Retail

Instru Optiikka highlighted flexibility and efficiency in integrating solutions via APIs

After more than two years of active operations run with Frends, Instru Optiikka emphasizes the flexibility of Frends and how resource effective it has been to develop new services and integrate solutions via APIs and plug-and-play functionalities.

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3 minute read

Business Goals

Instru Optiikka Oy is the forerunner in the optical sector in Finland and Estonia. The company has a more than 130-year history and is known in Finland under the Instrumentarium, Nissen, and Keops store brands and in Estonia under the Instrumentarium brand. Instru Optiikka operates an extensive network of stores and e-shops. Providing excellent customer experience through every step in the customer journey is a core element in Instru Optiikka’s retail and e-commerce strategy.

"With reliable and robust data synchronization solutions, we can be sure that all relevant information is updated in all systems to give a unified view of all operations."

Jani Tornikoski, CIO at Instru Optiikka

Integration Challenges

Retailers and e-commerce businesses typically use a variety of systems and applications to manage their operations, and Instru Optiikka is no exception. In order to operate in a hybrid multisystem environment, Instru Optiikka needed a solution to keep data consistent across all systems and apps. The company started using Frends iPaaS (Integration Platforms as a Service) in 2021 as a DIY Customer. Instru Optiikka appreciated how easy and fast it was to adopt the Frends platform and make it part of their Business Operations. When searching and selecting an integration solution, it was important for Instru Optiikka that the integration solution in question could enable Data Synchronization processes, and they found it in Frends iPaaS.

“In the highly competitive retail industry, it is essential to ensure that data is consistent and accurate across different applications. With reliable and robust data synchronization solutions, we can be sure that all relevant information is updated in all systems to give a unified view of all operations. Integration solutions have to be also flexible and scalable to meet customer needs in the rapidly changing omnichannel and hybrid enterprise environment,” shares Jani Tornikoski, CIO at Instru Optiikka

Results

Instru Optiikka uses Frends iPaaS to integrate its online and offline sales channels, which involve various systems, providing a seamless customer experience across the whole store network. With the help of Frends, the company has gained greater visibility into its operations and can track stock management data and performance metrics in real-time. Frends is also involved in accounting processes, as Instru Optiikka sends invoice data through Frends to a 3rd party processing. In practice, Instru Optiikka successfully integrated their Point of Sale (POS) Systems, E-commerce Platform, Inventory Management System, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System, and Business Intelligence (BI) System.

Scaling Customer Communication

Omnichannel customer communication, including SMS, is essential for retail businesses to enhance customer care and engagement. SMS communication is also a cost-effective solution to stay in touch with customers, providing personalized offers and timely updates. Effective Omnichannel communication strategies are crucial for delivering exceptional customer experiences and driving sales.

Instru Optiikka uses Frends to support its Omnichannel Strategy implementation. The company utilizes and seamlessly integrates CPaaS SMS gateway service (Communication Platform as a Service) into its bigger business process logic via Frends. Frends has enabled fast implementation of the SMS gateway solution and provided better management and monitoring over the integration.

After more than 2 years of active operations run with Frends processes, Instru Optiikka’s experience emphasizes the flexibility of the Frends platform and how cost and time effective it makes to develop new services and integrate new solutions via APIs and plug-and-play functionalities.