Two young mail order companies have relied on JTL-Wawi right from the start and are going their own way. Step by step.
Sascha Völkel and Torsten Wilhelm have known each other since their school days. The two friends are fascinated by the rapidly growing online trade. The current owners and operators of redzilla.de took their first steps on eBay early on.
But it wasn’t until years later that they both decided to venture into online retail together. “After school and training, we wanted to make a fresh start,” Sascha Völkel recalls of the upheaval at the time. “We were convinced that we had the talent and stamina to succeed in e-commerce.”
Carpet cleaners, frying pans, bike computers – many products are traded and tried out by the two in the first few months of their self-employment via eBay. Their expertise and experience in e-commerce grew from week to week. They develop a feel for which products work and are successful.
“We had good experience with razor blades and cosmetics. Small products with a high product value and a good profit margin,” says Torsten Wilhelm, recalling the 50 square meter warehouse they started with. The two now want to put their mail order business on a stable footing.
Sascha Völkel: From master building cleaner to successful online retailer
We once traded in toilet paper. Since then, we have known how important it is to have sufficient storage space.
Redzilla works with several JTL service partners depending on the task (template/design, SQL/scripts, hosting).
The challenge: Which software is the right one?
In 2009, the two set out to find suitable software solutions for their project. Their specifications included the following requirements:
Cost-effective & calculable (low financial risk)
Reliable eBay connection
Own store variant possible (all-in-one solution)
Offline data solution (mainly due to unstable internet connection at the time)
“With these requirements, we quickly came across JTL,” says Sascha Völkel. “JTL-Wawi was and is free of charge. With the possibilities that merchandise management offered even back then, it immediately appealed to us. There is no better price-performance ratio.”
The two of them noticed even more: “Of course, we took a very close look at the JTL forum to get a picture of the mood regarding the software,” recalls Wilhelm. “And I can say that we were really impressed by the atmosphere and cooperation of the entire JTL community. That was extremely important for us as newbies, we felt right at home there”.
The path: controlled growth on a healthy basis
With the decision in favor of JTL and its software solutions from a single source, the steps for the coming weeks have been mapped out. JTL-Wawi is downloaded, set up with the product ranges and connected to eBay via JTL-eazyAuction. A forum account and user account are created and a JTL store license is purchased for little money.
The store is gradually filled via JTL-Wawi and adapted to requirements. The time has come in August 2010. Völkel and Wilhelm now also present their products in their own JTL store at redzilla.de.
August 2010: redzilla.de goes live with the former JTL-Shop2
The store quickly gains momentum and the journey begins. The milestones of the following years document the consistent path:
2011
Enlargement of warehouse from 50 to 250 square meters
Upgrade JTL-Shop2 to JTL-Shop3
First employee is hired
2012
Connection of Amazon via JTL-eazyAuction
Warehouse relocation; expansion from 250 to 1000 square meters
RedZilla grows to a total of 5 employees
2013
Switch to the warehouse management system JTL-WMS
RedZilla becomes pilot customer and beta tester for JTL
RedZilla becomes a training company for office and warehouse
2014
Connection of numerous other marketplaces via unicorn
RedZilla GmbH opens another JTL store with fitnesskaufhaus.de
RedZilla grows to a total of 8 employees
2015
Warehouse relocation; 1000 sqm become 1800 sqm
Switch to JTL-Wawi 1.0
RedZilla grows to a total of 10 employees
2016
Switch to JTL-Wawi 1.1
RedZilla grows to a total of 12 employees
RedZilla becomes a production company and presents its own textile brand
RedZilla realizes upgrade JTL-Shop 4 and new store design
The result: always ready for the next step
“Without the numerous options that JTL-Wawi has offered us over the years, these successes would not have been possible,” says Sascha Völkel.
His friend and partner Wilhelm is also convinced: “JTL-Wawi and the JTL product family put us in a position to grow in a controlled and self-determined manner. Only when software takes such developments into account, thinks about the next steps and offers flexible solutions can the right business decisions be made at the right time.”
The right solution at the right time. JTL-Wawi makes it possible.
What are the specific advantages of JTL Wawi?
Sascha Völkel looks at the milestones in his own company history. It takes a few moments, then he starts to enumerate: “OK, let’s go through the advantages one by one”.
