Veikon Kone

Traditions and present-day digitalization

Veikon Kone, the entrepreneur-driven home appliances chain, is a traditional brand that looks to the future, and develops its digital commerce in a planned way, with profitability as a priority. Digital commerce plays an important role for a company, not only as a channel for online sales, but also in driving customers to the stores.

Veikon Kone stores are entrepreneur-driven, and the Veikon Kone retailer cooperative handles the chain management tasks such as sourcing, marketing, IT, and digital commerce. As it is preferred to keep Veikon Kone’s chain control light, it is important to choose partners that fit Veikon Kone’s concept and size. 

“When there is no in-house marketing department, the partner has to be very close to the organization. Cooperation is close, and there has to be trust. Things cannot be passed from one person to another. With Pinja’s experts, responsibility and communication works, says Panu Vainio, CEO of Veikon Kone.

Annika Korkala, Customer Relationship Manager of Pinja’s online business, praises the cooperation: 

“At Veikon Kone, they understand that success in digital commerce requires long-term work instead of quick profits. They trust Pinja’s expertise, and appreciate the fact that we dare to challenge the client when necessary. The cooperation is smooth and natural.” 

From an audit to long-term cooperation

Veikon Kone’s digital commerce development work with Pinja started in the summer of 2021, when the company wanted to examine critically its digital commerce implementation through an audit. The digital commerce was not generating the desired sales volume, and its architecture did not serve the company’s needs. Veikon Kone sees digital commerce as a critical sales tool, and therefore wanted to address the identified problems. Based on feedback from the field, Pinja was selected as a competent and suitable auditor. 

The audit identified shortcomings in the implementation at the time, but also highlighted recommended solutions. The cooperation with Pinja started smoothly, so it was natural to continue working together on the development. 

The Magento Hyvä theme was introduced to the digital commerce to speed it up. At the same time, Magento’s reliability was improved, and new features were developed. Pinja also helped Veikon Kone implement the changes to the Omnibus directive, which clarifies the EU Consumer Protection Directive. Pinja helped interpret the complex Omnibus guidelines, and also to implement the lowest price display on Veikon Kone’s digital commerce. 

Under Pinja’s guidance, improvements were made to all the functionalities of the digital commerce. As a result of the development work, the digital commerce’s Google visibility has improved, and the number of visitors to the site has increased. Customers can find products more easily, and the online checkout process is more efficient. The changes have improved conversion rates, meaning that visits to the site are more likely to lead to sales. This was proven, for example, during the Black Friday sales of fall 2022, which broke all sales records for Veikon Kone. 

“I am really happy with our current digital commerce implementation. In the digital world, you can never have a finished product; you have to constantly improve your service. As a digital commerce expert, Pinja provides suggestions on what to invest in and in which direction to refine our digital commerce”, Vainio continues. 

Network of digital commerce experts

In addition to Pinja’s expertise, Veikon Kone’s digital commerce development team was complemented by select proven partners. Bluebird Media takes care of Veikon Kone’s entire digital marketing. In addition, Klevu’s product search solution helps customers find the products more easily, and Custobar helps with email marketing.

Pinja started working on the development of Veikon Kone’s digital commerce in June 2021, right at the start of the project. A digital marketing specialist specializing in digital commerce handles the organic and paid search engine marketing in Google, email advertising and social media campaigns on behalf of Veikon Kone.

The spearhead of digital marketing is to optimize revenue and margins, including, where necessary, ensuring sales volume for desired products. The content and channels of campaigns are chosen according to whether the objective is to increase sales volume or margin. 

The interplay between digital commerce development and digital marketing has produced good results. All metrics show positive results, with more traffic to the website, and improved conversion. Although the household appliance market is not experiencing significant growth, Veikon Kone has managed to improve its profitability. When the digital commerce works, it’s easier to market it. Sebastian Schroderus, Country Manager of Bluebird Media, says: “Veikon Kone’s digital commerce has been a pleasure to work with. Digital visibility is helped by the fact that Pinja’s digital commerce development and digital marketing go hand in hand. All the pieces have fallen into their place.”

“Veikon Kone’s online sales have great potential. There are no quick profits, but persistent hard work pays off in the end. Veikon Kone is a good example of how doing things systematically right, day by day, can lead to results”, Schroderus continues. 

Customer experience as the guiding star

Panu Vainio also sees a lot of potential in the digital commerce, which is why the company continues to invest in its development. Veikon Kone’s online sales are on a steady growth path, and their role is multifaceted: “When you have good product and availability information online, the consumer comes to the store well prepared”. The messages from customers and stores show that we are heading in the right direction. Customers praise the ease of use of the digital commerce, and feedback from the shop floor confirms the perception that in-store traffic has increased. 

Digital commerce needs to continue to evolve. The market and the evolution of the sector needs to be monitored in order to introduce new functionalities to facilitate purchases and increase sales. The overall development of the customer experience is at the heart of the work. The goal is to ensure that the customer experience is as smooth as possible from the moment they enter the website to the point of purchase, payment and services afterwards.