When Adalbert Wieczorek founded his online business AW Tools in 2011, he had 20 years of professional experience as a car dealer and a wealth of knowledge about machines and tools.
With this expertise and his enthusiasm for e-commerce, he wants to break new professional ground. He is joined by IT specialist Frank Krämer for technical support.
But his start in e-commerce is not without its problems. The merchandise management system he used for the first two years turned out to be a dead end. It was only when he opted for JTL merchandise management in combination with the right store solution from JTL that his online business started to take off – thanks in part to the active support of JTL service partner Com-ins-Netz.
Today, 4,000 to 5,000 parcels leave the warehouse every month and ten employees ensure that everything runs smoothly. In addition to online trading via eBay, Amazon and its own webshop, AW Tools also operates a retail store in Seelow / Brandenburg.
Frank Krämer in the AW-Tools store in Seelow / Brandenburg
JTL service partner since 2011, based in Berlin. Certified for JTL-Wawi, JTL-Shop and JTL-WMS, including connection to the LS-POS POS system and targeted design/template adaptations.
Rapid entry with hurdles
All beginnings are difficult – Adalbert Wieczorek knows this wisdom too. Together with Frank Krämer, who is responsible for all IT, Wieczorek launched AW Tools, the new online store for machines and tools, in April 2011. The two do not want to miss out on the trend towards online trading.
In line with their business concept, a store is opened at the same time. However, the two founders quickly realize that in addition to the store software, merchandise management is also important to ensure professional processing in the future.
Their research quickly leads them to the ERP system of a Berlin start-up, which they introduce into the company without further ado. A wrong decision, as it turns out in the following months. Because there is no training for the new system and only very sparse software documentation. From then on, the two of them did everything by “learning by doing” and “trial and error”, which cost them a lot of time.
At the beginning, we didn’t know much about the essential criteria of merchandise management. That’s why we had to learn the hard way.
A little later, they also realized that the software was not as easy to use as they had hoped. “There were only a few ‘included services’, which resulted in additional costs,” recalls Frank Krämer.
“There was no packaging and shipping logistics at all – we had to do everything manually. It can almost be seen as a fortunate circumstance that we hardly realized any sales in online retail at the beginning,” says Frank Krämer somewhat ironically.
Increasing turnover makes changeover necessary
Nevertheless, AW Tools is making steady progress – and with increasing orders and growing turnover, efficient and clear working is becoming more and more urgent. A switch to new software solutions has become unavoidable.
At this point, JTL software becomes the focus of Krämer’s attention. The Hückelhoven-based software company had made a name for itself in the e-commerce and mail order industry and aroused his curiosity. After attending a JTL roadshow in Potsdam in the summer of 2013 and some intensive discussions, the decision to switch was made.
The switch to JTL software will take place in November 2013. And this changeover is comprehensive: JTL-Wawi merchandise management, marketplace connection with JTL-eazyAuction, the new store system with JTL-Shop, warehouse management with JTL-WMS and finally the LS-POS POS system from Luwosoft for the store.
Simple scanning process in the shipping process with JTL WMS
“The switch to JTL software marks the beginning of a new era for us,” reports Krämer. “As we are active on all sales channels, the Wawi is the linchpin for us. The connection to Amazon and eBay with stock reconciliation via a background service is perfect for us. The unlimited number of Wawi users at no additional cost is also great.”
“With the JTL-WMS warehouse management system, we now save a lot of working time, because picking by scanner and picking list is child’s play. Packing errors are virtually eliminated. The simple handling and ease of learning are particularly important for our growing company in order to be able to integrate new employees quickly,” confirms Adalbert Wieczorek.
Close and successful cooperation with JTL service partner
When switching to JTL and migrating the data, Frank Krämer did not want to make the same mistake again and brought a JTL expert on board. Torsten Fechner from JTL service partner CIN GmbH/com-ins-netz.de in Berlin worked with Krämer to implement the entire switch to the solutions with JTL software.
In the meantime, a close and successful collaboration has developed between CIN and AW-Tools. “It’s great to hear from customers that they enjoy working with your software. A compliment that we, as a service partner, are happy to pass on to the developers at JTL-Software,” says Torsten Fechner.
More usability & service with responsive design
We are constantly working on the store design to further improve user-friendliness and clarity with many new functions and offers. Our responsive store template now also takes into account the changed shopping behavior on mobile devices. “Shopping on the go without having to sacrifice an appealing store display. We want to provide our customers with a smooth shopping experience. And JTL-Shop offers plenty of scope for individual changes and extensions,” says Adalbert Wieczorek.
A “SocialMedia-Login” and a “LiveChat-Module” are also planned to improve customer communication at AW Tools.
The tool specialist has big plans for the future. Frank Krämer comments: “Increasing sales, of course, that goes without saying. We want to expand our product range, introduce dropshipping and conquer the European market. With JTL-Wawi and JTL-Shop, we are ideally equipped”.
In addition to the actual software solutions, what Frank Krämer particularly appreciates about JTL software is the close cooperation between the retailers, service partners and the software manufacturer. “Especially in the JTL forum, but also in the daily cooperation with the service partners, at training courses, roadshows and the JTL regulars’ table with customers, opportunities are created to incorporate improvement requests and ideas from customers into the development work. In my opinion, this is unique in this form.
Responsive view with AW Tools
Tasks
Create store design for target group
Connect stationary retail store
Fundamentally optimize warehouse processes
Solutions with JTL
Excellently designable, responsive store template for your own website
Integration of LS-POS as a POS solution with JTL-Wawi
Introduction and conversion to the JTL-WMS warehouse management system
