RHIEM Group builds e-commerce solutions for yooyama
Yooyama is a new online retail and shopping platform. Bloggers advise consumers on how to design more beautiful homes and lifestyles. RHIEM developed the technology for the start-up and supports the founders in e-commerce and fulfillment.
Stories and recommendations: the better way to sell online: yooyama backs this new retail concept. The start-up, which is headquartered in Dusseldorf, connects bloggers, who devote themselves to the beautiful things in life, online retailers, which supply furniture, homewares or art, and consumers, who are interested in architecture, art and the good things in life. The Voerde-based RHIEM Group provided the technology for the blog and sales platform. In addition, the e-commerce provider supports the start-up in customer support, shipping and fulfillment.
“Bloggers introduce lifestyle concepts, furnishings and design suggestions on yooyama, then we link these recommendations to matching Web offers and the yooyama shop,” explain founders Johanna Spielberg and Volker Jöcks. “With RHIEM we have a reliable partner to support us with their wide experience and to whom we can delegate the important functionalities of the shop. This means we can devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the development of our platform and our offering.”
Inspiration and ideas instead of pressure on prices
As providers of comprehensive e-commerce services, RHIEM developed the platform for yooyama with the shop software platform Shopware, which also offers blog functions. New blog contributions can be instantly linked to product descriptions in the shop system or to offers from other shops, which can then be ordered. “Yooyama gave us the design elements for the shop. Our job was to implement them,” reported Stefan Rhiem, CEO of the Voerde company. “Yooyama has gone for a very intelligent retail concept, whereby sales are promoted by personal recommendations made online.” Studies have shown that around one in four online shoppers discovers new products in social media like blogs and communities*. Women, in particular, gravitate toward customer and user reviews. Moreover, when other goods like clothing, furniture or decorations are rated, the order frequency increases significantly**.
Whereas classic online shops go in for expensive advertising and low prices to keep up with the growing competition, yooyama’s Dusseldorf founders place their trust in the ideas, recommendations and stories of bloggers, who are known to be aficionados of good taste. Yooyama founders Spielberg and Jöcks: “Yooyama is intended to inspire consumers, to introduce them to special, beautiful objects and individual items that allow them to express themselves as individuals – when furnishing their homes, entertaining friends or in other lifestyle areas.” This is why you will find furniture as well as homewares in the yooyama shop. The platform also showcases collectors’ pieces and artworks from selected retailers. New products are mixed in with antiques, while value-for-money items intermingle with expensive goods. The selection is made by the Lola control unit, which classifies all of the products into “Loft” and “Country House” styles. “Loft” pieces are cool, urban and contemporary, while “Country House” items are nostalgic, classic and back-to-nature.
Delegate and stay on-task
While the founder duo scour the globe for interesting offers and more blogging and retail partners, RHIEM makes sure the online shop and order processing systems run seamlessly. Yooyama warehouses the goods with RHIEM in Voerde, and customers find experienced contacts to answer their queries on products and orders, online or by phone. In addition, the company ships goods, and organizes returns, billing and accounting. “We receive a bill at the end and, most importantly, a detailed report containing logistics, fulfillment and sales figures. This allows us to constantly adjust our product offering to reality and develop our services further, as required,” say Spielberg and Jöcks.
* „Compendium of Interactive Trade 2012/2013, Eds. BEVH, Berlin
** „Quality seal in German online shops,” Elaboratum Consultation Whitepaper, Munich 2014: According to the whitepaper, 56 per cent of online shoppers consider customer reviews to be trustworthy, and helpful when making purchase decisions.
Further information:
RHIEM Services GmbH
Souvanna Chen
Gildeweg 10 • 46562 Voerde
Phone: +49 (0) 2855 9700-881
E-Mail: souvanna.chen@rhiem.com
Web: www.rhiem.com
yooyama GmbH
Volker Jöcks
Südstraße 8 • 40213 Düsseldorf
Phone: +49 (0) 221 4379970
E-Mail: post@yooyama.de
Web: www.yooyama.de
yooyama GmbH
The start-up was founded in March 2014 by Johanna Spielberg and Volker Jöcks in Dusseldorf. Yooyama collaborates with bloggers, retailers and manufacturers, and showcases furniture, decorations and other products connected with homewares, lifestyle and art.
For further information go to: www.yooyama.de
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