« France Frais, what is it? »
The history of the France Frais group begins in the early 20th century in the Cotentin region. There, dairy producers decided to join forces in cooperatives to better showcase their work. Over time, these cooperatives merged, eventually becoming one of the leading French distributors for foodservice professionals in 1987: the France Frais group. Since 2023, France Frais has relied on Synako's expertise to implement its digital order-taking solution.
Advisory & Partnership
Enhanced ERP
eCommerce B2B
« And what were the objectives? »
First, expectations focused on end customers:
- The ability to place orders 24/7. Until now, orders were exclusively made by phone, during specific hours and days.
- Easier access to the entire product range, which had previously been fragmented across different subsidiaries.
Indirectly, this led to greater operational efficiency:
- Concentrating human resources on solving complex issues rather than handling basic order-taking tasks.
- An increase in sales volume.
- Optimized interactions and customer journeys.
- Enhanced visibility of a wide product range.
Behind all this lies a major ambition: to make France Frais the go-to network recognized for its digital experience.
« Why choose Synako? »
First and foremost, because France Frais recognized a key aspect of Synako's approach: its ability to focus on their unique characteristics and integrate the various facets of their corporate culture and organizational structure. This capability is essential to delivering a digital solution perfectly tailored to the needs of France Frais teams.
Additionally, because Synako successfully demonstrated its ability to deliver within a highly ambitious timeframe: six months.
« And how did you do it? »
01
First, by taking France Frais' organizational structure into account.
A "federal" organization comprising 129 subsidiaries, without a central management structure, where each entity operates with significant autonomy.
By proposing a tailored methodology.
Specifically, how do you engage 129 subsidiaries in a joint project to overhaul their digital ecosystem? Synako’s answer: an approach centered around a lead coordinator (Synako) and ambassadors (general managers, each representing a subsidiary). Each ambassador relayed detailed on-the-ground needs to Synako, ultimately resulting in a solution that is both comprehensive and tailored to each subsidiary.
By creating a solution that integrates seamlessly with the existing environment.
The challenge: to onboard all 129 subsidiaries as smoothly as possible, without disrupting their workflows or radically altering their operational practices. The solution: an architecture built on the existing systems, evolving them through a digital extension of the current ERP (Toledo) and media library (Baobase). With one key requirement: ensuring the solution is immediately usable across all roles.
Before
- Scattered functions and fragmented data.
- An IT system ill-suited to handling the growing number of references and the diverse customer profiles (commercial catering, social catering, bakeries, cheese shops, etc.).
After
- A centralized and clearly organized data system.
- An urbanized architecture, with functions centralized in clearly defined locations.
- Information accessible based on the needs of each customer profile.
What are the concrete benefits?
- Unchanged management rules.
- A solution immediately usable by all stakeholders.
02
By developing a user-centered approach.
With three necessary conditions:
- Addressing, in detail, the specific context and the diverse roles within France Frais.
- Ensuring all stakeholders within the organization adopt and naturally embrace the proposed solution.
- Engaging customers and providing them with a digital experience that is more tailored, simpler, faster, and more efficient.
Before
Internally:
- Time-consuming phone order processing requiring significant human resources.
- Unavoidable data entry time.
- A varied organizational context across subsidiaries, with differences in schedules, accounting methods, and delivery processes.
Externally:
- Customers constrained by strict time requirements.
- Complicated access to the full catalog.
- A slow ordering process.
After
Internally:
- A solution minimizing the impact on the existing organization and operational workflows.
- Greater pricing flexibility in the pricing strategy.
- Ultra-precise, real-time stock management.
- Custom management of favorites and order schedules.
- Advanced and flexible cart management.
- Simplified access to actionable data: clear visibility of prices, stock status, and catalogs.
Externally:
- A personalized and intuitive ordering process.
- Advanced, intuitive e-commerce navigation.
- A simplified and responsive purchasing experience.
- Immediate access to the entire catalog.
What are the concrete benefits?
An architecture meeting business requirements, both internally and externally: instantaneity, 24/7 availability, and high performance.
Internally:
- A multi-channel solution adapted to the federal organization. Subsidiaries share the same overarching vision of customer satisfaction.
- Unanimous acceptance from all internal stakeholders.
Externally:
- Simplified ordering processes.
- Time savings at every step.
« And so, in conclusion? »
From a technical perspective, Synako successfully delivered a dual value creation:
- For France Frais customers: a digitized ordering process that is more flexible, simpler, and more immediate.
- For all subsidiaries nationwide: operational reorganization through a seamless digital extension that respects and enhances the existing system.
From a human perspective, the solution has been widely embraced by both customers and internal teams.
By staying attuned to the needs of each subsidiary, Synako managed to engage France Frais employees, including the telesales team, ensuring they fully adopted the solution.
Finally, France Frais has built a true digital asset:
The company owns its solution. Every day, it amortizes its investment a little further. Even better, it can adapt and evolve the solution over time to meet its long-term needs, increasing its value as time progresses.
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