How we doubled the number of paying members using the app
After a few years of cooperation on the wymianaopon.pl website and also maintaining the previous platformaopon.pl system, Polskie Składy Oponiarskie (PSO, a leading tire wholesaler in the Polish market) decided to build a new version of their web application, updating the design and incorporating new functionalities.
PlatformaOpon.pl (PSO)
The redevelopment of an advanced online B2B & B2C solution for tire wholesalers and workshops.
The creation of a new system while simultaneously maintaining the existing one proved to be a real challenge, especially during the high season when the number of customers and orders is highly concentrated during a short period of time.
Maintaining the online store for so many months allowed us to get acquainted with the client’s requirements and created the groundwork for good cooperation. The system was expanded, adding new functions and increasing the potential of the e-commerce platform for both B2B and B2C users.
About our teams
They are full of ideas, and they are always trying to understand your business. XSolve (Boldare) has significant experience in many areas of IT.
Tomasz Jeziorek, IT Manager
One of the key features implemented allowed us to eliminate all duplicates in the product database. With over 7 million products being updated seven times a day, this was a major issue for the client and the thousands of B2B sellers using the platform. To ease the process, we developed an algorithm that searches for similar products and identifies potential duplicate entries, thus allowing suppliers using the platform to quickly exclude double entries.
Equally critical for the client was reducing the upload time of the product catalogues. Following the project, the process is now four times quicker than before the implementation.
We have also introduced a number of business intelligence solutions for the system’s B2B users, such as advanced statistics and competitor comparisons.
Furthermore, we have integrated both e-commerce platforms, improving the potential for upselling. Now, when a user buys their tires at platformaopon.pl they are offered the installation service provided by wymianaopon.pl. This has increased tire installation sales for the client and improved the customer experience for end users by creating a one-stop-shop for all their needs.
The XSolve (now Boldare) team also improved the user experience and user interface, as well as updated the platform’s responsive web design (RWD).
After the app was released into the production environment, we continued working in line with the Scrum framework for software development, maintaining the system, adding new functionalities, implementing user feedback, and optimizing the system’s speed and performance. According to the latest statistics, the improvements we had released increased the number of paying members by 50%.
The Client
Polskie Składy Oponiarskie (PSO), one of the largest distributors of vehicular tires in Poland, are a leading service provider in the car fleet management (CFM) market. PSO also offers advanced online solutions for tire wholesalers and workshops. The brand has been consistently strengthening its position in the Polish market for many years. PSO decided to work with XSolve (Boldare) on this key project after a highly successful previous cooperation on the wymianaopon.pl project.
The Team
The team consisted of backend, frontend, and QA specialists, supported by XSolve’s (now Boldare’s) Scrum Master and Business Owner (who knew the client’s requirements and principles best). As this was a long-term project, the team changed over time, but the two lead developers provided a consistent source of expertise and guidance to the team. This interdisciplinary team continues to work on the maintenance of the platform, bringing their project experience to bear so that any problems are solved easily and quickly without the need to engage additional help.
Technologies
When it comes to the code, the app and its main functionalities are based on the Symfony 2.8 framework, which provides great freedom and integration with other systems. The biggest challenge was to integrate it with the suppliers’ stock levels. This was possible through the automatic importing of files with offers. During uploading, each offer is matched with an existing product based on its parameters, or a new product is created for verification.
The app offers B2B users the possibility of finding similar products and matching their own products to the existing ones, which is particularly helpful in avoiding duplicate products in the catalogues. The level of similarity between such matched products are shown as percentages. What’s more, the system administrator has access to a wide range of app statistics, such as sales and purchases analyses, the most often bought brands, or markup profits – this data can then be exported to PDF or XLS files. The B2C app is based on Backbone.js.
Clients review
We’re happy that after many months of hard work we can see clear results and increased satisfaction for end users who, instead of thinking about problems, offer interesting solutions for the already functioning application.
Tomasz Jeziorek, IT Manager
Collaboration
Daily remote communication was based on Jira, Basecamp, and Hangouts, which made it smooth and transparent.
In addition to these excellent communication tools, thanks to the geographic closeness between the client and XSolve (Boldare), we could frequently meet in person (for review, refinement, and planning) and share work face to face. This combination of communication strategies was efficient and allowed us to create a close working relationship between the client and the project team, and even the whole company.
