Swiss steel trader cuts manual work, boosts orders 20% with unified B2B/B2C platform

Challenge

HANS KOHLER AG, Switzerland's number one stainless steel supplier, faced a critical digital transformation challenge. Their existing commerce platform was severely outdated, slow, and heavily dependent on manual processes. Customers were still placing orders via phone, email, and even fax, creating inefficiencies throughout the organization.

The steel trading industry demands complex pricing structures with customer-specific rates, quantity-based pricing across different units, and configurable products like cuttable pipes with custom specifications. Their legacy system couldn't handle these requirements effectively, forcing staff to manage pricing and orders manually. This created bottlenecks, increased error rates, and limited their ability to serve both B2B and B2C customers efficiently through a single platform.

Solution

Working with digital agency Liip, HANS KOHLER AG implemented a comprehensive headless commerce platform built on our foundation. The 20-month project involved a 14-person team including developers, architects, and UX designers who created a unified solution serving both business and consumer customers.

The new platform leverages our flexible architecture to handle complex steel industry requirements. Custom pricing strategies manage customer-specific rates and quantity-based pricing, while configurable product features allow customers to specify exact cuts for pipes, including length, type, and specific angles. Our promotion system handles custom discount types, and a unique multi-cart feature lets B2B customers manage multiple orders simultaneously.

The solution integrates seamlessly with Dynamics 365 ERP for automated product, pricing, and customer data synchronization. Additional integrations include DatoCMS for content management, Payrexx for payments, and SAP Ariba for B2B procurement workflows.

Results

The transformation delivered immediate operational improvements and customer satisfaction gains. Daily orders increased by 15-20% as customers migrated from phone and email ordering to the intuitive self-service platform. The seamless ERP integration eliminated manual data entry, reducing errors and freeing internal resources for higher-value activities.

Customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with even large-volume buyers finding the platform easy and efficient to use. The unified B2B/B2C experience streamlined operations while maintaining the specialized features each customer segment requires.

The rich extensibility of Vendure made it possible to implement all the business requirements of our customer. This flexibility allows developers to create highly customized and sophisticated e-commerce solutions

"The rich extensibility of Vendure made it possible to implement all the business requirements of our customer. This flexibility allows developers to create highly customized and sophisticated e-commerce solutions," said Jürg Hunziker, Full Stack Developer at Liip.

Why it matters

This case demonstrates how traditional industries can modernize complex commerce operations without sacrificing specialized functionality. The steel trading industry's unique requirements—from configurable products to intricate pricing structures—were fully addressed through our extensible architecture, proving that headless commerce can handle even the most demanding B2B scenarios while serving consumer customers through the same platform.

Ready to modernize your industrial commerce operations? Contact us to discover how our headless commerce platform can transform your business processes while maintaining the specialized features your industry demands.