Sascha Völkel from Redzilla and fitness department storeabout the switch to JTL-Wawi 1.0 Beta
The free beta version of JTL-Wawi 1.0 has been out since mid-February. During this time, the beta has been put through its paces by hundreds of our customers. Our long-standing customer Redzilla has dared to take the step to the future JTL-Wawi version 1.0 in a pilot project. We spoke to Redzilla Managing Director Sascha Völkel about the experiences of this changeover.
Sascha, I assume that you have tested JTL-Wawi 1.0 Beta at Redzilla beforehand. Did you download and install the beta version immediately?
We downloaded the new version on the very first day and installed it immediately on a test system. What do you think? As JTL-Power users, we were naturally very excited about Wawi 1.0.
What was your first impression?
Well, I’ll be honest: The migration to 1.0 Beta was very bumpy at first. We work with a lot of parts lists at Redzilla. This caused a few problems in the beta version. Of course, we all dutifully posted our change requests and problems in the forum.
With each version, many problems were fixed and many changes requested by the community were implemented.
How nervous were you before the start and what were your biggest worries?
When updating to a version that contains so many enhancements, you naturally worry that something could go wrong. However, we really wanted to have this version because it contains so many new features as well as improvements to existing processes.
How did the changeover to the “1.0 Beta” go?
Surprisingly problem-free. Of course, the first few hours were not like a normal day, but after setting a few new options and customizing our very special export template, we started picking straight away and managed our daily volume quite quickly.
The integration with the JTL-Shop as well as eBay and Amazon also ran smoothly. At the end of the day, we had only compiled a small list of problems and suggestions for improvement, but these did not disrupt day-to-day business.
What is your conclusion after the first week of “1.0 Beta”?
We are thrilled. Especially the performance of JTL-Wawi 1.0 Beta is brutal. With 99923 it wasn’t quite perfect in some places, especially when we were shipping up to 4000 parcels a day at Christmas. With the 1.0 beta, many of the overviews and search masks in JTL-Wawi have now become many times faster, everything runs smoothly and the sensational WMS has been improved once again in important places. We are completely satisfied and have absolutely no worries about continuing to grow with JTL in the coming years.
However, we will only be able to get to grips with the many new features on eBay or the Amazon Lister in the next few days. The new workflows are also very exciting for us.
Speaking of workflows, do you already have specific workflows in mind that Wawi 1.0 will adopt?
Sure.
On the one hand, there are the shipping method workflows. We currently work with several shipping service providers such as DHL, DPD and Deutsche Post. Depending on which criteria a shipment fulfills, one or the other shipping method makes sense or a different shipper is cheaper. This involves the value of the goods, weight, parcel size, EU or non-EU, postal address or Packstation. Currently, our employees have to decide for themselves in each individual case and select the appropriate shipper. As you can imagine, this can be very time-consuming. Especially if the wrong shipping method has been selected because the value of a consignment is too high, everything has to be corrected again.
With the new workflows, we define the rules once and the system always selects the right shipping partner and the right shipping method. An example: An order that is to be delivered to a Packstation or a post office MUST be sent with DHL.
Other workflows could detect price errors and cases of fraud and issue warnings accordingly. For example, it can always happen that a product is listed too cheaply in the store due to a decimal point error. A workflow “If price is significantly below cost, then stop” prevents such orders, which are sure to be placed in large quantities, from going out.
Or, if a very large quantity is ordered and paid for with a credit card, a workflow may indicate that the case should be checked – because this could be a case of credit card misuse.
We assume that the workflows will really save us a lot of money.
Sascha, thank you for the interview.
