9. Dec 2024

Bravobike and Shopmacher implement commercetools store in just eight weeks

Anyone who wants to move their online store to a modern composable commerce tech stack is quickly unsettled by stories of uncontrollable project complexity and escalating project runtimes. Bravobike and the e-commerce agency SHOPMACHER implemented a new online store MVP based on commercetools in eight weeks. This shows: Anything is possible if you focus.

The Munich-based company Bravobike wants to professionalize and digitize the used bike market with digital services. Since its foundation in September 2018, the company has operated the online store Gebrauchtraddstudio, which sells high-quality used bikes. Most of the range comes from leasing returns. In addition to the online store, Bravobike also operated a separate online purchase page.

Bravobike revolutionizes the used bike market: Gebrauchtradstudio becomes revelo.de – in just eight weeks

Four years after it was founded, the old platform became outdated. Founder Axel Donath and his team therefore decided to replace Gebrauchtradstudio.de with a new, uniform brand: revelo.de. This was to represent the sale of used bikes and serve as a flexible platform for future expansions of the business model. The agency SHOPMACHER was selected as the implementation partner.

Clear prioritization and focus on the most important business processes

In order not to lose focus and to discipline itself, the team set itself an extremely short deadline for the implementation: A minimal solution (MVP) covering the most important business processes was to be ready in just eight weeks. This proof of concept (POC) was to form the basis for replacing the main store. “With this timing, it was clear that we had to prioritize clearly, focus on the most important business processes and define the front-end features that offer real added value,” says Carsten Dütschke, Head of Development at SHOPMACHER. “In projects like this, the technology becomes secondary. The important thing is who decides what and when.”

Modern tech stack for maximum flexibility

At the heart of the new platform are commercetools Composable Commerce and commercetools Frontend. The setup is complemented by the cloud ERP solution Nekom for business processes and Mollie as a payment service provider. A special feature of the project was that Bravobike itself took over the project and requirements management. SHOPMACHER provided two developers and supported with consulting services on the system architecture. “This approach gave Bravobike a high degree of flexibility and control over the development process,” says Dütschke.

After revelo.de initially ran parallel to the previous store Gebrauchtraddstudio, the necessary next development steps were identified and taken. In the meantime, the enhanced MVP has successfully replaced Gebrauchtradstudio.de. The new platform revelo.de is now positioned as a central point of contact for the purchase of professionally refurbished used bikes. Customers can use an intuitive bike finder to find out which bike best suits their needs from the current range of around 500 brands and 30 categories.

“This project is a prime example of how composable commerce does not necessarily have to go hand in hand with confusing complexity and exploding project durations,” summarizes Carsten Dütschke. “The decisive factors are clear prioritization, a focus on the key requirements, efficient communication and, of course, experienced specialists. With this approach, even ambitious schedules can be realized.”

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