Hofman Animal Care rebuilds digital ordering from scratch

Hofman Animal Care, a family-owned supplier of animal care and agricultural products based in Enter, the Netherlands, went live with a completely rebuilt B2B platform at www.hofmananimalcare.nl in early October. At the same time, the company introduced a new product information management (PIM) system and a new platform for email marketing and customer communication. According to the company, 96% of its B2B orders are already placed by customers themselves via the online channel.

The relaunch marks a change of course. In recent years, Hofman had invested heavily in a largely custom-developed digital environment. In February, management decided to start again from scratch; development began in April/May with an internal team and an external IT partner, and the platform was operational by early October. Managing Director Arjan Hofman called it a tough decision given the time, expertise and money already invested, but said he was convinced it was the right one.

The new PIM system is designed to manage all product information from a single central source. Hofman points to the growing volume of product data and to stricter European rules on the information that has to be available to customers and consumers. In future, the company intends to feed this data increasingly via APIs directly into its customers’ systems and sales channels.

The structured data are also meant to serve as the basis for in-house AI applications, for example in search, product recommendations and the handling of customer enquiries. The new email platform is intended to tailor information on new products, availability and seasonal changes more closely to individual customers.

Hofman does not see the online channel as a substitute for personal contact. ‘As far as we are concerned, an order should not require a phone call or email if a customer can easily place it themselves,’ he says. The time saved is to go into advice, range planning and commercial collaboration. An internal working group will develop the platform further on the basis of feedback from customers and employees.