great idea" I thought.

I went to retrieve it from the attic, the Thule's resting place for the past 7 years since our last documented camping trip.  It was just where I'd left it, with all of the hardware required to mount it to a car roof, safely locked inside of it.  Unfortunately, I had no idea where the key was so, off to the web I went.

A quick google search revealed that I wasn't the only person on the planet in this predicament.  This truly is a great use of social media!  The solution to my problem was just a click away at the Thule website.  Armed with the serial number engraved on the lock, I was able to place an order for a replacement key.  Unfortunately, I was only given one shipping method to choose from and that was for the painfully slooowwww 3-7 business days.  No overnight or express!  I placed the order nevertheless and received the following order confirmation moments later. 

That's when I started to understand what was going on with my order.  It wasn't being managed by Thule at all!  It was being managed by a company called Shopatron who supposedly was doing Thule and their dealers a favor. 

Not!

Here is a part of the order confirmation that I received:

There are two immediate problems with the order. 

First of all, the order total is only an "estimated" total.  It could go up based on taxes.  (Never mind that I'm already paying $4.95 to ship a $2.75 part...I would have paid more to get it quicker if it could keep the peace within the family!)

Second, only "standard shipping" was available...and noone to talk to, or write to, to inquire!

The bottom half of the order confirmation was even more confusing:

1. They left a space for other items that I might be interested in but there weren't any?  Aside from selling me a new lock if the key didn't work, if it was me, I would have tried to sell me an updated carrier.  Mine had to have been 15 years old!
2. Who am I really buying this from?  Thule?  Shopatron?
3. Better yet, who is going to support me?  There are two different phone numbers and a website to call.  I'm hoping I get the right key the first time around.
4. Lastly, just in case things really go bad, I can always write a letter to Shopatron Order Support at the PO Box given.  Really?

So what's going on here?

Back in 2000, when the whole eCommerce industry was abuzz about "disintermediation" Shopatron had a brilliant idea.  They went to major Brand Owners and simply said, "Keep your distribution channels happy.  If you are going to take an order on your website, pass it on to your distributors/dealers to fulfill.  This will keep them happy and they will continue to sell/support your products". 

Seriously.  My order gets posted to a website, where Thule's dealers get to log in at their leisure to decide whether or not they want to fulfill it.  The one lucky dealer who services my zip code is usually the one that is given first dibs.  Meanwhile, since I placed my order on Friday, three days have already passed.

Wouldn't it be easier if Thule took my order, shipped it out of their warehouse, and passed the commission to my local dealer?  I know I'd be happier.

According to the Shopatron website over 1000 brands and 12,000 of their retail partners have signed up in the ensuing years.  But that doesn't make them right.  That just makes them behind the times. 

Unfortunately, the bar has risen in the last decade.  With free 2 day shipping from Amazon and unquestioned returns processing by Zappos, I really don't think that waiting a week to "maybe" get a replacement key will cut it.

If Thule doesn't want to take orders on their website (which might make sense for their business model), they would be better served to help me find an online dealer that can take my order in real time.  All they did with the Shopatron process was delay my order, give me confusing information and potentially inaccurate processing.

Thule and their dealers may be living in peace, but I have a locked car top carrier that will not be adding any value to my Memorial Day holiday!

Sam

Reinventing the Web Channel to Maximize Sales and Customer Satisfaction

When the Oracle speaks you have to listen. 

So when "Reinventing the Web Channel to Maximize Sales and Customer Satisfaction" by Oracle's recently purchased ATG product line came across my inbox, I had to read it...and boy am I glad that I did.  It's wonderful! (For your convenience, you can download a copy here)

b2b2dot0 Initiates Office Relief's Magento Paymetric SAP Integrated B2B and B2C eCommerce Website Initiative

It's been almost two weeks since I facilitated our Project Initiation Workshop at the Oakland, CA HQ of Office Relief.  It was an intense and exhilarating two days where we demonstrated a live B2B eCommerce website integrated to their SAP QA system.  We "threatened" to put the website into production the following Monday and asked the simple question of "why can't we?".  (This is how our standard Agile Implementation Methodology, that I've written about over the years, works.)

Integrating Magento with SAP for B2B and B2C ecommerce

Content is king. 

That's the conclusion we've come to as we enter our fourth year of business at b2b2dot0.  Real time integration into SAP are the table stakes when deploying a B2B Webshop. 

Paymetric and b2b2dot0 Enable SAP Webshop Credit Cards

This is one of those matches made in heaven.  It just makes so much sense!

eCommerce websites and credit cards are like bread and butter.  Each is good by itself, but they are so much better together.

People When You Want Them, Technology When You Don't (tm)

Nothing speaks of the role that technology plays in customer service as well as these advertisements from Esurance.  These guys get it!  It's absolutely amazing to me how perfectly they have tapped into the gestalt of our society with their trademarked tag line of "People When You Want Them, Technology When You Don't".

Grinding the Gears of Customer Service

At the end of the day, b2b2dot0's raison d'être is all about customer service.  Our company's mission is to enable SAP manufacturers to provide a world class self-service order management experience to their customers.  We also know that providing mind-boggling customer service to our clients is at the core of our business model.  So when I see examples of bad customer service, I just cringe...and write about it :-)

B2C eCommerce in an SAP Integrated World

I'm not sure why, but over the past several weeks the marketplace has repeatedly drawn us into conversations about the B2C (business to consumer) business model.  That got me to thinking about what the B2C model actually is...from a business, technical and SAP perspective...and how it differs from the B2B (business to business) model that is our namesake...b2b2dot0.  Most importantly, it got me to thinking about what we have to do to in order to support these business models...in an Agile way.

Today I start a series of posts on this topic.