The €lli-Webshop: why integrated online selling is becoming the new standard
Online sales have become an essential part of business operations in virtually every industry. Whereas organizations used to focus primarily on physical sales through cash registers or counters, today visitors and customers expect to be able to easily reserve, buy or book online.
Many organizations use external ticketing or Web shop platforms for this purpose. These solutions often work well, but also come with drawbacks. Consider loose links, different databases and variable costs per sale.
Therefore, De Haan IT decided to fully unlock the functionalities of €lli for the Internet. The result is the €lli-Webshop: an online sales environment fully integrated with €lli.
From single ticket sales to integrated online sales
In the past, online sales were often seen as a marketing tool. As a result, the choice of a ticketing or Web shop platform was usually made by the marketing department, while operational systems such as checkout, scheduling and reporting were often under the control of management, operations or IT.
This led to a segregated digital infrastructure in many organizations.
Online sales ran through an external party, while operational processes were controlled from another system. This created situations where data had to be exchanged via API links, with the risk of delays, incorrect data or limited functionality.
At the same time, expectations around online sales have changed significantly in recent years.
Whereas online sales used to be often limited to offering an admission ticket, today they involve much more:
– sales of subscriptions
– reservations of treatments or tours
– bookings of rooms or activities
– sales of gift items
– uploading passport photos for passes or subscriptions
Online sales have thus become a full-fledged part of the overall business operation.
The €lli-Webshop: a cash register, but online
To better support organizations in this development, De Haan IT has developed the €lli Webshop.
Unlike many other solutions, the €lli Webshop is not a stand-alone system. The webshop is fully integrated within €lli.
In fact, the web shop is an online checkout.
Organizations can easily determine:
– what products are available online
– what prices are associated with them
– what reservations or services can be booked online
All transactions are processed directly within the same database as the physical cash registers and other parts of the system.
This avoids the complexity of separate links and ensures that all data is readily available within a single platform.
Optimal integration with €lli-Pay
The €lli-Webshop is applicable in combination with €lli-Pay. Because the webshop is directly linked to €lli-Pay, a fully integrated payment and sales environment is created.
This integration ensures that online transactions, payments and spending within the location become part of one central system. This creates not only a more efficient sales process, but also a powerful data platform.
Unique marketing analysis
In addition to all the operational benefits, this mainly provides new opportunities for marketing and analysis.
For example, when a visitor buys tickets online through the €lli-Webshop, it can then also be tracked what spending this visitor does later on site. Think of spending in hospitality, retail or additional services.
This allows organizations to analyze:
– how many visitors spend additionally after their online purchase
– which types of customers spend the most on location
– where this spending takes place within the organization
These insights allow marketing, offers and product strategies to be more targeted.
Lower costs through full integration
A key difference from many third-party ticketing platforms is the fee structure.
Many online sales platforms operate with variable costs per transaction or percentage of sales. As online sales grow, these costs often increase significantly.
The €lli-Webshop works differently. Because the webshop is part of €lli and directly linked to €lli-Pay, there are no variable revenue charges based on online sales.
This makes the solution not only more technically efficient, but also more financially attractive for organizations looking to expand their online sales.
One platform for online and onsite sales
Because the webshop is fully integrated with €lli, it creates one central platform for all sales channels.
Meaning:
– one database
– one reporting environment
– one inventory and product management
– one system for both online and onsite sales
This eliminates the difference between online and physical transactions. All data is processed instantly and is available anywhere within the system.
This provides greater visibility, better reporting and more efficient operations.
The next step in integrated sales
With the introduction of the €lli-Webshop, De Haan IT is taking the next step in the development of integrated software solutions for organizations in leisure, wellness and retail, among others.
By bringing online sales, physical sales and operational processes together within a single platform, organizations gain greater control over their processes and their data.
As a result, initial customer feedback on the €lli-Webshop has been very positive.