Shopware – we are partners!

Shopware was developed more than 20 years ago in Germany and is a proven technology that today drives over 100,000 efficiently operating online shops.

Shopware 6 implementations are characterized by clear development and maintenance costs. The license price is a one-time fee, regardless of the turnover and the number of products in the store. On the other hand, modern solutions and well-known popular technologies (e.g. PHP Symfony framework, Vue.js, etc.) make Shopware highly valued by developers working with it. This significantly shortens the implementation time and considerably reduces the financial outlay.

The implementation of Shopware offers measurable benefits

The same applies to the ongoing maintenance and administration of the eCommerce system. Shopware has an intuitive interface that simplifies the daily management of products and sales processes. It saves time and effort.

On a par with the popular platform – Magento 2, Shopware is open-source software. It gives a global community of developers access to the platform’s source code, which ensures the constant and rapid development of the system. It also allows individual functions to be tailored to the needs of a specific implementation.

Every business is different – Shopware lets you implement these differences into your eCommerce. Online environment will reflect the nature and management style of your organization’s processes. Also, open code gives you the flexibility you need to stay ahead of trends and the demands of a changing market.

Shopware 6 also includes over 3,500 applications, templates, and interfaces available in Shopware Store. It offers standard interfaces for the most popular payment providers (including PayPal, Klarna, credit cards, etc.) and interfaces for popular systems such as ERP, PIM, newsletters, marketplaces, etc. All controlled through an intuitive manager that allows for simple management, installation and updating of extensions. The platform also has technical support available for the teams working with it.

The Shopware 6 functionalities meet all the needs of your customers and your business

The core functions of Shopware 6 include customer and order management mechanisms, including the possibility of individual price configurations (i.e. rule-based price lists based on specific customer characteristics). The system offers multichannel features and special B2B features are available in the Enterprise Edition. SEO options and optimization for mobile-first indexing are already integrated as standard. All this is held together by comprehensive analysis and statistical tools.

Omnichannel

The platform allows you to conveniently manage sales across multiple channels. A single CMS gives you the ability to unify the customer experience regardless of where they are: whether it be your online shop (stationary or mobile), marketplace, POS, or any other space where the customer is looking for your products. Multi-channel support allows us to adjust content, languages and payment methods to each channel individually.

API-first and headless solutions

Scaling and flexible adaptation to the tools preferred by customers and users is the strength of eCommerce solutions, which are to deliver stable and long-term benefits. Implementation of this eCommerce platform results in a limitless number and type of front-ends used in our sales system. Building eCommerce based on Shopware 6 technology, we can address our customers’ needs, freely adjusting the design, language and communication depending on the target group and channel of reaching.

Customers are different, but we always maintain full and easy control over the experience in our online store environment.

The multi-channel service is also supported by the available PWA (Progressive Web App) solutions. The PWA works like an app, with following benefits: sending notifications, functioning without an Internet connection, creating an icon on desktop, constantly accompanying the customer, as well as increasing security and speeding up the service.

Implementation of the B2B eCommerce platform based on Shopware 6

Extensive B2B functions allow you to replicate the specifics of even the most complex business models in organizations focusing on B2B relationships. Creating an offer tailored to the specific B2B customer greatly accelerates the ordering process. Shopware 6 for B2B means:

• flexible management of offers adapted to a specific customer
• convenient management of roles and permissions to reproduce the decision-making process on the customer’s side
• Sales representatives: due to the fact that the B2B market is based on relations with customers, the system includes functionalities that allow quick customer service by the sales representative “in the field” and convenient contact between the customer and his account manager in the eCommerce platform environment.

Take advantage of a comprehensive service for the implementation of Shopware 6

The long-standing presence in the market and the open-source model give the Shopware platform excellent flexibility in adapting to business needs. The key to success is the experienced team responsible for the implementation. As a Shopware partner, we have the competence and many years of experience in implementing eCommerce systems.

As a Shopware Business Partner, our team is familiar with the specifics of the Shopware tool.

With over 10 years of experience in developing successful eCommerce solutions, we can guarantee the highest level of implementation – feel free to contact us!

Key features of B2B eCommerce platforms | What to look for in eCommerce software?

