ic! berlin: High-quality, handmade glasses since 1996
Eyewear producer ic! berlin is located in Marzahn, Berlin. True to its motto “Made in Berlin, made for the world”, this is where ic! berlin designs, manufactures and markets its products for distribution in over 60 countries worldwide. For sales, it utilises a comprehensive retailer network all over the world. Despite its global presence, each pair of glasses is handmade in its own state-of-the-art factory. The ic! berlin flagship store is located in Berlin Mitte and manages the entire product portfolio.
This company is already a proven driver of innovation: ic! berlin was the first company to develop screwless joints. Ever since, it has combined this with new and unusual shapes and materials: from stainless steel and titanium to acetate and buffalo horn. The result? Robust yet lightweight glasses that make you look twice.
ic! berlin combines unusual shapes and materials with an individual touch and thus positions itself as an innovation-driving company, with good reason.
The ecommerce project’s early stages
ic! berlin didn’t have an online shop to begin with. But there was a company website that needed a revamp. The goal was to create a modern website that meets the brand’s requirements on a visual level. In addition, it was clear that sooner or later the website would be developed into an online shop. And this is what the relaunch was already focused on – with the option of adding necessary shop features later. In this context, the wish list also included multiple marketing options. Lastly, brick-and-mortar trade partners needed to be integrated into the platform.
The result as it stands
The website now presents itself in a super attractive way, perfectly addressing its target audience: the curious, the unconventional thinkers and the free spirits who appreciate uncompromising quality and design.
The look of the new online shop reflects what the brand ic! berlin stands for
Shopware is currently used as the system to display the products and the overall website with its numerous content pages. ic! berlin manages these pages via Shopware’s backend. The system currently hosts 235 products and 935 variants across 17 product categories. But the ecommerce features can still be expanded. The shopping basket and order function haven’t been integrated yet. Instead, users can request orders on the product detail pages by filling in a contact form. Also, while the Shopping Advisor plugin is already connected, it’s not active yet.
Brick-and-mortar trade partners can sign in to the new website via their own retail portal. Soon they will also benefit from the planned Click & Collect feature.
Why was Shopware the platform of choice?
In the project’s conception stage, when ic! berlin was advised by Interlutions, two options became apparent: they could go with a combination of a modern CMS with a shop system like Shopware, or alternatively, the entire project could be implemented with Shopware.
The latter option was chosen in the end, and it was Shopware’s Shopping Worlds that did the trick. With Shopping Worlds, employees can create and update their content and marketing material easily – allowing them to maintain brand appearance, which is what matters to customers. Shopping Worlds are used on category and product pages.
ic! berlin has over 40,000 followers on Instagram.
A highlight: the size guide
Interlutions programmed an application that dynamically renders product data based on a preselected pictogram of a spectacle frame. With this feature, the correct pictogram with the stored measurements is automatically displayed for the product attribute “shape of glasses”. You can store up to ten standard pictograms for various shapes of glasses. If there is no suitable pictogram available (for new shapes, for example), one of these standard pictograms is defined and displayed as a fallback option. The necessary data is provided by SAP Business One and maintained by ic! berlin.
Password-protected areas for B2C and B2B
ic! berlin’s website is primarily aimed at B2C, but also offers a comprehensive area for retailers selling ic! berlin products in different markets. As mentioned earlier, there’s now a trade partner portal. This is where B2B contacts and trade partners can log in to a password-protected area. The required contact data is logged in SAP Business One and is provided by the Shopware interface, which was developed by Interlutions.
B2C customers can also enter a password-protected area, namely for product registrations, which was developed as part of the relaunch by Interlutions. Using their email address and the serial number of their new product, customers can register on ic-berlin.de/eu. They can then confirm the registration process with a double opt-in. Upon registering and logging in to the page, they can visit their personal area. This is where customers can also register their products and see an overview of the products they have already registered.
Additional special features in the shop:
- Attractive category and product pages created with Shopware’s Shopping Worlds
- Image sliders and colour variants in product listings
- Different attributes for product variants (including a filter on category pages)
- Click & Collect (not active yet)
- SAP product import
- Store finder
The store finder works using a proximity search based on the data taken from the SAP connection. Retailers can maintain their own store pages via the frontend administration. There’s also an approval portal that has its own interface for employees who administer the approval process.
What else is planned?
In future, the website will be developed into a full online shop by adding all the necessary ecommerce features. This includes, for instance, integrating an order function with a shopping basket as well as using several plugins like Shopping Advisor. On a separate note, ic! berlin plans to divide the product registration as well in terms of benefits communication and clustering customers based on purchased products or purchasing data.
Visit the online appearance
