Case Study: How OpticNerve Revitalized B2B Sales with Elastic Suite

In the competitive landscape of B2B sales, companies must leverage innovative tools to stay ahead. OpticNerve is an independently owned leading provider of optical products such as sunglasses, snow goggles, and premium lenses. They’re proud to be Colorado based, supporting athletes and providing the best glasses for biking, running, fishing, skiing, and lifestyle enthusiasts.

The B2C eCommerce side of the business did great, but the company faced significant challenges in their B2B sales processes, resulting in missed sales and inefficiencies. This case study explores how OpticNerve transformed their B2B sales operations using Elastic Suite, an advanced wholesale eCommerce solution.

The Challenge

OpticNerve (https://www.opticnerve.com/) was experiencing a slowdown in sales growth, hampered by:

• Inefficient Sales Processes: Their existing systems were disjointed, leading to delays in order processing and fulfillment. There was a time lag between data entry in the old Excel-based order system and NetSuite.

• Limited Visibility: Sales teams struggled with accessing real-time data, making it difficult to identify trends and customer needs.

• Customer Experience Issues: The purchasing process was cumbersome for clients, affecting satisfaction and repeat business. Customers as well as reps struggled with the tool and this caused a negative customer experience.

Recognizing the need for a comprehensive solution, OpticNerve turned to Racette Consulting to provide guidance on how to implement a better tool. Elastic Suite (https://www.elasticsuite.com/) was the recommendation given their expertise and experience in the sporting goods industry and relevant presence in the state of Colorado.

The Solution: Elastic Suite Implementation

OpticNerve partnered with a Racette Consulting to implement Elastic Suite, focusing on several key areas:

1. Seamless Integration: Elastic Suite uses Celigo to integrate with their existing NetSuite ERP system, ensuring a unified platform for sales, inventory, and customer data.

2. Enhanced User Experience: The implementation focused on creating a user-friendly interface for customers, enabling easier navigation and streamlined purchasing processes.

3. Real-Time Inventory: With Elastic Suite's robust integration features, OpticNerve gained access to real-time analytics, helping their sales teams and partners see real-time availability of products.

4. Enhanced Catalog Creation: The ability to create current and future catalogs in NetSuite using the Catalog custom record structure allows OpticNerve to plan ahead for future seasons, allowing future orders for the next season of products.

The Process: Racette Consulting Implementation

Racette Consulting focused on the following stages of the implementation to deliver a successful, on budget and on-time project:

1. Project Sponsorship: OpticNerve President Bill Cotton was a phenomenal sponsor for this project, ensuring the company’s resources and efforts were prioritized and available for the successful implementation of the tool. Internal sponsorship is extremely important, stressing the importance of the project for the entire organization. 

2. NetSuite Configuration: A B2B tool relies on data from NetSuite to show to the customers and partners. Items, Customers, Sales Order form, and contacts must all contain accurate information. A thorough review of all records was completed to ensure that the appropriate information would show on the Elastic Suite front end.

3. Elastic Suite Record Configuration: Elastic Suite relies on custom records created in NetSuite: the Catalog, the Catalog Permissions, Mapping Sort record, and a few more. These must be created accurately for the integration to function and show data on the Elastic Suite site. Elastic Suite relies on NetSuite data.

4. Testing: We conducted thorough testing with the OpticNerve team to ensure that all applicable sales scenarios were tested and worked correctly. We held meetings with end users to ensure that orders would come across from Elastic Suite into NetSuite, with accurate item information, pricing, customer reference, and all other applicable fields.

5. Training: A major influence on the project success, we take training very seriously. We ensure that end users know where to go, what to do and how to review transactions and records to ensure a proper adoption of the tool. We conduct training sessions before launching the tool live, and also continue to deliver onboarding training for any new users.

Results

The implementation of Elastic Suite yielded impressive results for OpticNerve:

• Increased Sales Efficiency: The streamlined processes reduced order processing time, allowing the sales team to focus more on customer relationships rather than administrative tasks such as simple order entry.

• Improved Customer Satisfaction: Enhanced navigation and faster checkout times led to an increase in customer satisfaction and a notable rise in repeat purchases.

• Data-Driven Insights: The sales team leveraged real-time analytics to identify high-demand products, leading to the ability to execute sales promotions and incentives to drive revenue.

• Item Visibility: The advanced Whiteboarding tool in Elastic Suite allows reps and retailers to view item data and all different colors, size, lenses variations in a visually appealing way that drives product knowledge, and ultimately sales.

• Revenue Growth: The self-serve aspect of Elastic Suite allows OpticNerve to focus on product development, marketing, and value-added sales growth opportunities, leveraging technology to integrate real-time inventory data that converts to seamless sales. All sales orders are pushed into NetSuite and allow for real-time visibility into sales numbers. 

Conclusion

OpticNerve’s journey with Elastic Suite illustrates the transformative power of advanced eCommerce solutions in the B2B landscape. By addressing their challenges head-on and leveraging the capabilities of Elastic Suite, they not only revitalized their sales processes but also enhanced customer relationships, setting the stage for sustained, long term growth.

If your company is facing similar challenges in B2B sales, consider exploring how Elastic Suite can help you achieve similar goals. Contact Racette Consulting today to learn more about this type of implementation project!