How do you run three webshops and a cash register cost-effectively and manage everything reliably using an ERP system? SQURI AG asked itself these questions. The Swiss manufacturer of high-quality technical products was expanding its business areas and suddenly needed three online stores instead of just one. The company finally found the right system with service partner BINARY one and the solutions from JTL, which are used throughout the DACH region.
SQURI AG has been selling the self-winding vaporizer SQuape® under the brand name StattQualm® for over ten years. “Alongside a battery carrier, a vaporizer is one of the main components of an e-cigarette,” explains Chris Lusser, CEO of SQURI AG. SQURI AG sells e-cigarettes worldwide via its webshop. In addition to its own products, the range has been steadily expanded. “Our range of e-cigarettes, liquids and accessories has expanded massively over the years,” says Lusser.
Diverse customer segments
In addition to an online e-cigarette store for end consumers (B2C), a shop for business customers (B2B) was added over time. SQURI AG then launched another store in 2020 under the domain everydaycarry.ch. “In addition to Ledlenser flashlights, Victorinox knives and other EDC products, coolers and drinkware from the US brand Yeti can also be ordered there,” says Chris Lusser. This online store also supplies customers all over the world.
Multichannel retail with online, subshop and point of sale
Until recently, SQURI AG relied on the Shopware 5 store system for its online stores. The entire ordering and shipping process as well as item and stock management were handled via a Pickware merchandise management plugin. The “SQ Nebelbox” store in Altdorf, Switzerland, also had a store cash register that was connected to Shopware via a Pickware plugin.
High latency times and only one database
As the customer base grew, it gradually became clearer that the Swiss retailer was also “outgrowing” its old system. The biggest disadvantage of the Shopware system was that everything ran via a single database. Customer orders, item entry and shipping were all recorded in the same content management system (CMS). Performance problems became more and more frequent. Depending on the load on the web server and the data lines, the system was sometimes faster or slower. “With five to six employees accessing the backend at the same time, there was often a lot of latency,” explains Chris Lusser. Even a scalable cloud server did not bring any improvement.
New craft beer online store makes system change necessary
When SQURI AG added an online store for craft beers under the domain hopfnung.ch in 2021, it was clear that a new system was needed. After an initial analysis, the team decided on the following:
Must-have features for the new webshops
The catalog of requirements for the evaluation was divided into merchandise management and store system. For each of these areas, separate must-have features were further specified after the initial analysis:
Previous provider was no longer shortlisted
Only a few store systems fully met all of these criteria. The Shopware store system used to date was also not shortlisted in the current version 6. The reason: the online store and merchandise management (plugin) still run on the same database and are completely web-based.
JTL convinces with functionality and price-performance ratio
After an in-depth search of providers, the solutions from JTL scored the highest. Their store and merchandise management system met all the previously defined requirements. Compared to the competition, JTL also stood out due to its attractive cost-benefit ratio. Another advantage: the entire system – from the store and merchandise management to the warehouse and shipping solution – comes from a single source. Another plus point: With BINARY one, SQURI AG found a competent and reliable JTL service partner directly on site in Altdorf.
In the meantime, the following JTL solutions have been implemented at SQURI AG:
Changeover in three steps
The conversion from the old store system to JTL took place in three steps and was carried out by the JTL service partner BINARY one. The first step was to set up the merchandise management system correctly so that the existing products could then be imported. During this time, SQURI AG’s main business was still running entirely via the old store system. Only the new business branch was already set up under the domain hopfnung.ch using JTL-Shop 5. In a second step, everydaycarry.ch was migrated to JTL. After a complete inventory, sq-vape.ch and the store cash register were also migrated to JTL. The entire system changeover was carried out together and successfully completed at the beginning of this year.
Interim results with JTL consistently positive
SQURI AG’s three online stores are now running JTL-Shop 5.2(sq-vape.ch / everydaycarry.ch / hopfnung.ch). All stores and the JTL POS system in the Altdorf store are connected to JTL-Wawi 1.7, which runs in the cloud. This centrally aligned system combination continues to impress today: “Stock and product management is much clearer and more intuitive in JTL-Wawi. In addition, the new JTL stores achieve a better ranking in Google searches,” summarizes the CEO of SQURI AG. Chris Lusser is also satisfied with the JTL Vouchers system: “This web-based system enables us to offer vouchers on all platforms and across all stores.”
JTL service partner BINARY one is also satisfied
We at BINARY one supported SQURI AG throughout the entire system conversion process. As a JTL service partner, we consider the changeover to be a success across the board. Overall, everything went smoothly. The only thing we would do differently today is to transfer the data from the old Shopware system and no longer integrate it via JTL Connector, but first prepare it externally and then import it into the new system via JTL Ant. This detour ensures that only valid data is imported into the new system.
