KNG selects their foundation for continued growth

Location: Nampa, Idaho United States

Industry: Restaurant Supplies

The Challenge

KNG is a leading supplier of restaurant supplies and personalized apparel in the restaurant product industry. They have experienced steady growth of 20% each year but had recently faced a new challenge that was crucial to solve if they wished to continue their company growth and success. KNG had outgrown their eCommerce software and their backend (ERP) system, both of which they needed to rapidly replace in order to continue their lead in the restaurant supply industry.First, they needed to implement a new commerce solution in less than six months. Once implemented, they needed to have their new eCommerce site integrated with their new backend system. The solution needed to be able to support complex custom embroidery and foil stamping requirements, along with being able to support existing account and contract pricing.

The Solution

Industry leading WebSphere Commerce software from IBM was selected as KNG’s base eCommerce software and SAP’s Apparel and Footwear Solution as their new ERP system. Shared Vision Group implemented the architecture and development expertise required to integrate the WebSphere Commerce solution. Shared Vision Group designed and developed a B2B/B2C hybrid implementation of IBM WebSphere Commerce 6.0 and also developed interfaces between IBM WebSphere Commerce and SAP based on SOA standards.

Benefits of the Solution

The new IBM WebSphere Commerce website enabled KNG’s customers to place custom embroidery orders online as well as view their order status and history. This new capability in turn decreases the demands on customer service personnel, thus reducing the amount of money spent on personnel, increasing their ROI.

The IBM Websphere Commerce application provides KNG with a sophisticated and easy to use interface which improves the customer experience. This new interface allows their customers to purchase customized menu covers, aprons, server uniforms, chef uniforms and other restaurant supplies. The key store front enhancements allow customers to dynamically configure embroidery on apparel and foil stamping on menu covers.

The interfaces developed by Shared Vision Group between their eCommerce software and their backend system allowed KNG to achieve a highly flexible and robust system for both order taking and order management.

Key features of the new KNG WebSphere Commerce implementation

The new IBM WebSphere Commerce web site provides several exciting new features for KNG, including:

Coremetrics analytics that enable KNG to understand visitor behavior, enabling them to optimize merchandising decisions, product placement, promotional strategies, and increase customer acquisition
SOA integration with SAP for order management and customer management
Address verification services integration with Melissa Data DQWS to ensure reliable carrier service
Scene7 integration for dynamic rendering of product images
Custom pricing and discounting
Contracts and member group pricing and discounts
Custom payment processing
Out-of-the-box WebSphere Commerce shipping and tax calculations

Marketing and Merchandising

KNG is using IBM WebSphere Commerce Accelerator technology to maintain catalog information and provide web friendly descriptions, images and catalog groupings. KNG also manages accounts and contracts using the Accelerator technology. They are enhancing their merchandising through extensive use of cross-sells and up-sells.

KNG has implemented campaigns, promotions and eMarketing Spots on their new web site.

Successful Implementation

The new KNG site was successfully launched at the end of June, 2007.