How Ray Allen Manufacturing Used Magento 2 to rise B2B and B2C Sales

With the earliest stages of the company dating back to the 1940s, Ray Allen Manufacturing has never been a stranger to growth. Initially a supplier of tactical K-9 gear for the U.S. military, they have expanded their product line, entered new markets, and acquired companies on their way to becoming the leader in the K-9 equipment industry. This same forward-looking mindset gave them the desire to be a pioneer in the eCommerce space in late 2015.

With the earliest stages of the company dating back to the 1940s, Ray Allen Manufacturing has never been a stranger to growth. Initially a supplier of tactical K-9 gear for the U.S. military, they have expanded their product line, entered new markets, and acquired companies on their way to becoming the leader in the K-9 equipment industry. This same forward-looking mindset gave them the desire to be a pioneer in the eCommerce space in late 2015.

Ray Allen knew commerce was transforming, both on the B2B and B2C fronts. Their previous eCommerce system was draining efficiency, providing a lackluster online experience, and costing them new customers due to its poor SEO footprint. With a complete system overhaul needed to replace their dated systems, Ray Allen knew they wanted an ERP solution and eCommerce platform that would allow them to operate at peak efficiency on the shop floor, in their warehouses, and online.

Ray Allen found a solution partner in Kensium, who showed them the potential of connecting Acumatica Cloud ERP and Magento Commerce 2. One of the first merchants in the world to go live on Magento 2, Ray Allen’s integrated ERP-eCommerce system empowered them with:

• A single source of truth accessible by anyone in the company (created by automated data synchronizations through Kensium’s Acumatica-Magento Connector)
• A modular admin interface for easy management and oversight of all processes
• The ability to manage multiple stores and brands from a single Magento instance
• Advanced business intelligence for accurate and customized reports
• SEO-rich infrastructure, making it easy to be found organically in search engines

Choosing Kensium as their Magento partner made sense for Ray Allen, particularly because they needed a new ERP solution integrated with a modern eCommerce platform. Instead of dealing with multiple partners to design, develop, integrate, and launch their new Magento Commerce system, Ray Allen leveraged Kensium’s end-to-end expertise to deploy everything on the same day.

The challenge

Create a solution to support multiple eCommerce stores for B2C and B2B companies under the Ray Allen Manufacturing umbrella. Ray Allen wanted a fully integrated ERP-eCommerce solution that could help them sell more products, improve the efficiency of their fulfillment operations, and scale effectively.

The Solution

Magento 2’s flexibility and open framework allowed Ray Allen to make the customizations they needed to efficiently run their business and serve their customers. Following are some of the most notable features Ray Allen and Kensium leveraged to create the solution.

Multi-Store Capabilities

The ability to manage their 5 separate websites from a single Magento admin interface was a factor in Ray Allen’s decision to move to Magento 2. These new multi-store capabilities allow them to more efficiently allocate resources that were previously spent separately operating each entity. The setup still provides the ability to separately access and customize each store. Here are some ways they could differentiate and improve their processes while maintaining a connected Magento ecosystem.

Shared Data

By automatically pooling the eCommerce information from all of its brands, Ray Allen can more easily manage customers and products. Segmenting data gives them powerful insights that fuel profitable business decisions.

B2B

Several B2B features enhance the customer experience on Ray Allen’s site. Among them are customizations such as quote management modules, quick order by product SKU, and tailored pricing rules. A B2B-exclusive section of the site is available for registered users to manage their business accounts and review transactions. By capturing new B2B customers online and pointing existing customers to their new website, Ray Allen could increase sales and reduce the time spent taking orders over the phone. This move toward digital B2B commerce eliminated hurdles in the ordering process (for both customers and employees) and greatly decreased the number of manual order entries.

