July 2021 Edition
News, insights and information from the rapidly changing world of eCommerce designed for the online merchant!
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As July comes to a close, many retailers and B2B suppliers turn their attention to back-to-school. Yes it’s back-to-school (BTS) time again. Retailers across the country are rolling out their BTS online and in-store programs. According to one source (a KPMG study), back-to-school spending should rise 9% this year. Popular BTS product categories like apparel, footwear and school supplies will again see increased traffic. BTS is a great opportunity for a wide array of product retailers to accelerate their sales and revenue in advance of the 2021 holiday season. Given their online presence in a popular BTS category, in this month’s newsletter it’s fitting that we feature one of our footwear clients, Houser Shoes.
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Kadro has been providing eCommerce development services to Houser Shoes (https://www.housershoes.com/) since 2014. With their upgrade to Adobe Commerce over a year ago, Kadro developed a solution that easily allows third-party EDI-based drop-ship vendors to integrate with their eCommerce system.
Over the past 12-months, Houser Shoes has significantly grown its revenue and profit by adding over a dozen dropship vendors to their online product catalog. This has allowed them to increase the total SKUs in their product catalog by over 15%, without having to take physical inventory.
This expansion of their product offering has enabled Houser Shoes to offer a larger selection of brands, styles, and “edge-sizes” of popular shoes to their customers. Brands onboarded using this process have included Dockers, Dansko, HH Brown, Wolverine, Clarks, Alegria, Timberland, New Balance, Reebok, Circus, Bernie Mey, Spring, Georgia Boot, Carolina Boot, Lamo, and Jambu.
Kadro has made the product onboarding, inventory management, order management, and fulfillment process of the additional dropship vendors easy by building a facility in Adobe Commerce to provide various file transfer types and protocols including EDI file formats for inventory (846), purchase order (850), acknowledgments (997), and shipment notification (856) with admin-configurable support for varying EDI segment structures. As a result of these tools, the effort to onboard each new drop-ship vendor can be completed in less than two days of labor.
By expanding their product catalog with these dropship vendors, Houser Shoes can leverage their customer loyalty rewards program to offer the expanded product selection at great prices.
Overall, by adding a dropship marketplace to their existing eCommerce business, Houser Shoes has significantly grown their business.
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Mabl is the leading intelligent test automation platform built for Agile teams. It’s the only SaaS solution that tightly integrates automated end-to-end testing into the entire development lifecycle. With mabl, it’s easy to create, execute, and maintain reliable tests, allowing software teams to increase test coverage, speed up development and improve application quality.
At Kadro, we believe in automated testing as a means to improve test coverage while decreasing the overall amount of project time dedicated to QA. Mabl and the mabl trainer have provided a SaaS platform that enables our QA team to effectively automate their existing test cases.
Leading ecommerce brands like Ritual, FIGS, and Dollar Shave Club rely on mabl for automated UI testing that ensures a seamless customer experience. Download mabl’s 2021 State of Testing in DevOps survey to learn:
- How testing impacts the customer experience
- What types of software tests are being automated
- How leading organizations are adopting DevOps
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START SELLING ONLINE SOONER!
This service is designed for those looking to start selling online faster with a powerful, feature-rich, custom Adobe Commerce (formerly called Magento Commerce) website. It’s a scalable solution that can grow as your business does delivering lower initial project costs and higher value.
Learn more. Visit our Accelerated Magento Website Development page.
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MAGENTO PROJECT GONE WRONG?
KADRO PROJECT RESCUE SERVICES CAN HELP!
eCommerce projects don’t always go as planned. This can occur for many reasons. No matter what the reason, Kadro can help. We offer a comprehensive array of website project rescue and support services tailored to each client’s needs.
Visit our Magento Project Rescue Services page to learn more.
