How FRAISA rebuilt its global e-commerce platform
A modern platform for consistent customer experiences across all markets
products across four product categories
founded
subsidiaries worldwide
“With Intershop, we’ve built a new foundation for our e-commerce architecture and brought our vision of a digital customer platform to life.”
The challenge: A legacy shop system at its limits
FRAISA is a leading manufacturer of precision tools for metal cutting, headquartered in Bellach, Switzerland, with subsidiaries in Germany, France, Italy, Hungary, the United States, and China. The company invested in digital sales early, building its own e-commerce platform to give customers direct online access to its product portfolio. As the business expanded internationally, individual subsidiaries began adapting the platform to local market needs. Each region introduced its own features, data structures, and designs. Over time, this led to a fragmented system landscape that became increasingly difficult to manage centrally.
The consequences:
- Inconsistent customer experience: Different user interfaces, designs, and feature sets across markets
- High maintenance effort: Product and pricing data maintained redundantly, in some cases still managed manually in outdated databases.
- Limited system integration: No end-to-end interfaces connecting the shop with ERP, PIM, and DAM systems
- Technical limitations: An outdated architecture with growing security risks and limited scalability
- Reduced usability: Item lists and text-based filters made it harder to find the right tools.
- Limited transparency: Different data states across markets made centralized control difficult.
Many of Fraisa's customers are manufacturing professionals who need to find the right tools quickly and efficiently, without navigating complex ordering systems. While the existing shop largely met those expectations, the underlying technology and overall user experience were no longer aligned with today’s standards. The goal was to modernize the platform while preserving the familiar simplicity and efficiency their customers rely on.
The solution: A standard platform instead of custom development
A structured selection process for the right e-commerce platform
Given the complexity of the e-commerce platform landscape, FRAISA started the replatforming project with a structured requirements analysis. Working with an external e-commerce consultant, the team reviewed existing systems, business processes, and integration needs to define what the future platform needed to support.
The goal was to implement a modern standard platform that would provide greater stability, scalability, and integration capabilities while remaining intuitive for existing customers. At the same time, the new solution needed to create a foundation for future digital services.
Based on these requirements, FRAISA evaluated several platforms and narrowed the selection to three options: SAP Commerce, OroCommerce, and Intershop.
Because FRAISA already uses SAP’s PIM system, SAP Commerce was examined closely. However, the level of customization required would have added significant complexity. OroCommerce offered a modern architecture and strong flexibility, but its shorter market track record made it a less suitable fit.
FRAISA ultimately selected Intershop, an established European provider with deep B2B expertise and a strong partner ecosystem. The platform met FRAISA’s requirements for stability, extensibility, and system integration while supporting multi-tenancy and international rollouts.
“In the end, we deliberately chose Intershop, an experienced European provider with strong B2B capabilities and a platform that aligns perfectly with our vision.”
Phased implementation together with an experienced partner
FRAISA selected Intershop partner XIM (Experts in Motion) to implement the replatforming project. The decision was based on XIM’s deep Intershop expertise, its collaborative approach, and its experience with complex integration scenarios.
The team worked in an agile setup, enabling rapid progress and continuous feedback. This allowed FRAISA to review results early and make adjustments along the way without losing flexibility.
Preliminary phase: requirements & specifications
The project started with a preliminary phase focused on requirements and specifications. FRAISA and XIM reviewed the existing IT landscape, data flows, and integration points to establish a clear understanding of the current setup.
Based on this analysis, the team defined and prioritized the relevant requirements and documented them in a structured roadmap. Key topics included data quality, the role of middleware, and the requirements of FRAISA’s international markets.
The outcome was a clearly defined target IT architecture and a realistic project plan, providing the foundation for the implementation phase.
Phase 1: MVP implementation
Through agile collaboration, the team developed a minimum viable product (MVP) that covered the key functions needed for market entry. The initial release included:
- An online shop based on Intershop
- A modern UX/UI concept
- Integration with the SAP PIM system and several ERP systems
- Middleware based on Microsoft Azure Integration Services (AIS)
After a soft go-live in Switzerland, the solution proved both stable and easy to use.
