Indunorm offers quick order with barcode scanner on mobile phones
Triggering the development of the app was our wish to provide our customers with a modern scanning solution for efficient reorders of our products. We have achieved this goal. As a customer loyalty tool, the app will certainly be enriched with further useful functions in the future that will provide added value for our customers. The cooperation with silver.solutions was as professional as usual, the project was managed in close cooperation from conception to implementation.
Marc Bleisteiner, Head of Sales Marketing, Indunorm Hydraulik GmbH
Progressive Web App with scan function
After the successful relaunch of the online shop and the website, Indunorm now wants to extend its e-commerce solution on mobile devices with a useful barcode scanner function for quick reorders. The decision is made to use a Progressive Web App, which extends the existing online shop based on Ibexa Commerce with special app features.
Shop extension especially for smartphones
A native app for each of the different mobile operating systems is out of question for Indunorm. Instead, the existing mobile version of the current online shop is to be expanded into a scanner app.
The user experience of the online shop on the smartphone should nevertheless resemble an app for the customer, with browser in full screen mode and an app icon on the start screen.
Customers should be able to reorder products quickly and easily. In addition, Indunorm wants to support customers in the mobile shop with an identification option for parts. In the mobile shop version, the user should be able to take a photo of the item and send it to customer service for guidance.
The range of additional mobile functions will be supplemented by quick access to shipment tracking so that customers can trace their deliveries transparently.
Best preconditions with the Ibexa platform
Indunorm's web shop has long been responsive and therefore is ideally suited for display on all devices. Indunorm modernized its e-commerce platform with Ibexa in 2017. Developed on the basis of the Ibexa Commerce shop software included in the Ibexa DXP, Indunorm's online shop adapts dynamically to any display.
Now Indunorm goes one step further with the scanner app. The decision is made in favour of a Progressive Web App based on the already very good mobile features of the new online shop. For the implementation, Indunorm again chooses silver.solutions as its service provider.
Barcode scanner for every mobile device
With the additional functions for smartphones, Indunorm can now offer added value in its B2B online shop for customers who, for example, want to quickly and easily place reorders anywhere they are. The customer's employees in production or craftsmen simply use the smartphone.
After user approval, the scan feature can access the smartphone’s camera. The user only has to hold the detection area of the camera over a barcode. The app makes it easy to perform several scans in a row. Touching the plus icon initiates the next scan. The scanned products appear in a scan list. Customers may edit the quantity and add all products to the shopping cart.
Once all the desired products have been scanned, customers can complete their order right on the smartphone. After the order has been placed, the app can be used to see where the delivery is at the moment.
The scan feature was implemented and adapted with the Web SDK from Scandit, which now seamlessly integrates with the mobile version of the Indunorm shop.
Customers can identify and order products
But the app can do even more. As an additional feature, on the smartphone the online shop offers the possibility to identify parts. As with the barcode scanner, the customer can capture a product with the camera, but this time the app takes a photo with the option "Identify product". This image can now be submitted to Indunorm as an inquiry at the push of a button.
In addition to the functionality that silver.solutions has developed especially for Indunorm, the mobile shop naturally offers all familiar features of the B2B online shop. This not only includes access to the entire product catalogue, but also search and filter functions, quick ordering and, of course, customer account management.
Indunorm remains flexible with the Progressive Web App
The scanner app works on any smartphone because it runs directly in the browser. This eliminates the need for additional investment in scanning equipment for Indunorm customers.
The Progressive Web App even goes a step further because it behaves almost like a native app. This has numerous advantages for the user. The app can access hardware functions such as the camera, put the browser in full screen mode and even place an icon on the start screen.
Although the scanner app is actually a mobile shop version in the browser, it provides some offline functionality. The user can abandon the app and use other apps. In the meantime, the app stores data and scanned products on the device. When the user returns, they don’t have to start over. The transfer to the shopping cart and the order can also be done later, for example when an Internet connection is established again.
And last but not least, expensive adaptations for the individual operating systems such as Android and iOS as well as constant updates to ensure compatibility are no longer necessary, as would be the case with a native app.
Straightforward reorders anywhere
Because the Progressive Web App works on every smartphone, not only buyers, but all employees can initiate an order in the Indunorm shop directly at their workplace or on the road. Customers don't have to type in article numbers or product descriptions on their smartphone or scroll through product lists on the small display. They quickly scan the barcodes of the required products and are all set. Barcode stickers are included in every delivery from Indunorm.
Thanks to Ibexa Commerce's existing approval workflows and budget management, the individual items can be cleared by a user with the appropriate authorisation before the order is dispatched.
The barcode scanner app accelerates B2B ordering processes
The barcode scanner is ideal for customers who want to reorder multiple items from Indunorm. If a part is not recognised, Indunorm also helps to identify the right product. The combination of the scan function with the powerful B2B functions of Ibexa Commerce accelerates the procurement processes of Indunorm's customers.
With the new app, Indunorm succeeds in uniting the best of both worlds: On the one hand, the system provider can expand its B2B online shop with useful functions on mobile devices without much effort. On the other hand, the Progressive Web App offers customers the ease of use of a native app.