Interaction between merchandise management, store system & marketplaces
All solutions that JTL provides for setting up or expanding your own online business are coordinated with each other. “When adjustments and improvements are made to the JTL store, for example, I can be sure that JTL Wawi will also be adapted accordingly to ensure the best possible usability,” says Sascha Völkel.
Time-consuming checks as to whether or to what extent certain compatibility problems can occur are largely eliminated when using JTL solutions from a single source. This saves a lot of time.
With JTL-Wawi I reach and serve all sales channels
For Sascha Völkel and Torsten Wilhelm, the smooth eBay connection was crucial at the start of their careers. This was followed by the first JTL store and the connection to Amazon. All other well-known marketplaces were then connected to JTL-Wawi via unicorn 2. And finally, the multi-shop capability of the merchandise management system makes it possible to create and connect another JTL store.
We have been able to expand our sales network continuously but carefully – always in line with our economic development. JTL-Wawi offers us all the options for healthy growth.
Broad and diversified product ranges open the way to new markets.
Shipping management bottleneck - JTL WMS provides a remedy
When product ranges grow, shipping volumes increase and the warehouse is bursting at the seams, it is often shipping administration and warehouse management that require new solutions.
“That was the case for us in 2013 – at the time, we were handling around 300 parcels a day, sometimes well over 1000 parcels a day at peak times. The risk of packing errors was constantly growing and we had to quickly improve efficiency in the warehouse to avoid shipwreck. The warehouse management system JTL-WMS, which had just been completed by JTL, was just what we needed.
As a beta tester, Redzilla is getting to know the new warehouse management system JTL-WMS intensively. The easy-to-learn picking and packing processes standardize Redzilla’s warehouse workflows and drastically reduce the error rate.
“With JTL WMS, we have picked, packed and dispatched significantly more orders in the same time – also thanks to the intuitive user interface for our warehouse staff,” says Völkel. “As a result, we were able to ship more than 30,000 parcels almost error-free in the run-up to Christmas 2013.”
The warehouse at Redzilla shortly after the introduction of JTL-WMS:
First warehouse bookings in real time using mobile devices.
JTL-Wawi: Quick start and comprehensive documentation
“When we create new workstations – whether in the office or warehouse – they have to be easy to integrate into the company network and have clearly defined requirements,” reports Sascha Völkel.
“The very detailed client, user and rights management in JTL-Wawi is a great solution and very easy to administer. The training of new employees runs almost smoothly for us. Everyone is getting on well with the system – also thanks to the excellent documentation in the JTL Guide and the helpful community in the JTL forum”.
Regularly new features & functions
“The e-commerce market is competitive and getting tighter. You can’t afford to stand still. It is important to constantly review your own company’s performance and respond to new challenges – both internal and external – accordingly.”
“The possibilities that JTL-Wawi has provided with the development leaps to 1.0 and 1.1 have helped us a lot. Especially the JTL workflows. For example, the automatic assignment of the correct shipping method or the automatic invoice dispatch have saved us over 30% of time in our day-to-day business,” explains Sascha Völkel.
The JTL workflows – as well as JTL ShippingLabels and the new returns management in JTL Wawi – are among the key innovations of the development work at JTL in recent months. They allow numerous processes within merchandise management to be handled more transparently and much more effectively in day-to-day business.
Conclusion
With their early decision to use JTL-Wawi as the central administration for their business processes, Sascha Völkel and Torsten Wilhelm paved the way for an impressive rise. At every point in their company’s history, JTL’s software solutions have opened up paths that have enabled RedZilla’s self-determined and continuous growth. JTL-Wawi was and is at the center of their activities and is also the linchpin for future plans.
RedZilla remains on course for growth with a significant expansion of its product range through the creation of a new production branch under its own brand, which was implemented at the end of 2016. The JTL store was also given a more modern look in 2016. The switch to JTL Shop 4 is not only intended to take advantage of the new functions and better performance – a more emotional store design is also intended to attract new and, above all, younger groups of shoppers.
Fresh and tidy: RedZilla with new JTL Shop 4.
Tasks
System decision software
Creating the basis for growth
Expand sales marketplaces + store
Solutions with JTL
Software solutions from a single source for all professional e-commerce requirements.
Future-proof, market-oriented and continuously improved overall e-commerce solution.
Centralized management and convenient control of all sales channels with JTL-Wawi.
