Electrocomponents Forms Partnership with DigitasLBi Commerce & Hybris Software

DigitasLBi Commerce, the global connected commerce specialist and hybris software, an SAP company and the world’s fastest growing commerce platform provider, have been selected by RS Components (RS), a trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, the global distributor for engineers, to implement a new connected commerce platform. This will enable it to enhance and rapidly scale its B2B eCommerce offerings to an expanding customer base and deliver a highly personalised experience to individual customers in markets around the globe.

Under the agreement, DigitasLBi Commerce will implement the hybris Commerce Suite, a powerful and scalable single-stack commerce platform capable of delivering highly sophisticated B2B features to a global user base. The solution enables RS to further enhance its online B2B functionality while seamless integration with the company’s enterprise architecture, which includes a SAP business intelligence system, will support streamlined business operations and make the faster initiation of go-to-market strategies and new business models possible.

Guy Magrath, Global Head of eCommerce at RS, commented: “eCommerce is a major driver of growth for our business and the entry point for our customers to a long term multi-channel relationship with us. By partnering with DigitasLBi Commerce and hybris we’ll gain the ability to respond faster to new market needs and further exploit the potential of our eCommerce offer to a diverse B2B customer base.”

With operations across 32 countries and a global network of 16 distribution centres worldwide, RS is the world’s largest distributor of electronics and maintenance products, shipping over 44,000 parcels daily. With around 500,000 products available for same day dispatch and serving more than one million customers worldwide, the company is dedicated to helping customers find the right product at the right price.

As a next phase, DigitasLBI Commerce will undertake the global deployment and rollout of a new connected multi-language, multi-currency, multi-site commerce platform that can be adapted fast to changing market conditions. DigitasLBi Commerce’s robust agile implementation approach will enable RS to incrementally advance its eCommerce capabilities.

With 58 percent of global revenues generated online, RS’s ambition is to build a £1 billion plus connected commerce business and DigitasLBi Commerce will support the brand in extending its ‘eCommerce with a human touch’ vision to further improve the online customer experience with innovative B2B functionality that make it even easier for customers to transact.

“With connected commerce at the heart of the company’s operation, RS has to make the online customer experience the best and most relevant in each and every market they do business in,” said Jim Herbert, Managing Partner at DigitasLBi Commerce. “As a leading exponent of global hybris implementations we’re delighted to have been chosen to support RS in extending how it connects to its global audience to reach customers locally, at the point of need.”

The new multi-device optimised commerce platform will power 29 highly localised websites, and finely tune procedures that address specific market requirements. Under the agreement, DigitasLBi Commerce will enable the brand’s global connected commerce team of 100 staff, who oversee online trading, merchandising and behavioural repurchasing (email/offline event triggers across all channels and digital devices), to become fully self-supporting in their utilisation of the hybris Commerce Suite.

“In today’s market where B2B customers expect and are demanding a B2C-like experience, companies - especially industry giants such as RS - require a new breed of solutions that consider the customer interaction across touch points and channels, including that pivotal moment in the journey where a purchase is made,” explained Rob Shaw, Vice President New Business EMEA and MEE, hybris software. “hybris makes it possible to integrate web, customer service, print, mobile and social commerce that will give RS’s customers a more seamless multi-channel shopping experience.”