For over 12 years, Krannich Solar has been represented on the Iberian peninsula by a subsidiary in Valencia, where the company is the number one photovoltaic wholesaler. Recently the German based company opened its webportal in Spain. “Customers from Portugal, Tunisia and Morocco will also have access to the shop in addition to the Spanish installers”, Anita Hartmeyer, Head of Marketing says. The new shop is in Spanish language, but requests can be also answered in Portugese, French or Arabic.
Cooperation with around 1,000 installers in the region
“We see a great potential in this region. After Germany, France and Switzerland Spain is our fourth most important market in Europe”, Hartmeyer underlines. From its subsidiary in Valencia Krannich supplies around 1,000 installers in Spain, Portugal and the Maghreb. The range of products is adapted to the local markets, with country specific certificates as for inverters or batteries. Prices of modules, inverters and batteries are similar to Germany, she says. “Storage backed off-grid or PV microgrid systems are increasingly interesting in Spain", Hartmeyer says, also due to the punitive tariffs for grid-connected self-consumption on the Iberian peninsula.
Different webportals for 12 countries
In total Krannich offers the use of its webportal to customers in 12 countries. The introduction to other countries is currently being planned including the U.S. and Australia, Hartmeyer says. The company launched its webportal seven years ago, making it a pioneer of online shopping in the PV industry. Since then, Krannich customers have made use of this tool on a frequent basis, as the online shop provides information and service around the clock. “Target for our foreign online shops is a sales share of around 30 percent, as we achieved in Germany”, Hartmeyer says.
Constantly updated individual prices
Now customers from the Spanish subsidiary can also benefit from the advantages of online shopping. They have access to the company’s entire range of products at any time, complete with individual prices, current availability and detailed technical information, via the webportal. For each item, the display shows the quantity of items available within the next eight weeks and an exact delivery date is calculated for the quantity required. In addition, customers can take advantage of advanced delivery options, such as delivery splitting, express delivery and fixed delivery dates. The prices in the online shop are constantly updated and are displayed including each customer’s personal discount. In addition, online customers regularly benefit from exclusive Krannich Solar promotions and special offers.
Online configurator for storage systems
The online shop also provides detailed information on the entire Krannich Solar product range. Technical product details, datasheets, installation instructions or certificates can be downloaded. “A new tool is an online configurator for storage systems”, Hartmeyer says. The intelligent search function enables customers to look through Krannich Solar’s entire product range and quickly find what they are looking for. Matching accessories or related products are suggested for many products.
Around 500 customer specific newsletters
Next steps include a more intensive use of social media as Twitter or Whatsapp for sales offers to installers and more webinars in countries like Spain, Hartmeyer reports. “We are also discussing to provide our installers chat advice, but this would afford significant effort”, she says. For all countries newsletters are essential though she adds. In total Krannich provides around 500 customer specific newsletters yearly. (HCN)
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