What was actually wrong
KRM Building Supplies needed an ecommerce platform that could carry trade account ordering, repeat purchase patterns and operational reporting expected by a Builders & trade business.
Order flow, stock and customer data crossed several back-office systems, so integration boundaries and operational handoffs likely shaped how the platform was built.
Trade buyers and account customers needed account-based pricing, repeat ordering and visibility of their own purchase history without friction.
Account-led buying carries rules that the storefront alone cannot enforce: pricing scope, account hierarchies, repeat-order patterns.
The work had to replace the commerce foundation while preserving the operational logic customers already depended on.
The platform change also depended on product information being structured, enriched and governed well enough to support the catalogue. Product data was a major workstream within the wider commerce delivery, not a separate outcome claim.
What was at stake
When account-based pricing, repeat ordering and purchase-history visibility slip, trade and account customers lose confidence in the site and push work back onto sales and support.
Most relevant to Builders & trade teams running B2B operations and weighing similar platform decisions.
Trade accounts do not give second chances. A bad first experience pushes the order to a competitor and the relationship rarely comes back.
For repeat buyers and trade accounts, uncertainty creates friction every time an order is placed again. Wrong-part risk, unclear account terms and a harder repeat-order path can frustrate buyers and move the burden back to account teams and support.
Four things, in order.
- 01Mapped the buying journey before the interfaceStarted with how customers actually order here: account relationships, repeat-buy patterns and the operational context behind each purchase.
- 02Rebuilt the commerce foundation around how the business operatesRebuilt the commerce foundation around the operational logic the business already depended on, without resetting what already worked.
- 03Brought product data into one governed workstreamProduct information, enrichment and catalogue structure were treated as a delivery workstream that enabled the commerce change.
- 04Moved the project into support with the operating context intactHandover preserved the operational decisions made during build, so support could keep moving the platform forward without re-learning the business.
Platforms and integrations
Difficult parts
Results
In the client's words
We are always jumping into the unknown of how well a new service or technical integration will integrate with Adobe Commerce, iWeb are always superb and make it painless.”
Ongoing support
The project did not end when the platform went live.
Support mattered because the builders and trade still depended on parts data, pricing imports, account behaviour, inventory feeds, integrations and customer-facing information after launch.
Keeping the build decisions and system ownership visible gave the support team a clearer basis for tracing issues and maintaining the connected trading system after launch.
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