The Client
Bulmers is the clear market leader in both the take home and on trade cider markets, with Strongbow firmly established within the top 10 highest selling long alcoholic drinks.
The portfolio also included Woodpecker, Scrumpy Jack, White Lightning, a thriving premium packaged beer distribution business and some exciting and innovative new products including Sidekick, a flavoured 'shots' style drink.
The acquisition in April 2000 of The Beer Seller (drinks wholesaler) significantly enhanced the UK business by providing direct access to the on trade.
The Need for QEB’s bespoke extranet development
The client wanted to improve customer service and promote customer loyalty through the deployment of an extranet for customers called ‘InCider Trading’.
The Solution
QEB Solutions deployed their enterprise portal framework, and set to work developing integrated modules for Bulmers ERP applications. The solution integrated into the Bulmers order entry, delivery, invoicing and accounts receivable systems.
Features
The features included:
- On-line order placement including real-time credit checking
- Customer specific product catalogs and pricing
- Discounting mechnisms for 2 for 1, multi-trades, % discounts and more
- Submission of orders to the despatch system
- Order tracking from placement, to picking, despatch, invoicing and payment
- Email confirmation of order activity including placement, despatch and invoicing
- Access to account status, balance and credit levels
- On-line access to orders history
- Access to product information including brand images and marketing collateral , everything from logos to actual labels (to enable resale of products by clients)
The Benefits
- Bulmers employees benefited from this centralised source of customer facing information
- Improved customer relationships and increased loyalty
- Lower communication costs
- Increased collaboration
- Reduced storage and network costs
- Increased employee productivity