Retailer platform for purchasing cooperative: the first ORTHEG partner shops go online
ORTHEG is a purchasing cooperative for medical supply shops and orthopaedic workshops, currently counting around 300 specialist retailers as cooperative members. ORTHEG is now beginning a new chapter for cooperation with its members. In recent months, silver.solutions has used the silver.eShop multishop to set up a retailer platform which allows its members to build their own online shops quickly and easily. The combination of stationary specialist retailers, onsite assistance, consultation and an online shop offers considerable advantages for customers when compared with pure online shop providers. As a purchasing cooperative, ORTHEG handles shop operation and maintenance as well as logistics. This is a win-win situation for both ORTHEG and its members, showing that companies can use innovative strategies to position themselves effectively against Amazon and co.
ORTHEG’s partners can now open their own online shops at a very attractive rate, and can take advantage of centrally managed product data, document templates and attractive web design. They can now serve their customers locally as they have always done, whilst also offering an expanded range online. Customers continue to make purchases from their trusted medical supply shop, and also receive the round-the-clock service of an online provider.
A ‘Standard’ retailer shop offers a convenient modular shop system for quick setup and easy adaptation to the user’s own corporate design. Partners can present themselves and their products, news and services on the shop’s attractive landing page. ORTHEG centrally provides images, news, a catalogue, current legally compliant texts and much more for their member shops to use.
The over 650 products are also provided centrally by ORTHEG and can be dispatched from a central location using drop shipping or collected from the retail shop. Medical supply shops and branches are attractively presented and made easy for local customers to find thanks to Google Maps – the perfect combination of online and offline business.
‘Premium’ retailer shops also allow the partner to include their own products and product groups, including images, PDFs and videos. It also enables the shop to have its own prices and stocks, as well as individual special offers. The multishop platform automatically splits orders, meaning that orders for purchasing cooperative items go to ORTHEG for central dispatch whilst items provided by specialist retailer are shipped by the retailers themselves. Invoicing and order management is completed automatically via the silver.eShop and a web service interface to ORTHEG eG’s central ERP.
The members of the purchasing cooperative have shown great interest in the possibility of having their own online shop.The first partner shops went online in September for Lorch medical supplies and Kuttenberger medical supplies, with other partners due to follow over the coming weeks.
