“We want a new online ordering portal that can be used more efficiently.” That was the assignment from Alcon, a producer of contact lenses and eye drops, among other products, to printing company Altorffer for their new communication platform. Software developer Prindustry was called in for this. With a satisfied Alcon as a result, “We now offer all opticians in the Benelux a modern portal in which they order our marketing materials.”
Partner
Altorffer
Client
Alcon
Year
2023
TECHNOLOGIES
Brand Portal, with inventory module
The collaborating parties
Print manager: Altorffer
Printing company Altorffer has existed for nearly 240 years. “It is one of the oldest printing companies in the Netherlands,” says project manager Sophie Laros. “We offer printing, packaging and print management. We take care of complete communication campaigns for clients. The essence is that they can count on one supportive partner from beginning to end. This results in a loyal customer base. For example, Alcon has been coming to us for years for their printing, POS materials for the stores and, since this year, also for their order portal.”
Client: Alcon
Alcon is a global company committed to optimal eye health. Digital Marketing Manager Philippe Moons clarifies, “We offer that for example with contact lenses, eye drops and surgical instruments. I work for the Benelux team and supervise all digital projects. Investing in the digital landscape is the focus. We are strongly committed to more efficient processes, also to make the ecological footprint smaller. The customer is always at the center of this. We have a large sales team that is constantly on the road visiting customers.”
IT partner: Prindustry
Prindustry develops software for managing, creating and ordering (print) communications. The triangle of collaboration with graphic entrepreneurs and brand owners is one that suits Prindustry well. “We regularly work with graphic partners to deliver software that completes the communication process for the customer,” says director Ramon van Wingerden. ” It’s a strong partnership, where we don’t get in each other’s way and we use our specialist knowledge to deliver the best customer solution.”
The mission: a new ordering portal for Alcon
“We want an online order portal that works better than the current platform.” That was Alcon’s assignment to printing company Altorffer. Project manager Sophie identified all of Alcon’s requirements. “The platform had to have an unambiguous structure and be user-friendly for all opticians and pharmacies that sell Alcon products. All communication materials had to be included; posters, brochures, bags, and so on. Alcon also wanted to integrate inventory management. We ended up with Prindustry as the software developer for the platform. Colleagues Peter and Mireille, together with the developer at Prindustry, Jesse, picked up the technical requirements. We embarked on a pleasant collaboration with the end goal being the more modern order portal for Alcon.”
The focus: User-friendliness for all opticians
Philippe on the requirements from Alcon: “User-friendliness was paramount in the assignment. We supply products to hundreds of opticians who need to be able to use the portal logically. It’s about getting them to sell our products as well as possible and we provide them with marketing products to support them. Prindustry’s software appealed to us because it provides a comprehensive B2B ordering platform that allows good management and control. The backend is very important to us. There you can create your own assortments, assign permissions and track inventory. The whole process is manageable. On the front end, we spent a lot of time creating a logical structure for the users. After all, we work with a wide assortment and have various campaign materials available. We involve our customers in improving our processes and that was also true for this process. During the development of the new platform, we constantly asked them for feedback. It’s ultimately about what our end customers need and what works for them.”
Sophie (left) and Natascha van Gils of printer Altorffer
Sneak peek into the portal including stock display
In operation: Up-to-date marketing materials
“Everything we offer in terms of marketing material from the past two years is in the portal,” Philippe continues. “Campaign material for the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking markets, online files, in-store promotional items and printed materials. All materials are up-to-date. Altorffer and Prindustry arrange the updates for us. The flow is well established. A user is able to see the stock of a product and order it immediately. We can track and analyse everything. For example, we see that the cashback vouchers are ordered the most. These are discount brochures that opticians give to customers when they buy their first set of lenses.”
Sophie adds: “We offer warehouse and inventory management for our customers and this can be tracked well through the workflow in the Prindustry portal. This automation allows us to put this expertise to good use.”
The users: hundreds of opticians in the Benelux
After several months of being operational with the platform, Alcon already has more than 300 opticians connected. Philippe: “We offer the tool for free, as well as the marketing materials. Every week we see new users joining. Within a year we want to have 600 users. Our sales managers put a lot of energy into this. During a visit to an optician, they show the portal and do the registration together. The digital approach has our focus and we invest heavily in it. For example, we continuously renew marketing tools in an efficient way. This digital portal contributes to that. With printing on demand in the portal, for example, we ensure that only the printed matter that is actually in demand is printed.”
Philippe from Alcon
End result: An efficient order portal
All parties are quite content with the new ordering portal.
Sophie from Altorffer: “We are very positive about the result, everything looks good. It’s a real improvement over Alcon’s old ordering portal. Everything is now centralized in one place. You have insight at all times and are able to track everything, from order to stock management. That’s very interesting for our customer.”
Philippe concludes, “It’s a great user platform for our end customers to order marketing materials. It works efficiently and quickly, with no barriers for the users. The platform is easy to customize and allows good analysis. The flexibility of the portal is tremendous.”
Would you like more info?
We would be happy to tell you more about Prindustry software.
Our experts can easily arrange an (online) demo or a consultation with you.
