An IBM iX engagement to replace Heineken’s fragmented per-country
ordering, one market still took orders by fax, with a single platform
and country-specific layers. Two surfaces rebuilt here: the order
templates that let a venue reorder in seconds, and the documents
archive. The team was awarded the IBM Benelux Excellence Award.
Engagement
IBM iX (ecx.io) × Heineken
Role
Product & experience, on a SAP Hybris core
Markets
UK first, then FR, CH, more
Recognition
IBM Benelux Excellence Award
Overview
A single core, country layers on top.
The mandate was region-wide: pull the operating companies’
separate ordering systems onto a single SAP Hybris core, with
country-specific layers absorbing each market’s legal and
commercial rules, from France’s competitor-listing requirement
to the UK’s VAT and legal frame. PAN-EU in scope, sequenced UK first.
My focus was the design: the shared shop template, and the two
surfaces that did the day-to-day heavy lifting for a venue manager,
order templates and documents.
Both are rebuilt below, clean, not the dated originals.
The problem
Three constraints pulling against one template.
One shared template had to hold against three forces, each pulling a different way.
Fragmentation
Every market, its own way. One operating company still received orders by fax. Others ran homegrown systems. There was no shared spine to build on.
Regulation
Local rules, in the layer. France required competitor products shown alongside Heineken’s own. The UK carried its own VAT and legal frame. The architecture had to absorb both without forking the core.
Deadline
A license, expiring. A hard release window set by an unrelated license on Heineken’s side. Running over carried real commercial cost, not a slipped milestone.
The challenge
From fragmented to one core.
The design had to stay conceptually whole while three operating
companies pushed market-specific preferences at it. One shared
template, country layers for the local rules, sequenced so it could
actually launch.
Before
Country AStorefront, fax, manual entry
Country BHomegrown system
Country CHomegrown system
Country DHomegrown system
Four markets, four systems
→
After
UKFRCH…
Country layers
SAP Hybris coreShared functional spineCatalog, cart, checkout, account
Live (UK)Planned
Single core, country-specific layers
Before: each operating company on its own ordering channel. After: a single SAP Hybris core with country layers, sequenced for phased rollout.
My contribution
Pitch to delivery.
Pitch & prototype
A working prototype, built from a colleague’s earlier discovery, pitched and won the engagement for IBM iX.
PAN-EU template design
The shared shop template and its core surfaces, designed to hold one concept while each market’s rules lived in a layer on top.
Held the concept across markets
In the fortnightly product-experience workshops across Amsterdam, Paris and London, I held the UX line: resolving each operating company’s market-specific needs into the one shared template and keeping the core conceptually whole, while the business and POs aligned the UK, French and Dutch companies onto it.
The scope call
When the license window made the elegant approaches infeasible, I cut to the smaller, cleaner version that met the constraint and deferred the rest to phase two. The UK went live on schedule.
Set up the design stream
Interviewed and onboarded the designers who staffed the design work within the programme.
The design system
Set the parts before the screens.
One palette, one type scale, one set of components shared across
every market layer. Heineken’s brand red for emphasis, a
functional green for every action, a neutral grey for everything
else. The screens below are built only from these parts.
Foundations
Colour, by role
Offer / error #E20A17
Action #009A44
Action, deep #017F39
Action, soft #EAF6EF
Template #E6A60F
Template, soft #FBEFCB
Ink #2B2E33
Muted #7A818A
Line #DDE0E4
Paper #F6F7F8
Spacing & radius
4812162432
610pill
Typography, Inter
Your Product ListsTitle · 24/700
Heineken UK FavoritesHeading · 20/600
GuinnessItem · 16/600
24 x 330 ml, SKU 09101Body · 14/400
13.68 / unitPrice · 14/700
last modified 2017-09-17Meta · 12/400
Document dateLabel · mono 12
Components
ButtonsViewOPEN ›
Quantity stepper−336+
Status chipsON OFFERMixed CaseTemplate
InputsKeywords, item #Focused field
Date field, statesFrom, pick a date01-10-2017To before FromEnd date must be after the start date.
Filter optionMixed case (9)Single (33)
SelectionNoneRowAll
Shop line itemHeineken24 x 330 ml, SKU 09140, 9.40 / unitMixed CaseAdd to basket
Fixed views of the rebuild, each calling out a single design call.
The working prototype is at the end.
Order templates, from a workshop
We landed on saved templates in a workshop, to cut repeat-order time: a venue reorders from a list instead of rebuilding from scratch.
shop.heineken.co.uk
Guinness
24 x 330 ml, SKU 09101, 13.68 / unit
Add to TemplateMixed Case
ON OFFER−336+
Theakston
24 x 330 ml, SKU 10721, 17.97 / unit
−0+
Quantity per line, by stepper or by typing.
Price, per unit
The per-unit price on every line.
Forster
24 x 330 ml, 20.29 / unit
Price shown per unit.
Mixed Case, marked on the line
Shown on the product row itself.
Kronenbourg
24 x 330 ml, 14.27 / unit
Mixed Case
Product type, labelled on the line.
Documents, by date
Invoices by type and a custom From/To date range.
shop.heineken.co.uk/account/documents
All documentsFrom 01-10-2017To 07-11-2017
Document date
Reference
Type
07-11-2017
2932322277
Invoice
OPEN ›
01-11-2017
2975203479
Delivery note
OPEN ›
31-10-2017
2932322277
Credit note
OPEN ›
Filter by a From and To date.
The flow
A venue logs in, opens its order templates, picks the saved list it needs, drops or adds a line, and sends, the recurring order placed in seconds instead of rebuilt from scratch.
24 x 330 ml, SKU 09101, 13.68 / unitPrice per unit, always shownA venue compares like-for-like at a glance. Pack pricing never hides the real per-bottle cost.
Add to TemplateMixed CaseMixed Case, flagged earlySplit pallets are obvious before checkout, not a surprise on the delivery note.
ON OFFER−336+Tuned for cases, not unitsQuantities move in the volumes a venue orders. Bulk is the default, so 336 is a tap, not a typed number.
Theakston
24 x 330 ml, SKU 10721, 17.97 / unit
Mixed Case
−0+
Forster
24 x 330 ml, SKU 16264, 20.29 / unit
Mixed Case
−0+
Kronenbourg
24 x 330 ml, SKU 19038, 14.27 / unit
Mixed Case
−0+
John Smith’s
24 x 330 ml, SKU 12451, 108.27 / unit
Mixed Case
−0+
Edit
A saved list opens the order desk.
Impact
What it added up to.
Recognition
IBM Benelux Excellence Award
The largest Hybris-based PAN-EU B2B shop within IBM iX at the time, recognised in Amsterdam.
Delivery
UK launched on time
Live with the agreed scope, under a license-driven deadline that left no room to slip.
Team
Built the design stream
Interviewed and onboarded the designers who staffed the design work within the programme.
Reflection
What the deadline taught.
Phased rollout is a feature, not a compromise. A regional platform doesn’t ship to every market at once. UK first, the rest sequenced behind, was the discipline that let it actually launch.
Hard deadlines clarify scope better than discovery does. The license expiration forced choices the team had deferred for months. Not all were what we’d have chosen under no pressure. They were the right choices for shipping.