NetSuite Ecommerce Upgrade Successful for Big Agnes

Customer Success Highlights

Deliverables

  • Upgrade from NetSuite SuiteCommerce Advanced Mont Blanc
  • Migration from site categories to commerce categories
  • Ensure dynamic linkage from ERP to SuiteCommerce Advanced
  • Execute NetSuite ecommerce upgrade without disruption to live website
  • Help with Rakuten integration with SuiteCommerce Advanced

Results

  • Greater customization ability with Site Management Tool (SMT) 3.0
  • Enhanced checkout process
  • SuitePromotions can be fully utilized
  • Upgrade happened with ZERO disruption to live website and full software ecosystem
  • More dynamic website design capabilities and better customer experience
  • Successful integration of Rakuten
  • Cleaner, more efficient codebase for better scalability
  • No longer dependent on developer for configurations and marketing activities on website

Background

Fast-growing camping supplier driven to innovate in a saturated market

Big Agnes is a popular high-end camping supply company based in the ski town of Steamboat Springs, CO. The company started about 20 years ago with the goal of creating the best camping gear possible to help people enjoy the great outdoors and nature.

Fueled by an original concept called the Big Agnes System, which affixed a sleeping pad to a sleeping bag, the company continued innovating and developing durable products that received real-world testing in the rugged terrain and high altitudes of Colorado.

Challenge

Expert guidance needed for NetSuite ecommerce upgrade

As a growing business with aspirations beyond the greater Colorado area, Big Agnes switched from QuickBooks and manual processes in favor of NetSuite’s complete business management system. It was running and scaling successfully on NetSuite for over six years, but the company’s existing SuiteCommerce Advanced (SCA) instance called Mont Blanc was holding them back.

After a few years, Mont Blanc became too rigid and required developer assistance to help support standard marketing initiatives and changes to the SCA website. Big Agnes needed flexibility and independence to ensure it could continue growing and adapting in an ultra-competitive industry.

NetSuite’s latest release, 2019.1, had everything Big Agnes wanted, but it was six generations newer than Mont Blanc. This six-generation difference meant they faced an uphill journey that included transitioning to more modern data architecture in SCA (site categories to commerce categories), carrying over customizations, and ensuring a clean data exchange between the ERP and SCA.

Big Agnes was ready for the trek, but it needed an expert guide to help them safely navigate through the NetSuite ecommerce upgrade process.

Solution

SuiteCentric picked to blaze trail for NetSuite ecommerce upgrade journey

Big Agnes initially met the SuiteCentric team at SuiteWorld, and the groups hit it off immediately. Conversations continued, and Big Agnes chose SuiteCentric to perform its NetSuite ecommerce upgrade based on their breadth of knowledge and experience with the platform.

After a business requirements discussion with the Big Agnes team, SuiteCentric was equipped with enough information to plot a safe path forward. A sandbox account was created to assist with the workflow testing, and the Technical Lead from SuiteCentric also created a separate website domain in Big Agnes’ NetSuite production account that allowed them to retain the original Mont Blanc codebase.

The combination of a sandbox account and the original Mont Blanc codebase eased the data migration and testing process. And it helped Big Agnes maintain zero downtime for its customer-facing website.

During this process, it was discovered that a substantial amount of code from the original NetSuite implementation needed to be refactored. And customizations and extensions required re-configuring to ensure data integrity throughout the NetSuite ecommerce upgrade.

A clean codebase helped streamline the implementation of an ecommerce marketing tool called Rakuten that became an important element for enhancing the customer experience. It also helps support the future scalability of the Big Agnes software ecosystem. Accessing and referencing the original Mont Blanc codebase and NetSuite sandbox account was critical throughout this leg of the journey too.

Toward the end of the project, SuiteCentric set up a test site on the Big Agnes NetSuite production account. This test site had a different website domain, and once pushed live, SuiteCentric could detect and fix bugs that might not have materialized in the sandbox account. It was the final major step toward guaranteeing the switch to commerce categories, migrating data, and confirming the checkout process worked properly.

Once the real Big Agnes website went live, SuiteCentric remained on-call for the next 24 hours and stayed available for several days following the go-live.

Big Agnes went live with zero disruption to the website or its full software ecosystem during the busy holiday season, and its customers were able to continue shopping for their next adventure.

Results of Successful NetSuite Ecommerce Upgrade

  • Greater flexibility to customize and configure

    • Site Management Tool 3 enables SuitePromotions to be fully utilized
    • Auto-applicable SuitePromotions assist with free shipping offers
    • More cost effective to deploy website changes because they are no longer dependent on developer for configurations and marketing activities
    • Can schedule website changes in advance
    • Greater customization ability for individual pages, no longer a global setting

  • Improved customer experience

    • Commerce categories, dynamic content, and facets enable better control and design options, and increased customer personalization opportunities
    • Streamlined checkout process using place card format for shipping and billing info
    • Easier updates to “Add to Cart” function
    • New SuitePromotion bundle supports free gift and best offer promotions
    • New Rakuten integration for better customer-focused loyalty program

  • Cleaner codebase and better extension management

    • Cleaner more efficient code allows for easier future upgrades and overall management
    • Enhanced scalability with streamlined codebase
    • Easier and cheaper to make code changes and manage updates

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