Case Unidigital

Unidigital has taken on the task of developing an e-commerce platform for its parent company, Unica, a pharmacy chain based in Italy. Bold Commerce was approached to provide the architecture and development proposal for this new platform. It is being built on Adobe Commerce with a cloud infrastructure and a headless frontend (PWA). The platform will not only support direct sales but also enhance Unica’s online presence. In the future, it will also serve as a service portal for scheduling treatments and appointments with specialists across various pharmacies.

The goal is to become one of the top 10 players in Italy within a few years.

Challenges

This project presents a unique opportunity to build a type of webshop that doesn’t yet exist in Italy. It’s also our first time working with a client whose headquarters are outside the Netherlands or its neighboring countries. Naturally, this introduces challenges such as language and cultural differences, as well as working with external Italian service providers, including a payment service provider (PSP) and middleware (WMS/ERP) integration. But as always, there’s a first time for everything—and nothing is impossible!

Integrations

Several new integrations have been built for the Unica project. First, we connected the platform with an Italian payment provider, all within a Progressive Web Application (PWA) environment.

For the frontend, we used Storyblok, providing a flexible content management solution that allows Unidigital to quickly and easily add or modify content.

We also integrated with a Warehouse Management System (WMS) for product data and order processing. All orders are automatically forwarded to the WMS, and real-time stock levels are updated on the webshop, ensuring customers always see accurate product availability and preventing stock issues.

Custom features:

Price and Customer Groups

The Price Calculator is a custom-built tool that allows Unica to calculate accurate sales prices based on various attributes. Unlike standard promotion modules, the Price Calculator is not focused on applying discounts, but rather on calculating the exact price the customer sees and pays.

Additionally, Unica customers are divided into different groups, with specific shipping and payment methods tailored to each group. This creates a personalized experience for every customer segment. We’ve also implemented a feature that allows Unica to easily assign email addresses to these groups. As soon as a customer creates an account, their email is recognized, and they are automatically assigned to a specific group, giving them access to group-specific discounts.

Micro Pim

Instead of a full Product Information Management (PIM) system, we created a micro version within Magento. It checks products during import to ensure all required fields are filled. If any mandatory fields are missing, they’re flagged in a “missing fields” column in the product grid, and the product isn’t activated until the fields are completed.

We also included an option to lock specific fields that are filled during import so they won’t be overwritten by future imports.

Compliance

We made modifications in Magento to ensure the XML files meet the specific structure required by a government agency in Italy. This is important due to regulations that require order data from the previous day to be submitted every night. The XML files must follow strict guidelines to be processed correctly.

Electronic Invoicing

On the frontend, we made changes to the checkout process, allowing customers to choose from three different invoicing options that comply with Italy’s various VAT rules. These options are also reflected in the XML formats.