Concept2 - Drupal & Drupal Commerce Decoupled

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN ECOMMERCE

Concept2

Rising above the competition — Pursuing superior digital commerce in the fitness industry.

Digital Transformation for a World-Class Fitness Manufacturer

This case study is designed for B2B manufacturing and B2B digital commerce companies that need to modernize their ecommerce platforms.

The Challenge: An Outdated System Sinking a Market Leader

Concept2, a global leader in fitness equipment and rowing oars, faced significant challenges with its outdated website. The company, which has been producing rowing oars since 1976, experienced a substantial shift in the market during the pandemic as more people began purchasing in-home fitness equipment. With their retail and distributor networks affected, it became clear they needed a modern online sales channel to serve both their B2B and direct-to-consumer (D2C) customers.

Their existing website was a major hurdle to growth:

• Poor user experience: The site wasn't mobile-friendly, resulting in lost sales to competitors. The navigation was also clunky, hindering the shopping experience for their premium brand.
• Content management limitations: The marketing team struggled to easily add or edit content, which hindered their ability to send timely messages to their audience.
• Security and functionality issues: The platform lacked key features, such as the ability to link replacement parts to machines, and was susceptible to server overload.
• Multi-site complexities: With subsidiaries in several countries, including the UK, Australia, and Germany, Concept2 needed a multi-site solution that could be customized for each market.

The Solution: A Future-Ready, Decoupled Commerce Platform

To overcome these challenges, Concept2 partnered with Acro Commerce to build a new website on a modern, flexible, and scalable technical infrastructure. The new site was built on Drupal 10 and Drupal Commerce, leveraging a composable, decoupled architecture. This approach allows for maximum flexibility and scalability, ensuring the platform can adapt to their evolving needs.

By using Drupal, the new platform provides several key benefits:

• Streamlined content management: The Drupal CMS empowers non-technical staff, like marketers and administrators, to easily build and maintain the site.
• Enhanced user experience: The new site features a responsive and modern design with clear conversion paths, providing a seamless experience for customers on any device.
• Advanced functionality: The new system enables complex product configurations, upsell and cross-sell opportunities, and seamless integration with other critical business applications.
• Global reach: With Drupal's multi-site and multilingual capabilities, Concept2 can provide customized experiences for its international subsidiaries.

The Results: A Scalable and Agile Ecommerce Platform

The new website, with its decoupled infrastructure, has empowered Concept2 to outperform the competition and achieve superior digital commerce. The US site launched in June 2024.

The key results include:

• Improved efficiency: The new platform minimizes administrative overhead by using streamlined processes and modern technologies.
• Increased scalability: The composable and decoupled infrastructure is future-ready, allowing Concept2 to easily adapt and grow.
• Enhanced brand consistency: The new website enhances the customer experience and improves brand consistency by connecting products and services in a unified online presence.
• A strong foundation for the future: The modular nature of Drupal gives Concept2 a versatile, structured content platform that can grow with its brand and drive conversions.

“We wanted an agency that had the technical and design ability we needed, but more importantly, we wanted an agency that we could work with and who would be invested in the project's success. Acro Commerce worked alongside us every step of  the way, and especially towards the end, they bent over backwards to make sure we finally got the website over the line.” - David Hart, Concept2

Building the Future One Stroke at a Time

Create a modern ecommerce website experience using a decoupled infrastructure for maximum flexibility and future scalability.

Concept2 decided the new site should be built on Drupal 10 using Drupal Commerce to achieve this. Without in-house development resources, Concept2 needed a partner agency that could handle the scope of the build and bring it to life in a quick turnaround time.

Using our decoupled accelerator, Gesso, and our agile development process, we established a communication and development cadence with Concept2’s internal team and stakeholders, ensuring full Acro Commerce support from discovery through development to launch, starting with their US site, which launched in June 2024.

Gesso, our development accelerator, made C2 a reality.

Advantages of a decoupled accelerator

• Optimized to reduce development time.
• Control of brand across multiple sites.
• Swap platforms without impacting customer experience
• Reduced time-to-market for future development

The dual-core setup of Drupal Commerce and Drupal CMS is a powerful combination that empowers Concept2’s non-technical resources, such as marketers and administrators, to build and maintain an unrivalled customer experience, propelling their online presence and maintaining leadership in their industry.

Next Steps

This case study is just one example of how Acro Commerce helps manufacturers and B2B companies modernize their ecommerce platforms. If your organization is facing similar challenges with an outdated commerce platform, connect with us to discuss your goals.

Ready to transform your digital commerce presence?

• Learn more at our website acrocommerce.com and discover how we support B2B merchants.
• Book a call: Let's talk about your specific needs and design a plan to reach your goals.