Ecommerce implementation and development for Manolo Blahnik

We have partnered with Manolo Blahnik since 2019 and together we have come a long way, learning from each other, and deepening our cooperation, which with a luxury brand requires unconventional solutions and a proactive approach, as well as quick action and reaction.

The results of our long-term cooperation are a Magento 2 ecommerce store that is safe, friendly, efficient, and able to handle hundreds of orders from all over the world. Stylistically in line with the brand, the website is designed to provide the best shopping experience for customers and transparency of processes for the brand’s owners.

A demanding client often looks for uncommon solutions adapted to the industry in which they operate. This approach allowed us to implement several custom solutions that were not natively developed, but from the business point of view turned out to be crucial for competing on the tight market of fashion luxury goods. Through this process, we created many of our own proprietary modules, which we are constantly developing and improving.

The store we developed for Manolo Blahnik is based on the Multistock mechanism created by Alekseon. The customer creates warehouses in the administration panel to ship goods according to previously planned operating patterns. Both classic warehouses and stationary stores (boutiques) are involved in the supply chain as warehouses. Each warehouse can have a specific priority and becomes a destination shipping point where goods are delivered before final shipment to the customer. We receive data on stock and their size per warehouse from the customer's ERP.

This system creates the ability to control sales per warehouse/shipping point and gives the customer important information on the popularity of a given assortment, which can directly impact decision making.

In addition, we have enhanced the functionality with reports showing the performance of individual warehouses so that delays in delivery can be quickly verified and improvements can be implemented.

Faceted navigation, otherwise known as aspect navigation, is based on filters. Thanks to the option of narrowing down the search results, it makes it easier for the customer to find exactly the product they need. This consists in determining specific features of a given product.

However, because faceted navigation creates a whole lot of dynamic URLs, it contributes to a negative perception of the site by Google’s bots. Poor quality URLs are generated, as well as duplicates or near-duplicates.

To counteract this, we have designed, based on an SEO audit, an orderly faceted navigation mechanism that allows you to build friendly, high-quality URLs, indexed by Google, according to pre-defined patterns.

Friendly URLs are created automatically but managed in the administration panel.

In the PREMIUM segment, we favor the positioning and display of the product in the e-shop. To provide potential customers with a positive experience, we implemented Akeneo PIM to provide high-quality product information. PIM systematized product information and allowed for a more effective management of collections, new products, and seasons.

For e-commerce logistics to operate efficiently based on reliable product information, we reflect and perform all warehouse transfers between defined stocks in Magento to the production and sales management system on the client's side. This system allows us to meet demand more effectively, provide more accurate production planning, and track changes historically in the Magento 2 panel.

A warehouse management system (WMS) consists of software and processes that enable organizations to control and administer warehouse operations from the time goods or materials enter the warehouse until they are sold and sent.

The WMS designed by Alekseon and adapted to the needs of Manolo Blahnik, allows you to handle e-commerce logistics from the moment of order placement, through selecting the order, printing the picking list, and packing, to printing shipping labels and generating a manifest for the courier. The entire process works smoothly, flawlessly, and quickly.

The system is designed in a way that it allows users to make a return from the front of the store from the tab available in the footer of the store. The customer provides the order number, the e-mail address from which he placed the order and, going through the next steps, such as posting photographic documentation or providing the reason for the return, comes to the step of defining the address for picking up the package by the courier and printing the return label. The return defined in this way is then processed in the administration panel by the store staff. The whole process is maintained in the spirit of handling possible returns as quickly as possible.

The RMA module, apart from making returns, also allows you to use the functionality of exchanging goods for another one. Here, too, the customer of the store can do it from the front.

The module allows you to assign products to categories, set positions using the convenient drag&drop functionality and thus promote the selected assortment within the category. Thanks to the solution we have created, the customer immediately sees the amount of available goods and their popularity. This allows you to make decisions very quickly at the stage of product positioning.

The intensive years of cooperation so far have meant hundreds of tasks, conversations, and consultations with the client. Fruitful cooperation always gives both parties a lot of satisfaction. Currently, together with the Manolo Blahnik, we plan to open separate stores dedicated to the US market, as well as redesign the website based on Hyvä Magento 2 Theme, a modern, fast front of the store, adapted to the needs of today’s customer.