Karava achieves B2B excellence with BigCommerce
Discover how customizable, cost-effective and reliable BigCommerce is and why we built it that way.
- Featured
B2B Edition
Advanced B2B features for enterprise plans.Catalyst
NewCreate stunning, high-performing storefronts that captivate and convert.Feedonomics
Omnichannel feed and data transformation.Multi-Storefront
Manage multiple unique stores from one account.International
Grow your brand across the globe.
- Launch Services
Overview
Chart your path to success with specialized services.Implementation Project Management
Experts to ensure you launch on time and under budget.Solution Architecture
Seasoned advisors to help you best design your store.Data Migration & Optimization
Expertise on a clean and clear path to migrating your data.Enterprise Launch Package
Personal training on how to set up and launch your BigCommerce Store.
Professional Services Blog Series
Get to know our teams and how they support your success in this Q&A series.
The Global B2B Buyer Behavior Report
This in-depth report provides actionable strategies to help you sell more online.
1988
founding year
24/7
ability to be sell
60% to 70%
of orders exported
Nailing down a slick B2B experience
Karava has been selling wooden products since 1988. Between 60% to 70% of orders are exported, typically for decking and facades, while goods sold in its native Finland are more typically used for saunas and inside panelling.
All sales are channelled through wholesalers and distributors who traditionally placed orders over the telephone. However, the company realized B2B customers are increasingly buying online, where they expect a slick ecommerce experience.
To meet this expectation, Karava realised it needed to work with a specialized agency, Sofokus, to explore available B2B ecommerce solutions so it could launch a professional, reliable, full-featured online shop that would impress customers.
CHALLENGE
Adapting to modern B2B buyers
Karava started selling online with a very basic website, and it lacked many of the features required for customers to research products and place orders. Pricing information was missing, as were stock level indicators. It was effectively a limited online catalog rather than an ecommerce site.
The business realized modern B2B customers are demanding more and began looking at its ecommerce platform options, with the help of Sofokus. After thoroughly researching the market, they concluded BigCommerce would provide the flexible, scalable platform that would give B2B customers the modern online browsing, ordering and account management features they are looking for.
“We wanted to make buying for our customers, the wholesalers and distributors, much easier,” explains Ville Hölttä, Product Owner at Karava.
“Most had been complaining they were not able to see stock levels, and that it took a lot of time to browse through the site. We needed to build a good platform for them and create the sort of web shop we would actually want ourselves.”
“We wanted to make buying for our customers, the wholesalers and distributors, much easier.”
Ville Hölttä, Product Owner, Karava
SOLUTION
Headless flexibility, despite complexity
Karava works with a plethora of business customers across multiple geographies, selling a wide variety of products which need to be made available in many sizes. The sheer complexity of having so many different products available in different choices of wood and finish, as well as varying lengths and dimensions, led Karava to realize it needed the flexibility of a headless approach.
“The main reason for going headless was because wood is basically sold in either metres, pieces, packages, square metres, or cubic metres,” Marko Joensuu, Principal Consultant at Sofokus says.
“Most of the ecommerce platforms don't allow products to be displayed in different quantities at the same time, while giving different pricing points. So, going headless was a decision that we made with BigCommerce: the typical monolithic set-up was not the right choice for us because our sales model is so complicated.”
B2B Edition gives customers control
BigCommerce B2B Edition was chosen for the new site because it allows businesses to have their own bespoke account that knows their previous orders and delivery requirements. The company has found the biggest advantage comes from offering logged-in customers pre-agreed individual pricing plans.
“The biggest advance through using B2B Edition is the ability to create price lists for different customers,” says Ville Hölttä. “This was one of the biggest priorities for us because we had found out through the previous three years, when we had been trying to find a platform, that individual price listing isn't easy in web shops.
“The other thing was that our different users can have their own accounts and also access the company account at the same time so they can see what their colleagues have been buying. Those were the two main things for us in the beginning, as we had found out that they are the hardest ones for most of the web shop platforms. Right from the beginning, we realised that BigCommerce has exactly what we need.”
PIM offers slick merchandising
One of the most important aspects of the move to BigCommerce B2B Edition was utilizing the platform’s Product Information Management (PIM) system. It was important because the company had not had access to a PIM previously. The multiple variables in sizes, finishes and wood choices made it a huge task, but one that was crucially important.
