Vinamilk, the “national brand” in the Vietnamese dairy industry, marked a new milestone in 2023 by implementing a repositioning strategy. This move aimed to strengthen their leading position in the domestic market and pave the way for further global success.

The initiation of this strategy involved Vinamilk unveiling a new brand identity, combining vibrant green and sweet cream tones, reflecting a youthful and dynamic image aligned with current design trends in the global food industry. 

“The change in brand identity is a minor but integral component within the broader chain of crucial elements in Vinamilk’s repositioning and development strategy for the next five years”, said Mai Kieu Lien, Vinamilk’s CEO. 

One of the vital components yet to be addressed involves upgrading and fully redesigning the corporate and eCommerce websites to align with Vinamilk’s new brand identity and ambitious objectives. This is the reason why SECOMM and Vinamilk established a partnership to jointly undertake our first groundbreaking project. In this project, SECOMM takes on the roles of a consultant and solution provider, working to develop Vinamilk’s website system in response to the client’s specific challenges.

Given problem

Merge the corporate website with the eCommerce website, aiming for the D2C shopping experience

To boost the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) sales strategy, Vinamilk has opted to reorganize their approach to online customer engagement. Formerly, the company maintained two distinct websites: vinamilk.com.vn, which utilized the WordPress CMS platform to provide business information, financial reports, and press releases; and giacmosuaviet.com.vn, an eCommerce website developed on the Haravan platform for selling dairy product online. 

However, in the context of brand repositioning, Vinamilk has strategically decided to merge both websites into a singular address: vinamilk.com.vn. This consolidation not only simplifies the process for consumers to access information and make purchases but also signifies a significant stride in implementing the D2C strategy, enhancing Vinamilk’s direct connections with their consumers.

A critical task assigned to SECOMM is to propose robust technological solutions ensuring the seamless integration process and integrity of data, ranging from corporate information and shareholder details to product catalog and customer data.

Moreover, the goal is to ensure that the new website provides a consistent, modern, and secure user experience while effectively conveying the brand values through products and content that resonate with Vinamilk’s customers.

Solution & Technology

Re-design the system architecture

Addressing the task of merging two corporate and eCommerce websites under the domain vinamilk.com.vn, SECOMM suggests a comprehensive redesign of the entire system architecture. Particularly, platform and data are crucial things, as they directly impact the success or failure of the entire project.

Platform migration

To achieve seamless consolidation, Vinamilk needs a more powerful eCommerce platform than Haravan, with greater scalability and customization. Plus, a robust CMS system is required, offering a certain level of flexibility and allowing the SECOMM team to develop new website functionalities and features without constraints present in the previous WordPress CMS system. There must be compatibility between the eCommerce platform and the new CMS system. 

After thorough consideration and discussions, both SECOMM and Vinamilk have unanimously opted for Shopify Plus and a Headless CMS system. This decision is aimed at constructing the new system based on the Headless eCommerce & Headless CMS model, simultaneously addressing two parallel objectives: eCommerce and Enterprise Content Management.

Data migration

A significant challenge for SECOMM in designing the system architecture that combines the Shopify Plus eCommerce platform and Headless CMS lies in the data migration from the old system to the new one. Vinamilk’s existing eCommerce website poses a complex and varied product catalog due to the diverse range of product lines, each with distinct formulas and attributes. Moreover, the business information management system on the WordPress CMS has around 10 subdomains with over 7,000 pages. 

Hence, SECOMM’s task is to outline a strategy for efficient data migration while preserving core content and features aligned with the brand values. Also, irrelevant content that does not align with Vinamilk’s new development direction needs to be removed. 

SECOMM proceeds with detailed data modeling to achieve this goal, identifying source and destination systems, data formats, and data structures. This involves identifying the data to be migrated and the data to be omitted. The meticulous data modeling allows both teams to visualize how the data will transition from the source to the destination system, facilitating the development of the most fitting migration plan.

SECOMM and Vinamilk have agreed on data migration through three methods:

• Auto Migration: Utilizing automated tools to extract data from the source system and convert it to fit the destination system.
• Manual Migration: Manually extracting data from the source system and loading each data segment individually into the destination system.
• Import/Export Uploads: Exporting data from the source system into a CSV file and importing that CSV file into the destination system.

Migrating from Haravan eCommerce platform to Shopify Plus

The data migration from Haravan to Shopify Plus will be carried out using the ‘Import/Export Uploads’ method. The specific migration process is as follows:

• Data Standardization: SECOMM will, in this step, adjust the structure and format of the data from the Haravan system to align it with the data model of Shopify Plus.
• Export Data to CSV File: After standardizing the data, SECOMM will export it to a CSV file, covering various data types such as product categories, product attributes, orders, and customer information.
• Import Data into Shopify Plus and Verification: In this step, SECOMM will import the CSV data file into the Shopify Plus system and conduct a thorough verification to ensure the accuracy of the data importation.

