An ambitious expansion strategy has led DENIOS to operate worldwide. First-class e-commerce technology has empowered their B2B platform to operate with success.
As a leading expert in occupational environmental protection and workplace safety, DENIOS specializes in the manufacturing and supplying of products and services that protect both people and natural resources. Whether it’s mobile tank systems for hazardous substances, extraction systems for laboratories or protective equipment against chemicals, DENIOS solutions are trusted around the world.
Through its successful expansion strategy, the company now has 26 branches, 7 production sites across Europe, America and China, and generates annual sales of almost 200 million euros. A large portion of this turnover is generated digitally via a sophisticated B2B platform that is available in 14 languages.
Using FACT-Finder technology, DENIOS is able to meet the needs of every online customer and optimize the shopping experience, regardless of level of expertise. Customers who are not familiar with a topic receive targeted support through the search function. Shoppers who are acquainted can put their shopping cart together directly from the home page.
Competitive edge in B2B e-commerce
Digitalization has drastically transformed the retail industry in recent years. This change has been evident in B2C, but procurement processes in B2B have also increasingly shifted to e-commerce. One of the main reasons for this, is the customers themselves. A study by Forrester Research found that 74% of B2B buyers rate buying from a website more convenient than purchasing via any other channels.
DENIOS recognized the potential of digitalization early on and developed its digital distribution channels. Janine Schiltmeier, Content Marketing Manager at DENIOS, explains the motivation behind it. “We place great value on giving every customer a positive shopping experience. Because customers’ information and buying behavior has changed, we have relied heavily on digital services for some years now, in addition to our field service and catalog business. This is the only way we can provide our customers and prospects with information that is tailored to their needs, especially during the decision making process.”
“We place great value on giving every customer a positive shopping experience.”
Janine Schiltmeier,
Content Marketing Manager at DENIOS
Accurate search results at the right time
DENIOS has utilized FACT-Finder technology in its online shops for eight years, enabling customers to find exactly what they’re searching for in their B2B platform. “The solution helps us primarily simplify the search for products, but the topic of content search within the online shop is also important to us. As a manufacturer and supplier of environmental protection products, we carry an elaborate range of products that require explanation. As a result, some customers need support selecting suitable products,” says Schiltmeier.
To assist customers, the search functions displays products as well as content-rich articles. Schiltmeier explains, “In addition to free telephone advice, we also offer online visitors digital advisory content. By indexing this content in FACT-Finder, we ensure that customers can quickly and easily access the content without having to search for it. It can be featured within the suggestions menu or directly in the search results – giving customers the opportunity to switch between product or information pages.”
Search conversion rate rises 150% higher
A great majority of DENIOS’ online visitors are returning customers. These experienced, repeat shoppers know exactly which product they need and the specifications. The way to assist this type of user is not by offering product-selection support but by making the purchase as easy, streamlined, and time-effecient as possible.
Dariusz Hopek, E-Commerce Manager at DENIOS, describes how the company manages this. “We have added an ‘Add-to-Basket’ option to FACT-Finder’s Suggest function. Products that appear in the search suggestions can be directly added to the shopping cart in their desired quantity. This avoids customers having to visit the results page and the product details pages, which speeds up the purchasing process enormously,” continues Hopek. “In addition, our customers can use FACT-Finder to search for Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) and land directly on the correct product page.”
Describing the increased performance in the online shop, Hopek says, “Our analyses show that these functions are very well received. The conversion rate through search is 150% higher than the general conversion rate. And the conversion rate of suggest search is 70 times higher than the general conversion rate.”
1. Add-to-Basket function: professional buyers can assemble their shopping cart directly in the suggestions menu, saving them time and effort.
2. Redirect to content pages: visitors who need information regarding the selection and use of DENIOS products can easily access advisory content.
Attractive merchandising in B2B
It’s true that B2B purchases are mostly demand-oriented and planned. It’s also true, however, that appealing on-site marketing can inspire professional buyers and generate more sales. Using FACT-Finder’s Campaign Manager, DENIOS is able to easily create and configure attractive promotion campaigns.
Janine Schiltmeier describes an example of this, “An important use case for us is newsletter marketing. If we want to send a mailing about stainless steel, for example, we can easily set up a corresponding landing page. This is due to FACT-Finder allowing us to display all stainless steel products from our wide variety of categories on one page.”
The Campaign Manager not only simplifies the creation of landing pages for the DENIOS team, but it also helps to further improve the search experience within the shop. Search queries for top keywords lead to ready-made category pages and consulting campaigns help customers with decision making through a simple question-and-answer format.
On course for growth in international markets
DENIOS relies on FACT-Finder to optimize conversions throughout the company’s 19 B2B online shops. The decision to replace the previous search provider was made when the company set an ambitious expansion strategy. Dariusz Hopek recalls, “Our previous search solution was very difficult to optimize. Instead of a back-end, we only had database tables with terms. When we switched to Magento eight years ago, and as more and more countries were added, we decided to integrate FACT-Finder.”
The company’s expansive business models means that each of the 19 online shops operate under their own e-commerce managers. “Our local native speakers had to be able to independently optimize the online shop configurations for their respective country. FACT-Finder make this easy to manage through their access rights system in the back-end,” says Hopek.
FACT-Finder technology features the patented Worldmatch® algorithm. The error-tolerant and language-independent search function can even take into account the optical similarities of Chinese characters and process all dialects simultaneously. No matter how many languages, sales channels or products, FACT-Finder excels and provides the most relevant search results every time, helping retailers to expand into new markets more easily.
“The language independence of the technology is a great help in our expansion,” remarks Hopek. With the support of FACT-Finder’s intelligent e-commerce solutions, nothing stands in the way of DENIOS’ future growth plans.
Keep the buzz going
If you would like to learn more about how FACT-Finder can be your digital seller in your B2B online shop, check out more of our success stories featured in our B2B Buzz series.
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