According to recent projections, eCommerce sales are to grow by over 14% only in the United States in 2022, reaching nearly $1.8 trillion. Retail sales are also projected to grow with an astonishing 16% rise in sales, crossing $1 trillion for the first time ever. If you’re running a B2B model company, now is the best time to make the switch from traditional commerce to B2B eCommerce.

To ensure a smooth and profitable transition, it’s extremely important to use an efficient B2B eCommerce platform to host your business. Technology is developing at an alarming rate – make sure you choose software that won’t become obsolete in a year, with proper functionality in place that guarantees scaling.

What exactly to look for in a B2B eCommerce system? There are so many variables it can get dizzying trying to keep up!

We’ve prepared this easy-to-read guide to the key features of B2B eCommerce platforms to help you get a better understanding of how such software works and what you should expect of it. Let’s delve in!

Key concepts of B2B eCommerce

How to work with business clients online? Before we begin our search for the most effective B2B eCommerce software, we need to first explore the subject of B2B eCommerce in itself. If you’re not yet familiar with online B2B commerce, here are some of the most important characteristics:

1. Prevalence of large-scale orders
   One of the most important features of B2B eCommerce, and B2B business models in general, is the so-called AOV – Average Order Value. In contrast to B2C, B2B clients tend to order a much larger volume of your product. Instead of selling one or two products to each client, B2B businesses often sell hundreds, if not thousands, of products to their buyers. On the other hand, B2B eCommerce features much fewer buyers than B2C, on average.
   
   
2. Building a relationship with your client
   Since you’ll be dealing with much fewer clients than a B2C eCommerce company would, you’re going to have to keep them returning somehow – building a good relationship between your company and your clients is a very significant aspect of B2B commerce. Keep in mind that more than one person may be involved in each purchase, and you want good relations with the brand – not only the representative.
   
   
3. Different purchasing methods to B2C
   The purchasing process is much more complex in B2B eCommerce than in B2C. Evaluation and negotiation are crucial parts of almost every B2B transaction, where in B2C they are virtually nonexistent. Remember that your customers won’t be mindless buyers, and you need to really show them why your business is the most optimal solution to their problems. There’s also a good chance they’ll be making repeat purchases regularly, making it worth it to keep each and every customer.
   
   
4. Cost-saving is often the utmost priority
   When working in the B2B sector, your clients are operating on a set budget – a budget that needs to be managed appropriately to limit excess spending. If you want to make it as a B2B eCommerce company, you need to offer your clients a better deal than your competitors. Keep in mind that this does not necessarily mean that your price needs to be directly lower, but instead that what you offer needs to match that price.
   

Now that we know a little about the main features of B2B eCommerce, let’s move onto the key characteristics of B2B eCommerce software that you need to be on the lookout for:

The main elements of B2B eCommerce systems: functions that stimulate business growth

When making a switch to eCommerce from traditional commerce, or founding a brand new eCommerce business, the choice of software is extremely important. Most companies decide to go with a ready-made software solution that fits their business needs, as building one from the ground up is a very time-consuming and resource-heavy task.

But what to look for in a B2B eCommerce software? What features will guarantee a smooth transition and allow you to maximize profits?

Here are some basic features that your B2B platform absolutely needs:

1. Restricted access and customer verification
   Security is the basis of B2B eCommerce – your clients want to make sure that their data is kept safe and confidential. They also want to avoid unauthorized access, as should you when running an eCommerce business. Customer verification by ID or other credentials should be necessary to gain access to your system.
   
   
2. Customized pricing plans
   While B2C platforms tend to feature a single price for each of their products or services, B2B systems offer flexible pricing to match the specific client. Depending on the quantity of products bought, as well as other factors, you can set up prices however you wish. Quantity discounts and set prices for specific product groups are the absolute essentials.
   
   
3. Credit management
   Making orders on credit is a common custom in B2B commerce – the same goes for its online equivalent. Some of your clients may want to pay for their order at a later date, but still need to receive the products as early as possible. Credit management allows such customers to receive a line of credit, up to the limit of which they can order products. You have full freedom in setting these limits: the bigger the client, the bigger the limit.
   
