Our new guest article by TaTeeTaTa, Shopküche and Salepix shows the successful path of a retailer couple with a strong concept. The success story demonstrates how a good idea, sophisticated implementation and a comprehensive software solution from a single source can inspire media and customers.
From tea lovers for tea lovers
What do I give family and friends for Easter? It all started with this question in 2013. Christine Paschen was tired of giving sweets and colorful eggs as gifts. After some thought, it hit her like a bolt of lightning: homemade and lovingly packaged tea, that’s it! The very next morning, she created her own Easter tea. Her husband Thomas, a graphic designer, helped her design individual labels for the cellophane bags.
The Paschens couldn’t let go of the idea of special tea in beautiful packaging. Wouldn’t that be an online business model? After countless hours of detailed research, they registered TaTeeTaTa as their own brand. They also rented new premises for their office, production with sales and sufficient storage space in their Upper Bavarian hometown of Inzell.
First steps in eCommerce
It took three years from the initial idea to the launch of TaTeeTaTa in August 2016. The special feature: high-quality, individually selected teas and an elaborate packaging concept. The initial range consisted of around 50 teas and six tin designs. New tea blends were added for special occasions such as Christmas, Easter or Valentine’s Day. To this day, every order is freshly bottled and lovingly hand-wrapped by Christine Paschen like a gift. The store is well received in the media: Favorite store at Trusted Shops, the Startup-Brett reported as well as the magazine Living&More. TaTeeTaTa was named as a best practice in Adnymics’ white paper “The ultimate unpacking experience in online business”.
The technology behind it
Christine’s husband Thomas is still responsible for the technical and graphical implementation of the TaTeeTaTa online store. The first solution consisted of JTL-Wawi with a website based on WordPress and WooCommerce as the store system. The synchronization was done with the JTL-Connector.
JTL-Wawi scored points with its professionalism in item and order processing as well as the necessary interfaces to DHL and DATEV. Another criterion for choosing JTL was the fact that important processes could be automated using workflows. When an order came in, the printer used the workflows to create four printouts (invoice, delivery bill, pick list and DHL shipping label). In addition, each customer automatically received an email with the terms and conditions and invoice, as well as another email with the tracking ID for their order. This made it possible to track where the parcel was at any time. An important relief for Christine and Thomas and a great service for customers.
The TaTeeTaTa concept was based on sustainability right from the start. The suppliers come exclusively from Germany and Austria. Attention is paid to short delivery routes in all areas. It was therefore only logical to choose a German company for the ERP system. With René Schwabe’s “Shopküche” Company, a certified JTL service partner took over the support of the ERP system and was also available on site.
The Paschens chose WordPress and WooCommerce because they offered supposedly greater flexibility, free plugins and were a well-known system. However, this decision would later turn out to be a mistake.
A solution from a single source
Due to the growth and success of the store, working with the store solution became increasingly difficult. The product range was supposed to grow, but after every item update, massive reworking was required online. As soon as the Paschens changed an item image, the SEO attributes had to be reset. The same applied to new items. When an item was updated, umlauts had to be corrected. Problems like these, as well as the effort involved in coordinating all components – WordPress, various plugins, WooCommerce – with different versions, took up a considerable amount of the daily working time. As a result, TaTeeTaTa switched to a complete solution from JTL: ERP, web hosting and store system. Everything from a single source and perfectly coordinated in all functionalities.
After some research, they decided on the AVIA store template from Salepix for the front end design. Good looks, usability and the good customer reviews made the decision easy. Since the payment service provider (VR Pay) also gave the green light and the integration of payment processing was possible without any problems, everything went very quickly. Good cooperation during further implementation more than lived up to expectations. As a certified service partner, Salepix became a permanent partner of the Paschens and did a great job in customizing the store.
Thanks to the constructive cooperation with Salepix and Shopküche, the new store was fully implemented in just three weeks. The trust in the components from JTL and Salepix was high enough at this point that the new shop went online in time for the Christmas business without a pronounced test phase and ran perfectly after only minimal adjustments.
And the decision has proven to be the right one every day since then. All the work around the store is much easier and more effective. This leaves more time for marketing and the further development of the products.
More time for tea
One of the most frequently mentioned comments about TaTeeTaTa’s online store is probably: “You can feel and see how much heart and soul goes into it”. And Christine and Thomas Paschen will not run out of passion any time soon. Just like their passion for tea and beautiful things, which they then bring together in their own store and transform with creativity into beautiful new products. And now that the shop runs more smoothly than before with JTL, there’s a little more time for that.
