Hoff launched an online portal to work with suppliers

2024: Creation of the supplier's online portal

Hoff Tech, together with AI company Napoleon IT, has developed an online supplier portal for a chain of furniture and home goods hypermarkets. The introduction of this digital product allowed to automate the process of interaction with suppliers, increase the speed of access to the site and expand the range of products. Napoleon IT announced this on February 22, 2024.

For large companies, interacting with suppliers is not an easy task, with hundreds of employees involved. Without a proper automation system, managers and suppliers are forced to directly contact company representatives. Online portals for suppliers help simplify their interaction, which also allow companies to develop their own marketplaces. Such systems have become a real trend not only in the Russian, but also in the world market.

One of the main tasks in the framework of the joint project Hoff Tech and Napoleon IT was to optimize and accelerate the processes of interaction with suppliers. Prior to this, most operations were performed manually. When developing the portal, I had to design an end-to-end process that affected many departments and systems: ERP, PIM, BI, etc.

As of February 2024, the combined team implemented the MVP version of the portal, which included the following functional blocks:

1. Register a vendor.
2. Create a package of documents to conclude a contract.
3. Assortment establishment;
4. Price establishment;
5. Exchange of balances;
6. Basic reporting.

The portal allows the Hoff hypermarket network to optimize the work of employees, reduce the number of necessary actions when performing tasks and reduce the time spent on routine operations. In addition, the portal helps develop Hoff's own marketplace.

As part of the pilot operation, the first suppliers are connected to the electronic site. In the future, more than a thousand partners will be able to use the portal and carry out the necessary operations at a time.

Fast and easy communication as well as process transparency are important drivers to ensure a high-quality relationship with suppliers. This will provide an opportunity to expand the range for Hoff, make it more diverse. In general, the supplier's portal is a very useful tool for business development in our segment, - commented Vladimir Dmitrovsky, head of the Supplier's Portal product.

The launch of an online platform for interaction with suppliers is an important step in strengthening Hoff's position in the online furniture trading market . In addition, this development allowed us to gain experience in creating new products for the Russian retail sector, "said Konstantin Peshekhonov, CEO of Hoff Tech .

The supplier portal is a large-scale, complex project that affects many related business processes with a large number of integrations. When designing and developing the solution, we proceeded not only from the current need of Hoff, but also took into account the customer's desire to offer the product to the market, "commented Konstantin Price, Commercial Director of Napoleon IT.