"We don't hear anything from our customers about purchase on invoice, and that's a good sign."

Future-X is one of the leading online retailers for IT supplies on the German market. From its home in the Ruhr region, the company has been supplying businesses throughout Germany and Austria with software and hardware since 1998.

Then in the summer of 2019, the big restructuring: TAROX AG took over Future-X - a store with high monthly revenues, many business-to-business (B2B) customers, and accordingly complex payment channels. From one day to the next, an efficient and well-functioning payments by invoice had to be integrated into the store.

Billie: Future-X became part of TAROX AG about a year ago. You had to take over a running online store with high monthly sales from one day to the next and ensure that the payment process continued to run smoothly. What was the biggest challenge at that time?

Hubrach: Exactly right. The previous operator had its own solution for purchase on invoice. That was an internal processing which was secured by a credit insurer. But when we took over the store, we immediately wanted a factoring solution. To do this, we had to reorganize the complex purchasing processes within a very short time.

The previous purchasing process was very complex. The orders came in via the front end of the online store by EDI (electronic data interchange) or as a manual order by phone, e-mail or fax. This was a very complex order entry process and all of these processes had to be converted to Billie.

That was actually the complexity of the business purchase and the biggest challenge.

Billie: How did you come across Billie in your search for a solution?

Hubrach: That was quite funny. We were just looking for a factoring partner when a co-worker brought Billie to my attention. He had read about Billie in an online publication and told me that the company specialized in factoring solutions for online stores - exactly what we were looking for.

Unfortunately, I don't remember which publication it was, but it was a blog about start-ups. We then got in touch quite quickly and started the selection process.

Billie: So what was the deciding factor in choosing Billie?

Hubrach: From the very first moment, we were impressed by Billie's flexibility. For example, the contract terms were very straightforward. We were able to work through all the issues quickly and build mutual trust.

Billie simply followed a coherent concept. Based on the discussions we had, we trusted Billie's system expertise. That was very important to us. We knew from various projects how elementary the technical connection of payment service providers is. 

And last but not least, the conditions were right and the Billie team was likeable. With this mix, we were sure early on that we were making the right choice.

Billie: How did the integration into your online store work then? How did you perceive this process?

Hubrach: The integration went very well. The teams on both sides worked very quickly. They implemented the technical integration together in a pragmatic way. We were under a lot of time pressure and had a limited budget - the integration was handled extremely quickly and professionally.

Both teams worked very well together, there were no conflicts or problems. Everything went extremely professionally and exactly as we had imagined.

Billie: So now Billie is a fixed part of your online store. What developments have you been able to observe since implementing it in your online store? 

Hubrach: After we took over the online store, we changed various processes. That's why it's difficult to give clear figures on the development of revenues through Billie. The success of a single component cannot be viewed isolated.

"However, we were quickly able to see a reduction in the workload of our employees as a result of outsourcing the invoice purchase process. Many things are now in Billie's hands, and the workload from sales to accounting is significantly less than it was before."

We see Billie as a reliable partner. The individual personal support from our key account manager is very important and it was really good from the first second. Difficulties that arise are solved quickly and without complications and overall it is a professional and cooperative partnership.

We don't hear anything at all from our customers on the subject of purchase on account, and that's a good sign. We haven't had any customer complaints yet, so it must be going well, after all, 40 % of our customers use Billie's payment by invoice.

After we recently switched from direct integration to the Billie widget, we saw a 24% increase in the acceptance rate - it's now around 90%. So the plug-in has really paid off.

Collaboration at the operational level also works very well. We find the cooperation very pleasant because it simply works. Even during the pandemic period, Billie's services were not restricted and continued to run without errors. That was of paramount importance to us. Of course - in such uncertain times as in the first phase of the lockdown, you do wonder which performance will be restricted in what way. Billie was able to perform continuously. 

Does Billie sound like the right partner for you?

Has the story of Future-X piqued your interest? Do you have a B2B online store yourself and are looking for a suitable payment solution for your customers? Take a look at Billie's website or get in touch at info@billie.io or get advice on your options directly: