How Parsia answered a competitor’s web shop in eight weeks
A B2B aftermarket supplier of photocopier toner and consumables was losing sales to an online competitor, and needed a store that would not mean re-entering every order.
Last updated:
- 8 weeks from start to finish
- 24/7 ordering for customers
- Minutes from order to picked and packed
- 1986 supplying photocopier engineers since
Inside Parsia International.
Parsia International is a business-to-business aftermarket supplier of photocopier toner, consumables and cleaning products. Established in 1986, they have built a strong customer base offering generic toners and parts to photocopier service engineers across the UK.
- Sector
- B2B aftermarket supply
- Established
- 1986
- Customers
- Photocopier service engineers, UK-wide
- Market
- Price-sensitive, convenience-driven
A competitor went online, and sales moved.
Phone and fax ordering was being replaced by the web, and customers expect the same service at any hour.
In a competitive marketplace where price sensitivity is matched by the need for convenience and flexibility, traditional phone or fax ordering was being replaced by online orders. A key competitor had recently invested in an online shop, and Parsia was beginning to see the impact on sales.
The photocopier aftermarket is dominated by several large firms but also has many small business owners looking for the convenience of a one-stop shop — and for vendors who provide the same level of service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- A competitor’s online shop already taking share.
- Customers expecting to order outside office hours.
- A product range that is hard to search without good filters.
- No appetite for a store that meant re-entering orders into the back office.
A store wired into the back office.
Eight weeks, with finance, operations and sales all in the room.
Financial Director Mark Cody sets out the requirement plainly: “The DataFlow solution was simply the best option for us. We wanted a solution that integrated with the rest of our systems and wouldn’t require us to re-enter order information.”
To simplify product search, DataFlow created filters allowing users to search by manufacturer, product type, product code and description. Customer pricing matrices were included, automatic carriage costs were integrated based on package weight, and accounts with no credit facility were connected automatically into SagePay for card payments.
“The entire project took just 8 weeks from start to finish, which included engagement with a range of stakeholders — finance, operations and sales — to ensure the solution added value across the organisation,” says Mark. “Throughout the process, DataFlow made pro-active recommendations and delivered some functions that we hadn’t even thought of.”
- Search filters by manufacturer, product type, product code and description.
- Customer pricing matrices applied per account.
- Automatic carriage costs calculated on package weight.
- SagePay card payments for accounts without a credit facility.
- Order history retained, so repeat orders are duplicated at a click.
- User profiles giving each customer their own catalogue and pricing.
Order processing that runs itself.
Orders placed online pass to the back office, and stock updates without anyone touching it.
“Order processing has become much more efficient,” says Mark Cody. “Customers place an order online and all the data is passed seamlessly to the back office. Stock levels are updated automatically and orders are picked, packed and ready for delivery within minutes.”
The single set of master data underneath matters as much as the shop front: stock control, order processing and sales and purchase invoicing all read from it, and management reports can be run against any of it. Because the site reads live stock, items removed or placed on hold in the warehouse stop appearing as available — and special-packaging items can be excluded from the catalogue entirely.
| Outcome | Before DataFlow | With DataFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Ordering channel | Phone and fax, office hours | Online, 24/7 |
| Order entry | Re-keyed into the back office | Passed through automatically |
| Stock on the website | Risk of selling held stock | Live levels, holds respected |
| Repeat orders | Rebuilt each time | Duplicated from order history at a click |
| Carriage and pricing | Applied manually | Weight-based carriage and per-customer matrices |
The team at DataFlow are outstanding. Their support team is very responsive; not only are they technically excellent but they also have a lot of commercial awareness.
What Parsia run.
A web shop reading the same master data as the ledgers behind it.
Losing orders to a competitor’s web shop?
- No sales pitch
- 30 minutes
- We’ll ask about your business first
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