Commerce Partners: Showcasing Our Achievements.

The Commerce Partnership has a rich history of collaborating with some of the UK's most exciting retail brands. Our track record illustrates our ability to deliver across diverse briefs. Below is a glimpse of the work we've done and the value we've added.

Our Work.

  • River Island

    For over a decade, The Commerce Partnership has been the technological backbone for River Island. Their purpose-built solution, infused with industry-leading tech components, has helped drive their retail success.

  • Oxfam

    Oxfam

    Partnering with us, Oxfam modernized their digital strategy by integrating their unique donated product catalogue into an online store, streamlining operations and adopting innovative product management methods.

  • French Connection

    During our decade-long collaboration with French Connection, The Commerce Partnership spearheaded key technology projects, reinforcing their prominence in brand-led ecommerce.

The River Island Case Study

RI’s Most Successful Digital Transformation

The Partnership

River Island: A Stalwart of British Retail. With over 60 years of rich history on the British high street, River Island has consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation and improvement. Their commitment to refining processes and delivering a distinct brand experience has been unwavering. Alongside The Commerce Partnership, they achieved a 5x online revenue growth without any performance or stability hitches.

The Commerce Partnership: For over a decade, The Commerce Partnership has stood as River Island's trusted tech ally. Together, we transformed their online operations from a previously underperforming system to one boasting 100% uptime, capable of handling intense sales events with ease. A significant milestone in our collaboration was migrating River Island's systems to AWS. We replaced outdated, non-cloud technology with tailored solutions, ensuring not only a seamless transition but also establishing a platform that consistently met and exceeded expectations without a single 'downtime' glitch.

The Solution

The Opportunity & Challenges

In the rapidly evolving digital retail landscape, River Island grappled with the limitations of their preceding 'platform' approach. This method resulted in pressing concerns over stability, performance issues, and a visible stagnation in technological innovation. A need to remain a dominant force both on the high street and online became increasingly apparent. Moreover, the opportunity to proactively chart the future of retail, rather than merely adapting, beckoned.

River Island recognized the necessity of not just keeping pace with industry changes but driving them. With a vision to be at the vanguard of digital retail transformations, they identified a clear opportunity. By shedding the constraints of their past approach and embracing an agile, future-ready tech strategy, River Island aspired to redefine its technological core, positioning itself as an innovative leader ready to harness the next wave of digital commerce advancements.

Phase 2: Modernise, Innovation & Growth:

Strategic AWS Migration: Capitalizing on the immense capabilities of cloud infrastructure, River Island's transition to AWS was both strategic and well-executed. Successful AWS Launch: River Island's inaugural foray into AWS was seamless. There were no interruptions, no functionality losses, and, most impressively, no downtime.

System Modernization & Flexibility: As we embarked on the AWS migration, outdated systems that weren't cloud-optimized were pinpointed and replaced. In a commendably short span of three months, a fusion of market-leading products and bespoke product development was integrated, ensuring a modern and tailored infrastructure for River Island's needs.

Breaking the Platform Model: By transitioning away from a rigid platform approach, we granted River Island the agility it needed. This transformative step made it remarkably simpler to integrate new services and adapt to emerging technologies, setting them on a path of continuous innovation and flexibility.

Collaboration at its Best: The melding of our backend expertise with River Island’s frontend team created a powerhouse of combined skills. This collaboration allowed both entities to capitalize on each other’s strengths, ensuring product development and tech initiatives were always top-tier.

Digital Retail: More than just addressing immediate challenges, the solutions implemented positioned River Island as a forward-thinking retail entity. They're not just partaking in the digital commerce evolution; they're actively shaping it.

The culmination of our strategic initiatives and the undeterred commitment of both teams has firmly set River Island on a trajectory of continued digital success and innovation.

Phase 1: Stability, Performance & Growth:

Platform Revitalization: Beginning with their existing system, we undertook a comprehensive rewrite, dramatically improving performance, reliability, and overall user experience.

Front-end Accessibility: We evolved their digital system to provide River Island's in-house team unhindered access to the front end. This enhancement facilitated rapid, independent adaptations in line with market trends and shifts.

