The Challenge
Despite the impact of the pandemic and the challenges across the industry, leading timber company Premier Forest Products are going from strength to strength.
To capitalise on their success, the company wanted to boost direct sales of timber through their sawmill outlet store, Mill Timber Direct. To do this, they wanted to create an online website for both the trade and the public.
The company already used Epicor BisTrack, a powerful ERP management software specifically designed for the timber and building materials business. They approached Epicor first, to advise about an eCommerce solution that could also integrate with BisTrack.
A core requirement was to integrate an eCommerce platform into their existing ERP. This would remove any need to manually process orders. It would also reduce processing errors and provide order and payment history for customers.
It was vital that any eCommerce solution would be able to grow, flex and scale with their business.
Joanne Stark, Marketing Manager at Premier Forest Products
The Business
Premier Forest Products are one of the top timber companies in the country. For over 25 years they’ve been involved in the importation, distribution, sawmilling and wholesale processing of timber and timber products.
In 2016, they set up their sawmill outlet shop, Mill Timber Direct for trade and the public.
Located in Croespenmaen, near Crumlin in South Wales, the shop supplies a wide range of high-quality timberland general building materials.
Despite being in a highly competitive marketplace, Mill Timber Direct has built a solid reputation with the public and tradespeople across Wales.
Creating a scalable customer-focused eCommerce solution with ECC and Magento
Our Approach
Epicor recommended Yoma as their chosen UK partner for eCommerce development as we have extensive experience with Magento sites and knowledge of integrating using Epicor Commerce Connect (ECC) with BisTrack.
The brief was to create an eCommerce platform that seamlessly integrated with BisTrack and provided a great customer experience.
Our team kicked off the project in November 2020, with requirements gathering sessions to verify the goals and outcomes of the project.
This was followed by a UX Workshop to help to understand the client’s requirements and that of their customers.
Personalisation was a key requirement of the eCommerce platform and making it easier for customers to search and save items. Magento’s endlessly customisable features made it the perfect choice for Mill Timber Direct’s site and give the company the tailored customer sales experience they wanted
Yoma used Epicor Commerce Connect (ECC) to combine Bistrack with a newly designed Magento website. With Magento’s multiple modules, we were able to create a site that not only matched their customer’s journey but also fit in with their existing business systems.
Magento features used for Mill Timber Direct:
- Order History
- Payment History
- Customer Accounts
- Dynamic Pricing
The final Mill Timber Direct site was successfully launched in mid-June 2021.
The Results
By integrating BisTrack through ECC with Mill Timber Direct’s new Magento site, Yoma was able to deliver a seamless eCommerce solution.
I don’t think there’s anything I asked for that couldn’t be done. With the number of Magento modules, coupled with Yoma’s experience we know that we have a very scalable solution.”
Joanne Stark, Marketing Manager at Premier Forest Products
Since the deployment, the company is already thinking up ways in which to personalise the site further and make it even easier for customers to browse the site.
To find out more about Magento, Epicor ECC and growing your eCommerce business, just get in contact.
“Yoma has such breadth of experience and knowledge, not just in the actual physical development of eCommerce sites, but also in their aftercare support and digital marketing. Now, with a brand new URL, Yoma is also supporting us with our SEO and Google Ads to improve our rankings.”
“Yoma has such breadth of experience and knowledge, not just in the actual physical development of eCommerce sites, but also in their aftercare support and digital marketing. Now, with a brand new URL, Yoma is also supporting us with our SEO and Google Ads to improve our rankings.”
Joanne Stark – Marketing Manager Premier Forest Products
