Hyster-Yale transforms online ordering for 350+ dealers
The challenge
Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (HYMH) is a leading forklift manufacturer with a network of 350 dealer branches in North America. They have a unique story, bringing the Hyster and Yale brands under one global company to better serve dealers.
HYMH had a vision to create a unified website that would be a trusted destination for all dealers and customers. To set the foundation, they partnered with Ntara on a successful Inriver PIM + Znode implementation. Next, it was time to scale and evolve the site with more user-friendly features.
Our approach
HYMH wanted to unify its brand experience, including fixing disjointed portals. When using their former site, dealers faced the inconvenience of logging in and out of separate portals to build carts and place orders for different locations or brands.
As part of the Znode implementation, we brought Hyster and Yale into the same platform. Now, dealers and customers can easily browse and shop across brands and locations under a single URL.
We also collaborated to bring more products and suppliers to the site, enabling the HYMH team to eliminate legacy technology and migrate customers and dealers to the new platform.
“The rich and reliable product data syndicated from PIM plays a key role in the transformation,” said Justin Alvis, Ntara VP, Sales. “When you pair that with the flexibility of Znode, it opens up exciting doors for what we can deliver to Hyster-Yale dealers, all within a ‘single pane of glass’ ecommerce experience.”
Exciting new features
Since the initial implementation, we’ve helped HYMH make impressive progress. Using a feedback loop to understand business and user priorities, we’ve collaborated to design and release features that dealers and customers love.
Convenient carts
The flexibility of carts is a favorite feature, offering easy access to all brand and location-specific carts through a single drop-down menu. All carts are shareable, allowing users to collaborate on different carts by type, urgency, or job. This design not only helps users reach free shipping thresholds but also provides a flexible shopping experience for both dealers and customers. At checkout, users can quickly process multiple carts in one go, following a simple loop to verify, submit, and purchase.
E-procurement integrations
Through Punchout Catalog functionality, customers utilizing e-procurement systems can log in to the HYMH ecommerce experience directly from their own purchasing systems. This allows users to search for parts needed, build a shopping cart, start a requisition, and bring it back to their e-procurement system for processing.
The benefits of this include allowing customers to follow their own approval workflows within their purchasing system while avoiding laborious manual order entry. Once an order has been approved, the purchase process is automatic, sending the cart and approval back to the HYMH ecommerce ecosystem to complete the order.
Assembly interface
The integration of HYMH’s technical reference and assemblies service significantly improves the parts look-up experience. Users can now view a truck and its assemblies and sub-assemblies by model or serial number and all the related items. For example, a dealer could look up a specific truck, view an assembly diagram for a specific assembly showing every part—down to the bolt—and quickly add the item to a cart.
Special engineering and design
Users also benefit from access to special engineering and design data for a given truck serial number. This SPED section provides detailed information and drawings on available customizations and assemblies, covering everything from major modifications (like hoisting points to lift the truck by crane) to add-ons (like foot heaters). Users can easily review options and make informed choices tailored to their needs.
“My technicians use the site every day to find the parts they need for repairs. The mobile functionality allows them to order on the go.” – HYMH dealer
“Having standard parts and SPED together in one place is extremely beneficial for us when it comes to ordering what we need to make timely repairs. All we have to do is enter the serial number of the truck, and all the options are on display for us. Our technicians love the mobile functionality as well because they can order on the go.” – HYMH dealer
The result
The MVP rollout was successful, removing the need for multiple logins and bringing both brands and all locations within one URL. This transformation has been crucial in building trust and saving time for users who previously had to juggle multiple portals.
“There are so many improvements I could talk about, but I think the most helpful is being able to log in one time and handle everything I need in one place. Having to bounce back and forth wasted a lot of time and was frustrating. This is a much better experience.” – HYMH dealer
As the project continues, HYMH and Ntara work together to add more suppliers to the platform and scale the site. They have seen a significant boost in revenue, with a 20% year-over-year increase in sales.
By the numbers
20%
YoY increase in online sales
842,871
active SKUs
1400+
dealer locations in the system
“We are thrilled we have been able to make these improvements to the online ordering process. Our goal is to give our dealers and customers what they need, when they need it, right at their fingertips. We will continue to receive their feedback and make whatever changes we need to make their job more efficient.”
Audra Cox
HYMH Ecommerce Operations Manager
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