Going International: The newly revamped platform was not only superior in its operational aspects but was also poised for global outreach, effectively catering to diverse markets.

Reinvented Integration Layers: By reimagining the integration layers, we ensured seamless interactions across the platform. Importantly, this transformation maintained the structure of crucial data, guaranteeing both continuity and data integrity.

The Success

Digital Transformation: River Island’s journey with The Commerce Partnership culminated in its first massively successful digital transformation. An endeavour that redefined the way the brand perceived and executed technology-driven initiatives.

Unprecedented Growth & Stability: Post-transformation, River Island witnessed a surge in growth, particularly in online revenue streams. The newly established systems demonstrated remarkable stability, even during peak sales events, underpinning the brand's strengthened online foothold.

Integration Excellence: Attraqt, promotion engines, and a slew of other cutting-edge technologies were seamlessly assimilated into River Island's digital ecosystem. This comprehensive tech blend not only drove innovation but also ensured the enterprise-grade performance the brand sought.

  • toast

    Toast

    The Commerce Partnership partnered with TOAST, a top UK fashion and homeware brand, delivering an integrated e-commerce solution and ensuring their sustained growth.

  • greatplains

    Great Plains

    We helped Great Plains deliver a fresh and vibrant site running on a Commerce Server installation. With year-on-year growth and an evolving list of innovative features, we are proud to be working with them.

  • Screwfix

    We worked with Screwfix to create and implement the technical strategy for their Pure Play initiative, working with them to integrate it into their complex systems and processes effectively.

The Oxfam Case Study

In-Store Donated PIM and Order Orchestration

The Partnership

Oxfam: A British confederation of 21 charitable organizations, Oxfam stands at the forefront of combatting global poverty. With 560 high street shops in the UK and an expanding online presence, they bridge both offline and online retail worlds.

The Commerce Partnership: For over a decade, we've served as Oxfam’s premier commerce engineering partner. Our engagements have covered diverse projects from e-commerce service integrations to Azure migrations. Oxfam’s unique tech requirements meant an off-the-shelf solution wouldn't suffice. We stepped in, leveraging our expertise in developing tailored solutions for large-scale organizations.

A New POS Toolset

Collaborating with Oxfam and its volunteer base, we crafted intuitive POS interfaces. These tools, combined with foundational data and third-party services, empowered volunteers to uniformly list, categorize, and price donated stock. Moreover, the same POS system was enhanced to handle in-store order fulfillment, allowing volunteers to process online orders efficiently—picking, packing, and dispatching items directly from the high street shops, thereby seamlessly merging online sales with physical shop processes.

The Opportunity & Challenges

Oxfam understood that modern commerce meant integrating all their channels into a single digital strategy, with a massive untapped potential being missed by not selling their diverse catalogue of donated products online. Central to this was the idea of allowing each high-street shop to act as a fulfilment center, turning every location into a potential distribution point.

However, the vast range of unique donated products meant that traditional retail models, like 'lines' and centralized pricing, were ill-suited. A tailored approach was essential, especially when considering the diverse range of volunteers responsible for listing and shipping items, ensuring the consistency and reliability of each online order.

Seamless Integration into Oracle Commerce

Leveraging our deep expertise in systems integration, we seamlessly connected Oxfam's in-store POS with the Oracle Commerce platform. This ensured that products listed in-store were immediately available online. Conversely, when online orders were placed, they were efficiently directed back to the exact shop's POS for prompt fulfilment. This synergy between the online and physical stores showcased our ability to mange complex integration challenges and placed in-store order fulfilment at the heart of Oxfam's modern commerce strategy.

The Solution

Shop Empowerment

Empowering shops and volunteers was pivotal in our solution, allowing them to contribute significantly to Oxfam's online revenue. By granting them the tools to access the vast array of diverse donated product stock, we bridged the gap between in-store offerings and online demand, enriching the customer experience and maximizing potential sales opportunities.

