Background
Ennis Fabrics started selling wholesale textiles from a warehouse in the 1970s and haven’t looked back since. With ever-increasing demand, their B2B eCommerce platform serves thousands of customers a day across the globe. They pride themselves on superior customer service, quality products, and a seamless shopping experience - which we’re proud to be supporting with SparkLayer technology.
The challenge
Ennis Fabrics had a functioning B2B eCommerce platform up and running when we first engaged with them in 2021, but they were facing issues around pricing.
Their products (predominantly textiles) aren’t sold in units of 1, which is the price format most eCommerce platforms are set up to support. Instead, they needed the option to sell their fabric in a range of measurements with non-binary increments like feet and inches.
They were struggling to find a platform to support their pricing structure and were looking for a solution that could process custom orders in a standardised way across multiple warehouses.
Ennis Fabrics also required complex customer grouping - something that many eCommerce platforms are unequipped to support. They needed the option to assign numerous tags to each customer, enabling cross-segmentation and pricing/ shipping features as a result.
The solution
Our solution seamlessly overlays eCommerce platforms, which worked perfectly for Ennis Fabrics as they needed to import a bespoke selection of our features to their existing website. They were able to pick and choose elements that prioritised both their revenue and their customers.
We integrated with their ERP - Sage X3 - to provide custom pricing via our SparkLayer widgets. We also added quantity rules, like minimum order values, allowing Ennis Fabrics to set specific order parameters for each of their customer groups.
They also use our Sales Agent feature, with over 60 Sales Agents regularly accessing the platform to view specified pricing information for customers while interacting with them. This function enables Sales teams to work in harmony with eCommerce technology, speeding up ordering, providing customer support, and increasing AOV and revenue.
The results
Ennis Fabrics have now set up over 6,000 custom price lists, covering 3 currencies and their region-respective tax laws and compliance. Some customer groups are assigned up to 12 price lists at any one time - a function that their previous platforms and partners were unable to provide.
Rapidly scaling, complex businesses are often limited by the lack of multi-customer tagging functionality from eCommerce platforms, so having a solution that offered this was a game-changer for Ennis Fabrics.
They’ve been able to mimic the price lists in their ERP system via our functionality, allowing them to easily offer discounts to certain customer groups based on a range of factors, like territory and time.
The flexibility of our platform enabled Ennis Fabrics to fully support the evolution of their pricing structure. This project has been a brilliant example of how customisable features can unlock new potential, even for the most successful businesses.
“SparkLayer has provided a well-thought-out and efficient solution for our complex business. With our unique requirements, it was difficult to find a partner who understood our needs and had the ability to create the user experience we needed. SparkLayer's team has been great to work with - the customer service from set-up to post-launch has been great and they are always able to answer our questions and troubleshoot any barriers we encounter. I would highly recommend SparkLayer to companies who have unique business requirements that are not satisfied by native Shopify capability." ~ Jackson Rinne, Digital Marketing Specialist
Explore more
To learn more about Ennis Fabrics, 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: