Outstanding!
Mario Mulack, Germany
March 09, 2020 was the original date for the celebration: the gala event of the “Internet World Business Shop Awards” was planned for this day in Munich, Germany. The selection committee chose our retailer shop to be the “Best B2B shop”. Together with Team Leader Mario Mulack, the B2B Commerce Team was invited to personally receive the award. In early March, however, the first large events were canceled at short notice because of the rapid spread of the coronavirus. This gala was one of them. The trophy is still in Munich. Find out in this interview why this is an incentive for Mario and how the eCommerce business has developed during corona times, and beyond.
First of all, congratulations for this distinction, Mario!
Thank you! Of course, all the colleagues who are a part of developing, maintaining and marketing our B2B shop deserve this acco-lade. It’s simply good teamwork.
Unfortunately, you don’t get to raise the trophy yet. How did you feel when the event was canceled at short notice?
Of course, we would have liked to be there in person. But now it’s an incentive for next year to win the award again and to be able to stand on the stage with my colleagues (laughs).
How did you manage to get to the top this year?
The shop award is allocated by a neutral and independent selection committee. This selection committee saw Bauerfeind as a “prime example of customer centricity”, meaning with particular customer focus. The experts highlighted the tailor-made customer guidance through the online shop as well as the proficient advice via live chat and customer service. They also rated positi-vely that our measuring technology is deeply integrated in the online shop, effectively achieving a complete value chain.
Digital offers seem to be the clear winners in crisis times like these. What is your opinion on this?
It has become obvious that digital offers play an important role nowadays. During a coronavirus lockdown, online retail is some-times the only way to operate a business and is therefore an existential foundation.
What are the effects of the current situation on Bauerfeind’s B2B eCommerce business? Of course, we felt the impact on our order volume. We notice the restrictions applied to our customers in our own figures as well because our medical retailers treat patients and offer personal advice.
What does the B2B online purchasing trend look like outside times of crisis?
There is a clear long-term trend for online shop orders continuously increasing. That’s why it’s important to expand this range and constantly optimize it.
What are your goals for the future?
The plan for the future is to expand our online range. To achieve this, we talk to our customers and focus our activities on our customers’ interests to maintain a compre-hensive eBusiness range.
About Mario Mulack
Mario balances office work with exercise. Swimming and running help him to streng-then his immune system and fitness. He tells us that really helps him when he takes the stairs in the tower in Zeulen-roda, Germany, up to the ninth floor – as recommended. Family man Mario is 47 years old and has been working for Bauerfeind since April 2016. Together with his team, he is in charge of maintaining and further developing our B2B online shop.