Royal Brinkman

Royal Brinkman

By focusing on its customers and its ERP, Royal Brinkman increased its revenue and customer loyalty.

  • Supplier, installer and consultant with over 130 years of experience in the horticulture industry
  • Based in the Netherlands, active worldwide
  • One of the first companies in the industry to use e-commerce
  • Focus on customer convenience, knowledge and value by continuously offering the latest and most innovative products and services
Increased

customer loyalty

30,000

products online

ERP

Microsoft Dynamics AX

    The challenge

    Changing customer expectations and internal resistance

    “B2C sets the standard and B2B needs to live up to it. Our customers shop online a lot, and they expect to have the same experience with us online.”

    We live in a digital world — even B2B organizations can’t get around that fact anymore. So how are manufacturers, suppliers and other business-to-business organizations adapting?

    For Royal Brinkman the answer was obvious: it all needed to start with a smart approach to digitization. That’s why its first step was to lay a strong foundation in the form of a digital strategy.

    However, committing to a digital transformation meant Royal Brinkman had to go through a number of big changes — changes that caused a bit of friction internally. Would implementing an online strategy or B2B e-commerce platform be detrimental to existing sales channels? How would the sales team be affected by the new way of selling?

    Royal Brinkman actively turned questions like these into positive changes in the company. Adding an online sales channel ended up bolstering its other channels, and today the sales team is using its new digital tools, such as the Sana Sales Agent app, to sell even more efficiently — online and offline.
    Royal Brinkman

    The world is changing and digitizing really fast. It’s essential to change with it as a customer, supplier and manufacturer.

    Royal Brinkman Coert Rasenberg | Commercial Director at Royal Brinkman

    The solution

    Always focus on the customer

    Customer centricity has always been Royal Brinkman’s most important core value. So, working with Sana Commerce, Royal Brinkman came up with a strategy to make sure its customers were the top priority.

    The new web store was designed by organizing live sessions to monitor its specific requirements. “A personalized environment was at the top of our list,” says Helderman.

    With the My Royal Brinkman portal, customers can now access personal information such as order histories, customer-specific pricing, payment methods and shipping options. “As Sana Commerce is integrated with our ERP system, Dynamics AX, all these data are directly available, in real time,” Helderman explains. “That’s why we chose Sana in the first place.”

    Another way to get customers engaged in the web store was by making sure it was easy: easily accessible and easy to use. In every store there are multiple self-service booths that grant instant access to the web store. Navigating through the web store has been made a lot easier by dividing the large assortment into seven separate categories and adding a faceted search option. The company can now run personalized promotions itself, such as adding personalized banners to the website.

    A personalized environment was at the top of our list. With the My Royal Brinkman portal, customers can now access personal information such as order histories, customer-specific pricing, payment methods and shipping options.

    Royal Brinkman Rob Helderman | E-Commerce Manager at Royal Brinkman

    The results

    Increased revenue thanks to a focus on customers and ERP

    Thanks to Royal Brinkman’s new web store, not only has the company’s e-commerce revenue increased, but so has its overall revenue. “Looking back, there are two matters you should really pay close attention to: your customers and your ERP,” Helderman concludes.

    Discover how similar businesses have mastered e-commerce

    Do you want to increase traffic and boost sales?