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MEET OUR NEWEST TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS
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Founded in 2009, BigCommerce’s mission is to help merchants sell more at every stage of growth, from small startups, to mid-market businesses, to large enterprises. As a leading Open SaaS solution, BigCommerce empowers merchants to build, innovate and grow their businesses online. More than 60,000 merchants worldwide rely on BigCommerce to help fuel their online business success. STAY TUNED FOR A FUTURE ANNOUNCEMENT AND UPDATES.
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Ultra Commerce is an enterprise eCommerce platform for B2B, B2C and Marketplaces. Its fully integrated platform features built-in OMS, CMS and PIM, providing a seamless end to end customer experience and helping customers grow their online business. Ultra Commerce boasts a truly global network of teams and partners to best service their international clientele – offering more than just a platform but a technology partner for them as they grow. READ THE ANNOUNCEMENT
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Visit our PARTNERS page to learn more about our extensive array of technology partners.
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ARE YOU READY TO MOVE TO ADOBE COMMERCE
(formerly known as Magento Commerce)
OR UPGRADE TO THE LATEST VERSION?
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FREE SALES TAX CHANGES UPDATE NOW AVAILABLE!
Commerce, whether online or omni-channel, is complex and ever-changing. One area that seems particularly fluid is tax compliance. Our partner, Avalara is sharing their 2021 sales tax changes midyear update to help you navigate the complicated world of tax compliance and prepare for the future. As state and local governments reopen after last year’s COVID-19 outbreak, it’s more important than ever to stay informed about legislative changes and emerging trends. Review the update to learn about new tax exemption considerations by state, details about obligations from increased marketplace sales, effects on the international market, and more.
Get your copy today!
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Meet
Lara Wasilkoff
Software Engineer
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What do you do at Kadro and how long have you been with the company: I am a full-stack software developer who builds custom functionality for Magento sites. Recently, I’ve also taken on a few additional responsibilities, including spearheading our new automated testing efforts with Mabl, as well as leading backend training for new hires and co-ops. I have been with Kadro for about two years.
If you could do anything you want right now, what would it be: Travel the world! I absolutely love exploring new places and experiencing new cultures, and I have been cooped up for far too long.
What’s your favorite food: My favorite go-to food, without a doubt, is tacos, but I also love sushi, scallops, or really any type of seafood.
Have any pets: No pets, but I do have a lot of plants!
What do you dislike or dislike doing: Mondays, am I right? Seriously though, I tend to put a positive spin on everything so nothing is ever that unpleasant. Oh except for karaoke, that is. Karaoke is definitely a dislike.
Favorite karaoke song: I cannot stand karaoke. Music in general though is a huge part of my life. Attending concerts, whether they be small local shows or large-scale festivals, is probably my favorite way to spend my down time.
What gets you out of bed in the morning (motivates you): The sun, primarily. Rainy days are always a struggle.
Biggest recent professional accomplishment: I recently got certified as a Magento Commerce Business Practitioner.
Most interesting recent experience: I went ziplining for the first time a few weeks ago and it was exhilarating! I was up in the mountains near Asheville, and it was the perfect way to both appreciate the beauty of nature and get the adrenaline flowing.
What is one unique thing about you that few people know? I love to cook. I’m a big fan of clean eating too so I’m always trying out new recipes that are healthy, without sacrificing on flavor. One of my more notable dishes recently was chimichurri-marinated tuna steaks with avocado and spinach.
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NEW ARRIVALS
Welcome the newest addition to the Kadro family!
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Justin Irene (the one in the cap)
Full Stack Software Engineer
Raleigh-native Justin Irene is a 2019 graduate of NC State with a BS in Computer Science. This is actually Justin’s 2nd tour with Kadro as he originally was brought in via Kadro’s participation in the Cooperative Education Program at NC State and worked at the company from 2018-2019 .
After graduation in 2019, he and his girlfriend (who also graduated from NC State) moved to Chicago for two years until career opportunities brought them back to the East Coast and a reunion with Kadro.
Welcome back to the Kadro family Justin!
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