In 2018 brick and mortar retailer Phoon Huat opened its doors to the online world. Eventually, the company solidified its commitment to online commerce with the launch of RedManShop.com in early 2020 in a bid to make baking supplies more accessible to customers during the lockdown.
At the time, the existing platform provided mostly basic functionality for e-commerce like creating accounts and making orders.
Lee Shing Lam, Head of eCommerce at Phoon Huat, noted that customers commented that the search function and the limitation in merchandising functions made it very difficult for them to find products that they want.
The challenge(s)
Lee noted that one challenge was how to manage the product range the company was carrying online.
“This led us to look for a scalable and sustainable platform to support its expansion. At the same time, we also sought to improve the services and customer experience on its online store,” he added.
With MuleSoft integrating with Phoon Huat's core ERP solution - SAP, it allows products and product information to flow seamlessly into Salesforce Commerce Cloud. The process empowers its employees to integrate data and innovate at scale.
"It allows us a high degree of freedom to perform merchandising through sorting rule, search refinement and categorisation. In addition, we utilised Search Dictionary and Bucket Values to maximise the searchability of our products," added Lee.
A better way to engage customers
To maintain customer trust and satisfaction, Phoon Huat selected Salesforce Service Cloud to help its customer service team with a new, digitised omnichannel approach to engage with its customers as it expands the business across the SEA region.
Phoon Huat used MuleSoft to create a seamless experience across its eCommerce platform. With MuleSoft, Phoon Huat can easily integrate and unify data across its entire eCommerce experience, including RedManShop customers, while empowering its employees to integrate data and innovate at scale.
Phoon Huat CEO Shuichi Sato reiterated the company’s commitment to delivering a better online shopping experience for its customers. In addition to investing in a new software platform, the company has expanded its digital transformation team, improved warehouse layout and procedures, and invested in its logistics fleet.
For Phoon Huat these enhancements include:
● A search engine that allows customers to search for products faster & easier
● Mobile-friendly user interface
● Personalised shopping experiences, enabled with machine learning capabilities
● Delivery tracking through email and order status updates via the website.
Cecily Ng, AVP and GM of Salesforce Singapore, says companies like Phoon Huat are using the pandemic as an opportunity to reinvent themselves and capture more customers.
