Kays Wholesale

Canadian-based wholesaler sees over $320,000 in monthly online sales after switching to WebSell.

With their new integration with Windward System Five, Kays Wholesale made the jump to WebSell and saw online metrics soar

A business dating back over 70 years, Kays Wholesale is a trusted Canadian wholesaler found in Prince Edward Island. Priding itself on delivering that personal, “small-town” service while managing a large volume of bulk orders.

Kays Wholesale uses the Windward System Five ERP system to process and track in-store and offline transactions. When WebSell and Windward Software announced their technology partnership earlier this year, Kays Wholesale was one of the first retailers to experience the integration between ERP and website.

The story

A history of excellence

Kays Wholesale started in 1952 when Paul Kays opened Kays Brothers Wholesale and brought in five brothers as shareholders. The brothers quickly established the business as a leading wholesaler in Prince Edward Island that delivered fair prices and excellent customer service.

The business was rebranded to Kays Wholesale in 2009 after an ownership change. Located on 21 MacAleer Drive, Kays Wholesale spans over 17,000 square feet (about half the area of a large mansion) of products, stocking more than 7,000 different items.

New owners Luke Beck and Jamie Holland now have a thriving business with more than 30 employees. However, keeping a wide variety of products across in-store and online sales presented a challenge for the business as they looked to modernize.

The challenge

Keeping inventory synchronized while offering custom pricing levels

For Kays Wholesale, who serve other businesses that buy large quantities in bulk, keeping a synchronized product database between shop floor and online store was an everyday challenge. Kays’ customers needed to know how much they could order so they could in turn give their own customers correct stock information.

Dealing with several businesses and partners, Kays also struggled to deliver customer-specific pricing based on who was ordering and what was being ordered.

With plans to scale profits in 2022, the company searched for an e-commerce platform that could both integrate and innovate.

We needed better integration and a better webstore. We have over 7,000 distinct products and custom pricing for B2B customers was a big hurdle we hadn’t jumped yet. I’m pleased to say that WebSell has solved that problem.

Luke Beck, Owner at Kays Wholesale

The solution

Using integrated e-commerce to seamlessly scale

Conversations with trusted ERP partner Windward Software led Kays Wholesale to WebSell. Seeking extra innovation and functionality, Kays had outgrown their existing e-commerce platform. They were specifically looking for:

• An e-commerce platform that could integrate to Windward System Five: Kays have used Windward System Five as their ERP solution for many years. They needed an e-commerce solution that could talk to their ERP.

Kays needed a solution that would eliminate manual tasks and replace them with automated processes.

Data entered on the Windward System Five system is instantly mirrored on the webstore thanks to WebSell. This eliminated the need for additional data entry by requiring only one update for product, pricing, stock, or customer information.

• An e-commerce solution that could offer custom pricing levels: Not every customer or partner is the same, and Kays needed an e-commerce site that reflected that. Custom pricing meant that the business could deliver customized pricing based on who was ordering.

WebSell has lots of features that specifically cater to B2B businesses and wholesalers, like the ability to offer custom pricing or letting customers pay from their account balance. Having custom pricing levels would mean that Kays could provide the same level of service online as they could over the phone or in person.

• A brand new webstore: The business also needed a new web shop that offered clients a seamless online buying experience and looked excellent on all platforms.

Kays’ customers are other busy businesses. They wanted a site where they could find what they needed quickly and check out as fast as possible.

The results

Improved operational efficiency, increased sales, better customer experiences

By changing their e-commerce platform to WebSell, Kays streamlined business processes and raised the standard of all client encounters, all while increasing sales and conversion rates.

Kays now process over $320,00 in online sales through the WebSell platform. Since moving to WebSell they’ve also been able to increase their site visit to order conversion rate by 17%.

Online transactions are now reflected in the Windward System Five ERP thanks to seamless integrated e-commerce. As a result, employees have more time to interact personally with clients and create lasting impressions.

Staff now have a user-friendly e-commerce platform that delivers information about online transactions directly to their on-site ERP system.

Kays experienced the following advantages as a result of using WebSell:

• Reduced manual data entry: By integrating offline and online data with WebSell, the company was able to decelerate time-consuming manual data entering. That gave employees more time to contribute to the company in other areas.
• Better customer experiences: Staff members might concentrate more on providing top-notch customer service by having more time to themselves.
• Increased monthly revenues: Kays now processes over $320,000 in monthly online sales and has seen increased traffic and orders since launch.

WebSell has made getting online sales much simpler for us. We deal with large quantities and lots of different customers so the integration aspect was a real game-changer. It just works and we enjoy working with WebSell.

Luke Beck, Owner at Kays Wholesale

The learnings

Considerations for integrating your POS and e-commerce site

Some key learnings from the Kays Wholesale project which could help other B2B businesses that are thinking of integrating WebSell:

• Plan your integration project thoroughly and early: You should take into account the whole scope of your project and include every requirement for the integration. Early preparation will pay dividends in the long run.
• Recognize how users interact with your website: Take into account how users interact with your present website and solicit their input on how to improve the ordering experience.
• Bring your whole team into the project: When implementing a new e-commerce platform, involve as many team members as feasible who will be using the program. Early training and onboarding time investments help prevent stressful hassles later.

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