Customer Story

ARK Bookstore

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ARK & Omnium  

ARK, Norway's largest bookstore chain, operates 154 stores nationwide along with the online store ARK.no and their reading app ARK. Omnium plays a pivotal role in optimizing ARK's operational efficiency, contributing to the development of a swift system that simplifies and streamlines daily tasks for employees. Omnium oversees the entire order flow, manages click-and-collect deadlines, and sends timely alerts to both staff and customers. Additionally, Omnium offers comprehensive insights into products, prices, inventory, orders, and customer information. The "My Page" feature on ARK's online store is powered by Omnium.

Functionality

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Order Management
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Inventory
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Click & Collect
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Webhooks & Cloud Messaging Services
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Messages
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 Customer Data

We chose Omnium because we needed an order processing system to simplify interfaces in stores with complex order flows. Omnium has proven expertise in this area. In the old ARK solution, this was internally built into the ERP system, which was both slow and had unsatisfactory user interfaces.

Bilde Anders Martinsson
Anders Martinsson
Tech Lead I ARK

State-of the-Art MACH Architechture

The project's central focus was on simplifying the system architecture. ARK, aiming to be the most innovative bookstore chain, initiated a business modernization by constructing a new online store based on the MACH architecture. MACH encompasses Microservices, API-first, Cloud-Native SaaS, and Headless technologies, allowing the assembly of cutting-edge platforms with a composable, replaceable structure. ARK adopted a best-of-breed strategy, selecting technologies like Omnium OMS, Commercetools, Sanity, Algolia, Bluestone, and Azure. In collaboration with TRY Dig and S5 Consulting, the ten-year-old monolithic solution was replaced with a flexible and headless architecture based on MACH principles.

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Bilde arkitektur nyhetsbrev (6)

Seamless Integration with MACH Architecthure

Omnium OMS serves as the core of the new architecture, interacting with surrounding systems. Communication between SAP, Commercetools, and Bluestone flows through Omnium. With a comprehensive and optimized API, Omnium ensures a rapid and stable data flow, eliminating bottlenecks and expanding ARK's operational capabilities. Omnium's event system, supporting webhooks and various cloud messaging services, facilitates a responsive workflow, adaptable without major complications. Designed for the cloud from inception, Omnium guarantees scalability aligned with ARK's evolving needs. In the first week after the launch, ARK efficiently processed 17 000 orders in a single day, demonstrating the new online solution's capability.

Omnium maintains an API-first mindset throughout, aligning well with ARK's new architecture. The flexibility provided by Omnium's solution allows us to handle tasks more efficiently both in-store and in customer service.

Bilde Anders Martinsson
Anders Martinsson
Tech Lead I ARK

Automated Order Processing

Efficiency in order processing was a key goal for ARK. Omnium, with its full Order Management System (OMS) functionality, automated the entire order flow through open APIs and integrations with ARK's systems. Whether from Commercetools, PoS systems at physical stores, or orders entered by employees, Omnium streamlines the process. Products and inventory are synchronized with the online store, while prices from Commercetools are seamlessly added to shopping carts in Omnium.

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Click & Collect deadlines and Notifications

Omnium introduces a new click-and-collect interface for employees in ARK's physical stores. Built on SAP data, this automated interface provides a significantly faster version than the previous solution, resulting in enhanced efficiency for store employees. Omnium notifies responsible individuals in the store and sends an order confirmation via SMS to customers upon registering a click-and-collect order. Once the order is ready for pickup, customers receive an SMS confirmation with a specified pickup deadline. Omnium calculates various deadlines based on ARK's defined pick-up/delivery schedules, accounting for holidays and store opening hours.

Effects of the New Outline Solution for ARK

The modern MACH architecture of the new online solution ensures easy maintenance, adaptability, innovation, and rapid updates. This, in turn, significantly streamlines internal workflows, as reported by Anders Martinsson, who notes a 50 percent efficiency increase in several internal tasks. Moreover, ARK observed a 15 percent increase in the conversion rate and a 25 percent boost in revenue just one month after launching the new online solution.

Want to learn more about ARK's journey?

Get the recording of our talkshow "From Legacy to Composable" where Anders Martinson shares their story.

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