crossbase | crossbase and Roqqio in interaction for successful e-commerce at Walser

Due to the flexible and output-specific provision of product data, the crossbase PIM system forms the optimal basis for the connection of the ROQQIO Commerce Cloud. This enables us to serve all e-commerce channels automatically with product information that is always up-to-date.

Jasmin Kühne
Graphics / E-Media Team, WALSER GmbH

24-05-2021, Hohenems: WALSER GmbH, based in Hohenems (Vorarlberg), Austria, develops, produces and distributes car accessories for safety and comfort and holds numerous patents for its own developments. With 50 employees and a worldwide supplier network, WALSER manages an annual order volume of 35 million euros. The company delivers around four million products a year in car seat covers alone.

Central functions of the solution

The crossbase PIM as the basis for data provision on trading platforms

WALSER is represented online not only with its own B2C and B2B stores, but also on the German-, Italian-, and French-language Amazon, on eBay, and on many other platforms. In addition, there is distribution via several dropshipment connections. To ensure that WALSER-IT's data exchange with all trading platforms runs smoothly, the ROQQIO Commerce Cloud is integrated. The crossbase PIM provides the specific product data for each channel.

WALSER wants to strategically expand its e-commerce activities on marketplaces in the B2C and B2B sectors and acquire new customers in e-commerce. With the existing ERP solution, it is difficult to connect online stores and marketplaces. Although the existing enterprise resource planning system (ERP) proALPHA reliably carries all items with basic, packaging and price data, it is not designed for rapid scaling into online markets either in terms of the scope of product information or its data formats and process orientation. Accordingly, software is needed that acts as an intermediary between the inventory IT and the sales platforms.

This role is taken over by the ROQQIO Commerce Cloud in interaction with the crossbase PIM. WALSER intends to use the SaaS solution, which is specially tailored to e-commerce processes, as an extension to its existing ERP system. ROQQIO's solution will centrally connect other systems that come into play in the context of online commerce: from payment service providers to external product information management (PIM). The crossbase PIM is designed to enrich the data from the ERP for all channels as needed. This is necessary because WALSER, as a manufacturer, must also provide its trading partners with extensive product data, for example, and other special features for the automotive accessories market must be taken into account.

crossbase delivers tailored production information for all online channels

The ROQQIO Commerce Cloud fits into WALSER's existing system architecture without significant adaptation effort and connects the existing systems with the desired sales channels. It manages all processes workflow-based and enables the smooth connection of marketplaces, which it automatically supplies with all necessary data in the required formats. Meanwhile, the crossbase PIM ensures that product information tailored to each channel is available.

In the crossbase PIM, items are maintained with technical characteristics, CAD data (computer-aided design) and product relationships, e.g. for cross-selling. A special feature here is the Tecdoc interface of crossbase, a format for cross-manufacturer classification and description of vehicles. Regular updates of the vehicle structure with over 40,000 vehicle models are carried out via the interface. With the help of a rule-based configurator, WALSER can automatically assign the items to the vehicle models. This ensures that a particular product fits a particular type of vehicle of a particular year of manufacture.

The crossbase PIM delivers the product information tailored to each online channel to the ROQQIO Commerce Cloud. "The ROQQIO Commerce Cloud not only provides the various channels with the data they need. It also proves to be a control center between the systems in a broader sense and controls our entire order processing by taking over order processing at all online channels," says Martin Walser, Head of E-Commerce at WALSER GmbH. Interfaces to the ERP from proALPHA, to Shopware, to PSP heidelpay and BillPay, to the crossbase PIM and to the support ticket solution from GREYHOUND are used.