Blue Tomato makes global expansion a breeze, using hybris electronic catalogue

Blue Tomato makes global expansion a breeze, using hybris electronic catalogue Centralised product information product lines have also taken off — for example, snow and street wear now totals about 40 per cent of total turnover. management enables a new era of e-commerce and automates Founder and CEO Gerfried Schuller ascribes this success to credibility earned in the "scene" over the years, but also to print catalogue production. ERP the recent reorganisation of the internet portal; "We have integration lowers support costs given our website a completely new design and applied the latest technology,” he says. “Intuitive navigation and improved and accelerates order processing. product presentation with more information has led — in a very short time — to a distinct increase in the number of . orders." Quickfacts: Making the leap to new e-promotions Modern e-commerce- Snowboard specialist Blue Tomato got its newly-launched Standards and interfaces for worry-free application with central management of product portal — www.bluetomato.at — online, just in time for the integration start of the winter season. What was previously a simple Based on the open J2EE technology, the hybris E-Commerce Suite delivers the performance and flexibility that Blue Tomato needs .information Extensive marketing . online shop has now become a powerful portal — powered functionality by hybris E-Commerce and Information Management solutions for its online sales channels. The company now uses a centralised Complete ERP-integration — packed full of content designed to make the hearts of and media-neutral hybris Product Information Management (PIM) snowboarders everywhere beat faster. system to manage its constantly expanding product range with "With the first decision for the minimum of administrative effort. Connected via an interface hybris in the year 2000 we Featuring an online magazine, newsletters and multimedia to the inventory control system, orders are now processed quickly were already inspired by the content, online bargain hunters can also indulge in ‘Happy and delivery delays are a thing of the past. What’s more, support expandability and flexibility Hour’ online promotions, buying selected products at reduced costs for product data have been considerably reduced while of the hybris solution. The prices during specific time slots. Implementation of new consistency has increased. hybris Commerce Suite will also optimally support Blue online offers and future site expansion will be carried out Tomato’s ambitious goals in by hybris’ partner Xoanon. "We have been manually entering online orders into our back- the future." office system for long enough — and our customers have earned Gerfried Schuller, Managing Becoming a market leader the right to be served quickly and reliably,” explains Alexander Director Blue Tomato. Blue Tomato took the decision to build on its existing success- Zezula, E-Commerce Manager, Blue Tomato. “As well as reducing ful ‘bricks-and-mortar’ shops and began trading online in errors and saving time, we’ve also gained an exact indication of 1997. The company’s online presence — developed using stock available in the warehouse", she continues. hybris solutions — has since made Blue Tomato a market leader in Europe. Significant product line expansion means Automatic catalogue production today online customers can select from 40,000 articles, TA consistent electronic database has helped Blue Tomato including 750 different snowboard models alone. revolutionise production of its printed catalogues. The annual main catalogue — which has a print-run of 320,000 — plus Turnover growth has been meteoric. For example in the area the summer catalogue are both produced using hybris’ Product of mail order revenue — which includes catalogue and internet Information Management system. Data can be directly orders — Blue Tomato has recorded a record increase of imported into various layout programmes — such as InDesign around 30 per cent in comparison to the previous year. New — eradicating the need for manual data entry or multilevel Blue Tomato hybris GmbH Blue Tomato was founded in 1994 when snowboard teacher and hybris supplies standard software solutions for the media-independent former European Champion Gerfried Schuller opened his first snow- management of product information and its distribution over both boarding shop in Schladming, Austria. Recognising the immense online and print channels. Manufacturers, vendors, marketplace potential in the Internet, Blue Tomato went online in 1997 and operators and purchasing companies consolidate and manage their today the e-shop offers one of the most comprehensive online entire product information in every language on one platform, in product catalogues in the business. As well as a strong customer the process creating a "single source of truth". Integrated solutions base in its primary geographic markets in Europe — which include for catalogue management, e-commerce, e-procurement and database Austria, Germany and Switzerland as well as Scandinavia, Benelux, publishing provide you with personalised and channel-specific data Spain, the UK — Blue Tomato now has an customers in locations recycling throughout all electronic procurement and sales channels. that span the world including Hawaii, Hong Kong, Argentina, This also means that print catalogues can be published without me- Australia, Japan and even Dubai. dia fragmentation. The hybris solution´s integrative approach to managing and recycling product information leads to a reduction in process costs, clearing the path for companies to add new sales and procurement markets at low cost. The return on investment with hybris is very fast. And because hybris has elected to use standard-based and future-proof basic technologies in its solutions, your investments are secure over the long term. control processes. Substantially shorter catalogue production Contact: times means Blue Tomato now plans to increase the frequency Germany of its publications in the future.