Barbeques Galore has invested in its ICT infrastructure, to scale up its e-commerce activities.
The Australian outdoor retailer sells outdoor cooking appliances, outdoor furniture and accessories and has 88 stores across the country.
Angus McDonald, CEO at Barbeques Galore has been leading the organisation since 2019, and speaks to Digital Nation Australia on the work the retailer has done over the last two years to improve the website, grow the product range and create an omni-channel experience for customers.
“Throughout that time, we've been very focused on systems and processes, this included a new ERP system and new order management system, and a number of other elements,” he said.
“We've also in that time made some big changes to the way that we've operated our e-commerce business. The next frontier of that has then led us into looking to develop a marketplace as part of building a much broader assortment online around our brand.”
Barbeques Galore selected Marketplacer to deploy a cloud-based online marketplace platform, in partnership with digital consultancy, Amblique.
The marketplace encompasses their core products such as outdoor furniture and barbeques plus the addition of complimentary products. Customers are able to purchase products from 12 third party suppliers, using the Marketplacer solution.
Since the tool's deployment Barbeques Galore's range has tripled in size, the company claims.
“As a destination retail brand, Barbeques Galore is all about trying to provide the most comprehensive solution for our customers around everything around the barbecue, the patio and the backyard for that matter. Looking at a marketplace solution has allowed us to introduce a much broader assortment of supporting and complementary ranges that fit around our existing offer and provide a more complete solution for our customers,” he said.
McDonald explains the way the company has utilised this technology is different to the traditional thinking of a marketplace solution.
“That is where you've got some large e-commerce platforms that are basically a single one stop shop for anything and everybody. Whereas as a category specialists we're much more focused on thinking about curating a range of products that really fit with our very specific role, and our area of expertise as a backyard barbecue retailer, and looking at curating an assortment of products that support that,” he said.
“But nonetheless, we added thousands of products to our website, in those early phases. And since then, we've continued to add more and more range, we've got new sellers coming on every week, looking to join the program.”
