Goudsmit

Accelerating digital commerce for Goudsmit

For over sixty years, Goudsmit Magnetics has been designing and building high-tech magnet components and industrial magnet systems for the food, automotive, recycling, metal, pharmaceutical, offshore, chemical, high-tech, and aerospace industries. Goudsmit started as a small family business and has grown to an international player with offices across Europe. The company partnered with DEPT® to deliver an enhanced digital B2B platform which has resulted in a brand new identity and commerce website.

With B2B buyers increasingly turning to digital services to aid the buying process, and over 74% conducting online research prior to purchase, Goudsmit recognised the need to modernise its digital estate to better serve its reputation of being a leader in magnetics solutions.

A full digital overhaul

Gouldsmit’s original website used Product Information Management (PIM). During initial discussions, the client requested an integrated webshop with simpler content management for seven languages, and a possible replacement of the site’s PIM. However, after further research and discovery, it became apparent that there was a need and desire to create a new, modern corporate identity. And the transformation didn’t stop there. Goudsmit looked to the future with plans to integrate the site with their ERP system, pay more attention to online sales opportunities, and add a translation system for multilingual content.

Goudsmit partnered with DEPT® to replace its site with a modern digital commerce platform, with state-of-the-art vendor products and an identity that accurately reflected the company’s stature. What began as a partnership, blossomed into a long-term collaboration to further the expansion and fortify Goudsmit Magnetics’ online identity.

Building a new digital commerce platform

Starting with a magnetic identity

DEPT® and Studio Dumbar (part of Dept) started by determining the desired corporate identity and objectives of the website. While Studio Dumbar brought a brand new identity to life through with a new logo, corporate clothing and website designs, DEPT® hosted workshops for website objectives and platform selection

Platform selection: Suite vs. Composable

During the selection process, DEPT® narrowed the choices offering two types of digital commerce solutions for Goudsmit to evaluate: a ‘product suite’ and a ‘composable commerce’ solution.

Goudsmit conducted two pilots to evaluate these solutions, eventually opting for the composable commerce solution with Magnolia CMS, Apache SOLR and commercetools.

DEPT® delivered the technical solution via an intense agile development process. Following the implementation of the new digital commerce platform, DEPT® and Goudsmit worked together to develop a ‘best-of-breed’ platform. The system comprises two main components: Magnolia CMS CORE for content management, and Apache SOLR as the search engine. commercetools is used to provide the product catalogue and ordering functionality, while Translations.com’s Globallink handles the translation of website content. DEPT® hosted the platform in Azure Cloud.

Magnolia CMS, commercetools, Apache SOLR and Globalink

COMMERCETOOLS

The e-commerce part of the website uses commercetools microservices. The market leader in composable commerce solutions provides a range of microservices for multichannel product, order, and customer management. The flexible architecture allows for quick and easy development of e-commerce functionalities that are fully tailored to Goudsmit’s specific B2B sales strategy and back-office systems.

APACHE SOLR SEARCH

With thousands of products and applications, the Goudsmit Magnetics site needed robust search functionality. DEPT® integrated the Apache SOLR search engine into the website. Users simply enter a keyword, product code or name and immediately see article level results, allowing for quick and efficient ordering of desired products.

CUSTOMER PORTAL

DEPT® began work on the customer portal of the new website in 2021. This portal will enable Goudsmit’s customers to receive insight on requested quotations, and provides Goudsmit with valuable customer order data. The portal is fully integrated with the CRM and ERP system via the web services layer.

Multilingual capabilities

Goudsmit web editors can create content in their native language in the CMS, with Globallink automatically translating the text in the CMS into six other languages. The IP address of the user’s computer determines the language displayed. For example, if the system establishes a user is visiting the website from Russia, the user automatically sees the Russian version of the website.

The future in full swing

Goudsmit Magnetics is aiming to achieve 50% of all sales through its online channel by 2025. To ensure Goudsmit meets this goal, DEPT® will advise Goudsmit and continuously improve upon and expand the platform so the target demographic is reached and provided with an optimal digital experience.

DEPT® has delivered an international, innovative digital commerce platform that connects seamlessly with Goudsmit’s new brand identity and sales strategy. The platform is adaptable to the rapidly changing needs of the company’s customer base, and Goudsmit is ready to maximise the opportunities of the online B2B market.

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Principal Digital Consultant, Design & Technology

Katy White

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