A webstore that makes your mouth water

An eCommerce platform prepared for the unknown

Nieuwkoop got in touch with us with a clear idea for their digital store. They wanted a completely new platform with a sleek design. A B2C eCommerce experience in a B2B environment. Because they could see a lot of potential for growth there.

We saw that potential, too. But before we got started, we first talked extensively about the project’s technical foundation. We advised Nieuwkoop to opt for a headless eCommerce platform. That would require extra investment, but the heavier foundation would definitely pay for itself. A headless platform is future-proof, and new touchpoints can be added quickly and easily. Think, for example, of a mobile app.

MACH enabled platform

Despite being situated in a traditional industry, Nieuwkoop Europe saw an opportunity to embrace the modern MACH philosophy early on:

Microservices:

Four separate services (product, price, carts, mail) were built for Nieuwkoop using Node JS. The setup created potential for new services to be added in the future.

API-first:

Both for back-end and front-end communications APIs were realized in order to create a flexible landscape, leveraging the power of the existing ERP and taking maximum advantage of the existing functionality of both Commercetools and Contentful.

Cloud-native:

The front-end and microservices layer live in the Azure cloud together with Cloudflare. With this cloud setup, Nieuwkoop is able to scale as needed.

Headless:

Of course this whole setup was headless by design and used software solutions with the same architectural principles. The custom front-end was built using Angular and a separate CDN (a.o. for security purposes). This creates maximum flexibility in the front-end for Nieuwkoop to present their product offering in the way they want.

Our approach to an architecture transition

We created a solid basis for success in Nieuwkoop Europe’s architecture transition by preparing extensively before beginning development. We followed these processes:

• Inception deck: Two workshops to understand the vision and (overall) scope of the project.
• Basecamp: Several workshops to further define several subjects (including solution, design, architecture, product/pricing, SEO).
• Sprint 0: Creating a complete backlog (user story level) based on the basecamp outcomes plus an update on expected investment.
• Go/No Go: Starting development.

With this approach, we made sure expectations from both parties were clear. This created a smooth start to the project.

During execution, we used SCRUM to plan and execute work, but from a scope perspective, we worked in an old-fashioned waterfall way. After completing development (and acceptance) we planned a separate “go-live” week and after-care period in which we fixed some non-blocking issues from the acceptance phase.

Impact for users

The transition from a desktop-centric legacy platform has brought many benefits to day-to-day users and to Nieuwkoop Europe itself. Whereas they previously relied heavily on internal sales staff to help customers navigate the site, they are now making full use of the advanced search system and a customer portal. This has significantly reduced the number of calls to internal sales staff.

Good UX on both the front and back end

Cost savings are not only driven by the new best-in-class experience on the front-end, but there are also many benefits on the back-end thanks to the adoption of MACH principles. The headless nature of the platform makes it easy to add new microservices, such as new (external) product configurators. This architecture is a prime example of a scalable and flexible open architecture.
Finally, embracing the MACH philosophy also helped their customers run their businesses more efficiently and effectively. By moving to a MACH platform, they can claim a position of market authority, provide inspiration, and give customers easy access.