In fact, it was so vital that these PIM capabilities became one of the main reasons why Sofokus recommended BigCommerce, explains its Principal Consultant, Marko Joensuu.
“One of the main reasons for choosing BigCommerce was that the product options are super vast and particularly suitable for our Product Information Management requirements for Karava,” he says.
“Then there is the wide choice of APIs and all the developer documentation which is so impressive. We were evaluating BigCommerce and Shopify, but the way of thinking in the front-end, in the storefront, was the main reason why we chose BigCommerce.”
Tech Stack
Agency:
Highlighted applications:
Technical features:
Solution Architect
Implementation Project Manager
Customer Success Manager
“The typical monolithic set-up was not the right choice for us because our sales model is so complicated.”
Marko Joensuu, Principal Consultant, Sofokus
“The biggest advance through using B2B Edition is the ability to create price lists for different customer [and] that our different users can have their own accounts and access the company account at the same time. Those were the two main things for us in the beginning, as we had found out that they are the hardest ones for most of the web shop platforms.”
Ville Hölttä, Product Owner, Karava
RESULTS
Reliable and secure
The main outcome for Karava from its BigCommerce B2B Edition site is the high level of service it is now able to offer its business customers. The previous web site was so basic it could not show pictures and had virtually no information on product options.
Its reliability left a lot to be desired as well, and that placed a strain on the Karava team, which is highly skilled but small and limited financially. With the launch, though, they now have access to a professional support team dedicated to keeping its full-featured site available and secured at all times.
“The platform is really reliable, and when there's problems, it gets solved fast,” says Ville Hölttä. “It gives us an ability to be open 24/7, even though no one is here after 4pm. That's one of the biggest gains for us as well as the system being really secure. We don't have any customer data leaks, so as a platform, it gives me a sense of security.”
For Karava’s CEO, Jaakko Soini, one of the most beneficial results of the new platform is the ability to work more efficiently as well as scale up sales. "BigCommerce streamlined our buying process, boosting operational efficiency for our B2B customers,” he says. “Looking ahead, it will also enable us to scale sales without the need for heavy investments in new personnel.”
“The platform gives us an ability to be open 24/7, even though no one is here after 4pm. That's one of the biggest gains for us as well as the system being really secure.”
Ville Hölttä, Product Owner, Karava
LOOKING AHEAD
Accelerating digital maturity through strategic expansion
Karava is strategically leveraging its headless architecture to rapidly increase digital maturity and strengthen its global competitive position. By implementing BigCommerce's Multi-Storefront capabilities, the company is developing market-specific frontend experiences that address unique regional requirements, particularly around logistics and delivery specifications.
“The headless implementation gives us unprecedented flexibility to adapt to each market's expectations while maintaining a centralized backend,” explains Ville Hölttä. “This architecture enables us to deliver personalized customer experiences at scale without the traditional overhead costs.”
The company has already integrated the Weglot translation application within its BigCommerce ecosystem, laying the groundwork for an ambitious international expansion strategy. This integration represents just the first phase of Karava's comprehensive digital transformation roadmap.
“Channel manager functionality was instrumental in our decision to select BigCommerce Enterprise,” notes Marko Joensuu. “The platform's native integration capabilities, particularly with social commerce channels like Instagram, provide us with significant competitive advantages in markets where traditional competitors are still developing basic digital capabilities.”
Perhaps most significantly, Karava is positioning itself to capitalize on direct-to-consumer opportunities by extending its digital architecture beyond B2B. The company is utilizing BigCommerce's channel manager to strengthen its Instagram presence as a foundation for a distinct D2C revenue stream.
“We're not just digitalizing existing processes—we're fundamentally transforming our business model,” says Jaakko Soini. “Our headless implementation enables us to rapidly deploy new customer touchpoints while optimizing our data utilisation for predictive analytics and personalization that puts us ahead of market trends.”
“Our headless implementation enables us to rapidly deploy new customer touchpoints while optimizing our data utilization for predictive analytics and personalization that puts us ahead of market trends.”
Jaakko Soini, CEO, Karava
Published: March 2025