B2C

With buyers ranging from professional K-9 combat trainers to household dog owners, Ray Allen has a diverse catalog and caters to different types of promotions to specific customer segments. Native Magento marketing tools allow them to stage, preview, and schedule these marketing efforts. With tailored marketing and easy checkout on its B2C sites, Ray Allen entices customers to buy and paves a smooth path to purchase.

New Website Design

Magento is known for its vast customization capabilities, and with Magento 2, businesses have more flexibility than ever. Even the Magento merchants with the most basic designs experience the benefits of improved SEO structure, site performance, and to-market times. In the Ray Allen project, Kensium built multiple uniquely branded sites on the same framework for the manufacturer, retailer, and distributor. Some highlights of the Ray Allen website experience include:

Responsive Design

Magento 2 websites are responsive, meaning users can browse any Ray Allen stores from almost any device. For each type of screen, Ray Allen can choose which design elements are displayed more prominently to drive conversions. Every resolution contains full eCommerce functionality and is tested each time a new patch is installed to guarantee smooth experiences for all visitors.

Modernize Homepage

Ray Allen created an all-encompassing experience with their new homepage. They incorporated a large sliding banner, which can easily be updated with new content on the Magento back end. Additionally, they made their product categories accessible and dedicated a section for their most popular products.

Intuitive Navigation Tools

Aside from its categories bar, Ray Allen provides multiple ways for visitors to find the products they’re looking for. They offer menu items for easy browsing and a search bar for users who want a different way to find items. Their search tool allows users to filter and narrow searches by brand, attributes, and more. Additionally, static featured and new product sections deliver strong cross-selling potential.

Integrated Third-Party Solutions

While the native features on the Magento storefront intrigued Ray Allen and have led to increased sales, integrating their stores with third-party solutions has bolstered internal efficiency. Ray Allen took full advantage of Magento’s flexible codebase to create an entire eCommerce system that linked their stores with:

Acumatica Cloud ERP

Ray Allen uses this comprehensive cloud solution for accounting, financials, inventory management, distribution, and more. They implemented Kensium’s Acumatica-Magento Connector, which connects Acumatica and Magento with seamless synchronization of all operational data between systems. This automated data transfer gives management an accurate view of the entire business.

Marketplaces

With several potential customers shopping on competing eCommerce sites and marketplaces, Ray Allen knew there were profits to be earned by selling through multiple channels. As a part of their Magento deployment, they connected their Magento back end to Amazon, where orders are fulfilled from the same warehouse as their own site’s orders. These sales can be grouped or separated when they create sales reports.

CRM

Ray Allen needed a CRM solution that connected with Magento and easily communicated information such as order history, customer details, and company affiliation. Having an integrated CRM has improved Ray Allen’s level of B2B and B2C customer service and allowed them to resolve more issues in real-time.

Returns and Exchanges

Ray Allen has leveraged its system integrations to enable customer-initiated RMAs. With buyers initiating their own returns, Ray Allen can cut costs on support staff and incorporate inbound items back into their inventory. If issues arise, they can enter the system and alter details on a case-by-case basis.

Results

Ray Allen Manufacturing became one of the first companies in the world to go live on Magento 2 and has used Kensium to continuously incorporate the latest eCommerce innovations since its launch. With their B2C and B2B capabilities, Ray Allen can manufacture their products in-house, effectively source and track inventory, and facilitate smooth eCommerce operations with Magento and their ERP system. They’ve seen some impressive statistics since launching their flagship website on Magento 2.

• Estimated 1.3 million sessions since launching in 2015
• Average session over 4 minutes 45% bounce rate
• Estimated 770,000 unique visitors
• More than 6 pages per session, on average

About Kensium

We are a certified Magento partner known for our capabilities as a system integrator. Our deep understanding of back-office systems, such as Acumatica Cloud ERP, allows us to serve as a one-stop shop for all of your eCommerce needs. We have architected, built, and integrated Magento systems for retailers, manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers. To learn how we can help with your next Magento or ERP project, visit www.kensiumsolutions.com or email us at info@kensium.com.