Finnish E. Ahlström is an importer and design house that creates memorable atmospheres through dishes, tableware, kitchenware as well as workwear. The company creates restaurant concepts for Horeca operators and its customers include cafes, restaurants, hotels, cruise lines, event arenas, as well as public administration and consumers.
E. Ahlström represents 400 European brands of tableware, table setting, kitchenware, restaurant furniture and workwear. In addition to products for professionals, the company's range includes services for opening restaurants, everyday life and development. E. Ahlström creates entire restaurants, starting with interior and concept design.
The renewal of the online store required an efficient backend system.
About five years ago, E. Ahlström was at a stage where they wanted to renew their online store so that it would be as easy and smooth as possible for customers to search for information about the selection and make purchases directly online. In this context, it was understood that to operate effectively, an online store needs a functioning product information management system, PIM system, in the background.
At the same time, however, the goal was to offer sales a tool to make it easier to create visual offers containing a lot of product information, which had previously required a lot of manual work.
Adeona was selected as E. Ahlström's partner because Adeona PIM and Adeona Sales Tool were able to meet both needs.
Therefore Adeona PIM system was started to be implemented at E. Ahlström. Previously, product information was maintained in the ERP system and Excel, which was time-consuming.
– We went into production with PIM about four years ago when we opened our online store. The implementation of PIM enabled us to timely launch products in the online store and manage the associated processes as well as all product information, says the CDO Riikka Hytönen, who is responsible for E. Ahlström's digital sales and systems related to customer interfaces.
E. Ahlström Churchill
E. Ahlström has approximately 11 000 product selection items and in addition to these, there are tens of thousands of factory-ordered products. There are also several hundred different imported brands. The products usually come from Europe, and the product information is mainly in English, but some can be in Swedish and German, for example. The product information is mainly maintained in Finnish, with only the title-level information of the products being available in English and Swedish.
PIM has helped E. Ahlström in the development of its online store. The utilization of product information is based on the PIM system, which is the basis for all product information: it contains structures, images, and properties, and the information is directed to the online store via PIM. PIM has increased efficiency and the meaning of work.
- I've been really pleased. I love PIM – everything works there. PIM is logical and easy to use, it's a big part of my work. It's great to work with a system that's not a hindrance but really a help, says the product coordinator Pia Saarikettu, who takes care of all product information and related updates for the online store.
- The selection is updated all the time. Last year I opened about 1800 products and about the same number are removed, so the turnover is moderate. With PIM, it is easy to update product information even for the masses, she continues.
Customers have started to use the online store more and more for shopping, meaning it is constantly growing and is now the largest channel for E. Ahlström's incoming orders. With PIM, the product process is faster and more transparent, and information can be updated in the online store faster than before.
- What has certainly made things faster and at the same time increased our visibility is the product enrichments in PIM, which are made visible online. The images are also coming directly from Media Bank scaled for the online store. The process could be much more complicated without PIM, says Riikka.
Sales Tool publishing automation in active use for making offers
In addition to Adeona PIM, E. Ahlström also uses Sales Tool. Sales makes offers using Sales Tool publishing automation; E. Ahlström's brand-specific offer templates in both Excel and PowerPoint format have been built into it. This means that customers always receive offers that meet standards.
- When we send offers using the Sales Tool, we always get standardized, brand-compliant offers that automatically include all necessary information for the customer. The Sales Tool is also beneficial in concept design. It easily compiles the images needed for the offer, and the overall structure for the customer is created effectively, says Riikka.
The types of offers are predefined, and for example, references and conditions can be added automatically. Changes to the offer templates are made centrally in the Sales Tool, so everyone uses templates according to the company's standard.
Riikka Hytönen
Adeona Media Bank helps with image management
Adeona Media Bank is mostly used by marketing at E. Ahlström. Pia and marketing upload images there, so the necessary image material for the online store, customer communications and customer materials can be found there.
- Imagebank has made marketing tasks a lot easier, you can get the images smoothly and they scale correctly as needed. We have been satisfied with the user interface. Previously, the images were in different places and you had to search for them; now the images can be found in one place, which speeds up everyday work, says Pia.
The collaboration with Adeona has been smooth and the contact person is highly praised. Help has always been available for questions when needed. Pia has occasionally participated in Adeona Community workshops, where there is an opportunity to hear about development issues and discuss with other PIM users.
- It has been great to have interesting discussions and hear other users' experiences, everyday challenges, and insights into using PIM. It's great that customers are included in the development and their wishes are listened to.
Currently, product information is first created in the ERP system at E. Ahlström, from where it then goes to PIM, where the product information is enriched and classified, and texts and images are added. The information from PIM continues to flow into the online store. In the future, the hope is to make PIM the master system for product information, i.e. products would be created first in PIM, and then the data would transfer to the ERP and the online store. This could speed up the work, and product information could be processed in bulk at a faster pace.
- The collaboration has been great. There is always room for improvement, of course, but Laura has made sure that things that we have forgotten are brought up. We are a small team and the work is hectic, so it is good that we are reminded from time to time, says Riikka with a smile.
E. Ahlström creates a memorable atmosphere in restaurants, hotels and cafés through tableware, table setting, kitchenware, and workwear. The company helps create unforgettable experiences and smooth everyday life, from lunch cafes to Michelin-starred restaurants, from kindergartens to hospitals, and from cruise lines to large event arenas.
