34 St John is a luxury bathroom brand that brings quality, European-sourced products to high-end showrooms and online sales across the UK.
The business launched in August 2023, but the team have decades of experience in the bathroom industry to draw upon. 34 St John knew they wanted to build stronger relationships with their showroom customers while moving to a hybrid retail model, allowing end customers to purchase directly from them. They needed a solution that created a B2B experience as seamless as their existing DTC approach.
Seeing their competitors evolve and grow at pace, 34 St John set out with a mission to fully own their customers’ journey and have succeeded in attracting an affluent clientele in the process. They wanted to remain loyal to their heritage and pedigree of customers while expanding into new markets. We’re pleased to announce the launch of their new B2B store on SparkLayer!
The challenge
34 St John had an existing DTC website in place, with orders pulling through to Shopify at the correct prices before being entered into their ERP system. They were looking to integrate their Sales team and wholesale function into their website but were struggling to find a tool that met their evolving needs. Having upgraded their website to gain additional B2B functionality, they found that there were a number of key features missing from the platform.
When expanding into B2B retail, they identified a need for custom payment terms - something that many ‘off the shelf’ models were unable to provide. In keeping with its luxury status, 34 St John doesn't run promotions and wanted to avoid a customer-facing discount box at the checkout while switching on this functionality behind the scenes. Their previous B2B eCommerce solution meant they would have to manage wholesale prices through discount codes.
The solution
Radiant designed and built the DTC website - after discussions with Radiant about a B2B solution, it became apparent that 34 St John’s current platform did not meet their requirements for payment terms and the aforementioned discount box at checkout. Radiant was crucial to their success and our partnership resulted in a retail offering that met all their needs.
We started working with 34 St John in October 2023 to add B2B functionality to their existing DTC offering through a ‘layer’ of tech that sits on top of their website. To maintain their strong brand awareness, they needed consistency between their DTC site and the one that the Sales team would be using in their showrooms.
They wanted customised widgets on their site, primarily focused on their pricing structure and product pages. They needed their B2B shopping experience to reflect the intuitiveness of their DTC site, with easy ‘add to basket’ options and 24/7 self-service ordering for showrooms.
We implemented our Sales Agent feature which enables team members to order on behalf of their customers, speeding up the process while providing a high-level experience. Customers have full visibility of pricing, as well as volumetric pricing tiers and pack sizes. They also have access to manage their own accounts, from tracking orders to quick-click repeat purchases.
34 St John also needed more flexibility around their B2B PO options - our software integrates with invoicing and payment platforms to pull through relevant information automatically. Partnering with Sufio via Radiant and SparkLayer has meant that they can show PO numbers on their branded invoices and set custom payment terms all from one place.
The results
SparkLayer technology ensures all B2B orders are pulled through at the correct price, integrating with 34 St John’s ERP to create a seamless experience for everyone. This reflects the ease and intuitiveness of their DTC offering, which remains on the same website, unaffected by their new B2B functionality.
One of their biggest challenges was the time taken to manually place and manage orders. By implementing our software, they’ve halved the time they were spending on these tasks when using their previous eCommerce platform.
We set up custom pricing for their partner showrooms, increasing the confidence of their Sales staff and automatically adding custom discounts per location. Staff at partner showrooms can email 34 St John with their POs, which are then processed by the 34 St John internal teams.
When it comes to POs, there’s no confusion around payment terms and itemisation - our automation features mean that all SKUs pull through correctly and can be checked easily if needed. Multi-address options have also been added, enabling orders to be shipped to their full suite of showrooms at the touch of a button.
“This is now the fourth website that I've been involved in the build and development of, and it has definitely been my favourite! Adding SparkLayer is certainly a massive timesaver, without a doubt. They’re always willing to listen to our feedback and put our ideas on their future roadmap… For me, that’s partnership. True partnership." ~ Kevin Sears, eCommerce Director
Explore more
To learn more about 34 St John, their product range, and the story of their brand, visit their website.
To see how SparkLayer works with Shopify, you can explore via the links below: