B2B eCommerce platform powered by nopCommerce

Established in 1993, Supertron Electronics is a prominent player in India's IT and telecom distribution and services sector. With a network serving over 9000 retail locations nationwide and key partnerships with more than 37 global brands, it has significantly contributed to making modern IT services and products accessible in the region.

For a brand operating on a huge scale with a network of retailers and distributors, it is imperative to connect partners online, eliminate manual processes, and streamline the entire process. Citytech, Gold Partner of nopCommerce, developed the platform SuperSetu for Supertron to achieve its business goals while remaining productive and profitable in the market.

The main challenge - bringing the entire distributor network online

Being a premier IT services and telecom distributor across the country, Supertron has a wide distributor network operating from different regions. Manually following up with each distributor, tracking sales, and delivery while measuring performance is highly cumbersome. Manual work of this magnitude is draining for the staff and resources and can also involve significant human errors. To track how each partner is performing, Supertron required an online medium that not only tracked sales but also provided a view of key business metrics.

Keeping their business demands in mind, Citytech worked to create a B2B platform SuperSetu on the nopCommerce framework to bring the entire network online. SuperSetu acts as a bridge between retailers, distributors, and OEMs for the smooth functioning of processes. The nopCommerce platform was customized with role-wise pricing along with bulk price updates. Additionally, SuperSetu required Citytech to provide options for multiple shipping addresses, where products from the same order could be segregated and shipped to various addresses, as per the business needs.

Bridging the gap by digital process transformation

Segmentation of distributors: SuperSetu has a virtual segmentation of distributors into T2 and T3 categories. Distributors of T2 category purchase products directly from Supertron Electronics, whereas distributors of T3 category make purchases from other distributors of Supertron. This feature helps them track Partner performance and sales figures while promoting the business of other Distributor Partners. SuperSetu has a customized feature that works on the T2 and T3 logic, where T3 Distributor can purchase products directly from T2 distributors when the main distributor Supertron Electronics lacks a supply of a particular product. This enables Supertron to meet distributor demands and foster connections while maintaining transparency.

Codification of products: Another customization implemented was the special codification of products through Business Codes or Bus Codes. Bus Code is data mapped to both the Product and the Distributor. Through the Bus Code, a relationship between the Product and Distributor is built which facilitates providing a list of T2 partners.

The 3rd party ERP integration with MS Business Central enables SuperSetu to track customer data, stock data, sales numbers, transactional data, etc. With synchronized data, the entire process of creating a purchase order to a sales order and then an invoice is generated without any manual intervention.

Tier Pricing and Promotion modules: To meet the customer requirements of SuperSetu by leveraging the nopCommerce platform, Citytech has developed several modules. These modules streamline the customer registration process and aid the store in providing pricing tiers and promotions on products. The Tier Pricing feature ensures that the more quantity a customer purchases the lesser unit price they end up paying.

Quotation Negotiation module: Through the Quotation Negotiation module, a Quotation can be raised by a Partner leading to a price negotiation session with SuperSetu online. If the negotiation is approved, the Partner can convert the same Quotation into a successful Purchase Order with a few clicks.

Bulk price updates: Citytech developed a module for Bulk price updates for different user roles and Discounts wherein a Partner gets a discounted offer on ordering bulk products.

Incentives for partners: A new customization was carried out where Distributors can shop for x products and get y free. It was further configured to establish which branches can get this discount. This incentivizes partners and helps them purchase products in bulk, which is the norm in B2B.

The Quick Order module allows Supertron Distributors to place bulk orders rapidly by simply searching for the desired products with SKU/ Name, specifying quantities, and proceeding to checkout without having to navigate through multiple pages. With the Quick Quote feature, Distributors can request quotes for products or services directly through SuperSetu, streamlining the negotiation and purchasing process.

Shipping to multiple locations: When placing large quantity orders, a customer may need to have items shipped to multiple locations/ warehouses as is a common practice for many B2B dealers. This feature of shipping products to multiple addresses was developed by Citytech to meet the client's demands.

Adding multiple product images and their attributes simultaneously to SuperSetu is no longer a hassle due to the customization by Citytech. It eliminates the inconvenience of manually uploading and processing hundreds of product images.

Distributors can create sub-users under their accounts in the portal. Distributors using the platform can grant access to sub-users for specific features and modules that the individual requires for the fulfillment of their duties, thereby controlling and managing user access.

Decreased manual work, improved workflow efficiency, and enhanced productivity

The primary goal of operating a business through an online portal without depending on manual or offline processes has been achieved with the development of the SuperSetu B2B portal powered by nopCommerce. By streamlining key processes, SuperSetu has become more synchronized and can keep track of all its business metrics with a data-backed platform. With real-time notifications, SuperSetu can stay on top of its business without relying on archaic processes of data entry. Supertron can easily view distributor performance, track sales of each region, measure and estimate product demand, plan stock accordingly, and improve profitability, thanks to the SuperSetu B2B portal.

The development of a B2B platform leveraging the nopCommerce framework has been revolutionary and shown that the effectiveness of the platform is not limited to B2C alone.

Citytech Software is renowned for its expertise in nopCommerce, an open-source ASP.NET eCommerce shopping platform. As a Gold Partner of nopCommerce, Citytech Software specializes in delivering customized and scalable online store solutions. Citytech’s nopCommerce services include nopCommerce implementation, customization, theme design, plugin development, and 3rd-party integration. Citytech's team of developers is well-versed in nopCommerce architecture and has a proven track record of handling complex store design and development projects. We focus on delivering cost-effective solutions that are optimized for organic visibility, ensuring that online stores rank well on search engines.