The Success

A Nationwide Rollout

After a successful pilot, our 'Listing and Order Orchestration' system is now a staple across all Oxfam outlets, underscoring their progressive commerce approach. The system's success has led to ongoing development, ensuring it remains adaptive and continues to meet the evolving needs of both Oxfam and their customers.

  • Co-op Electrical Store

    When Maginus decided to offer The Co-operative Group a Microsoft Commerce Server solution for their e-commerce division, they turned to tcpl to deliver the e-commerce framework and associated services. Successfully launched in 2011.

  • Co-op Pharmacy

    When Maginus decided to offer The Co-operative Group a Microsoft Commerce Server solution for their e-commerce division, they turned to tcpl to deliver the e-commerce framework and associated services. Successfully launched in 2011.

  • HCL - Support

    When HCL needed Microsoft Commerce Server expertise they turned to The Commerce Partnership. We helped them be able to integrate into a core client system.

The Co-op Case Study

Multi-Division Platform Roll-out

The Partnership

The Coop: As one of the UK's largest mutual businesses established in the mid-19th century, the Coop holds a significant presence in the retail sector, operating a vast range of retail and community services nationwide,

Maginus: Partnering with Coop for years, Maginus provided ERP solutions, becoming instrumental in the technical operations of Coop's backend.

The Commerce Partnership: Recognizing our exceptional expertise in Microsoft technologies, Maginus reached out for collaboration, foreseeing our potential to bring significant advancements to Coop's e-commerce ventures.

New Shared Division Platform:

We architected and delivered a comprehensive platform adeptly designed to support both the electrical and pharmacy sectors. This platform, while unified, had bespoke functionalities tailored for each division. For the electrical side, the platform was equipped to replace their dated system, seamlessly incorporating complexities such as warranties and guarantees. Concurrently, the pharmacy end was constructed with utmost attention to compliance, ensuring the online prescription processes were clear, intuitive, and rigorously aligned with all requisite standards.

The Opportunity & Challenges

The task at hand was intricate. Coop aimed to replace and modernize the e-commerce platform for their electrical division, while also launching a completely new platform for their pharmacy venture. Both divisions, being highly distinct, posed unique challenges.

The electrical sector required the seamless integration of warranties and guarantees, while the pharmacy sector demanded absolute precision for managing online prescriptions. This delicate balance between offering clarity for electrical products and ensuring safety and compliance for pharmaceutical products made the project particularly challenging.

Seamless Integration into Maginus

Our collaboration with Maginus facilitated an intricate ERP integration, synchronizing inventory, order fulfillment, and more. A focal point of this integration was the online prescription system for the pharmacy sector. We diligently ensured that prescription data flowed impeccably between the platform and ERP, providing Coop with an efficient mechanism to manage online prescriptions, monitor stock in real-time, and maintain regulatory compliance.

The Solution

Successful Lauches

The robustness of the newly integrated platform became quickly evident. We witnessed its resilience, especially during peak online traffic scenarios. The agility and responsiveness of the platform, tailored for both electrical and pharmacy domains, allowed Coop to service their customers seamlessly. No longer just an e-commerce site, it was a comprehensive online representation of the breadth and depth of Coop's offerings. Feedback from the electrical sector indicated a genuine appreciation for the updated system, particularly the intuitive handling of warranties and guarantees.

The Success

On the pharmacy side, the platform streamlined the entire prescription process. Patients and customers now had a hassle-free experience with secure online interactions. Beyond this, the technology's ability to maintain regulatory compliance without compromising user experience was a testament to its robust design and our understanding of the domain's intricacies. This innovation bolstered Coop's position as a leading retailer, effectively demonstrating their commitment to blending customer-centric services with cutting-edge technology.

  • Foolproof

    Foolproof brought in The Commerce Partnership ‘backend’ engineers to support their front-end teams during a complex engineering project.es here

  • Baird Group

    The Baird Group utilized The Commerce Partner’s Microsoft engineering capabilities to provide deep consulting expertise in the delivery of their e-commerce roll-out.

  • Graham & Greene

    With a strong growth plan for delivering a new online channel The Commerce Partnership were brought to implement and integrate their first multi-channel offering.s here