“The migration to the new Intershop platform went smoothly and set the stage for the rollouts that followed. It’s exactly how you hope a replatforming project will turn out.”
Phase 2: Enhancements and international rollouts
After the successful go-live in Switzerland, FRAISA moved to the second phase of the project: rolling out the new webshop to additional markets, including Germany, France, Italy, Hungary, and the United States. During this phase, the team introduced additional features, addressed regional requirements, and further automated key processes.
Key focus areas included:
- Platform rollout and localization across five additional countries
- Expansion of country-specific catalog and pricing data
- Introduction of inch-based product data for the U.S. market
- Integration of additional payment and shipping options
- System stabilization and ongoing optimization
Despite the growing scope, the platform remained stable and easy to extend. Intershop’s flexible architecture made it possible to onboard new markets with minimal effort, bringing FRAISA closer to a unified and scalable e-commerce platfom.
“With each rollout, the platform gained new capabilities, and our confidence in it grew as well. Today, we run a single e-commerce platform across all markets.”
The result: A modern platform for consistent customer experiences across all markets
With the new B2B webshop powered by Intershop, FRAISA now operates a modern, scalable e-commerce platform that supports all international markets. Core processes have been standardized, data flows aligned, and the overall system landscape consolidated.
Key improvements include:
- Unified platform for all markets: Consistent user experience and centrally managed commerce processes
- Improved product and data management: A single source of truth through SAP PIM and middleware integration
- More efficient operations: Reduced maintenance effort and faster order processing
- Improved usability: A modern interface, more precise search and filtering functions, and clearly structured catalogs
- High scalability: A flexible architecture that supports future enhancements and digital services
- Stable cloud operations: Secure, high-performance infrastructure that can scale as needed
User experience was a key focus from the start. The new design introduces a clearer structure, intuitive navigation, and image-based filters that make it much easier to find the right tools, without changing the straightforward ordering experience customers were already used to.
Feedback from the markets has been very positive. Customers point to the intuitive interface, strong performance, and reliable product search - even when working with very specific parameters. Internally, the benefits are just as clear: less manual work, better visibility across processes, and a system that is far easier to maintain.
Outlook: The digital customer platform continues to grow
With the successful replatforming, FRAISA has created the technical basis for the next stage of its digital development. The new webshop continues to evolve and is gradually becoming the central digital platform connecting FRAISA’s international markets.
One priority is the digital availability of product information. In the future, customers will be able to access all relevant data directly online, always up to date and available whenever they need it. Over time, printed catalogs will be phased out completely.
Digitalization is now coordinated at a central level within FRAISA. A dedicated “digitalization task force” supports the ongoing development of the platform and ensures that new requirements and market trends are considered early on.
Thanks to Intershop’s scalable architecture and flexible middleware, FRAISA can add new functions, data sources, and markets with minimal effort. Step by step, the webshop is becoming a central digital hub for customers, partners, and internal teams.
“With Intershop, we’ve built a stable, integrated, and scalable platform that works for our customers around the world. It’s a major step toward a fully digital future without paper catalogs.”
About FRAISA
FRAISA develops and produces high-performance tools for metalworking and is one of the leading manufacturers in the machining industry. The company employs around 545 people and operates at seven locations worldwide.
Founded in 1934, FRAISA is known for strong engineering expertise, high product quality, and close collaboration across its teams. Continuous investment in product development and manufacturing technology ensures that customers benefit from reliable innovations and precise, high-quality tools.
Experts in Motion AG
Experts in Motion AG is an agency for e-commerce solutions based in Stuttgart. With comprehensive expertise and a large team of senior experts with a wide range of industry expertise, we accompany our customers through the entire digital transformation process. Our holistic range of services extends from requirement analysis and specification of comprehensive system architectures, to the development of a modern UX design, the programming of backend functionalities as well as the development of interfaces to third-party systems. We plan and manage projects from start to successful completion.
As Intershop's Platinium Partner, we have been implementing complex projects since 1999 with experienced employees who have more than 25 years of e-commerce experience. Our experts have the necessary Intershop certifications as well as extensive project experience, including international Intershop projects. With our comprehensive Intershop expertise, we are able to implement complex project requirements.
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