Berlin Packaging simplifies B2B complexity on top of BigCommerce APIs

The Berlin Packaging Success Story

Since opening in 1938, Berlin Packaging has been a family-run operation.

What started in the 30’s as a tin plate packaging business has now evolved into a modern glass and plastic container store. Today, they serve almost all industries that need containers, and they fulfill B2B orders for a wide variety of businesses.

But with that shift comes new challenges: Like finding the right ecommerce platform.

After years of research and hours spent evaluating a wide variety of qualifiers on different platforms, they ultimately chose BigCommerce.

Choosing BigCommerce over WebSphere & Magento

As told to BigCommerce by Chris Hiller, General Manager, Berlin Packaging.

When we were evaluating platforms, we looked at every input and qualifier we could think of: Everything from the use of a restful API to legacy cost of IT to cloud-based versus on-site (and much, much more.)

Magento and WebSphere were two of the other ecommerce platforms we looked closely at, but when it came down to pricing, configurations, and functionality, we decided that BigCommerce was the right choice for us.

As we got into the development process, we really liked that we had access to people at the highest levels of the BigCommerce team that could help us work through things. That was a pleasant surprise.

Flexibility and functionality for unique B2B operation

As told to BigCommerce by Chris Hiller, General Manager, berlinpackaging.com

We worked with Americaneagle.com, an agency that helped us create some unique system integrations via the BigCommerce API.

As a fairly complex B2B operation, we needed things like:

• specialized item attributes
• custom inputs
• an interface with our existing ERP
• custom shipping and handling abilities for our customers that would improve the overall user experience and streamline processes for them, too.

We have more than 200 different partner vendor locations and drop shipping to coordinate, so this was no easy task. However, they made us feel confident and were able to fully execute the vision we had.

Find out how your brand can work with Americaneagle.com here.

ERP integration for better customer service

As told to BigCommerce by Chris Hiller, General Manager, berlinpackaging.com

We use a proprietary ERP that sits on top of an IBM I-Series I-Mainframe, and we were able to get an integration built so that we can better leverage our data across systems.

One way we do this is in regard to customer service. We can pass cart details over to our ERP, and if a customer calls our customer service line and references their PO number, we can locate the record right away.

Being able to push things from our ERP into our BigCommerce store also allows us to help customers see things like their credit limits, balances, and past due balances. It’s empowering to our customers to have that data.

Substantial lift in conversions with BigCommerce

As told to BigCommerce by Rebecca Gummerson, Director of Ecommerce, berlinpackaging.com

Since switching to BigCommerce, we’ve already seen a substantial lift in conversions compared to this time last year—as much as a 27% increase. We’ve also seen an increase in orders and demand revenue as well.

Overall user experience is improved, too. We like that our BigCommerce site is easy to navigate and easy to use. That was a big improvement over our old site.

A platform that virtually does it all

As told to BigCommerce by Chris Hiller, General Manager, berlinpackaging.com

The open API and the use of custom fields makes BigCommerce extremely flexible and the platform can do virtually anything you want it to do.

Plus, with the help of a good agency, there are endless opportunities for customizations.

We fell in love with BigCommerce because it’s a platform constantly committed to enhancements via customer feedback. Overall, we’re extremely impressed.