The Hotlines division of Chain Reaction Cycles, headquartered in Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, buys from bicycle manufacturers and sells and distributes the merchandise globally. They offer products such as bike parts, frames, and nutrition and safety equipment for serious cyclists through a network of dealers. Since being purchased by Chain Reaction Cycles in 2007, the Hotlines division has seen tremendous growth and has created a portfolio of the best brands in cycling.
The Challenge
Hotlines needed to increase their efficiency. Their existing custom-built website did not have all the necessary b2b ecommerce features for distributors. For example, their solution lacked elaborate pricing features they needed to provide discounts of varying rates to different customer groups. But their discounts are based on brand, not customer. So when customers choose two items from different brands, each item should have a different amount discounted rather than the customer receiving one discount percentage for the entire order. Offering varying discounts by brand was a cumbersome process through their old website. Hotlines had to manually update inventory, product details, and product images on their website, which took time away from higher priority tasks.
They also needed the ability to edit their website themselves and add or change pictures and banners and newsletters.
The Solution
Cloudfy provided the pricing solution Hotlines needed to give different discounts for each brand they carry. Using Cloudfy, Hotlines is more efficient because the need for manual data entry has been eliminated.
Cloudfy also provided an easy-to-use, out-of-the-box content management system where Hotlines staff could add the newsletter. It appears on the front end of the site like a blog.
Other key features of Hotlines’ B2B site include a login gateway so only their customer can see the prices applicable to the products they have chosen and static pages with a sleek, brochure-like look in order to promote some of the brands they have more interest in.
In addition, Cloudfy added features to Hotlines’ customers’ control panels so Hotlines can easily promote specific items, view a customer’s order history, and access marketing materials and catalogs to send to customers.
If your distribution business is also seeking ways to increase efficiency in your B2B ordering process, contact us now to schedule your complimentary Cloudfy demo.
