Ultraceuticals Supercharges Their B2B Digital Transformation with BigCommerce

SOLUTION

Finding the right platform for success. 

Initially, Ultraceuticals looked at their DTC ecommerce platform, Shopify, to build their new B2B implementation. “Why wouldn’t we consolidate?” Naidoo asked himself. “But clearly I was wrong. When we took it to market, we had some very strict goals and needs that just weren’t getting met with Shopify. It took us identifying a partner that would sit down and understand our non-negotiables and tell us ‘Yes, we can do that,’ rather than ‘No, that’s too hard.’” 

The Ultraceuticals CEO suggested their team look at BigCommerce. Naidoo found the B2B-specific features robust. “The BigCommerce offering was right up there in terms of a toolset that could get us a lot of those key functions and services,” he said. “And there was also a clear feature roadmap there to see what kinds of tools would be implemented in the future.”

Naidoo and his team enlisted the help of Melbourne-based development agency Kobe Creations to help develop further functionality for the site. “BigCommerce is such a robust platform that there are always ways to make things work,” said Jarrad Wild, Developer and Project Manager at Kobe Creations. “Sometimes it takes a bit of out of the box thinking, but we always manage to get there in the end.”

Enhancing functionality and customer experience with B2B Edition. 

In order to achieve their goal of a customer-first approach to ecommerce, Naidoo and his team knew that the site needed to have very specific B2B functionality that the Ultraceuticals customer could benefit from. When he found B2B Edition, BigCommerce’s advanced feature set built to supercharge B2B ecommerce, he knew it was a perfect fit. 

Multi-storefront for selling in multiple markets. 

Currently, Ultraceuticals operates in three separate markets: Australia, New Zealand, and the US. The initial plan was to have one ecommerce platform that integrated with each individual region’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, integrating with three different data sources. Kobe Creations advised otherwise. 

“BigCommerce’s multi-storefront capabilities give you so much more flexibility than what the team was originally looking for,” Wild explained. “Setting up a different storefront for each region or entity gave them a lot more freedom when it came to individual experiences, building out features and also reconciling data.” 

“We’re really seeing that value now,” said Naidoo. “The way we operate each of our stores is different, with different features and different integration needs. And instead of trying to squeeze everything into one storefront like we would have on Shopify, we’re able to do so much more with BigCommerce’s multi-storefront.”

Custom groups, catalogs, roles, and permissions. 

Ultraceuticals also leverages B2B Edition to create custom groups within their existing ERP lists. “We’re able to sync all of the customers directly from our ERP. That’s sometimes a big challenge to have that direct interaction and relationship mapping between two separate systems, but the way we’ve built it out is so effective,” Naidoo said. 

Quick ordering and reordering.

A main factor in digital transformation is the shift from physical to digital order processing. Ultraceuticals’ customers were used to ordering through a physical order form that was either faxed or sent in to a sales rep. Altering the system that they were used to could cause unnecessary friction in the buying process, and hinder Ultraceuticals’ goal of creating a customer-first shopping experience. 

In order to maintain congruence with their previous order form, they developed a template that nearly mimicked their physical order process. “For customers that place large, bulk orders, it’s a great option,” Naidoo explained. “They fill out the template, and upload it back to the site. We have one customer in the US who has never placed a ‘normal’ ecommerce order. Every single one has come through that form, which speaks to its convenience.”

Custom features for further success. 

While BigCommerce’s native features and B2B Edition have created a powerful foundation for Ultraceuticals’ ecommerce business, they have also added custom functionality across the site to improve the overall experience, both for internal teams and for customers. 

Accounting portal.

“One of these features is a specialized accounting function. Kobe built out this integration that allows finance teams, accountants or account owners, to go straight to invoices rather than worrying about the transactional details,” Naidoo explained. “They’re able to go directly to that portal, focus on invoices, outstanding invoices, or credits, and make sure that their account is in good standing.” 

This feature has allowed Ultraceuticals to empower its customers in a new, thoughtful way. “A lot of times, businesses want to cater to their customers' needs, but don’t know how. For our customers, this is a feature that’s directly impacting them positively,” he said. 

Custom invoicing.

The Kobe team has added additional functionality to the invoicing portal, allowing customers to apply credit notes directly out of SAP. “This feature also integrates directly with checkout, so if a customer has any additional credit in SAP, it applies it directly at the time they place the order, before it flows back into SAP,” Wild said. 

He continued, “It’s a really beneficial feature for the customers that just want self service, again showing that the entire goal of this project is to make ecommerce as easy and frictionless as possible for the customer.”