With SAP C/4HANA, Sigma Food Service now offers its business-to-business (B2B) customers a digital, personalized, and immediate experience.

In an increasingly digital world, consumers have high expectations for ecommerce. They want immediacy, quality, and, most importantly, they want to be “known”. These expectations carry over into the B2B world, where corporate buyers look for the same experience.

Global food company Sigma Alimentos S.A. is based in San Pedro, Mexico, and produces nearly 2 million tons of food a year that is distributed primarily through supermarkets and convenience stores. It sells meat, dairy, and other packaged foods in 18 countries — Yoplait yogurt is one of its most well-known brands. Overseen by holding company Alfa, Sigma reported sales of U.S. $6.3 billion and profits of $684 million in 2018.

About nine years ago, the company realized that the hotel and restaurant markets in the region were underserved and to address the opportunity created a separate business unit. Called Sigma Food Service, the division operates solely in Mexico, but is the fastest-growing business unit in the company.

Addiel Amaro, who manages Ecommerce Development for Sigma Food Service, explains that two years ago Sigma embarked on a digital transformation journey. Each business unit determined which technology made the most sense for their particular operations. Sigma Food Service decided to start with an ecommerce solution that would enhance customer experience while improving efficiency.

“Our main pain point was easy fulfillment of our customers’ orders and a fast way to let them know when we had expanded the portfolio,” says Amaro. The division wanted to provide a digital catalog that would help launch new products more quickly and allow clients to easily understand the breadth of its offerings.

Previously, when customers placed orders, they had to email sales representatives, call the call center, or use a messaging application like WhatsApp. The sales person then needed to manually check which products were in stock.

Using SAP Commerce Cloud, part of the SAP Customer Experience suite, the team revamped its retail website and put its product portfolio online. Additionally, the team integrated its customer-facing system and back-office applications — also provided by SAP.

According to Amaro, “The system is now intuitive. People log in and can browse the catalogue. They get personalized offers, and prices are also personalized based on their contract with us”. One important benefit: Buyers for restaurants and hotels receive more accurate product information, including photos and detailed descriptions. Customers can also see the availability of products, and once added to the shopping cart, track where their order is.

Because the ecommerce system is cloud-based, Sigma has been able to easily plug it directly into its SAP ERP system. This has delivered important benefits. Now Sigma customers and staff can get real-time information about inventory, logistics, and financing. For example, if there is a shortage of a particular product, the system recommends appropriate substitutions that are in stock.

“It’s more complex, but it works better because there’s one version of the truth across the whole system,” explains Amaro. “For example, it’s crucial for restaurants to get their orders fulfilled. If a pizza parlor runs out of cheese one day, the next day they’re out of business. This is one way that digitizing business processes creates continuous improvement – and allows us to react in time to exceed our customers’ expectations”.

So far, Sigma says customers love the new platform and since it went live, sales have increased by 15 to 20 percent. But one challenge has been getting staff to use it. “Culturally, people feel like technology can be a barrier to sales versus doing business face-to-face,” Amaro says. “But we hope this moves people beyond operational transactions so they can do more strategic work”.

Moving forward, Sigma Food Service wants to add more functionality. For example, the company wants to create simple, digital solutions for online payments, complex pricing, corporate account management, and other processes. The division is also considering embedding Experience Management solutions from SAP (Qualtrics) in SAP Commerce Cloud to help develop more personalized offers and continually assess client satisfaction.