Over 1 164 000 online orders have been placed by customers since launching of the TIM SA e-shop. Its launching in July 2013 caused a real revolution on the market of electrotechnical product distribution in Poland. TIM.pl is constantly evolving – in recent weeks new tools have been made available to the customers: a configurator of contactors and the option to rate and comment on products.

Four years ago, TIM SA, as the first in Poland wholesale distributor of electrotechnics, launched an e-shop with its product range (along with the information about prices) available for all the clients – both consumers and enterpreneurs – without the requirement of prior registration.

The same company has begun the process of changing its operational model – from a traditional chain electric wholesales to a modern distributor of electrotechnics with access to its offer through multiple channels (multichannel). Placing orders is possible through www.TIM.pl and mobile app mTIM as well as by phone, email and through a nationwide network of offices and sales representatives.

A handful of statistics

The number of products available “in stock” sent to the destination requested by the client within 24 hours after ordering (on working days) is constantly growing. Just after the online sale started, there were 11,000 of them and at the end of June 2017 – there were almost 78,000. If you include the goods available on request (usually within a few or several days), you can see that regular customers of TIM SA from B2B sector have now access to about 165,000 unique products.

Only half a year after the online sale started, 1/3 of all the TIM SA revenues from sales came from that channel. In April 2014, their share exceeded 50% and since December 2016 it has remained above 70%.

“Before we implemented the change of our business model, we assumed that the target share of e-commerce in the TIM SA turnover will vary within the range of 70-80%. The objective has then been achieved”, says Artur Piekarczyk, a member of the Management Board and the Director for Commerce of TIM SA.

Over the four years of the TIM SA e-shop existence (from July 2013 to June 2017), the total revenue of the company from e-commerce amounted to over PLN 1.3 billion. The most valuable order out of almost 1165m orders amounted to PLN 1,543,631.43. The longest order consisted of as much as 509 lines.

The first such tool – not only on the Polish Internet

The service currently available at TIM.pl hardly resembles the e-shop launched four years ago. Over that time, not only the logo of TIM and the appearance of the website itself have changed, but above all the tools which the client can use while buying.

They include configurators that are quite popular which allow for the online use of highly specialized knowledge and advice, previously available only by the direct personal contact with an experienced professional working for TIM SA. A few weeks ago, customers of TIM.pl got access to a very innovative and unique, not only on the Polish market, configurator of contactors. By specifying the electrical parameters of a contactor, you get a list of devices that meet the requested parameters along with a list of matching items, such as auxiliary contactors or thermal protection.

The configurator of contactors is available for anybody, without having to log on. The tool is simple to use, but extremely complex in terms of analyzed parameters and greatly facilitates the selection of contactors and accessories. The client does not need to specify all of the nearly 50 available parameters; however, the more you specify, the more accurate selection of the product you get. Selected components appear at the end of the configurator, where you can add them to your shopping cart and then place an order. The configurator resources are systematically extended – now they include the offer of nine producers of contactors.

“Technology Innovation Mobility is our motto. And we stick to it, as that is our recipe for success and development. Due to tools such as the configurator of contactors, we give our customers an innovative access to information from anywhere in the world, using the most modern technology,” says Artur Piekarczyk.

Comments and discounts

TIM.pl offers a wider and wider range of often highly specialised products. On the Internet there are few places where you can share opinions about them in a professional manner.  TIM SA decided to fill this gap by creating special discussion space on TIM.pl. Customers can speak about the quality/price ratio, performance, durability, reliability and installation of the products offered in the e-shop of TIM SA. They receive points for each opinion that can be exchanged for discount codes to use when shopping on TIM.pl.

“That is one of the few places on the Polish Internet where you can exchange such detailed feedback on the range of products in the electrical industry. What is more, their authors have a chance to contribute to the improvement of the commented products, as their statements are read directly by the producers themselves. Thus, we have created an opinion sharing platform not only among customers themselves, but also between the users and the manufacturers”, emphasizes Arthur Piekarczyk.

Works on the new look of TIM.pl. are in progress. The 2.0 version of TIM SA e-shop is to meet the preferences and expectations of each customer even better, both with regard to the products offerd and the tools available.