The luxury, Stockholm-based fashion house, Acne Studios, is no stranger to B2B eCommerce technology. In fact, over a decade ago, the brand developed its own wholesale solution to make lists, and view and scan products.
In our latest case study, we shared how Acne Studios eventually made the switch from their proprietary solution to NuORDER by Lightspeed, and how they use our B2B eCommerce platform to enhance the buying experience for their clients. Still, always the pioneer, Acne Studios created novel use cases for NuORDER. They’ve adapted our solution to enhance their existing strategies while creating new uses for our wholesale platform — for their retail channels and beyond.
Read on to learn more about the rewards of using an expert, third-party, B2B eCommerce solution and how you can adapt NuORDER to mirror and enhance your preferred ways of doing business.
The Risks of Creating a Proprietary B2B eCommerce Solution
Some enterprise businesses believe building a proprietary B2B tech solution is their best path forward. While it can seem like an attractive option, developing and maintaining your own solution isn’t without its downsides.
For example, Acne Studios developed their solution at the perfect time. Their proprietary B2B eCommerce solution existed before there was a market of third-party service providers like NuORDER. However, once the commercial market came into existence, the luxury brand no longer needed to maintain the high risk of relying on a single developer to update and innovate their system. It was also no longer necessary to continue making steep investments into platform innovation. Instead, Acne Studios could redirect their time, talent and other resources to their core business model instead.
Relying on a single developer to build your software is risky. Here are other common risks associated with the proprietary solution route:
Upfront and maintenance costs
Developing custom technology isn’t cheap. The upfront costs of compensating developers and designers, plus maintenance costs to keep things running smoothly can really add up. Though costs vary across project needs and company sizes, the final cost to build your own B2B eCommerce solution will be a sizable investment — upfront and over time.
Time investment
Unsurprisingly, building custom software usually requires significant time too. From designing the system to development, debugging, and staff training, it could take months or years to get a fully functional system up and running. Then there are the time costs associated with ongoing updates and innovations too.
Opportunity costs
If you build your own B2B eCommerce software, you'll also need to hire and train new staff to manage the system, or pull existing staff members from other business functions to bear the responsibility. Either way, you'll be missing the benefit of enjoying access to a committed team of experts through a trusted, third-party provider.
How NuORDER can adapt to your business
Read our case study to get inspired about new use cases for your wholesale platform. Acne Studios discovered new, creative ways to use existing NuORDER features to support and enhance their existing strategies and operations. For example, if an Acne Studios shopper requests a product that is currently out of stock, the retail store managers or sales associates can simply place the order via NuORDER on the spot. It’s a creative use for a wholesale platform and another excellent way to offer discerning service to everyday luxury clients and VICs (Very Important Clients) alike.
Discover fresh ideas to get more out of your B2B eCommerce platform — read the full case study to get inspired by Acne Studios’ savvy and success.
