Why choose VTEX as your eCommerce platform?

We live in a time of constant change in which being updated is key to stay in the market. One of the most important points when digitizing our business is to have a good online presence. Therefore, we have to choose the most appropriate platform for our eCommerce.

It is essential that it is stable, secure and offers a good user experience, in order to achieve successful transactions. Therefore, today we want to talk about VTEX, an online business development platform that we believe meets all these requirements.

1. You don’t have to be on the lookout for updates
When working with VTEX, we work with a SaaS infrastructure. This allows your eCommerce to always have the latest software version. This way we avoid going through long update processes as it happens with other platforms.

2. Allows multi-channeling
When your business has an online presence, it is important that you can access all the channels in which your customer may be present. This can be difficult to centralize in one place, but with VTEX it is possible.
The VTEX instore feature allows you to have all your customer information centralized in one place, linking online and offline with unified communication.

3. For all types of businesses
It is a platform designed for any business model. VTEX is capable of developing eCommerce for B2B, B2C and even marketplaces.

4. Fully customizable
The platform is not as limiting when it comes to designing pages as others, which only allow you to touch the color and text within pre-designed pages. You can create, customize and develop as you wish. In addition, there is the A/B test functionality, with which you can create, for example, 2 pages of the same product and the system itself defines which one achieves a higher conversion rate.

5. Monthly reports of your eCommerce performance
Within the license price, one of the services included is the monthly reporting. Every month, the VTEX team sends you a report on your monthly performance so that you can optimize your processes and achieve more sales.

6. The product catalog

It allows you to have a product catalog fully adapted to your business: with unlimited categories, possibility to formalize SKUs and other value attributes, add enriched content through images, videos, opinions, etc.

7. The simplicity of checkout processes
It has the smart checkout technology, which makes the first purchase of a customer on your website super easy and fast. The entire purchase process takes place on the same page and does not require registration or login with email or password. In addition, from the second purchase, just by entering the email address, all customer information will be automatically filled in.

Do you want to create an eCommerce that meets all your expectations? In ASM Web Services we have been developing online business for 18 years and we have a highly qualified team in this service. Contact us

ASM team is certified as Azure Gold Partner

The digital sector is evolving faster and faster and we want our company to keep pace. One of the best ways for ASM to grow and evolve is through training.

By expanding the knowledge of our team, we manage to improve results and meet all the needs of our customers. Therefore, we are happy to announce that our team has been certified as an Azure Gold Partner.

Azure and ASM Web Services

Last February we already achieved three Azure Solutions Architect Expert certifications, which accredits us as Azure expert solution architects and, therefore, that we have expertise in designing cloud and hybrid solutions running on Microsoft Azure, including aspects such as process, network, storage and security.

Thanks to these 3 certifications, today we can celebrate being Azure Gold Partners. Our company has been working for years with other companies in their transition to the Cloud. This certification is a great recognition of our experience and expertise in this service.

Azure, Microsoft’s cloud platform

Azure is a Microsoft platform that consists of more than 200 products and services in the cloud and pay-per-use, where you can compile, run and manage these applications in a global network of Microsoft data centers.

We would like to thank all the customers who have trusted ASM to improve their processes. And welcome all those to come.

Meet the Digital Kit

In ASM Web Services we have been certified as digitalizing agents to grant the Digital Kit to SMEs and freelancers. But, what is the Digital Kit?

The Digital Kit is a financial aid, up to 12,000 euros, to boost the digitization of those who may find more obstacles in the way of digital transformation: SMEs and freelancers.

This aid is born from the great crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic. The European Union launched the Next Generation European funds, endowed with 750,000 million euros, of which 140,000 were for Spain. This led to the creation of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which includes the Digital Kit for the digitalization and technological promotion of SMEs and the self-employed.

What services can I use it for?

In ASM we offer many digitalization services that your company can benefit from using the Digital Kit:

  • Website and internet presence
  • Customer management
  • Electronic invoicing
  • Cybersecurity
  • E-commerce
  • Business intelligence and analytics
  • Virtual office services and tools
  • Social network management
  • Process management
  • Secure communications

Application deadlines

In March, the program opened for the first segment of beneficiaries: companies with between 10 and 49 workers. As of this July, it is now open for micro-SMEs with between 3 and 10 workers. For the self-employed or small companies with between 1 and 3 workers, the turn will be between September and October (depending on the forecast).

