How BOC renewed its e-commerce base with the help of Latori and is preparing for the future

The BIKE & OUTDOOR COMPANY GmbH & Co. KG, B.O.C. for short, was founded in Hamburg in 1999 and specializes in the sale of bicycles and accessories. In addition to 41 stores in Germany, the company operates two successful online stores, boc24.de and bicycles.de.

The result already shows that the migration to Shopify Plus was worth it:

The challenge: Why B.O.C. wanted to switch

The switch to Shopify Plus was made because B.O.C. was not satisfied with its e-commerce solution at the time. It made work difficult and did not provide a flexible basis for B.O.C.'s growth plans. In addition, there were technical weaknesses that reduced the customer's shopping experience. For this reason, B.O.C. decided to work with Latori on a new e-commerce solution.

Project Highlights at a glance

For B.O.C., Latori was able to tackle a number of challenges. You can find more details on our reference page for the B.O.C. Shopify project. These were our project highlights for which we were happy to provide support:

• Migration of two stores

• Omnichannel: Integration of 40 stores

• Synchronization of complex product and inventory data

• Specialized functionalities through best-of-breed approach

The solution: Why Shopify was chosen

B.O.C decided to look for a new e-commerce solution and migrate the existing online store to a SaaS solution in the process. Since some of the team already had experience with Shopify, the decision was quickly made in favor of Shopify Plus. In addition, Shopify offers the ability to implement requirements quickly and also provides a technical developer platform to take a best-of-breed approach. After a kick-off meeting, Latori was chosen because our team is very familiar with complex migrations, implementations, and custom developments and could therefore support this project as an optimal partner.

Project procedure

A new system was to offer customers an inspiring shopping experience. For this, an intelligent search, product filters, a customer loyalty program and special functions such as the frame height calculator were planned and implemented. At the beginning, the less complex store bicycles.de was migrated. Subsequently, the migration of the large store boc24.de also followed on the basis of this experience.

To be able to efficiently implement B.O.C's wishes, we opted for a hybrid approach that involved using Shopify's out-of-the-box features. These were then extended with third-party and high-value apps.

Shopify Flow, an automation tool from Shopify, was used to automate repetitive processes. This tool was used to publish products from a certain inventory level, but also to send additional emails when products of a certain category were added to the cart.

In addition we used Shopify Scripts to integrate business logics into the shopping cart.

Third-party providers were integrated into both stores to provide more flexibility in certain areas. Klevu, for example, now handles the item search. A content management system was also connected to integrate static content such as service offers or descriptions of the stores.

In-house developments - an important part of e-commerce

In-house developments are essential for business-relevant processes. At B.O.C, they were used to exchange product data, fulfillment messages, and update inventory. For the systemic integration of Shopify we have programmed a Shopify App.

The Design

The Shopify themes are used in both stores and were adapted to the layout specifications of B.O.C.. They ensure a pleasant shopping experience for customers and are displayed correctly on all devices. B.O.C has chosen the Dawn theme for the theme selection. This was adapted to the company's colors and typography. The checkout was also adapted to clearly display the click-and-collect service.

The Result

The success of the migration and the omnichannel connection between stores and online stores bore fruit after only a short time. Nils Dehn, e-commerce project manager at B.O.C. had the following to say about it:

"By converting the store system, we have a monthly cost savings of up to 60% compared to the store solution we were using before."

Thanks to the high degree of automation offered by Shopify, he and his e-commerce team significantly increased productivity and achieved rapid success in the process. 

But it's not just B.O.C's internal employees who can work faster and more independently after the migration; customers now also find it easier to navigate the online store. As a result, customer satisfaction increased noticeably in a very short time. 

Both of B.O.C's online stores are now optimally prepared for the future and for further growth. Thanks to the continued cooperation within the framework of maintenance contracts, we will continue to support B.O.C with advice and assistance in the future.

The SaaS solution of the stores will be continuously maintained and further developed. This will allow the company to focus more on consulting and marketing in the future without investing a lot of time and effort in maintaining the platforms.

Plans for the future include both the expansion of the stores and the extension of the range of stores. In addition, a perfect shopping experience for customers is to be created by linking online and offline.