Loacker, famous for its delectable wafers and chocolates, sought to establish a robust online presence. The company had limited prior experience in ecommerce and faced various cultural and logistical challenges in transitioning to a digital-first strategy.
The project aimed to develop both B2C and B2B platforms on BigCommerce’s Stencil framework, integrating various business systems. Despite the technical success, Loacker encountered several challenges:

Cultural Resistance: In Italy, the B2B sector resisted eliminating traditional sales reps, unlike the more digitally inclined North American and British markets.

Cash on Delivery Norms: In the B2C sector, cash on delivery was still prevalent, complicating the adoption of standard e-commerce practices.

Technological Transitions: Loacker, heavily invested in Microsoft solutions, decided to explore Microsoft Commerce for its B2C platform, leading to high costs and complexity.

After initial setbacks with Microsoft Commerce, Loacker decided to revert to BigCommerce. The decision was driven by several factors:

Scalability and Flexibility: BigCommerce’s OpenSaaS API approach allowed seamless integration with Loacker’s existing tech stack, including Stebo Step (PIM), Lobster (iPaaS), and SAP.

Content-First Approach: Utilising BigCommerce’s Page Builder, 5874 Commerce created a content-driven site that met Loacker’s needs more effectively than the previous headless setup.

Multi-Language Support: The new BigCommerce implementation enabled multi-language capabilities, essential for catering to diverse linguistic needs within Italy and beyond.