Companies are gradually returning to their original business plans before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, as evidenced by the experience of the technology company BOOTIQ.

“Roughly half of our current clients are striving to catch up on product and technological development even during vacations, aiming to meet the business goals planned before the pandemic outbreak. I see this as a positive impulse because even the largest companies are not succumbing to panic and want to return to their growth,”

comments  Marcel Červený, CEO, BOOTIQ

A new trend in custom development studies is a significantly increased demand from manufacturing, engineering, industrial and other typically B2B companies, which are beginning to realise the need for digitalisation. BOOTIQ assists in developing over 100 companies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, supported by more than 350 IT professionals.

From the perspective of projects in which BOOTIQ has been involved, the coronavirus pandemic impacted two areas: retail, where there was a 10% decrease in clients. Up to 40% of orders were cancelled in the automotive sector, and companies halted recruitment for new projects. However, most of these clients resumed cooperation, so the loss compared to pre-quarantine levels was only in single digits.

“A smaller portion of clients, as a precaution, halted projects that were not essential to them or even utilised the available development capacities in the market to establish their departments. In recent months, from BOOTIQ’s perspective, demand for IT services has been up to twice as high as in the last two years. This is mainly due to the continuously growing investments in digitalisation, sales support, education, and home office.”

describes Marcel Červený.

BOOTIQ began to observe an increasing demand from B2B companies to digitalise some of their processes on a larger scale last year. This was primarily from companies operating B2B commercial networks, portals, or logistics. The demand growth in the B2B segment more than doubled after the quarantine measures were imposed. BOOTIQ acknowledges that these are companies that they would not have considered as their clients before – those seeking services from development agencies and IT consultants.

What are B2B companies most commonly addressing and seeking today?

In addition to websites, which many industrial and other B2B businesses have not kept up to date with the latest trends, remote communication tools and project or supply chain management are also implemented.

“The motivation of these companies is primarily driven by the need to compete in the world they have experienced in recent months. It simply turned out that they lacked a lot of processes or systems. Conversely, the quarantine showed that part of the work can be done online, especially in business. B2B companies are now catching up with what has worked in e-commerce, startups, technology companies, and multinational corporations for years.”

adds Červený.

How have some BOOTIQ clients innovated in B2B in recent months and weeks?

The Slovak company Curaden, the exclusive distributor of the Curaprox brand in Slovakia, is a pioneer in B2B e-commerce. Due to increasing demand, they needed a transparent portal for dental clinics, dental hygienists, technicians, and students. The BOOTIQ team was tasked with devising a solution to streamline the ordering process for B2B partners to the maximum. Subsequently, they integrated it with existing enterprise systems and simplified business operations. When ordering products, the result is time savings for salespeople, warehouse staff, and business partners.

As a result of the long-term collaboration between BOOTIQ and the leader in logistics, DPD SK, applications such as “My Courier” and, more recently, the Warehouse Management System (WMS) have been developed. The WMS has helped simplify internal warehouse logistics for the distribution of internal office and warehouse supplies, from work tools to work uniforms and IT materials. The system is fully integrated into the existing intranet, allowing for easy request input, lifecycle tracking, and delivery to one of DPD SK’s hundreds of branches. Additionally, it includes inventory reports, status notifications, external order processing, and supplier restocking.

The “My Courier” application, which has been in operation since the beginning of this year, simplifies the work of couriers and non-corporate senders. It provides a simple and professional tool that connects the customer with the carrier and dramatically facilitates communication. Furthermore, it simplifies the invoicing process and ensures document accuracy by recording data for each shipment.

Marcel Červený, CEO, BOOTIQ