If the & project looked challenging at the start, it is partly because of the context. Indeed, the French cooperative group of -watchmaking bringing together the brands more than 370 points of sale in France and 200 associates for an overall turnover of 250 million euros, understood the importance of digital channels in the era of the global pandemic and wanted to put the bites on the e-commerce side, by adding certain functionalities such as express click and collect or in-store reservations. This is why the cooperative wanted to overhaul its three websites and set up a unified commerce system to combine the physical network of each brand with each of their websites.
But the stakes were high: connect to the stocks of the 240 physical stores, redesign the three websites of three different brands by pooling resources and technologies, and at the same time launch an order orchestration system to create unity and fluidity in today’s customer journey. The redesign of the websites and the integration with the inventory management system, is based on a single simple, current and economical technology.
Three shops for a single administration space
In addition, Synalia had set the bar very high expectations, explains Sophie Gellie , director of information systems at Synalia: “Initially, we only experimented with Magento. But for us it was too cumbersome a platform, which did not allow us to create a unified and fluid e-commerce. Matthias Bonnardel , from the Celaneo agency, offered us PrestaShop. We hesitated at first because of the conflicting opinions about the platform, then several arguments made us decide to take the plunge. PrestaShop, for example, had the Austria Email List ability to interface with our CRM system and loyalty program, which allowed us to bring together the physical stores and our online store so that the benefits and membership of the loyalty program our customers are accessible to everyone, both in-store and on the new website of each of our brands.
Among the arguments that weighed in the balance, the reputation of PrestaShop, which notably makes it an ergonomic platform. This is also one of the reasons why Mathieu Rucheton, e-commerce manager who joined the project along the way, chose to join Synalia: “When I applied for the position of e-commerce manager within the , the use of PrestaShop is the reason that appealed to me. I knew that I was not going to embark on a puzzle project to pilot, and that my teams were going to be able to quickly take charge of the platform.
Another major argument for Synalia , the fact that PrestaShop is a French platform: “It was an important aspect, which fits with the Group’s philosophy. At Synalia, we like to give priority to French technologies, it’s an integral aspect of the company’s DNA” , continues Mathieu Rucheton.
With PrestaShop every problem has its solution
What’s next will come as no surprise: the move of the Synalia group’s three e-commerce sites to has been a great success so far. Indeed, the platform has been able to meet the main requests of the client, namely: websites at the cutting edge of trends, a multi-store platform, easy to use and intuitive.
Among the strengths of, ergonomics, accessibility, intuitive and user-friendly side, pleasant design, fluidity and lightness of the platform are automatically cited. “These are points that we did not find at Magento, which I find austere, difficult to handle. Each development was heavy, and we sometimes found ourselves in dead ends without being able to move forward. With PrestaShop, each of our problems has its solution. In addition, there is the possibility of synchronizing our Akeneo PIM (Product Information Management) almost in real time, which has changed our lives in terms of time savings. We are much more responsive this way in the management of our product catalogue ,” says Sophie Gellie.