   
4. Pricing negotiation
   Depending on their order size and buying frequency, some clients might not feel like paying the full price every single time – and rightly so! The heart of the B2B model is negotiation, which is why a built-in negotiation functionality is key for B2B eCommerce systems.
   
   
5. Logistics management
   Can your client buy a pallet of products that’s only partially full? How many pallets can fit in a truck? Are they stackable or not? These questions are the bread and butter of B2B companies, and a good eCommerce platform for such companies should implement efficient and intuitive logistics management.
   
   
6. Customizable delivery methods
   Depending on the size and needs of your client’s company, they might order a smaller package that can be delivered by courier service – but what if they need an entire truckload of goods? Choosing the appropriate delivery method to each order is crucial for successful management, and it’s important for eCommerce systems to handle that functionality.
   
   
7. Order history
   Business clients want to keep a close eye on every process going on in their companies – including the details of each order, both past and present. By giving your client access to an expansive order history, you’re building their trust and keeping their reservations at bay. It’s also an easy way of tracking inventory for your clients, letting them know when to repeat their order.
   
   
8. Dashboard
   Good B2B eCommerce system won’t waste your time with deeply-hidden statistics and basic functionalities – instead, a proper dashboard will contain all of the most commonly used features, giving you quick access to the latest orders, popular products, saved orders, and so on. Even better – some platforms give you the option to customize your dashboard to make it suit your needs better!

There’s quite a number of these functionalities – and they are only the most basic ones, which should only be natural for every B2B eCommerce system to implement. However, if you’re looking for a business-class experience, choosing a premium platform might be more beneficial.

Unique features that’ll take your B2B eCommerce to the next level!

Apart from the standard features, there’s a variety of extra features that companies implement when creating proprietary B2B eCommerce systems. Some of these features are:

1. A detailed demo
   Many B2B companies who are new to the eCommerce model of doing business are not familiar with the technicalities and how to operate such a complicated system. For them, an introductory demo would be extremely useful, showing them in an approachable way how to operate the software in an effective way.
   
   
2. Order fulfillment checklist
   Managing each order individually can get confusing, especially if you’re dealing with a large number of orders every day. Instead, an order fulfillment checklist can make the whole process easier, giving you digital tools that make the whole process quicker and more fool-proof.
   
   
3. Advanced search engine
   If you want your potential clients to land orders, they need to be able to find the products they want – without the endless searching and trying to somehow find what they’re looking for. An advanced search engine should implement searching not only by product name, but also product code and even its fragments. Whether your client knows what they’re looking for or not, your search engine should help them find it.
   
   
4. Delivery scheduling tools
   Business clients often need a very precise delivery date set up, down to the hour the products are going to arrive. For that, your order needs to be prepared in a timely manner and scheduled for delivery ahead of time. Proper scheduling tools make that a lot easier – and cheaper – to handle.
   
   
5. Private assistant / Panic button!
   In B2B eCommerce, the individual approach is extremely important. Assigning a designated sales rep to each client gives them comfort and easy access to guidance in case of problems or questions. A premium eCommerce platform can implement sales rep contact as part of its functionality, making the whole process streamlined and easy for your clients.
   
   
6. Recommended products / market insights
   With smart predictions based on your client’s search and purchase history, a professional B2B eCommerce system will provide recommended products for each of your clients individually. This gives you easy access to cross-selling, boosting your revenue and satisfying client needs at the same time.
   
   
7. Importing an order from a file
   Considering that B2B sales are often associated with orders for a large number of goods, customers may appreciate the possibility of importing an order from files they work on.
   
   

These – and more – are the features of a well-designed B2B eCommerce platform. When searching for software to use, look for ones with such features in store – here you can find the ones designed by ORBA.

We have over 10 years of experience in the professional design and deployment of complex B2B eCommerce systems. Depending on your business needs, we’ll provide you with a personalized platform that’ll more than do the job –

contact us for more details!

Lingaro Group finalized its acquisition of eBusiness Institute (eBI)!

Last November 30, Lingaro Group, a multinational data and analytics company, finalized its acquisition of eBusiness Institute (eBI), a digital commerce advisory and content creation firm based in Switzerland.

