Ericson Manufacturing Achieves Effective eCommerce Solution and Establishes a Unified Web Presence

www.ericson.com

Overview

Founded in 1918, the Ericson family first began by manufacturing better, higher quality products than their competitors. A mid-sized U.S. company, Ericson Manufacturing gained a solid reputation in the industry through production of cost-effective and safe lighting and power systems solutions. Over the years, their award-winning patents and designs have led to Ericson becoming an industry leader and innovator.

The need arose to build out a new eCommerce website that delivered the same high-quality and reliability customers are used to receiving from their products. Ericson Manufacturing turned to Silk to develop a scalable and integrated eCommerce site that could establish a smooth connection between their webstore, ERP, and marketing site. Although they had a previous eCommerce site, it failed to offer the seamless experience Ericson wanted. Leveraging the eCommerce strength of Magento, the CRM capabilities of WordPress, and the ERP expertise offered by Epicor, the Silk team was ready to deliver the optimal solution.

Highlight

With a previous eCommerce site that was only B2C, Ericson was now able to bring their B2B business online with their new commerce solution on the Magento platform. Pulling their account information from their ERP, Ericson’s distributors could now be shown tailored pricing and be equipped with an easier channel to purchase online.

Our Solution

DELIVERING A UNIFIED SHOPPING EXPERIENCE. Ericson received an eCommerce solution that utilized the content capabilities of WordPress, leveraged Magento’s eCommerce strength, and integrated seamlessly with their ERP system. Having a direct connection between their ERP and webstore allowed Ericson to display inventory levels, display preferred pricing based on customer type (distributor or end user), and have all product information maintained in one area. Finding the right platform with the customizable and scalable capabilities they needed was key to overcoming their eCommerce challenges.

Silk provided the seamless unification of both WordPress and Magento. Ericson’s WordPress team worked in conjunction with Silk to handle the static content and marketing sections on the website. The core eCommerce sections, including the product detail pages and category list pages would be managed using Magento. WordPress was utilized to facilitate site search while Magento was utilized for product search. The goal became to marry the look and feel of both WordPress and Magento to provide the best user experience for customers.

By generating a smooth transition between both sites, customers wouldn’t feel the difference going from the content/marketing site to the eCommerce site. For example, hover effects available on WordPress would be mirrored on Magento. Certain aspects between both sites would be kept consistent, with custom changes implemented that were personalized to Ericson’s needs.

Complete with a product configurator, the product catalog is both informational and easy to navigate. Users can easily request a quote, add items to the shopping cart, and quickly access needed resources. Both the content/marketing site and the eCommerce site could both be managed under a single domain that would also fit in with the logistics of their ERP.

THE NEW ECOMMERCE LAYOUT SUITS THE NEEDS OF ERICSON MANUFACTURING TODAY AND TOMORROW. As the company continues to manufacture and deliver amazing products, they are now fully equipped with a website that will grow and evolve along with them. Silk provided the structure Ericson needed to deliver a smooth and seamless user experience that leverages the strengths of both WordPress and Magento and fits in perfectly with their ERP. Ericson has successfully relaunched their whole web presence from their marketing site to their webstore and continues to deliver on its great reputation as an industry leader in electrical safety products.