If you use store systems from a third-party provider, even with your own customizations, you can of course still use them with JTL-Wawi. It is important to also replicate these customizations with the help of our free JTL-Connectors in order to ensure smooth interaction between all components. Oliver Stähr, a long-standing JTL customer, reports on just such a case below:
The opening of my wife’s riding store at the end of 2008 was decisive for the development of our product configurator. As an IT service provider, I was allowed to take care of the ERP and store. Initially, we used xt:Commerce as a shop solution in combination with the connectors and JTL-Wawi at the time. Early on, the focus of our business was on the individual design of equestrian articles, including blankets, jackets and saddle pads. The introduction of JTL-Shop3 enabled us to use the configurator module. After some configuration work, minor adjustments by a service partner and SEO and SEM measures, our sales improved noticeably thanks to the new options.
Combining WooCommerce and JTL
The success we observed with the configurable items gave us the idea of setting up our own store for this purpose. As we were already using another WooCommerce shop in addition to our JTL-Shop, we wanted to equip it with configuration methods in line with our ideas. So we started developing the WooCommerce product configurator in April 2015. The goal: the end customer can not only determine their product using various options, but also see it live and modify it.
Based on research, distribution, SEO and cost aspects, we decided to use an agency specializing in WooCommerce / WordPress that had already implemented several configurators. We also decided to make the configurator as flexible as possible in order to be prepared for the future and other product groups. Since we knew that JTL software is very flexible with the order import interface, connectors and the ant, we had a good basis for customization. I had already gained this experience in another project, in which I had already integrated an old, self-programmed ERP system via an interface or order import.
As the planned configuration items are all produced by German manufacturers only after the order has been received, the knockout criterion of inventory management was not relevant for us. The development of the configurator, including design, implementation and testing, took just over a year in total. As is usual in development, we had to redevelop some modules because we encountered unexpected hurdles during implementation.
Customization of the WooCommerce connector for success
Parallel to the development, I started looking for a solution to transfer the WooCommerce sales order and customer data to JTL-Wawi. My first approach was to export an XML file and then import it back into JTL-Wawi. Certainly not optimal, but since the config items don’t require any inventory, it was a solution that would have been enough for us to get started. However, at the end of 2015, beginning of 2016, I became aware of the WooCommerce-Connector in the JTL forum – an absolute stroke of luck for us!
Now it was not only possible to integrate the WooCommerce shop, but also to operate it and our JTL-Shop 4.0 in parallel using the MultiShop license. The big advantage: we can offer standard items from the Wawi with stock in both stores without any problems. The JTL-Connector ensures a fast and secure exchange of all data between the shop and JTL-Wawi. We were therefore able to continue to carry out all workflows centrally in JTL-Wawi. When trying to make these adjustments independently, there were initially still conflicts between the connector and our configuration items. However, anyone who has dealt more intensively with the topic of online configurators knows how time-consuming the detailed setup of an item can be.
Thanks to our close and unconventional Contact with JTL, we quickly found a solution. We were able to customize the connector so that the configuration products were excluded from the comparison. In fact, there are many ways to modify the connectors again accordingly. A competent service partner or JTL can offer a lot of help and solutions here.
The fact that JTL-Software decided to make the JTL-Connector available free of charge in mid-2016 was further confirmation for us that we had chosen the right partner in JTL-Software. We were able to merge our combination of JTL-Wawi, JTL-Shop and WooCommerce-Shop using the JTL-Connector at no additional cost. My special thanks go to the JTL team and their excellent support.
Conclusion
JTL software offers an unbeatable combination for us with its ERP and numerous modules. Online configurators are always individual software solutions, just like their products. With the openness of its system, JTL software offers optimal possibilities for integrating such solutions securely and flexibly. It would be inconceivable for us to manage orders in the WooCommerce back end. We continue to make notes on orders, delivery times, manufacturer’s AB, queries, customer data and much more in JTL-Wawi.
If you would like to get an impression of the configurator, you can find it at:
www.schabrackenland.de
We currently only have a small part of the configurable products online and are planning further product groups. Many thanks and good luck with your own implementation of an online configurator.