Migrating from WordPress CMS to a new Headless CMS 

When switching from the WordPress CMS system to a Headless CMS for Vinamilk, SECOMM optimized the website structure. By leveraging the meticulous data model, SECOMM employed both auto-migration and manual-migration methods to transfer data to the new system. 

Moreover, we significantly downsized the website, reducing it from over 7,000 original pages to around 2,500. We also consolidated 10 subdomains into a single primary domain.

This not only improved performance, streamlined data, reduced system load, and enhanced the manageability of Vinamilk’s website but also delivered a better user experience.

Implement the coded UI/UX design and develop advanced features

Implement the coded UI/UX design

In the project to merge Vinamilk’s two core websites, SECOMM, despite not being a UI/UX design entity, successfully carried out and impeccably executed the entire programming based on the impressive UI/UX design provided by Vinamilk’s design team. This ensured an optimized user experience while maintaining the youthful, dynamic, and creative spirit that Vinamilk strives for. 

The extensive experience and high professionalism of the SECOMM team guaranteed that every aspect of the design, from the product presentation to the display of business information, was accurately reflected down to the smallest detail. 

In addition, SECOMM ensured the implementation of a flexible design that responds to various screen sizes, from desktop computers to mobile devices. This ensures that there are no limitations in accessing the new Vinamilk website, regardless of the device users are using.

Develop advanced features

Beyond developing the core features for the new Vinamilk website, SECOMM suggested building some additional advanced features to optimize the customer experience. Here are the three ones that deserve mention. 

Store Finder

Vinamilk currently has over 600 retail stores nationwide, so SECOMM has developed this feature to help their customer conveniently locate the nearest stores. The website presents a list of stores categorized by province/city, allowing users to easily choose their geographical region.

Upon selecting a province/city, the list of stores in that area becomes visible, helping them identify if there are stores in their living area. Users can also continue to filter by district and ward to search for specific stores. Store address information is linked to Google Maps, enabling customers to quickly navigate to their desired store.

Advanced Site Search

The search feature on the new Vinamilk website will deliver more optimized search results than the eCommerce website’s previous search function because SECOMM has built this feature based on AI and Machine Learning. This system goes beyond merely searching for products, extending its reach to include collections, blog posts, and various other content types.

A notable advantage of this feature lies in its spell-checking capability. Even if users misspell a product name or any word, the system can still generate the most relevant results through the “Spelling Suggestion” concept. This ensures that users remain on track during their search, effortlessly locating the desired product or information.

Furthermore, this feature employs machine learning to understand and predict user preferences based on their purchase history. As users conduct searches or navigate the Vinamilk website, the system automatically identifies products, articles, or collections that align with their likely interests, This creates a personalized experience and facilitates the discovery of new products and engaging information.

Loyalty Program

The Loyalty Program goes beyond fostering customer loyalty; it also intensifies continuous engagement between Vinamilk and their customers. SECOMM has helped Vinamilk develop the ‘Vinamilk Rewards’ customer loyalty program by seamlessly integrating it with one Shopify app.

A pivotal aspect of Vinamilk Rewards is its point accumulation system, rewarding customers for each order, individual product purchases, specific actions, and even offering birthday points as a special gift. 

Beyond point accumulation, Vinamilk Rewards features a program allowing customers to redeem points for coupons. SECOMM has implemented a Coupon wallet, making it easy for customers to manage and use the coupons they have redeemed.

The development of the Loyalty feature also serves as a bridge to help Vinamilk expand their O2O (Offline to Online) strategy. The unified point system across both online and offline channels empowers Vinamilk to establish deeper connections with customers, thereby boosting sales and strengthening customer relationships across both channels.

Outcome

From traditional to trendsetting – The story of remarkable transformation

The new website truly signifies Vinamilk’s remarkable evolution, transitioning from traditional to modern, separation for integration, and from a simple sales focus to a more customer-centric approach. It showcases the significant efforts invested by both SECOMM and Vinamilk.

SECOMM’s perfect system re-architecture solution is not only a crucial link in bringing Vinamilk closer to their brand repositioning and development goals but also contributes to making Vinamilk an icon of the comprehensive business digital transformation trend. This is achieved by being at the forefront and implementing cutting-edge technologies, such as the Headless Ecommerce & CMS model. 

Furthermore, the strategic choice of implementing eCommerce with Shopify Plus, leveraging the platform’s flexibility, empowers the SECOMM team to tailor and optimize the website according to Vinamilk’s vision.  Building advanced features through integrations or relying on AI and Machine Learning is a prime example of the superior capabilities of Shopify Plus that few SaaS platforms can match. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say, “Vinamilk has truly undergone a remarkable transformation with Shopify Plus.”

The launch of the website has created a strong communication impact, and Vinamilk’s journey serves as an inspiring experience for many businesses to develop sustainably while staying in tune with market trends. 

Both SECOMM and Vinamilk have proven that with the right collaboration and a professional team, any brand can easily leap forward in the development journey.