Jergens Industrial Supply (JIS)
BigCommerce Migration and P21 Integration with DCKAP Integrator
About Jergens Industrial Supply
Jergens Industrial Supply (JIS) Distribution LLC takes pride in being Ohio’s largest distributor of industrial products. Representing over 300 top manufacturers in the USA, JIS has placed several experienced staff at many different locations across the globe. One of the most coveted sections of JIS is being a Premier Autocrib distributor, offering custom vending solutions to consumers worldwide.
JIS is not only leading in its field of manufacturing but with the right technical know-how is making it quite easy for customers to carry out their purchases. It is a pioneer in adopting technology to make its products a lot more accessible, and we at DCKAP are proud to have been a part of this journey with them! Let’s elaborate on the different aspects of our association with JIS, Division of Jergens.
eCommerce Services
- Inventory Synchronization
- Customer Synchronization
- Order Synchronization
- Order Status Synchronization
- Dynamic Pricing
- Product Synchronization
Technology
eCommerce: JIS had been running its eCommerce store on a custom-built platform and wanted to migrate to an easily manageable and robust platform. For this, BigCommerce was chosen as a viable option.
ERP Software: The company uses Epicor P21: A comprehensive application purposeful for Industrial Distribution and for managing their back-end operations.
Challenges Faced
The company had its eCommerce platform on a custom-built platform. With difficulty in maintaining the website and P21 connection, JIS decided to go the SAAS way with Bigcommerce and DCKAP Integrator for integrating with P21.
- JIS consists of a large number of stock-keeping units, which made searching for inventory challenging for the consumers. With difficulty in the search process, the direct impact was seen on sales and conversion-both. To address this, we adopted BigCommerce, which makes searching seamless for the consumer. For additional support, we used the Product Filter App as well.
- The customer had to invest additional resources and time in making minor changes for the front end. For the same, they needed continual assistance from a developer. BigCommerce made it quite easy to make changes and with headless commerce, the front end became easily manageable as well.
- Another big challenge faced by JIS was the syncing of offline orders into the customers’ website accounts. Tracking the offline orders on the website was also a hurdle for them earlier.
Business Requirements
While the primary business requirement that was presented to us included migration to BigCommerce and adapting an ERP solution for better integration, we went ahead with the following solutions:
- Making the user flow for B2B and B2C consumers the same.
- Introducing a smooth workflow for the website with the new user feature and guest user to make checkout easier.
- Detailed features used for better product detailing and listing.
Solutions
DCKAP, with the help of its migration experts, helped JIS migrate to Bigcommerce with a responsive design and a seamless shopping experience. Our integration solution specialists elicited the P21 Integration scenarios the client wanted to be set up with and running using DCKAP Integrator. The following were the business use cases that were made possible for JIS using DCKAP Integrator.
- Inventory Sync: The up-to-date inventory information was synchronized with the JIS storefront via repeated checks of inventory levels in P21 by DCKAP Integrator. The sync will execute when a discrepancy has been found in levels of both platforms.
- Data Flow: P21 to BigCommerce
- Customer Sync: Customer data created on the Bigcommerce website was synchronized with P21 immediately using DCKAP Integrator. Once created in P21, the data can now be easily synchronized back to the website with the help of the P21 Customer ID.
- Data Flow: P21 to BigCommerce
- Order Sync (for Offline Orders and Online Orders’ Quotes): DCKAP customized BigCommerce to ensure Offline orders or quotes details from the P21 can be pulled and shown in the BigCommerce front end. It also gave JIS a provision to receive order requests for offline quotes in the setup section of the front end itself. Orders made through calls or other offline modes by P21 users are set to synchronize with JIS on a schedule set in DCKAP Integrator.
- Data Flow: P21 to BigCommerce
- Order Status Sync: The details of the orders, such as Order ID, shipping method, carrier info, and so on, are synchronized from P21 to BigCommerce, and to be available for the customer upon logging in to the eCommerce website.
- Data Flow: P21 to BigCommerce
- Order Sync for Online Orders: Any guest orders or orders placed in BigCommerce are transferred to P21 based on the order details. If the user who has made the order online is a P21 user, the shipment details will be extracted from P21 and the order will be placed in P21 combined with user & shipment details.
- Data Flow: BigCommerce to P21
- Dynamic Pricing: Each user got the chance to have one or more pricing libraries set up in P21. When the customer browses the website, a default price will be available. Once the customer signs in, his mapped pricing library will be picked from P21 and it will get synced with the website. Hence, each user will be able to see their customized prices. To make the dynamic pricing store, we have used the PriceList feature which is native in Bigcommerce.
- For Guest Users: The price will be common based on the particular ID in P21. This helps reflect the price of the particular ID and also updates the default BigCommerce price. Additionally, the dynamic sync call can help with keeping the price uniform.
- Product Sync: All product details and catalog lists are synchronized on a schedule from P21 to BigCommerce, for products that are allowed to synchronize with the Bigcommerce storefront.
- Data Flow: P21 to BigCommerce
BigCommerce + P21:
Post-Integration Scenario
CLORAS integration experts successfully rolled out the integration of the BigCommerce store and Epicor P21 ERP for JIS, implementing all the integration scenarios as required by the client’s business; especially for order synchronization. The custom made platform made it quite challenging to maintain the website in the front end, but with BigCommerce, we fixed this issue as well. All challenges presented for B2B and B2C eCommerce transactions were fixed with the connection of these apps and an easier process has ensued for our client.
Benefits After Implementation
DCKAP Integrator experts successfully rolled out the integration of the BigCommerce store and Epicor P21 ERP for JIS, implementing all the integration scenarios as required by the client’s business; especially for order synchronization. The custom-made platform made it quite challenging to maintain the website in the front end, but with BigCommerce, we fixed this issue as well. All challenges presented for B2B and B2C eCommerce transactions were fixed with the connection of these apps and an easier process has ensued for our client.