Eden Farm Hulleys upgrades ordering system

Chilled wholesaler Eden Farm Hulleys has conducted a major upgrade to its online ordering system, reducing the time it takes for retailers to place orders.

The firm’s sales director Ben Lawrence told Better Retailing the investment will allow retailers to make chilled and frozen orders together. He added: “When retailers previously made orders, they’d have to come out of the frozen category and then go into chilled separately. Now we’ve made sure they can do both together and help save them time.

“Customers can also see their favourite orders and the ease of use means ordering is now much quicker. The time saved can be anywhere from a couple of minutes to 10 minutes.”

Lawrence added the feature has been trialed with more than 250 customers over a phased pilot since the summer and it is now ready to be rolled out to its wider customer base in mid-September.

“We’ve got 9,500 customers who are set it up online and we’re ready to roll it out to them,” he said. “Communication about the new feature will be done through our field reps and also through email to show them exactly what is going on. Customers can see the full range across frozen and chilled in one place and the upgrade facilitates an easier way of ordering.”

The new chilled and frozen ordering function isn’t the only online upgrade Eden Farm has made recently. Earlier this year, the firm rolled out an online barcode scanner. Customers can use their smartphone to scan barcodes of products, where they will be taken to a page on Eden Farm’s website, displaying pricing and nutritional information.

Meanwhile, Lawrence added the firm was working with major suppliers to roll out promotions exclusive to independent retailers in October. He said: “We’re working heavily with major brands to support independent retailers.

“These will include offers such as buy a few cases and get one free with Birdseye all the way through to pizza companies. There’ll be a big marketing campaign through email and field visits.

“We’re also training up field reps so they can show retailers what exactly is going in. There’ll be a big day of training to highlight what the core products are. Independent retailers have got tough competition from rival discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.

“Reps will be able to help retailers find what can drive footfall and make them the most money. They’ll show them what the suppliers are pushing and what is worth promoting to their customers.”