Companies should be able to digitalise their purchasing and sales processes in a way that is both easy and cost-effective.
A platform concept should be easily scalable, making it possible to operate a large number of different marketplaces and brand shops with a wide variety of products.
Buyers and sellers should benefit from centralised single sign-on (SSO) and centralised data storage.
Possehl Online Solutions GmbH is a corporate start-up of the Possehl Group. With its many years of experience in B2B e-commerce and expertise in mechanical and plant engineering, the company helps businesses with their digitalisation projects.
XITASO implemented a highly flexible B2B e-commerce platform that makes it possible to manage a large number of different marketplaces and brand shops through a central database. The entire platform is implemented as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) concept running on Amazon Web Services (AWS) using the latest technologies.
Together with Possehl Online Solutions, we began by defining the basic architecture and product vision. Workshops were held in which the required features were determined and UI/UX concepts drawn up in consultation with the development team. After just four months of development, the MyPossehl Marketplace went live.
The MyPossehl Marketplace went online after four months of development.
“The technical expertise and professional design of XITASO convinced us right from the start. On the one hand, a first version of the product was realised in a short time. On the other hand, the course was already set for long-term goals.”Alexander Wachter
CEO & Co-Founder
Possehl Online Solutions GmbH
At the start of the project, it was first necessary to understand the domain and the basic processes. The UI/UX experts at XITASO created customer journeys for this purpose. Workshops were held in which, based on Possehl Online Solutions’ in-depth knowledge of the industry, the current purchasing and sales process was analysed and the individual steps and roles involved were determined. These current processes and workflows were then evaluated with the aim of finding ways in which they could be optimised. The results of this exercise were then used to set down the goals of the intended solution.
The process steps and the roles involved were recorded in customer journeys. The customer journeys optimised by XITASO were hung up in the main meeting room at Possehl Online Solutions.
Thanks to the platform concept, all key data is stored centrally and can be used by buyers and sellers for the various marketplaces and brand shops.
Using the single sign-on (SSO) method, users only have to log in once.
Sellers maintain their products in one central location and can then conveniently place them in various shops. At the same time, they benefit from the large customer base.
Sellers are also free to open their own brand shop at any time. This can be created by the platform operator in no time at all. In brand shops, sellers are able to offer only their own products and customise the appearance of a shop to their exact requirements.
The buyer
Logs in just once using single sign-on (SSO) and sees all orders in a centralised portal UI.
The seller
Can conveniently place their products in all shops based from a central database and view all orders in a central portal UI.
The shop operator
Manages buyers, sellers and settings for their own shop in a central portal UI.
The platform operator
Manages buyers, sellers and settings for all shops in a central portal UI.
As a buyer, you can organise the products clearly into several shopping carts. For example, a “Machine 1 maintenance parts” shopping cart and another shopping cart for “Office supplies”. This allows the various products to be sorted by category and ordered at different times.
Ordering products from different sellers is also no problem. This can be done conveniently in the same checkout process.
Thanks to the flexible platform concept, a new marketplace or brand shop can be created in no time at all.
The appearance of each shop can be individually customised, for example, to match the corporate identity of the shop operator.
The buyer, seller and shop data are stored in a central location and can be used by all shops (if authorised).
A separate administration interface has been implemented for sellers as well as marketplace and platform operators. The is called the “Portal UI”. Sellers have an overview of their orders from all shops on which they are active.
In addition, sellers can receive enquiries and create quotes, which are also shared across shops.
Marketplace and platform operators can manage sellers and buyers through the portal UI.
The development and conceptual design took place over several two-week sprints. During these two weeks, the user stories with the highest priorities were implemented. Alongside this, concepts for future functions were developed in workshops together with the client.
At the end of each sprint, the result was demonstrated. At these meetings, valuable feedback was gathered from the client for further development.
Throughout the entire development process, there was close collaboration between UI/UX experts, software developers and the client. This was the only way to create a product that offers the right functions, is technically flexible and robust, and which users are happy with.
Dominik Spaun
Tel. +49 821 885 882 881
dominik.spaun@xitaso.com