A B2B Ordering App That Works While You Sleep

The Challenge

Every order went through a person

Trade customers phoned, emailed or faxed their orders. The sales team read each one, checked the price and stock, and keyed it into the ERP. Orders only got placed during office hours, mistakes crept in from re-typing, and the team spent its day on data entry instead of selling.

• Orders came in by phone, email and fax.
• Each was priced, checked and keyed by hand.
• Customers could only order in office hours.
• Re-typing caused wrong quantities and codes.

The Solution

A portal where customers order themselves

We built a self-service ordering web app for the distributor's trade customers. Each customer logs in to see their own pricing and live stock, builds an order from past purchases or a search, and submits it straight into the ERP. Orders arrive clean, any time of day.

• Customer login with account-specific pricing.
• Live stock and a fast reorder from history.
• Orders write straight into the ERP.
• Validation stops wrong codes and quantities.

How We Delivered

A pilot with real customers first

We launched with a handful of regular customers and their real catalogue and pricing, fixed what they tripped on, then opened it to the wider base. We connected it to the ERP for pricing, stock and order creation, so nothing was keyed twice.

The ordering app went live in ten weeks.

The Outcome

Orders come in clean, day and night

Customers now place orders online whenever they want, and those orders land in the ERP without anyone re-typing them. Order-entry errors dropped, and the sales team spends far less time on data entry and more time helping customers and winning new business.