Bauhaus
case study
Case study -Realtime order status transparency with drop-shipping partners
“Working with Taitopilvi allowed us to solve a complex challenge that had been straining our customer service operations. The lightweight tracking solution has given us real-time visibility across our drop-shipping network, dramatically reducing unnecessary customer inquiries and freeing our team to focus on more pressing matters.”
– Toni Heikkilä, Head of Digital, Bauhaus Suomi
The challenge
In drop-shipping deliveries of Bauhaus, order volumes per single supplier can sometimes be so small that integrating systems is not economically viable. Prolonged orders or orders in uncertain status put an unnecessary strain on customer service. Bauhaus needed a scalable solution for tracking order statuses from drop shipping suppliers. Existing commercial options were considered, but found lacking in features. Modern e-commerce must adapt to shifting volumes and partners. Customers expect fast, reliable delivery. Drop-shipping, sending products straight from supplier to customer, can work, but only with clear, reliable tracking.
The solution
To conceptualize the solution, structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with drop-shipping suppliers and Bauhaus’ own customer service representatives. To reduce the workload on customer service, it became clear that the key is improving the quality of order status from drop-shipping suppliers. The optimal solution was quickly ideated: A lightweight web application for managing order statuses from multiple drop-shipping suppliers, enabling seamless integration with the online store. This data can then power automated customer communications and streamline daily customer service operations. Universal, drop-shipping orders tracking application was implemented for Bauhaus to collaborate with suppliers. Architecture was decided in separate workshops with Bauhaus’ professionals to fit the existing master data systems. The core idea and features were prioritized by using user stories and rapid UI prototyping.
The benefits
Bauhaus employees and systems now have the correct status of drop shipping suppliers’ orders. Customer service representatives no longer have to spend time on rising failure demand investigating where drop shipping orders are – instead they can focus on more productive tasks. Solving master data challenges in scenarios, where volume of data is not large enough for integrations, sometimes needs unorthodox, tailor-made approaches.
Services used
Qualitative research, Process modeling, Service Design, UX Design, Prototyping, Architecture design, Web development, API Development & Integrations, CI/CD, DevOps, Scrum.
