How Stahlwerk is successfully and efficiently expanding its marketplace sales
Multichannel marketing has long been a buzzword within the eCommerce industry, but what lies behind the term and what prerequisites retailers need to create in order to be successful in this area is as individual as each online business. If you want to get started on multiple sales channels, you need to know both your target group and your internal sales processes well. This is the only way to strategically deploy the usually scarce resources in the hectic day-to-day business.
Stahlwerk recently reported first-hand on how this can be achieved at the JTL MeetUp with Kaufland.de in Cologne. In an interview, Head of Multichannel Marketing Michael Heisterbach, Mick for short, explained why Stahlwerk decided to combine Kaufland and JTL and how the company got off to a flying start with the marketplace integration.
Hi Mick, could you briefly tell us what your current position and responsibilities are at Stahlwerk?
I am Head of Multichannel Marketing at Stahlwerk and responsible for the presentation of our products on various online marketplaces.
Can you give us an insight into Stahlwerk’s product portfolio?
Stahlwerk has now been around for 25 years. We are the European market leader in tools for welding and cutting technology in the medium price segment.
What made you decide to use JTL?
The JTL-Wawi ERP system is logically structured so that you can create, maintain and manage your goods without any prior knowledge. The price-performance ratio is also impressive. There are other alternative systems with similar functions that are much more expensive. And with the JTL-eazyAuction marketplace connection, you also have everything centralized in one system.
JTL-Wawi is simply a great tool and, in my opinion, the perfect solution for companies of all sizes.
Why did you choose Kaufland as your sales platform?
At my old employer, we were also listed with Kaufland for the first time. We integrated the marketplace with JTL-Wawi using an alternative interface provider. It all worked wonderfully. It’s precisely this simplicity, both with JTL and with Kaufland. I wanted to do the same with Stahlwerk. It is also important for us to be on the move on several platforms at the same time. As an internationally growing marketplace, Kaufland offers a whole range of possibilities here.
Why did you choose JTL-eazyAuction and how did the integration of the marketplace connection go?
The integration was implemented before my time at Stahlwerk. But according to our Managing Director, the decisive factor besides the simplicity of the system was that we definitely wanted to sell on eBay as well. Even back then, JTL-eazyAuction offered particularly good compatibility for this. We were able to link the existing items directly at the touch of a button and manage and sell everything. All in all, it was a smooth integration.
Nach dem Vortragsprogramm hatten die Teilnehmer des JTL-MeetUps mit Kaufland.de Gelegenheit, bei Getränken und Snacks zu networken.
Bei dem MeetUp waren sowohl JTL-Kollegen aus dem Vertrieb als auch aus der Entwicklung präsent, um teilnehmenden Händlern möglichst viele Fragen beantworten zu können.
E-Commerce Influencer Michael Atug (links) und Michael Heisterbach, Head of Multichannel Marketing bei Stahlwerk
To what extent has the use of JTL or JTL-eazyAuction had a positive effect on your business, especially in combination with marketplaces like Kaufland?
Overall, it has simply saved us an immense amount of work – in addition to the JTL-eazyAuction marketplace connection, we use many JTL solutions, the JTL-WMS warehouse management system, the JTL-POS point of sale system in our two showrooms and also JTL-Vouchers for voucher sales. With JTL as a holistic all-in-one solution, we manage our entire retail business at all levels. The different modules interlock like “gears” and can be individually adapted to our needs. We simply have our heads free to concentrate on our business. With isolated solutions from different providers, it is far more difficult to set up truly efficient workflows.
That sounds very Good! What things do you continuously optimize to keep the marketplace business running?
When it comes to product data maintenance, i.e. content creation, there is always room for improvement. In my experience, retailers should always invest a good amount of time and effort here, regardless of which marketplace they want to get started on or which system they work with – nothing comes from nothing, but it’s worth the effort! The fact that Kaufland and JTL update the data very quickly and stably plays into our hands. We can always make adjustments to the product data and flexibly see what works and what doesn’t.
Can you give examples of successful cooperation between Kaufland and JTL?
The go-live of the Kaufland marketplaces in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in March 2024 was a complete success! The process only took a short time. We were online with our products in both countries within a day and generated our first sales after just five hours. The Eastern European market is very interesting for us.
Was there anything that perhaps didn’t go so well or could be improved?
There was a bottleneck with the translations. These were not immediately uploaded to the new marketplaces. But Kaufland support was able to solve this quickly. After that, everything went smoothly! Whether you contact Kaufland or JTL, you always get the help you need. Both companies employ people who are passionate about their job. Over the years, our collaboration has also led to friendships with colleagues.
What can Kaufland do better as a marketplace in terms of internationalization to get you excited about even more new target countries?
In principle, we are very open to this. In Kaufland’s Seller University, you can also quickly find help on how to get started in a new region. If there’s a new language in there, for example, you already know where the journey is going. We have now translated our product data into Polish and are well prepared. And we owe this to the use of JTL. With our current system, we are flexible and can react quickly if required.
Then you are optimally prepared! Thank you Mick for the great insights and good luck with Kaufland and JTL!
Multichannel does not work without data quality and process optimization
Mick’s experience at Stahlwerk shows that the success of a multichannel strategy is essentially based on two pillars: firstly, high-quality product data that gives customers the information they need to make a purchase decision – this is where you should also be prepared to invest the appropriate resources. Secondly, it is advisable to pursue a strategy of diversification and not just concentrate on a few strong-selling marketplaces; this minimizes dependencies and risks. Those who have the appropriate technical infrastructure to develop an efficient process, for example with JTL-eazyAuction, will be able to implement these two pillars in their daily business without any problems.
