Thomas Philipps customized and automated business operations

Thomas Philipps: Exceptional quality at discounted prices

Boasting over 37 years in the business, Thomas Philipps stands as a leading discount retailer for home and garden essentials in Germany. The company has carved a niche for itself by offering an extensive range of attractive products at competitive prices, featuring both weekly specials and a permanent collection. Its product lineup encompasses 18,000 items in-store, including 2,500 selections online. With a broad international footprint, Thomas Philipps operates 260 brick-and-mortar stores in Germany, complemented by 7 in Lithuania and 9 in Austria. The company currently employs a dedicated workforce of 800 in its administrative and logistics divisions.

The transition challenge

Recognized for its expertise in home and garden retailing, Thomas Philipps sought to enhance its stronghold in the market by venturing into ecommerce with a nopCommerce shop. However, this initiative never took center stage within the company's strategic priorities, leading to the delegation of its management and technical oversight to an external service provider. This decision precipitated a slew of challenges: limited scope for optimization, rigid technical constraints, and an antiquated user interface, ultimately preventing Thomas Philipps from delivering an optimal online shopping experience to its customers.

Acknowledging the untapped potential of the digital marketplace, Thomas Philipps made a strategic pivot to reclaim direct oversight of its ecommerce efforts. The company envisioned beyond merely refining the existing online platform; it aspired to launch an entirely new online store. This ambitious endeavor aimed not only to facilitate online purchasing for customers but also to spotlight the own brands and immerse website visitors in engaging thematic experiences. The ultimate objective was to craft a flexible, scalable online framework, empowering Thomas Philipps to adapt, expand, and flourish in the digital age.

Shopware 6: Cutting-edge and feature-rich

Thomas Philipps was on the hunt for an ecommerce system that was not only robust but also ahead of the curve. After evaluating a variety of shopping platforms, Shopware stood out from the crowd. Esteemed as a leader in the market, Shopware garners exceptional acclaim, notably within the German SME sector, thanks to its forward-thinking API-first approach. This philosophy guarantees unparalleled flexibility and seamless integration with ancillary systems like ERPs. Furthermore, its backend and administrative interface are intuitively designed for ease of use. To top it off, Shopware supports an extensive range of plugins to expand the shop's capabilities.
Key Shopware advantages for Thomas Philipps:
Shopping Experiences: This innovative tool allows for a single layout to be applied across various pages, facilitating the crafting of a distinct and cohesive brand presence.
Content creation made easy: Where the prior nopCommerce setup demanded HTML proficiency for content development — adding layers of complexity and time consumption — Shopware 6 revolutionizes the process. It enables users to customize pages with predefined blocks through a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, requiring no coding skills.
Rule Builder and Flow Builder: These sophisticated features empower Thomas Philipps to customize the ecommerce ecosystem to fit specific business needs and automate bespoke workflows, all without the necessity for manual coding.

Thomas Philipps 2.0: Elevating shopping with innovative features

The revamped Thomas Philipps online store goes beyond a mere aesthetic update; it introduces a suite of innovative features designed to significantly enhance the customer shopping journey. Highlighting its advancements, customers can now immerse themselves in a 360-degree view of select products, offering a closer look at what they're purchasing. Essential documents, such as EC/EU conformity certificates and material safety data sheets for electronic items, are readily available for download, simplifying the buying process. A standout addition is the market finder tool, effortlessly guiding customers to their nearest Thomas Philipps market. Coupled with this, smart upselling strategies not only enrich the shopping experience but also contribute to an improved store conversion rate.

Streamlined business operations through effortless integration of external systems

Beyond refining the user experience design, pivotal enhancements were made to the core business operations. Achieving this involved the strategic incorporation of multiple external systems into the online store's infrastructure. This crucial development enables a seamless and efficient exchange of information — ranging from product details and orders to vouchers and returns — directly with the Xentral ERP system. Additionally, the automation of special offers, now dynamically displayed on the homepage, aligns perfectly with marketing strategies and customer engagement. The partnership with the payment service provider Mollie further streamlines payment and post-purchase processes, remarkably reducing accounting workload by 80 percent.

Advancing into the future with Thomas Philipps' new online store

Leveraging the power of Shopware 6, Thomas Philipps has unveiled a state-of-the-art online store that serves as a perfect digital counterpart to its brick-and-mortar locations. This platform doesn't just meet the immediate needs of Thomas Philipps and its clientele; it also lays the foundation for scalable, long-term growth. Yet, for Thomas Philipps, this launch marks just the beginning. The company is already setting sights on continuous enhancements and optimizations. Furthermore, Thomas Philipps is keen on penetrating new marketplaces, aiming to solidify its industry standing further.

Lena Rahe from Thomas Philipps expresses immense satisfaction with this significant achievement: "We're incredibly proud to have brought the online store to life with an entirely new architectural framework in just 12 months. This overhaul wasn't limited to the frontend; we've comprehensively reimagined processes across the backend, logistics, and commercial transactions, setting a new benchmark for our operations."