Leading UK-based hardware and commercial building supply company, MKM Building Supplies, has revamped its online storefront to leverage headless technology at the back-end to create scaleability and flexibility as the business expands.
Working with open SaaS ecommerce platform provider BigCommerce, MKM hopes the new site will deliversa unified omnichannel and seamless B2C shopping experience to drive sales.
“MKM’s unique business model, continued company growth and desire to serve our diverse range of customers with exceptional and hyper-personalised shopping experiences meant we had to revitalize our online store and evolve in an increasingly digital world,” explains Andy Pickup, digital & marketing director at MKM Building Supplies. “Launching on BigCommerce allowed us to personalize the customer journey and deliver frictionless experiences across channels. Since moving to the platform, we have been performing above expectations on ecommerce metrics and driving more physical store visits.”
MKM’s legacy platform previously experienced slow page loads, navigation issues and had a high total cost of ownership. In addition, the company was challenged to manage tens of thousands of product SKUs and to create localised and personalised B2B, B2C and B2B2C shopper experiences across regions.
“MKM had its specific set of front- and back-end ecommerce hurdles and a large part of it comes down to the complexity of the B2B customer journey,” says Meghan Stabler, senior vice president global product marketing at BigCommerce. “BigCommerce’s Open SaaS platform and partner ecosystem equip MKM Building Supplies with the flexible tools to build tech stacks that overcome these challenges while creating frictionless B2C user experiences so the brand can focus on advancing its business.”
To replatform to BigCommerce, MKM engaged media, marketing and technology company Brave Bison to help MKM integrate the overall solution. Brave Bison enlisted global market-leading front-end solution Vue Storefront to implement the headless architecture and collaborated with commerce experience provider Bloomreach to drive seamless personalisation across the site.
“The new MKM site is the result of incredible collaboration between MKM and a number of leading technologies, demonstrating the power of composable commerce in helping businesses create the commerce experience best suited for their needs,” said Tjeerd Brenninkmeijer, executive vice president of EMEA at Bloomreach. “We’re thrilled to see MKM implement all three Bloomreach pillars — Engagement, Discovery, and Content — and look forward to seeing how both MKM and its buyers will benefit from a more personalised digital experience.”
“We’re delighted that MKM chose Vue Storefront to power its front end and enhance its online customer experience. The possibilities our technology offers complements MKM’s growth ambitions, and we’re looking forward to helping the company achieve its aims however best we can,” says Patrick Friday, CEO of Vue Storefront.“Our agnostic front end offers the most ecommerce software integrations on the market, enabling businesses to build custom storefronts quickly, easily and cost effectively. It also gets them to market faster and is future-proof and scalable. We’re excited to see how our collaboration develops — and, in particular, MKM’s progress.”
“The MKM programme is a shining example of how great talent and great technology can combine with great ambition to deliver something truly ground-breaking and transformative,” adds Ed Hornby, managing director of Brave Bison Commerce. “This year-long project overcame many complex challenges, including multiple integrations within a headless architecture, personalized omnichannel experiences for B2B and B2C and multi-tiered pricing and local fulfillment. We’re hugely proud that we delivered it on time with MKM and our partners, via multiple distributed teams from Bulgaria to Bali via Hull.”
