Real-time data access with Phocas improves eCommerce growth at top distributor

Eastern Industrial Supplies is a distributor of pipe, valves and fittings and operates 20 locations across southeast America. Known for its excellence in industrial supply distribution, the company launched its eCommerce channel years ago to enhance customer experience and convenience. 

We spoke with Kyle Shermach, eCommerce Operations Manager and Bethany Wozney, eCommerce Product Data Manager about how Phocas Analytics is being used alongside its Epicor Eclipse ERP. Together, these integrated tools help Eastern to measure the impact of eCommerce activity, analyze sales and understand customer behavior. 

Both Kyle and Bethany are enthusiastic users of Phocas and like the way the software provides the opportunity for everyone in the team to access and analyze their own data. 

Putting data to work in eCommerce 

In the e-Commerce area, Eastern use Phocas dashboards to track customer use and branch performance on their website and across different software integrations. 

“We also do software integrations for customers from their ERPs and include product estimate information – this all goes into Phocas to be consolidated and analyzed,” says Kyle. 

Implementing Phocas helped Eastern to identify data issues and even recover sales that weren’t being recorded. 

“It was found the source information from the ERP wasn’t linking up properly to record web sales which has now been rectified,” says Kyle. 

“Phocas helps us link numbers to growth patterns and measure the ROI of changes we make to our e-Commerce site, including the flow-on effects to customer experience," says Kyle. 

Making data available for every department 

“People in many aspects of the business rely on data, but they shouldn't need to learn SQL or a complicated programming language to see it," says Bethany. 

“Rather than wait for another department to build a report, the Phocas user interface is easy to teach and easy to learn. It allows individuals to create their own reports,” says Bethany. 

“The customizable dashboards are also useful. They allow managers to see exactly what pertains to their specific department or for sales people to track previous sales so they are prepared for the next site visit,” says Bethany. 

“Phocas is directly integrated with its ERP, so they all see data in real time. 

Previously in the e-Commerce department, they would create a report in the ERP to track sales but it was time consuming and difficult to alter, and they’d only see updates monthly or weekly. 

Now, Bethany uses a custom dashboard in Phocas to track sales by branch, location, product type and they can see all the results in real time. 

“This is especially useful in my product data role as I can more easily track our top selling products as well as target key manufacturer collaboration opportunities,” says Bethany. 

Looking ahead with AI 

“With the Phocas AI initiative, it's going to provide opportunities for even more individuals to access their data because they won't even have to look into the different dashboards and databases to find their information,” says Bethany. 

They can just ask AI, what are the top selling products for this customer? And it can give them back those answers, which is fantastic and people don't have to learn new software. 

“Phocas makes me feel impactful. I've taught several training sessions to Eastern sales and purchasing departments on how to use Phocas Software. When someone from another department I've trained tells me they used Phocas to make their job easier, it makes me feel like I'm making a difference,” says Bethany. 

Eastern Industrial Supplies’ experience with Phocas illustrates how combining the advanced BI capabilities of Phocas with their Epicor ERP has made data more accessible to everyone, helping them drive eCommerce growth and measurable improvements across the entire business.