Customers of the largest Swiss HVACR merchant can buy goods 24 hours a day, seven days a week and collect them in a self-service shop.
Heating pump damaged and, which is worse, on a Sunday? For house technicians that are customers of Meier Tobler’s e-shop, such an emergency outside normal opening hours is no longer a problem. Through an innovative B2B shop solution in cooperation with FIS Informationssysteme und Consulting GmbH, customers of Meier Tobler are able to get decidedly controlled access to the shop – around the clock. A corresponding QR code contains the necessary information, such as the customer number, as process start for the hand scanner. To get access to the self-service shop in Zurich, the customers have to enter a four-digit door PIN at the gate assigned by the online shop via a door locking system. Using a hand scanner, the purchaser enters the bar code of the article in the shop. This information is transferred to the ERP of Meier Tobler, where further processes, such as billing, are triggered. Video surveillance in real time provides the necessary security.
“We wanted to offer our customers an innovative self service that enables them to have access to our goods without any problems even outside the opening hours. Due to our existing FIS/eSales shop solution, the technical implementation has worked very well so we are now thinking about the extension to other locations,” explains Thomas Kneubühler, IT Business Application Manager (e-Business & product data management) at Meier Tobler AG.
In 2008, the Meier Tobler e-shop was built up in cooperation with FIS and has continuously been expanded ever since. The self scanning at different points of sale had already been introduced two years ago so that the technology and the data transfer to ERP could also be used for the self-service shop. The existing basic user rights were extended for the self service. What is particularly positive for Kneubühler: “We were able to harmoniously integrate the new solution into our online shop system. This means that the users do not need to download a specific app for the self collection and that they can use the same access data as for their purchase in the Web shop.”
The Digital Commerce Award, also called Swiss E-Commere Award, is awarded once a year to the most innovative Swiss online shops. The jury consisting of e-commerce experts and selected partners awards prizes in seven main categories and six special categories. In special category “Omnichannel and Innovation”, convincing omnichannel concepts or innovations in the fields of logistics and services are awarded with a prize. “We are happy that we were able to implement this innovative project based on our eSales solution together with Meier Tobler. This was the first self-service solution of this kind for us as well,” says Frank Lauerbach, team manager FIS/eSales. The FIS shop system with ERP integration enables consistent processes and can be used as around-the-clock communication portal with the customer.