In 2018, Lingaro incorporated Orba, an e-commerce software development firm specializing in digital store solutions. Lingaro’s acquisition of eBI is the next step in Lingaro’s long-term strategy for building a next-generation marketing analytics solution for Fortune 500 companies and other global organizations.

eBI’s services and top-notch digital marketing and sales professionals will boost Lingaro’s marketing intelligence capabilities aimed at helping enterprises distill business requirements for developing advanced marketing solutions, make technology-enabled recommendations, create marketing innovations, and derive greater value from their marketing investments.

A recent Gartner research showed that 80% of marketing executives are not satisfied with the implementation of their current marketing innovations, citing the lack of technology support and professional guidance to build performance-driven solutions. Lingaro and eBI’s combined expertise and capabilities bridge this gap.

Founded in 2013, eBI provides a broad range of end-to-end e-commerce and marketing technology services for leading global brands in the consumer goods, pharmaceutical, mass luxury, and consumer electronics industries. With the acquisition, Luigi Matrone will stay on as eBI’s CEO and join Lingaro Group’s extended leadership team.

eBI joining forces with Lingaro reflects an innovation-driven marketing technology that meets first-class digital marketing strategy. We are grateful to everyone who was involved in this process, especially to eBI’s leadership for their outstanding support at every step. As we continue to expand our offerings to better serve our customers’ technology and business needs, this acquisition has taken our data-driven professional service capabilities to the next level.

Contact our experts to learn more about how Lingaro can help accelerate the digital transformation of the business’s marketing and sales capabilities. Learn more about eBI through their website: https://ebusinessinstitute.com/

10 ideas to boost your BLACK FRIDAY eCommerce marketing strategy!

Because of the ongoing pandemic, to a large extent, digital shopping is taking over offline sales at an extremely rapid rate. According to studies, eCommerce sales in the United States increased from ~16% to ~20% between 2019 and 2020, compared to an only 1,5% difference between 2018 and 2019.

To make the most out of the Black Friday season and maximize your eCommerce profits, you need a proper plan. Building the right strategy for Black Friday is the key to success, saving you the headache of brainstorming and implementing ideas at the last moment. It is also an exceptional moment to introduce a digital aspect to your brick and mortar store, which is only a small investment compared to the potential increase in sales!

Black Friday eCommerce strategy | Marketing tips

However, how exactly do you prepare a Black Friday eCommerce strategy? What are the best ideas to increase your revenue and help your company grow? To help you answer those questions, we have prepared this guide of the 10 best ideas to build your eCommerce strategy for the Black Friday season!

Step 1: Start with the basics – setting up your platform, advertising, and UX

Let’s start with the fundamentals – if you have no clue what to do to prepare your eCommerce business for the upcoming Black Friday shopping rage, these ideas will be perfect to begin with.

• Consider your business approach when setting up an eCommerce platform

Whether your company specializes in B2B or B2C products/services matters significantly when launching an eCommerce platform. The two types of clients each have their own buying behaviors that need to be considered and often look for distinct features first.

B2B eCommerce platforms might prefer a more streamlined design, while B2C platforms can benefit from visible customer reviews and transparent product highlights.

• Expand your advertising channels

Are you utilizing your social media channels optimally when reaching customers? Going deep with your target research might bring you valuable information on how to better target your Facebook and Instagram ads, so make sure you do it right – or get a team of experienced analysts to do it for you!

You can also think about diversifying your outreach channels – transferring some of your advertising budget into paid advertisements might pay out in the future, as statistics show it is one of the most effective ways of reaching new customers, especially close to Black Friday.

• Perform a thorough UX analysis

Are your customers suddenly leaving your website in the middle of the buying process and you can’t figure out why? It just might be an UX flaw that’s turning your clients away!

Conducting a deep UX analysis will give you valuable insight into how your eCommerce platform performs from the user’s point of view. Taking action appropriate to the results is the key to guaranteeing a smooth user experience and is one of the best eCommerce marketing ideas for you to implement.

Step 2: consider branching out your eCommerce marketing strategy efforts | Remarketing, SEO, and ERPs

Now we’re getting into details – if you haven’t looked at these when devising your eCommerce marketing strategy, it is the best time to do so if you want solid results for Black Friday!

