COLONS Digitizes the Online Buying Journey to Deliver a Streamlined Experience for B2B Customers
stocked items
listed items
Improved
Summary
Reinventing B2B for the modern HVAC buyer
Thanks to a long history in sanitary and HVAC (heating, plumbing, and cooling), the Pietsch Group has always been attuned to significant industry shifts in buyer preferences. So when they noticed an increasing demand for more B2C-style buying experiences in the B2B shop environment, they capitalized on the moment by launching COLONS. Leveraging the power of Pietsch Group processes and data with the efficiency of an online buying journey, COLONS was designed to provide maximum convenience and significant time savings for HVAC specialists.
A tradition of trust-building, a future of innovation
COLONS is a B2B sanitary and HVAC wholesaler, selling exclusively to sanitary and HVAC specialists. Headquartered in Ahaus, Germany, they offer an extensive inventory of over 50,000 stocked items and a catalog featuring more than 329,000 listed items that can be shipped across Europe. With 77 years of experience in traditional specialist wholesale operations under the Pietsch Group, they are living up to a legacy of industry leadership by standing at the forefront of HVAC's digital transformation.
Industry: Sanitary & HVAC Wholesale
Headquarter: Germany
Business Model: B2B Commerce
Challenge
Shortening the path from product discovery to purchase
Today’s B2B customers are increasingly looking for more efficient and uncomplicated procurement processes. This directly conflicts with the historically long and tedious account set-up that’s typically required along the HVAC buying journey. That’s why COLONS set out to significantly shorten the procurement cycle by launching an online store with unique features that speed up the purchase process, including empowering customers to browse their extensive collection of products before requesting an account.
To achieve their vision, COLONS required a digital commerce platform capable of simplifying a complicated buying process that could handle large amounts of product data, enable B2B features that would set them apart from their competitors, and make it easy to extend their reach into new markets. They also grappled with the intricacies of integrating legacy systems and processes with new ones—and so sought out a solution that offered seamless integrations to connect existing enterprise systems with innovative third-party solutions.
Solution
Bridging legacy systems with future-ready commerce capabilities
COLONS partnered with Spryker and valantic to build an online shop with the flexibility needed to simplify the procurement process and expand their business across Europe. Seamless integration with existing systems enables COLONS to leverage real-time pricing and up-to-date product data from the Pietsch Group without sacrificing innovation or any essential B2B functionalities. Enabling orders to be completed with just one click, the solution is designed not just to digitize the buying journey—but to make it radically faster, easier, and more intuitive for their customers.
“We chose Spryker because, from a technological perspective, it is very well-suited to handle the huge amount of data we have and the weekly imports we do with its efficient publish and sync process. The very stable search feature is a big plus, too.”
Result
HVAC procurement simplified
With Spryker, COLONS significantly improved Time-to-Purchase, which has made a positive impact on customer satisfaction.
Top features of their digital commerce include:
Self-Service Portal: Gives customers access to a wide range of self-service features, including role and rights management, order templates, individual budget limits, sales and order overviews, credit lines, and more.
AI-powered search: Leverages ElasticSearch plus Qdrant's AI-powered vector search functionality to significantly improve product discovery by automatically accounting for synonyms, unit conversions, and technical shorthand.
Multiple-cart management: Allows for the separation and management of multiple shopping carts and orders for companies with complex organizational structures.
Payment methods with live credit check: Automates the account purchase process and provides a clear overview of account credit limit at all times.