Lusill Gebauer, Customer Service
+49 3641 3 16 10 20
Since 1954, Zeppelin Baumaschinen GmbH has been the sales and service partner of Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of construction machinery, in Germany. Today, Zeppelin Baumaschinen GmbH has grown to become the largest business unit within the Zeppelin Group and Europe’s leading sales and service organization in the industry.
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Zeppelin Baumaschinen GmbH operates a wide range of online touchpoints, several of which are already equipped with eCommerce functionalities. The existing MVP versions of the online shops—both with and without checkout functionality—have successfully proven the concept of online procurement capabilities. This has demonstrated that eCommerce is a promising component in the sales of construction machinery. The target audience actively leverages digital options for research, configuration, purchasing, and service, showing a clear willingness to adopt these offerings.
However, the current infrastructure complicates the consistent development of these platforms. The online touchpoints are assigned to different divisions and departments, resulting in a heterogeneous system landscape.
Additionally, replacing the current content management system was necessary to implement a more future-proof and efficient solution.
The starting point of the consulting process was the desire for a unified eCommerce backend for the various platforms. This involved providing a system recommendation based on a comprehensive system comparison as well as an evaluation of the existing Oxid Shop system.
To address the identified challenges and objectives, a structured and collaborative approach was adopted. This began with a thorough review of the requirements catalog, during which the framework conditions, goals, IT architecture, and underlying assumptions were analyzed in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders. During this process, existing requirements were refined and supplemented to ensure that all critical aspects were considered.
A key part of the discussions focused on the potential use of a headless CMS, where specific requirements for the content management system were reviewed and clarified. The built-in CMS of the evaluated solutions was also closely examined. Simultaneously, the evaluation criteria for selecting an appropriate solution were prioritized to provide a well-founded and transparent decision-making basis.
Based on this groundwork, an evaluation framework was developed to assess leading platforms such as Oxid, SAP CC, Intershop, Salesforce, and Shopware. Each platform was evaluated by experienced experts using a scoring approach, with particular attention paid to functionality, scalability, and integration capabilities. The collected data was then consolidated into a comprehensive decision-making basis to identify the best possible solution.
By implementing the recommended solution, Zeppelin was able to achieve significant benefits and make substantial progress. The existing Oxid system serves as a solid foundation for further development, as it meets current requirements with minimal adjustments. This approach allows Zeppelin to avoid the high costs and efforts associated with a complete system overhaul.
The greater challenge lay in the frontend, where optimization needs and several shortcomings of the Oxid Visual CMS were identified. To address these issues, a recommendation for a new frontend and a suitable content management system was developed.
Overall, Zeppelin has benefited from a clear strategic direction established through the collaboration. This enables the company to optimize existing resources while creating a future-proof system landscape.
Through the good, fast, and constructive collaboration, we have established a clear foundation for further developing our existing system without the extensive effort of a complete system overhaul. I was particularly impressed by the neutral, objective perspective without a sales-driven approach, as well as the hands-on, practical mindset."
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