Seamless customer experiences through modern technology

Veho is a Finnish family-owned company with over 80 years of history, importing and selling passenger cars and commercial vehicles, as well as providing maintenance services. In recent years, Veho’s business has become more international, expanding through acquisitions not only to Sweden but also to the Baltic countries.

Internationalization has brought stricter requirements to Veho’s digital channels. The backend systems must work seamlessly, and the data needs to be consistent in order to align operations across different countries. The goal was to build a solid foundation for future technological solutions and automation that would enable a seamless and personalized customer experience.

“During the service concept phase, it became clear that the digital customer experience on the website was fragmented, and there was a need to refresh the content as well. The website was not competitive within the industry. The content and CTA buttons were not effectively guiding the customer along the purchasing journey,” explains Taina Kivistö-Valta, Veho’s Digital Manager.

Veho’s Solution Manager, Jani Lahti, adds that comparability across different markets and centralized management were also key factors.

“A key aspect was the desire to bring all markets to the same starting line, so that they could be developed and managed centrally. Whether it was renewing SSL certificates or creating a new feature, the aim was to manage all of this in a centralized way. With the redesign, we would also bring all countries in line in terms of analytics, allowing us to compare them and see in one place how the business is performing.”

Hion’s positive team spirit won us over in the partner selection

“Choosing the right partner was one of the most challenging phases of the entire project. There are plenty of experienced WordPress agencies in Finland, and the level of technical expertise is high. Out of about a dozen potential partners, we interviewed four. Our first impression of the Hion team was that they had great team spirit and a genuine desire to create the best possible website for Veho,” Taina explains.

According to Jani, the technical capabilities of all partner candidates were sufficient, but the difference came down to the positive approach to the work.

“The differences emerged in how the task was approached. At the end of the day, we’re people, and we want to work with people. We already knew we wouldn’t be an easy partner, with so much technical debt and a seemingly endless list of requests. We needed a team that could stay calm and collected no matter the situation.”

What Jani personally appreciated was that, even though finding a “talking coder” is rare, Hion seemed to have them in abundance, and the good-natured banter flowed freely between the teams.

“Even when dealing with serious matters, work doesn’t have to be too serious. It’s much nicer to get things done with laughter than with tears.”

The positive relationship with Crasman, another partner involved in the project, was essential to the project’s success. Jan explained, “Right from the first meeting, it was clear that Hion’s team was able to work well with this important partner.”

Modern technology stack and agile movements

When the partner was chosen and the contracts were signed, we rolled up our sleeves.

“Work got off to a great start quickly, and the platforms were up and running. The first demo environment was in place within a few days. It was important to show the management that the new technologies enable fast progress,” Jani recalls.

Mikko Riihikallio, Project Manager at Hion, highlights smooth collaboration and flexibility as one of the key highlights of the project.

Jani wanted to test the approach of creating a hybrid service.

“When the team embraced the proposal positively, we were able to agree on the practices smoothly together. This wouldn’t have been possible otherwise if we hadn’t had this kind of mindset.”

The technical side is now built in such a way that the editorial content is hosted on WordPress, while the functional components are developed using React.

A major change was also the shift from data centers to Google Cloud. According to Jani, the transition brought significant business benefits to Veho.

“Cloud services like Google Cloud enable all sorts of tricks that aren’t even possible in traditional environments, or would be extremely labor-intensive. In the cloud, firewalls are provided directly, and unlimited resources come from Google. We wanted a platform that could adapt to our needs and wouldn’t lock us in. Now we’ve used a mix of technologies, which has worked surprisingly smoothly, and the end result works great.”

The new solution has brought more control and freedom

By separating the presentation layer and backend systems into their own components, Veho can now offer a better customer experience. Jani highlights how well the different sections work together – the consumer doesn’t notice the difference between the various technologies.

“Development responsibility has also been shared; one partner develops its own product transparently alongside the overall website, which serves as a very good model for us. Our industry is one where there are many service providers who are highly specialized. They excel at delivering services but aren’t always the best when it comes to visual aspects. It’s great that we can take control of the presentation layer while the technical service develops at its own pace in the background. The result is a seamless experience.”

The platform’s flexibility has allowed things that previously seemed like “quite a jump.” One example is the website forms, which content creators can now easily manage themselves, with the integration to customer relationship management already in place.

According to Taina, this has only been a positive development.

Over the summer, Veho also conducted a survey, which was answered by over 500 website users. Open feedback highlighted the clarity of the site, with the design being seen as more modern and visually appealing.

“We made the right choice in selecting WordPress. Hion implemented it for us in a way that allows us to create informative, clear, and visually striking websites to support our customers’ digital purchase journey. Additionally, WordPress is an easy-to-use and logical platform,” summarizes Taina.

Taina explains that after the launch, Veho tracked how the new website performed in terms of KPIs. “We noticed that the time spent on the site immediately increased. Additionally, newsletter subscriptions saw significant growth, as subscribing is easier and the option is more accessible.”

The Result: Enabling the Future

The future for Veho’s digital channels looks bright.

“The goal was to enable things, so we have high expectations for the future. We’ve now revamped the core web service, but there’s a lot brewing in the background that will certainly come to light at some point. When that happens, the renewed site will bring significant value, especially in showcasing the backend services we’ve already tested,” Jani rejoices

The technical solution behind Veho.fi allows the Veho team to have full control over the visual design and user experience, even if the underlying technologies vary. “We don’t have to rely on a single service provider’s product; instead, we can implement it on our own terms.”

With this renewal, Veho aimed to achieve synergy benefits, ensuring that all development efforts can be replicated efficiently. “The possibilities here are vast. Next, we’ll work on the web services for the Baltic countries, and we expect that to be a straightforward project from a technical perspective. And as we develop new features, they’ll be available across all markets without any unnecessary complications,” Jani summarizes.

Integrations:

• The Crasman Stage integration ensures the website features up-to-date information on vehicles for sale, automatically retrieved from a service developed and maintained by Crasman. This integration also brings details about passenger car models, which are further enriched in WordPress to provide more comprehensive content.
• Through the ePressi service, the website automatically imports the latest press releases and news updates.
• The staff integration automatically delivers up-to-date personnel information directly from Veho’s internal HR system to the website.