Designing a Manufacturing Ecommerce Experience for End Users

 

Cummins, a Fortune 200 global leader in power technology, needed a way for customers to order parts online. Their direct customers had been obtaining parts from distributor branches and dealers or reaching out to Cummins' call center to find parts. Cummins knew they needed a way to help these customers get the parts they needed, particularly once the pandemic forced so many people out of public spaces and stores, so they focused on using their website as their main sales channel.

 

Cummins first engaged with Shopify to make 40,000 SKUs available online but quickly found this solution could not scale to their needs. In 2020, they partnered with Salesforce Commerce Cloud (B2B CloudCraze) and Coveo, developing a customer-centric solution that made buying parts a fast and easy process. They aimed to launch the new site in under a year, working within a 10-month timeline due to COVID-19 urgency.

 

In this illuminating webinar hosted by Coveo, Lisa Killila, Cummins' Ecommerce Development Manager, explains how the company achieved their ecommerce transformation goals. Killila provides an overview of the initial goal, reviews preliminary success metrics, and shares some lessons learned along the way. Below is a breakdown of what’s covered in this on-demand webinar.

 

A Manufacturing Ecommerce Destination for End Users

 

The webinar outlines the initial challenge that Cummins faced – namely, they needed to provide their end-user customers with a convenient way to purchase parts online while addressing a variety of B2B and B2C consumer types including small fleet owners, DIYers, farmers, and RV owners. These customers often seek parts for engines and generators that are no longer under warranty, but still have a significant lifespan. Before the website revamp, they obtained parts from distributor branches and dealers or contacted Cummins' call center.

 

 

Cummins envisioned an ecommerce solution that would allow customers to easily find and purchase the parts they needed for repairs and maintenance. The goal was to create a user-friendly online store that would provide a self-service option.

 

This would reduce or even eliminate the previous way customers obtained parts. By offering this convenience, Cummins aimed to attract new customers and increase sales, while also enhancing the overall customer experience for end users of their equipment.

 

Transforming a Traditional Manufacturing Business into an Ecommerce Business

 

Cummins is an established manufacturing company with over 100 years of history. To remain competitive and better serve their customers, they knew they needed to embrace ecommerce. As a B2B company, Cummins primarily focused on manufacturing engines and generators for a wide range of applications, from automotive to industrial and power generation.

 

In the webinar, Killila explains how the new website, powered by Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Coveo AI, leverages enhanced search functionality to serve all types of customers.

 

 

Visitors to the site can easily find parts by entering keywords, engine serial numbers, vehicle identification numbers, or generator serial numbers. Coveo's AI capabilities further enrich the customer experience by providing relevant product recommendations for cross-selling and upselling opportunities.

 

Killila also shares how these improvements not only streamlined the purchasing process but also helped Cummins uncover additional opportunities for growth. For instance, the enhanced search functionality identified high-demand parts that weren't yet available online, leading to the addition of over 100 new SKUs to their product catalog.

 

Enabling B2C Ecommerce in a B2B Environment

 

The webinar also addresses some key challenges Cummins faced when implementing their B2C ecommerce solution, including:

• Product data was not written in a customer-friendly way
• The company lacked data on which parts were commonly purchased together – this hindered cross-selling and upselling efforts
• Translating technical jargon into easy-to-understand terms for customers was a significant hurdle

 

Coveo's AI-powered search and recommendation engine helped Cummins overcome these challenges by automating the process of making product data more searchable and user-friendly. It also provided insights into customer buying behaviors, enabling Cummins to offer relevant product recommendations and make search more intuitive.

 

 

For example, Coveo’s AI tool provides a customized list of relevant products based on the customer's search. It also performs relevancy ranking, using ML to analyze customer clicks during similar searches and show the most relevant products at the top of the list of search results. Killila provides several more compelling examples of how AI and ML are used to connect customers to appropriate products and better identify what individual shoppers need.

 

Manufacturing Ecommerce Goals Achieved and Lessons Learned

 

Since implementing Coveo's AI-powered search and recommendation engine, Cummins has seen:

• 68% increase in search-driven conversions
• 10% increase in conversions from search query suggestions
• 7.7% of conversions now come from AI-powered product recommendations

 

Throughout this process, Cummins has learned valuable lessons that can benefit other manufacturers considering ecommerce. They discovered the importance of adapting product data to be more customer-friendly and the need for a robust search functionality that can handle various query types, such as keywords, serial numbers, and vehicle identification numbers.

 

 

To learn more about Cummins' ecommerce journey and the strategies they employed to achieve success, watch the full webinar. Killila shares in-depth insights and practical advice that can help manufacturing businesses navigate the complex world of ecommerce while improving customer experience for both B2C and B2B customers.

 

Don't miss out on this invaluable opportunity! You’ll gain firsthand company knowledge and best practices from industry experts and discover the transformative potential of AI in helping manufacturers create better ecommerce experiences. Register now and take the first step towards unlocking the power of AI for manufacturing ecommerce.