Services & Technology
The Challenge
For a company of Ascentek’s stature, their digital infrastructure, while functional, presented increasing friction points. The central challenge lay in optimizing their diverse online presence to enhance customer engagement and streamline internal operations across their service brands portfolio.
The reliance on a legacy, custom-built B2B portal for lubetech.com, their primary regional sales channel, brought complexities in user experience and limited the agility of sales teams. While serving its initial purpose, the system's dated architecture hindered seamless navigation and the efficient delivery of information. Recognizing the need for modernization, Ascentek aimed to transition lubetech.com to a more modern and user-centric platform. From our perspective, this meant dealing with a highly complex B2B platform, one that required careful and considered strategy to ensure a smooth transition.
Additionally, Reliable Plus, a vehicle wash solutions provider/brand operating under the Ascentek umbrella, presented a distinct opportunity—as well as a challenge. With no existing eCommerce capabilities, Ascentek sought to establish a robust online sales channel for this service brand. This greenfield project highlighted the need for a cohesive digital platform that would accommodate both established and emerging business units.
Ascentek’s objectives for unifying their digital experiences extended beyond a simple website refresh; they sought a scalable and flexible technology foundation that could integrate with their existing systems, empower their teams, and ultimately drive enhanced customer satisfaction and business growth.
The Solution
To address the various challenges identified, Codal architected a comprehensive and tailored solution leveraging the power and flexibility of the BigCommerce platform. Our approach focused on creating a unified yet distinct online presence for Lube-Tech and Reliable Plus to streamline operations and enhance the overall user experience.
Strategic Discovery and Platform Selection
Recognizing the multifaceted nature of Ascentek’s objectives, Codal initiated a comprehensive strategic discovery process. This involved a deep dive into Ascentek’s business operations, including detailed stakeholder interviews and a thorough analysis of their existing digital ecosystem. Our main goal was to understand the underlying complexities of the site and identify the optimal technological path forward.
This process enabled us to fully appreciate the nuances of their B2B interactions and the specific needs of the newly integrated Reliable Plus division. Through this collaborative effort, it became evident that BigCommerce B2B Edition, with its inherent scalability and robust feature set, was the most suitable platform to address the company’s requirements. Our team provided a detailed evaluation of potential platforms, validating Ascentek’s preliminary research and offering a clear rationale for recommending BigCommerce as the cornerstone of their digital transformation.
A Unified Multi-Storefront Architecture
Our solution centered on the implementation of BigCommerce B2B Edition with a tailored multi-storefront architecture. This strategic approach enabled the creation of distinct, yet interconnected, online experiences for both the Lube-Tech and Reliable Plus service brands.
By leveraging BigCommerce’s multi-storefront capabilities, we ensured brand consistency while also allowing for unique product catalogs and customer segmentation for each. This foundational element was paramount for addressing Ascentek’s need for a unified brand presence and streamlined purchasing journey for customers interacting with both service brands Additionally, the architecture was designed with future scalability in mind, providing a flexible framework for potential brand consolidation.
User-Centric Design and Development
The next phase of the project included design and development, prioritizing the user experience for both Lube-Tech’s B2B customers and Reliable Plus’s online shoppers. For Lube-Tech B2B portal, the focus was on modernizing the interface and streamlining key workflows to enhance usability for both customers and internal sales teams. For Reliable Plus, the approach involved building a user-friendly eCommerce storefront from the ground up and tailoring it to the specific needs of their target audience. We delivered excellent design work for the UI/UX, ensuring a modern aesthetic and intuitive navigation. We also leveraged the flexibility of BigCommerce to create custom themes that reflected each brand’s identity while ensuring a consistent and intuitive user journey across both sites.
Key Features and Strategic Implementation
With the launch of their new websites, Lube-Tech and Reliable Plus have taken a major step toward a full eCommerce transformation. For Lube-Tech, this includes a new platform supporting direct online sales, a significant upgrade from their previous catalog-only system with very limited transactional capabilities. A core architectural element was the successful implementation of a multi-tenant experience, which unifies the Lube-Tech and Reliable Plus service brands on a single BigCommerce platform. This also provides a foundation for potential future brand consolidation. Notably, while sharing core capabilities, the company’s third site, poweroilcenter.com, a D2C oil and routine maintenance products brand, operates independently.
The new platform offers substantial functional improvements with out-of-the-box B2B features, providing a faster and more feature-rich experience compared to the previous custom site. Key enhancements include comprehensive customer dashboards for easy access to account information and an enhanced "masquerade" feature for sales representatives to directly support customers. The modern front-end also allows for improved site maintainability.
Codal's strategic consulting and guidance were integral to this project, fostering a strong partnership with Ascentek. Throughout the 18-month engagement, our team remained committed and patient, even as project timelines shifted due to unforeseen data complexities on the client side. We provided consistent and transparent communication, delivering both positive updates and addressing challenges directly. Our team also provided proactive technical guidance, ensuring the project stayed within budget and aligned with Ascentek’s core business objectives. This often involved respectfully challenging initial assumptions and proposing more efficient solutions.
The project marked Codal's first successful implementation of BigCommerce's B2B Edition with multi-storefront capabilities. This novel configuration presented unique challenges that our team effectively navigated to deliver the complete solution within the agreed-upon parameters.
The Result
Driving Efficiency and Future Growth for Ascentek’s Brands
The successful launch of the Lube-Tech and Reliable Plus websites marks a significant achievement in Ascentek’s digital transformation journey. By leveraging the robust features of BigCommerce B2B Edition and a strategically designed multi-storefront experience, Ascentek has established a modern, efficient, and customer-centric online presence.
The new platform empowers Lube-Tech to:
Enhance customer engagement: Providing a more intuitive and user-friendly online experience for both B2B and direct customers.
Streamline sales processes: Equipping their sales team with powerful tools to better serve their clients.
Unlock new revenue streams: Enabling direct online sales for the Reliable Plus division.
Improve operational efficiency: Consolidating their tech stack and leveraging the robust features of BigCommerce.
Establish a scalable foundation for future growth: Creating a flexible platform that can adapt to their evolving business needs.
Codal is proud to have partnered with Ascentek on this transformative project, delivering a tailored solution that not only addresses their immediate challenges but also positions them for continued success in the dynamic eCommerce landscape.
"[Codal] consistently urged us to peel back the layers of our own systems to optimize the implementation, which was a painful but very necessary step in creating a great eCommerce experience."
John Bernier
Director of eCommerce 
