Partner Article

Wolseley grows ecommerce share of sales to 10% with Black Pepper Software

Wolseley, an international distributor of heating and plumbing products, has enhanced its digital services and grown its ecommerce share of sales to 10% in eight months, thanks to a website application from Black Pepper Software, a leading agile software development provider.

With over 700 branches in the UK across its brands, including Plumb Centre, Parts Centre, Pipe Centre, Climate Centre, Drain Centre and Burdens, serving professionals in the trade industry, Wolseley also operates an online platform, its eBusiness service.

The eBusiness service allows customers to order from a catalogue of over 400,000 products online as well as using a variety of product selection and account management tools – from setting up automated ordering, to delivery preferences and invoicing.

Whilst the online service was available, many customers, who were accustomed to transacting in traditional ways, such as going into branch or placing orders on the phone, weren’t aware of the benefits of using the service. Wolseley wanted to raise awareness amongst its customers of the business case of them using the eBusiness function.

Working with Black Pepper, Wolseley created a web application for the eBusiness offering which would engage its customers through an enhanced User Experience (UX). The app, which was built and ready for user acceptance testing and feedback after just a few months, meant Wolseley could promote the benefits of the eBusiness services. In just eight months, Wolseley’s eBusiness share of sales grew to 10%.

George Brickwood, Head of eBusiness Sales at Wolseley, commented: “We chose to work with Black Pepper because of its UX expertise. Black Pepper’s agile development expertise led to fast, dependable and affordable software and we were listened to and understood at every stage. The result was a web application that was polished, reliable, on-brand and highly engaging.”

Chris Lilley, Director at Black Pepper Software, commented: “When developing the UX and customer experience, it’s imperative that businesses take a long-term view, as opposed to just focusing on what consumers need today. To truly innovate around the connected customer, businesses need the technical flexibility that agile software development can provide, to quickly and efficiently create rich multichannel and personalised customer experiences.”

“It was great to work with Wolseley and find a technology solution that would provide customers with real benefits that would increase their bottom line and help them begin their journey into digital transformation,” he concluded.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Josie Byrne .