• Try out Remarketing

Returning clients can be just as important as new ones – even more so for B2B businesses! With an ever-increasing saturation of varying client types, clinging on to your customer base is the key to increasing sales. Remarketing is a feature of Google Ads that will allow you to retain more clients after Black Friday ends, in a simple and easy way.

• Search Engine Optimization – boost your visibility

SEO has been proven times and times again to be an effective tool in increasing website outreach, and through this boosting revenue. Google’s algorithms are getting more and more sophisticated with every update, so making sure your SEO features fit in organically with the content is a fool-proof approach to positioning.

• A one-in-all solution to business management with ERPs

Making sure your eCommerce platform works without hicks and allows scalability are the keys to growth. An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is an extensive software, which when properly integrated with your eCommerce platform, gives you an easy way to manage all vital processes of your company using a unified system. Proper ERP integration is crucial to making sure every piece fits together in a perfect harmony.

Step 3: specific tools to use – specialized copy, newsletters, and automation

Here, we want to give you some specific ideas to implement in your eCommerce marketing strategy for Black Friday, which can immediately improve your turnover for the upcoming holidays.

• Publish Black Friday oriented copy

Taking advantage of your content is crucial to reaching out more customers before, during, and after Black Friday. Think about publishing posts, stories, or articles that are relevant to the Black Friday shopping spree – sharing shopping tips and best deals are great ways of reaching out to customers.

• Implement newsletter segmentation

As research shows, it is much more effective to send out personalized newsletters to each segment of your audience, instead of just bombarding them all with the same emails. This way, you’ll be able to meet the specific needs of each customer segment and actually get through to them instead of just annoying them.

• Increase order values with automated rewards

Loyalty rewards are a classic strategy for increasing retention rate and purchase frequency. Giving your customers automatic access to these rewards during checkout has been shown to increase order values – after all, clients prefer such simple solutions to browsing the Internet in search of coupon codes for hours.

Black Friday eCommerce marketing strategy – final thoughts | Always keep experimenting!

The best way of staying ahead of your competition is constant experimentation – never stop developing new ideas and trying them out, as it will give you a wider perspective on which strategies are effective.

Now that you know how to prepare an effective Black Friday eCommerce marketing strategy, nothing is stopping you from maximizing your sales for the holiday season. However, if you need a pair of extra hands to bring your online store to the next level, contact us at ORBA – we help clients with everything eCommerce related, from UX design, eCommerce development and implementation, to service & maintenance!

ORBA is among the top 7% of elite eCommerce development teams!

At ORBA, for a long time, we have been looking for a way to show to the world how much we have achieved in terms of the satisfaction of our clients, but also of the well-being of our internal team. Now, after passing Pangea verification, we can communicate through our Pangea.ai profile.

Our way to celebrate participation in the Pangea community

We approached the participation in the Pangea.ai verification process twice. Pangea analyzed our TeamVibe, contacted our Clients directly, and also researched our internal policies, documents, financials, etc. During the first iteration, we received lots of valuable information, plus a list of areas to improve. We are happy to say that we took them to heart and implemented actions that helped us succeed in the verification process to become part of an elite group of IT companies. Also, we are very happy to learn that the work we focused on last year: our values, communication, practices & project reporting have not gone unnoticed. Now, good practices in these elements are the foundation of our company.

The most important discovery and knowledge

The part of the audit concerning the health condition of our team brought us the most joy. We managed to achieve a result of 8.4, which is higher than the statistical average for the companies that are members of the Pangea program. Over 77% of our team members took part in the survey, so the result is very satisfying for us.

We know that the effectiveness of ORBA is determined by the members of our team, so we are very happy that our team members are satisfied with their work at ORBA. Friendly relationships are significant, but we have also found areas that we can manage even better in the future. It concerns, among others, the area of feedback & recognition.

We know how important the flow of information is. We intend to focus on the “1 on 1” meeting format to ensure that we are able to listen to our team members and convey our appreciation on an ongoing basis for their commitment and more.

“We meet regularly with our team members and discuss topics related to their personal and professional development. The goal is team satisfaction, which translates into the quality of our work and, as a result, the satisfaction of our clients.” – Julia Szczepankowska, Head of HR Department in Orba.

