Sound United brings B2B sales together in one integrated online ordering process.

Sound United operated a B2B sales process in which sales representatives played a central role in ordering.

Many customers were used to placing orders through their account contact. A standard webshop does not automatically solve that. If online ordering is introduced alongside the existing sales process, two separate ways of working can quickly emerge:

• customers order online;
• sales representatives follow a separate process;
• order information enters the organisation through different channels.

The challenge was therefore not simply to get more customers ordering online.

Sound United needed one sales process in which self-service and sales-assisted ordering could work side by side.

With ConnectingTheDots PIMeCommerce, Sound United has an international B2B webshop in which both customers and sales representatives can place orders.

Business customers can order independently through the platform. Sales representatives can also place orders on behalf of customers, whether during a customer visit or while travelling.

These orders are processed through the same webshop and synchronised with SAP. This removes the need for separate processes for online and sales-assisted orders.

The webshop is integrated directly with SAP, allowing the platform to use up-to-date customer and pricing information from the ERP system.

This includes:

• region- and customer-specific assortments;
• customer-specific commercial terms, such as pricing agreements and delivery lead times;
• access to order and delivery status, invoices, order volumes and account agreements.

This integration is essential in B2B commerce. By making SAP part of the ordering process, this information does not need to be maintained separately in the commerce platform.

ConnectingTheDots PIM provides the central source for the correct, region-specific product data shown to customers.

With Product Information Management, product content is managed centrally and distributed to the B2B webshop.

This helps Sound United to:

• keep product information, including assets and product relationships, consistent;
• manage changes centrally;
• ensure that up-to-date content is always available in the webshop.

ERP and PIM each have a clear role. SAP supplies customer-specific pricing, volume pricing, promotions and stock information. PIM supplies product information tailored to each region and available in multiple languages.

See also the integrations.

In addition to consumer products, PIM also manages the related spare parts. This includes parts for current products as well as legacy products that have been in the market for several years.

Spare parts are managed in PIM for EMEA, the Americas and Asia Pacific. Parts can be configured with multilingual and region-specific information, ensuring that each market receives the right product information.

By managing spare parts centrally in PIM, Sound United has a single source for both product and parts information. This allows spare parts to be managed consistently throughout the product lifecycle and made available across regions and markets.

Customers can view and order spare parts through the B2B webshop.

Digitising B2B sales does not mean removing the role of sales. Technology can strengthen the sales organisation.

In Sound United's model, business customers can place orders independently, while sales representatives use the same platform to support customers when personal contact or advice is needed.

The platform therefore does not replace sales. It brings self-service and sales-assisted ordering together in one integrated B2B environment.

Routine order administration can move to the platform, giving sales representatives more time to focus on customer relationships, commercial advice and business development.

Adoption of the B2B webshop is now clearly visible.

More than 50% of orders are placed through the digital platform.

This matters because the solution has not simply added another digital sales channel. It has become the primary ordering channel.

The webshop is now widely used across multiple continents, serving smaller customers who order independently as well as larger customers who may still rely on support from their sales representative.

Sound United has one B2B webshop used across three continents.

• one ordering process for business customers and sales representatives;
• up-to-date customer and pricing information directly from SAP;
• product content managed centrally in PIM;
• spare parts managed in PIM for both current and legacy products;
• sales representatives can place orders while travelling;
• the same underlying process for online and sales-assisted orders;
• greater freedom for customers to order independently;
• more than 50% of orders now placed through the platform.

For Sound United, digital B2B sales is not about replacing the existing sales model.

Its strength lies in bringing self-service and personal sales together in one B2B webshop, supported by an integrated order flow to ERP.

SAP provides up-to-date customer and pricing information, PIM manages product information, and the B2B platform brings both together in one environment for customers and sales representatives.

Orders are then synchronised with SAP, so downstream order processing continues within the existing ERP process.