PhiAcademy: A B2B e-commerce success story

The B2B revolution is here. Is your company ready for it?

The PhiAcademy shows how it's done and has grown rapidly as a result. Together we take a look behind the scenes of the successful B2B e-commerce company...

Tradition is out. Digital is in.

The traditional methods of B2B business - from sales to customer interaction, from order processing to delivery - are changing rapidly. The industry is digitising, driven by the pandemic and a new influx of Millennials in decision-making positions. 
In addition, B2B customers now expect flexible, convenient and digitally-focused services that are more closely aligned with their B2C experiences. B2B companies that want to make the most of cross-border e-commerce opportunities need to adapt - and quickly.

A successful example: the PhiAcademy

PhiAcademy GmbH was founded in 2014 and is the leading provider of permanent make-up and microblading products. Today, up to 100,00 packages are shipped (almost) all over the world per year. The company quickly recognised the opportunity for international growth and within just four years PhiAcademy is one of the international market leaders in B2B online trade with beauty products.
"PhiAcademy started with three employees in a small basement compartment in the 5th district. Only 4 years later, we ship around 850 products from our 6000 m² PhiLogistic Centre in Vienna's 23rd district to over 160 countries worldwide," explains CEO Milan Momirovic with a proud smile on his face.

It is the famous one more step that makes a partnership a good partnership. In the case of PhiAcademy, we take it literally. "Saturday lunchtime I received a call from Milan, who was holding a training in France. His much needed starter kits had been forgotten at home! After many phone calls and with the help of colleagues on site, we were able to arrange a Saturday delivery and everyone was happy," Andrea Haslinger-Rauscher chats out of the closet.
"It is precisely this commitment and solution-oriented action that is worth its weight in gold for us," Milan Momirovic emphasises the benefits of the cooperation.

"The Demand on Delivery service in particular is a pretty cool tool, because here the customer himself can decide after dispatch what should happen to the parcel, whether he should leave it with a neighbour, for example, or a holiday message is given. All these functions are very important to us so that the customer always knows exactly where his parcel is."

"At PhiAcademy, the focus is on people, which results in a great working atmosphere and a successful corporate culture. This is what connects us with DHL Express. We want our employees to approach their projects with joy and have fun at work. Satisfying the customer and providing the best possible service is important to us. Together we have managed to do just that and have taken off internationally!" That's all we can add here.

High customer satisfaction

"To grow, you need to know your customers - To keep things simple we developed PhiShop!" The high level of customer satisfaction can be measured directly in the thriving business, with hundreds of packages ordered daily from the user-friendly web shop.

"The fact that the PhiAcademy staff's enjoyment of their work also resonates with customers is evident in the countless good reviews and positive feedback from countries all over the world," explains Managing Director Milan to our B2B e-commerce specialist Amin Souayeh in an interview.

PhiAcademy demonstrates very well the advantages of working with an international shipping service provider like DHL Express. Here, the customer can export worldwide within a few days via a global network and nothing stands in the way of international growth.

The B2B e-commerce revolution

If you want to take your e-commerce business international, whether B2C or B2B, we will support you as a shipping partner not only with logistics but also move your web shop forward with all e-commerce topics with the help of our Website Health Check.

Keep up to date with the digitalisation of the B2B industry with DHL Express and become a pioneer in B2B e-commerce. 

Your B2B e-commerce revolution starts right here. Download our free whitepaper "The ultimate B2B e-commerce guide" and get on the road to meeting the new customer demands and making your business a more profitable operation.

Take the next steps and get in touch with our B2B e-commerce specialist Amin Souayeh!

What do B2B customers expect?

Andrea Haslinger-Rauscher, Major Account Manager at DHL Express, has experienced the rapid development of her customer PhiAcademy from the very beginning: "One month after signing the contract, I was incredibly happy about the first 50 shipments!” At that time, you couldn't imagine the volume of shipments that would result just a few years later.

B2C customer experiences in the personal lives of new B2B customers strongly influence what they expect from B2B transactions. 80% of B2B buyers now expect the same buying experience as B2C customers. Here it is now imperative that B2B companies invest in a digital presence that feels familiar to these new B2B buyers. Important factors here are speed, convenience and flexible delivery options. 

PhiAcademy quickly responded to these demands with the Phishop, the actual heart of PhiAcademy. The most important B2B e-commere success factors were:

- User-friendly online shop (desktop & mobile)
- Competent customer service
- Committed logistics team
- Reliable express shipping partner

PhiAcademy and DHL Express: a strong partnership

Since then, the business has flourished and in 2018, the company moved into a state-of-the-art logistics centre of over 6,000 square metres in Vienna's 23rd district. The export share is over 90 percent and the 50-strong team ensures a smooth process so that customers receive their parcel as quickly as possible! "We now ship to 160 countries worldwide. An international shipping service provider was inevitable here," Milan explains to us during our tour of the modern PhiLogistic Centre.

On the most important aspects of the cooperation with DHL Express, Milan explains: "DHL Express has helped us to offer our customers amazing delivery times worldwide, even to the remotest regions. It was important to us from the beginning that we ship express because our customers depend on the products. DHL Express has helped and supported us enormously, especially with the complex customs process and issues such as dangerous goods."The Importance of Strategic Partnerships.