“Among the top 7% eCommerce development companies”

We can already feel the effects of such actions: our customer satisfaction survey by Pangea gave us a score of 8.6/10, including 10/10 in our key “project management” section. Such amazing results would not be possible without the excellent team and the involvement we put into working with our clients.

We have been in the industry for many years. We walked the path from a small software house to a company that is part of a large IT group and organization that successfully carries out tasks for the largest, including Fortune 500 companies. Our team has grown (ORBA has almost 100 qualified specialists); therefore we are able to efficiently carry out large, extensive eCommerce implementations. This allows us to enjoy the recognition of our clients:

“The cooperation between our companies has been positive, without any hiccups. Our experience of working with ORBA can confirm that they are a trustworthy partner.” – Arkadiusz Luciński, CEO LPP

We are calmly looking into the future

We are very happy that we managed to join the elite group of 7% top eCommerce development companies. It is a significant step for us, confirming how much we have achieved. It also means that we are on a good course. We still intend to improve ourselves, our processes, and the level with which we carry out tasks assigned to us by our clients.

Our success is the ability to attract the best talents and establish cooperation with clients for whom our values and work culture are important. Relationships based on mutual trust help you achieve the highest business goals.

Achieving high scores in the Pangea audit is part of the process. The goal is to continuously develop and improve in the elements that will make us leaders in the rapidly changing world of IT technology. It is the best we can do to ensure the satisfaction of our customers.

New Strategic Advisor for ORBA – Andy Walter

As of September 2018, ORBA is a member of the Lingaro Group, a digital transformation and data analytics partner to Fortune Global 500 enterprises. Accordingly, Lingaro Group leadership has extended Strategic Advisor Andy Walter’s responsibilities to include guiding ORBA’s continued growth.

ORBA, a top e-commerce expert, continues to strengthen its position in American markets. The company is pleased to announce its best year since its founding in 2010. In 2018, ORBA’s year-on-year revenue and headcount growth of 70% and 50%, respectively, are both results of an ongoing commitment to meeting and anticipating clients’ evolving requirements in the fast-moving, strategically important world of online sales

From its North American headquarters in Cincinnati, ORBA provides top brands like Strauss Coffee, Microsoft, and Chicago Steak Company with innovative B2B and B2C e-commerce platforms that scale with the growing strategic importance of web sales and incorporate the best emerging technologies that actually support day-to-day business.

As of September 2018, ORBA is a member of the Lingaro Group, a digital transformation and data analytics partner to Fortune Global 500 enterprises. Accordingly, Lingaro Group leadership has extended Strategic Advisor Andy Walter’s responsibilities to include guiding ORBA’s continued growth.

“Today’s customers want to buy online, so it is no surprise leading North American enterprises need to get their online sales right. But this is uncharted territory for many of them. ORBA has the proven ability to understand where customers want to go with e-commerce and the technical capabilities to get them there. It’s a great team that I’m excited to be working with” said Walter.

Learn about our Values

Get to know the ORBA core!

satisfaction²

A satisfied customer and a team of their work. We act in such a way that the satisfaction from the project is shared by both parties.

What it means in practice?

If we feel the solution we provide is enough for us – it will be enough for our customers. Make sure that you are proud of what you deliver.

proactivity

Can you see the need for change? Share your idea with us and help us implement the change.

What it means in practice?

Our company is made of a lot of people. Each and everyone can help us grow – if you see room for improvement, not only tell us about the change needed – lead the change!

cooperation

Share both challenges and successes! Inspire, help, build trust and develop together with your team!

What it means in practice?

Don’t break into open doors. Learn from the team, share experience & know-how. If one person in the company knows how to solve an issue – everybody should.

openness

We take your feedback into account. We are always here to talk to you – share your thoughts with us.

What it means in practice?

There are no closed doors. If you need to tell us something – we are here for you, from the CEO to the janitor. Find the person you feel can help you best & share your thoughts.

e-volution

Continously search for and implement innovations. Improve your skills and develop your company together with us – become part of the e-volution!

What it means in practice?

In 2017 we were one of the first companies implementing Headless. In 2018, we drive the innovation by adding CI/CD. In 2019 we are opening to ReactJS & finalizing our fourth PWA implementation – lead the change!