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    Specialist distributor of silicones, sealants, adhesives, and lubricants power their B2B ecommerce using tradeit.


A new B2B benchmark for specialist adhesive, sealant and silicone distributor Silmid using the tradeit ecommerce platform. Founded in 1979, Silmid Ltd is a specialist distributor of silicones, sealants, adhesives, lubricants, cleaning agents, and surface treatments who aim to create long-standing customer relationships by delivering a professional and high value service.

Project Highlights

  • True B2B ecommerce

    Class-leading B2B ecommerce site using best practice and full of features like a quotation system, product MOQs, multiple delivery options etc...

  • Vendor Managed Inventory

    Vendor managed inventory provides automatic re-ordering directly from customer stock checks

  • Expiry dates

    Batch numbers with product expiry dates, hazardous and non-hazardous warnings, and downloadable product safety datasheets ensure users are fully aware of what they are buying

  • Multiple payment methods

    Supports multiple payment methods including credit/debit cards, PayPal, on account, and the uploading & payment of pro forma invoices online

  • Seamless integrations

    Seamless two-way integration with WinMan ERP, VAT registration checker and TRUST Payments PSP

  • International

    Localised, international sites for the UK, US, France and Spain all running from a single instance of the platform

  • Multiple shipping options

    Multiple shipping options including door-to-door for landed cost, or ex works where customer can arrange collection using their own courier

  • Online quotation management

    Online quote handling meaning administrators can create quotes, adapt pricing (margin is visible to them) and send to customer via email and their my account for approval and conversion to an order.

  • Elasticsearch

    Quicker and more accurate search results with Elasticsearch configured as the search provider

Project Integrations



Project Overview


With a product catalogue running to over 14,000 items supplied by more than 400 vendors Silmid are a one-stop shop for the aviation, marine, rail, automotive, energy, engineering, and defence industry, amongst others. Wanting to move their online business forward, and having become frustrated with their existing ecommerce and CMS platform, Silmid undertook a managed selection process, with third party consultants, in order to select a new platform. Based on a comprehensive list of requirements and a scored selection and demo process. tradeit was chosen over the three other shortlisted vendors.

Silmid ecommerce site on mobile phone
Silmid ecommerce site with vendor managed inventory on tablet
Silmid ecommerce site on mobile phone
Silmid employee using vendor managed inventory via their ecommerce site on a tablet
Silmid ecommerce site on a mobile phone

Class-leading B2B functionality


One of the main reasons for choosing tradeit was the perfect blend of both retail and B2B ecommerce functionality, not available in other platforms. Although their products are available to the consumer, almost all of their sales are direct to the trade, so catering for those users was the priority. That meant the new site had to deliver a host of great B2B features, whilst still delivering the great user experience you would expect from a retail ecommerce site. Not only that, the CMS needed to be easier to mange than their previous site, and not suffer from the chronic server speed issues of that previous installation.

This new rich B2B functionality includes a quotation system, minimum order quantities on products, integration with a VAT registration checker, master and sub account management, tiered pricing by volume (the more units you buy, the lower the cost per unit), a host of payment options - including the ability for users to upload and pay pro forma invoices online - and numerous delivery possibilities. There was also a host of different shipping options to be catered for, including customers using their own couriers for the collection of items from Silmid's warehouse.


Not only that, due to the types of products they sell, the site now displays the product batch numbers with expiry dates (for solvents etc...) - enabling customers to choose which batch they want to order from - , whether the product is hazardous or non-hazardous, as well as showing all downloadable product safety datasheets. The final requirement was seamless integrations between tradeit and their external systems including WinMan ERP, a VAT checker and PSP.

Complete Ecommerce Solution


Being able to deliver a best-in-class, international Retail and B2B ecommerce platform, seamless systems integrations, as well as all future development, hosting and support, means Silmid can take advantage of having a single, and expert, partner for all their ecommerce requirements. The scope to now continue expanding internationally and add future sites is something they have already taken advantage of, with sites in the UK, US, France and Spain and tradeit's scalability and flexibility enables this continued growth.

Resources

CUSTOMER CASE STUDY
SILMID
SOLUTIONS DATASHEET
B2B ECOMMERCE
SOLUTIONS DATASHEET
INTERNATIONAL ECOMMERCE
SOLUTIONS DATASHEET
MULTI-CHANNEL COMMERCE

Sil-Mid News

client news  
Silmid launch US channel on tradeit
Specialist distributor of silicones, sealants, adhesives, lubricants, cleaning agents, and surface treatments branch their e-commerce out into America...
client news  
Sil-Mid launch new site on tradeit
A brand new site for Sil-Mid, the specialist distributors of silicones, adhesives, lubricants, cleaning agents and surface treatments...