Transgourmet - multisite and headless e-commerce solution

Transgourmet Deutschland GmbH & Co. OHG (Transgourmet) is a prominent food wholesaler catering to gastronomy, hotels, and bulk consumers, boasting an annual turnover exceeding 3 billion euros.

As part of Transgourmet Holding, which is under the umbrella of the Coop Group, Transgourmet Deutschland GmbH & Co. OHG serves a diverse clientele, including restaurants, hotels, canteens, and catering companies. Among its well-known brands is Selgros Cash & Carry, a renowned wholesale market present in Germany and other countries, offering an extensive online selection of over 60,000 food and non-food items.

Project Overview

Transgourmet's website strategy

1xINTERNET has been working with Transgourmet and its subsidiary brand, Selgros Cash and Carry, since 2018 with the aim of establishing uniform technical requirements and standards. The objective was to develop a cohesive and solution that would facilitate the relaunch of the company's websites. It was crucial to use a robust, secure, and efficient CMS, whose development and maintenance could be decoupled over time. This project was pivotal for the successful execution of Transgourmet´s digital strategy.

Transgourmet operates various websites and brands across multiple countries, including:

https://www.transgourmet.de/
https://www.selgros.de/
https://www.selgros.ro/
https://www.selgros.pl/
http://www.transgourmet-nachhaltigkeit.de/
https://www.niggemann-food-frischemarkt.de/
https://fruchthof.at/
https://www.frischeparadies.de/
https://www.transgourmet.de/
https://www.transgourmet-mitarbeitermagazin.de/

Previously, these existed as separate websites with varying functionalities, designs, and disjointed e-commerce solutions. In the initial phase, all websites were consolidated into a unified platform. E-commerce functionality was developed, integrated into the websites, and deployed across all relevant brands and countries.

The systems developed were used to furnish the requisite data for the relaunch of the B2B and B2C native apps.

Consolidation of websites with a multisite solution 

Before the project started, the disparate corporate websites and microsites were managed by separate teams utilising various CMS solutions. This meant unnecessary expenses for development and maintenance. Operating the websites was challenging for the editors due to the differences in systems.

In addition to cost and operational issues, the decentralised maintenance of Transgourmet's diverse brands posed challenges. Historically, both Transgourmet and Selgros, along with other brands, maintained distinct corporate designs. The presence of numerous systems and teams hindered the efforts to ensure a cohesive brand experience across all websites.

Consequently, a single CMS technology was selected to streamline development, maintenance, operations, hosting, and visual consistency across all websites. Drupal was chosen for its enterprise-grade capabilities and open-source nature, eliminating licensing costs.

Drupal's robust functionality allows for the operation of multiple websites using a single source code, known as a multisite strategy. Presently, over 20 corporate Transgourmet websites, including high-traffic platforms with extensive e-commerce functionalities, are powered by Drupal.

Streamlined E-commerce experience 

The primary objective of the Transgourmet / Selgros websites is to facilitate commerce. A strategy was devised to seamlessly merge the websites and online shops, ensuring that visitors could transition effortlessly from browsing marketing content such as catalogues, promotions, and recipes to engaging in a commerce user journey, all within the same interface. This was accomplished by opting for Commercetools as the e-commerce solution. It provides seamless integration with the consolidated website as a headless platform. 

All visual elements, spanning both the website frontend and the commerce frontend, were encapsulated within a design system based on web components, which is shared across both interfaces. Centralised development of brand elements such as logos, fonts, layouts, buttons, and headlines resulted in the creation of a component library, which is used across different frontends to ensure a cohesive visual identity.

Native mobile Apps for B2B and B2C customers

Since both the CMS system Drupal and the e-commerce platform Commercetools are API-first frameworks they could be used to provide content for native apps for Android and iOS.

For Transgourmet / Selgros it is important to provide high end shopping experiences for both their B2B and B2C customers and native apps were created for both target groups. React Native was the chosen technology because of the synergies with the existing website technologies. 

The B2B app was launched in 2021 and the main functionalities for the users are:

• Product scanner (EAN, QR)
• Re-order products
• Seamless in-app browsing of webshop
• By-directional communication between native and web components (add scanned items to cart, search, authentication, continue shopping option)
• Product catalogue on device (with customer specific prices)
• Integrated advertisement catalogue browsing (PDF catalogues)

The B2C app was re-launched in 2024 and the main functionalities for the users are:

• Product scanner (EAN, QR)
• Shopping list
• Push notifications
• Automatic language negotiation, automatic theme settings
• Onboarding slider
• Tracking consent, App rating
• "Become a customer" workflow
• Customer cards
• Coupons
• Promotion catalogues
• Customer specific prices
• Home screen widget
   

From the client: 

As we continue to expand our online business, we've realised the importance of consolidating our technologies. By streamlining our operations and integrating various tools into one cohesive system, we've not only boosted efficiency but also improved our ability to adapt to changing market needs. Our consolidated tech stack allows us to focus on innovation and delivering a seamless experience to our customers, ultimately driving our growth trajectory.”

Jens Friedrich, Head of E-Commerce, Transgourmet Germany
 

HIGHLIGHTS

Robust technologies and user-centred features  

Market pages

Transgourmet aggregates various food suppliers under its umbrella, catering to diverse needs. Whether users seek fresh fish at Frischeparadies.de, high-quality fresh produce at Niggemann.de or Fruchthof.at, or wish to explore the nearest Selgros wholesale store, Transgourmet provides tailored websites to meet their requirements.

On each of these platforms, users can manually select the desired store or use their location for locating the nearest branch. Selgros alone boasts over 90 stores in Germany, each featuring distinct advertising, content, and events.

Product Catalogues

Despite advancements in online browsing, advertising leaflets and catalogues remain integral in the food industry and have been seamlessly integrated into the websites. While some catalogues are generated on-site, others are sourced externally via API integration. Alongside the extensive array of resulting media assets, additional meta descriptions and taxonomy attributes have been incorporated into the CMS.

Configurable recipes

Configurable recipes offer convenience to customers in the gastronomy, hotel, and communal catering industries, streamlining their daily operations. Chefs and buyers can easily calculate their food order quantities based on the number of servings needed and adjust recipes accordingly.

The recipe portal integrated within the shop is an in-house development, leveraging deep linking technology and featuring a direct call-to-action module that recommends cross-selling and up-selling products.

PatiChef - dessert configurator

PatiChef simplifies dessert creation, addressing kitchen challenges such as planning, time and expertise of kitchen staff. It allows patissiers to configure successful desserts online based on requirements, budget, effort and quantity.

Event registrations

Transgourmet and its subsidiaries provide customers with an extensive range of events, workshops, and in-house exhibitions. While some are exclusive to specific markets, others are accessible across all markets. To accommodate this diversity, an event content type was developed, capable of adapting to various event formats. Each event includes a sign-up option, facilitating the registration processes. This transition has allowed Transgourmet to modernise its event management system, moving away from cumbersome email communication to a more efficient workflow.

Awarded for an innovative approach

When the first versions of the new technology stack were released, the project "Transgourmet Distribution - Multi-Website-CMS" was awarded for its innovative approach at the Splash Awards Germany / Austria 2020.