A year overshadowed by the pandemic, 2020, brought exponential growth to the e-commerce market, and by all accounts, this trend will continue through 2021. Interior design wholesaler Vinga saw explosive growth in sales in the past year – which places high demands on the digital environment. Thanks to their e-commerce solution, they have a stable platform to lean on when sales take off.
Over the past few years, Vinga has made the transformation from a company that sells quality interior design products exclusively to companies to also targeting private individuals. Vinga saw a remarkable increase in both visits and sales last year, with a peak during the fall and winter months. During the Christmas rush, traffic to their consumer website Vinga Home increased by 1071% compared to a normal month, and sales increased by 400% compared to the previous Christmas season. The sudden influx of website visitors certainly put Vinga’s infrastructure, flexibility and scalability to the test.
– This winter, and Christmas in particular, demonstrated how important it is to have a stable platform with built-in flexibility. We were able to quickly scale up the entire environment to meet demand, which allowed us to handle all the traffic without compromising the user experience, says Niklas Dahlros, business developer, e-commerce at Vinga.
A scalable platform with built-in flexibility
Vinga’s partnership with Litium started two years ago when Vinga was looking for a platform that would allow it to grow – and a partner to grow with. The ability to grow and scale up has always been a central part of Vinga’s business, as they want to be able to quickly add new markets and establish the brand around Europe in line with the accelerating growth of the e-commerce sector.
– We were looking for a partner who was in the right stage of development and relevant, someone to share the journey with. Given the fact that the market is very dynamic, one of our main requirements was a platform that is flexible and scalable. We have been able to call them and get more server capacity in half an hour, which is worth its weight in gold, says Niklas.
The ability to adapt server capacity as needed provides a stable platform that can handle a large volume of visitors, which is absolutely essential to providing a good customer experience. In order to stay a step ahead of the competition and retain their customers, it is important for Vinga to ensure that their website is fast, easy to navigate and user-friendly. This is a recipe for success that Vinga has taken to heart.
Personalized products
Over the past year, Vinga has expanded its range and has been offering laser engraving as an add-on service for a while. Litium contains a printing module that allows the customer to design the product on the website, thus lending a more personal touch, something that is very popular as a birthday gift or during holidays such as Valentine’s Day. Vinga has seen increasing demand for products with a more personal touch, both in its B2C and B2B business.
– Since we activated this service, we have sold just over 2,000 personalized products to private consumers, says Niklas.
Built-in PIM system
Within the world of e-commerce, you often hear talk of a PIM (Product Information Management) system, which is a tool companies use to structure and visualize their products, both in their online stores and other channels. Litium’s standard system already contains an integrated, ready-to-use PIM system.
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– We operate three sites in Litium, and each site has between four to six different languages. The PIM system is the core of all the channels, and is used to distribute product data and information, both to customers and retailers, says Niklas.
With a record-breaking Christmas season under their belt, where some days saw up to 15,000 orders in a single day, Vinga feels well prepared to handle the next sales rush. Their partnership with Litium provides assurance that the website will function as it should and that the user experience will never be compromised – even under the pressure of high website traffic.
– Without such a stable platform, the website would have probably crashed during Christmas, Niklas concludes.
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This article was published in the Di Digital, a part of the Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri on the 12th of April 2020.