The biography of click-licht.de shows how the gradual introduction and use of JTL’s software solutions ensure sustainable business success.
Shortly after launching his online store click-licht.de in 2006, Rudolf Ring faced his first challenges: “I had developed my store on the basis of xt:Commerce and was now looking for a suitable merchandise management system.”
“During my web research, I came across a small but excellent freeware merchandise management system from the brothers Janusch and Thomas Lisson.” JTL software had not even been founded at this time. The merchandise management system was still called “eazysales” and was a useful and welcome addition, especially for many xt:Commerce users.
“This Wawi was the only one capable of communicating reliably – if not perfectly – with xt:Commerce and exchanging the relevant data! These properties were enormously important for me and my plans!”
The success story in pictures: JTL and click-licht.de
Young web agency from Dresden that has been working intensively with JTL-Shop since 2010. As a JTL-Shop technology partner, bidsder offers the shop plugin “Dropper”, an outstanding tool for content maintenance.
Lamps you can touch and test
The fact that the decision to use JTL-Wawi was the right one was demonstrated in concrete terms just two years later. Rudi Ring opens a store in Recklinghausen to offer his customers a better local service.
2008: Opening of click-licht.de store
The further developed JTL-Wawi can provide optimal support in this area. JTL-Software-GmbH, which has since been founded, has gained a partner in the software company Luwosoft, which has developed its own POS software for JTL-Wawi with LS-POS®.
The new store is integrated into the overall click-licht.de project on the software side. The new work processes are also quickly internalized by the employees on site and our customers can now view and test the lamps and luminaires in person. “We had thus taken the next hurdle towards professionalization,” says Rudi Ring.
We knew that an appealing shopping experience favors the purchase decision. In the new lighting studio, we were able to meet these expectations and wishes of our customers perfectly.
From xt:Commerce to JTL-Shop
The next big step towards becoming a JTL power user came at the beginning of 2012, when click-licht.de wanted to replace the now unsupported xt:Commerce shop system with the new, modern JTL-Shop as part of a major shop relaunch.
“If you are setting up a completely new store that is already running well, then you should definitely use a future-proof system,” Rudi tells us. “And xt:Commerce was no longer being actively maintained at the time. It was very obvious for me to opt for the JTL-Shop system because this shop harmonizes 100% with the Wawi – and JTL-Wawi was at the center of our activities.”
More usability & performance for visitors
The next big step towards becoming a JTL power user came at the beginning of 2012, when click-licht.de wanted to replace the now unsupported xt:Commerce shop system with the new, modern JTL-Shop as part of a major shop relaunch.
“If you are setting up a completely new store that is already running well, then you should definitely use a future-proof system,” Rudi tells us. “And xt:Commerce was no longer being actively maintained at the time. It was very obvious for me to opt for the JTL-Shop system because this shop harmonizes 100% with the Wawi – and JTL-Wawi was at the center of our activities.”
Many improvements were implemented with the switch to JTL-Shop
One of the first individual store enhancements is a customer gallery, which allows customers to upload a picture of their new lamp after purchase and present it to other interested parties. This store feature is still popular today and offers potential buyers additional impressions and ensures greater trust.
The homepage of the JTL-Shop at click-licht.de in fall 2017
However, the impressive highlight is the so-called “Home Lighting Designer”. This is an application that allows store visitors to see the lamps in action by day and night – directly in their browser.
“If you can see the lamp in a room in the dark, that’s real added value for the customer. If my information is correct, we were the first application of this new technology from Philips in Germany,” Rudi Ring continues.
Day-night observations with the Home Lighting Designer
Effective warehouse management instead of shipping bottlenecks
The continuous growth of click-licht.de constantly presents the company with new challenges. As early as 2010, the store’s small warehouse no longer met the requirements and was replaced by a larger 400 m² warehouse.
“However, the larger the warehouse became, the more difficult handling in shipping became, as there was no structured shipping solution. A stand-alone solution programmed by a third-party provider only took care of the inbound posting of goods into our warehouse – we did the picking and packing completely manually. Everyone had to remember where the goods were – sometimes only different box colors helped us not to lose track completely.
Rudi Ring is all the happier when JTL-Software presents its own warehouse management system, JTL-WMS. Precisely tailored to the processes of the mail order business and an ideal fit for JTL-Wawi. “We were the first to test the new JTL-WMS warehouse management system,” he recalls.
“Thomas and Janusch Lisson from JTL knew about our problems in the warehouse and wanted our practical experience to flow directly into the development of JTL-WMS. The cooperation worked perfectly and my impression after a short time was: “This is great!”.
Our daily workflows were the model for the processes that were to be simplified with the new warehouse management software.
The warehouse management system integrates seamlessly into the JTL merchandise management system and supports the employees there in all processes within their warehouse. Familiarization with the new system is surprisingly straightforward. Goods receipt, goods issue, order preparation, pick list creation, inventory and adjustment postings – the JTL-WMS optimizes warehouse processes and makes them much more transparent and clearer.
And errors are also reduced to a minimum with JTL-WMS. This is because both systems work on the same database and every action is immediately visible on both the one and the other system.
The new WMS warehouse at click-licht.de on over 900 square meters since 2013
Faster shipping and mobile solutions with JTL-WMS
At click-licht.de, many problems have disappeared into thin air with the new warehouse management system from JTL-Software. “We had a solution before, but with JTL-WMS we have a 100% improvement and all from a single source,” reports Rudolf Ring.
“In the morning, our warehouse employees start their tablet PCs (in our case, several iPad mini and a Samsung Galaxy Tab) and load a pick list for, say, 10 sales orders onto them at the same time. Then all the items on the list are collected on a trolley, with JTL-WMS dictating to the employees the optimized route through the warehouse, the shelf number and the shelf location.
“In the subsequent packaging process at the packing station, the items are then divided up according to sales orders and packed into the respective shipping cartons.”
The advantages of JTL-WMS are obvious for click-licht.de: “Faster commissioning, easy handling during packing and the avoidance of packing errors,” confirms Rudolf Ring. “The increase in performance in the warehouse is enormous: my people no longer spend 10 minutes searching, but find the goods within a minute.” In the video linked above, which we shot together with click-licht.de, the advantages of this shipping management system can be seen immediately in practice.
“Ever since we put the new 900 square meter, state-of-the-art warehouse into operation, the qualities of the warehouse management system have become clear,” enthuses the owner and Managing Director of click-licht.de. For him, the optimized interaction between warehouse, warehouse administration and merchandise management is one of the most important factors for the success of his company.
The click-licht.de team took a significant step forward together with the introduction of JTL-WMS
International markets are attractive
Rudolf Ring is still a long way from reaching his goal with click-licht.de. Awards and prizes, such as the Shop Usability Award 2015 (photo on the right), are just more motivation for him.
Because now that merchandise management, store system and warehouse management work together from a single source, he is setting himself new goals. He now wants to use his recipe for success to penetrate the European market. “We already deliver throughout the EU and to Switzerland, but now we want to launch our own specifically optimized country stores.”
“That’s no problem with JTL-Wawi, JTL-Shop and JTL-WMS,” he says confidently. “Good and beautiful lamps are not only in demand in Germany!”. We wish Rudolf Ring every success in his next steps and look forward to continuing our great collaboration.
Happy winners of the Shop Usability Award 2015
Tasks
Integrate stationary retail store
Implementing sophisticated store features
Fundamentally optimize warehouse processes
Solutions with JTL
Integration of LS-POS as a POS solution with JTL-Wawi
Excellently designable, responsive store template for your own website
Introduction and conversion to the JTL-WMS warehouse management system