Requirements to benefit from the Digital Kit

In order to benefit from the Digital Kit your company must meet the following conditions:

  1. Be a small company, a micro-company or a self-employed.
  2. Not be considered a company in crisis.
  3. Be up to date with tax and Social Security payments.
  4. Not to incur in any of the prohibitions foreseen in the General Law of Subsidies.
  5. To be registered in the Census of businessmen, professionals and resellers of the State Agency of Tributary Administration or in the equivalent census of the Foral Tax Administration.
  6. Not be subject to a pending recovery order following a previous decision of the European Commission.
  7. Not to exceed the minimum aid limit (€200,000).
  8. Have the Digital Maturity Level assessment according to the diagnostic test on the Acelera Pyme platform.

Want to know more? You can learn more here or contact us to solve all your doubts.

Professional athletes also use Open Trail Races

The Open Trail Races mobile app allows you to run verified races at any time, competing against your best time or against others. This, added to the possibility of discovering new territories where to train, is one of the reasons why athletes like Silvia Puigarnau or Eduard Hernández use this application. In addition, they have the assurance that the trails that appear in the app are safe and in constant maintenance.

Among the races that you can find in Open Trail Races whether or not you are a professional athlete are those of Tenerife, with an ideal territory for the practice of trail running, and also those that you can find in Terres de l’Ebre that have been incorporated this year. Among them highlights the Cursa dels Biberons or the Cursa OTR Trencacims, all included in the Winter Championship OTR Terres de l’Ebre.

The collaboration of ASM Web Services with OTR

Open Trail Races (OTR) is a project we are especially proud of. The ASM Web Services team developed the Open Trail Races app for the company The Trail Zone. The aim of the app is to boost tourism and promote the practice of sports in the natural environment. The covid-19 restrictions showed the usefulness of this system, when races could not be organized. We are very happy to incorporate new races to the app.

To use it, the user installs it on the device with which he/she will follow the route, registers and downloads the race track. The routes require the help of a GPS device, as they are not specifically marked for environmental, ecological and respectful reasons. The OTR application also allows for competitions between runners comparing times and rankings to encourage participation.

 

Facilitating contact management at the Mobile World Congress 2022

App Lead Retrieval

App Lead Retrieval

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is an opportunity to learn about the latest developments in the mobile world and, very importantly, a source for making new contacts. And this is where our contribution to this great event comes in: Fira de Barcelona’s Lead Retrieval application. Developed by the mobile apps team of ASM Web Services, last year it already gave great results in contact management.

With NFC technology and QR codes, it allows contacts to be managed in real time. Goodbye to cumbersome business cards that tend to get lost when we look for them after the congress or trade show. The app allows you to scan the QR of the visitor’s pass and the contact is archived with all the data contained in the person’s profile.

The saved contacts can then be filtered and exported to Excel, making it easier to contact potential customers to send more information or schedule a meeting to present our project.

VIP Drop Off App

Also developed for the Mobile World Congress, the mobile apps team at ASM Web Services developed the VIP Drop Off app. It is used to manage the parking area. Thanks to a sticker placed on the front window of the vehicle, the person who manages the parking area has information of each car entering or leaving just by bringing a mobile device with the VIP Drop Off app close to the sticker.

 

What does Mobile World Congress 2022 bring?

MWC Barcelona Connectivity Unleashed

MWC Barcelona Connectivity Unleashed

The mobile technology industry event reopens its doors at the Fira de Barcelona exhibition center in L’Hospitalet. It recovers the presentiality after the suspension of 2020 and the reduced version of 2021. What does this new Mobile bring us? Connectivity Unleashed is the motto of this edition and gives many clues to the content.

Undoubtedly 5G will be one of the prominent themes of the event. After some demonstrations of this technology were made in 2019, in 2022 many people can already use it in different parts of the country. The implementation is a reality and boosts connectivity between users and smart devices. The possibility of transmitting data faster, combined with artificial intelligence, brings us closer to the so-called Internet of Things, where most processes will be automated.

The arrival of 6G

5G is advancing, but our sights are already set on 6G, the sixth generation of mobile connectivity. The aim of this technology is to further reduce latency in connections and increase transmission speed. The standards for this technology, which South Korea intends to implement in its first pilot project in 2026, will be discussed during the congress. It is expected to be implemented in 2030.

In addition to 5G and 6G, industry and professionals will focus these days on addressing topics such as financial technology, artificial intelligence, cloud technology, the Internet of Things, climate issues and cybersecurity. The GSMA also includes a new area showcasing connected technology leadership in industries such as financial technology or smart mobility.

The latest mobile models

In Barcelona, the world’s leading technology brands are also showcasing their latest mobile devices. What’s new? Multiple cameras with improved optics, smartwatches, foldable mobiles and faster battery charging. Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi have not missed the opportunity to participate in this world reference event.

 

ASM Web Services coming of age with many changes

The new ASM Web Services offices in Barcelona

The new ASM Web Services offices in Barcelona

Is coming of age in technology companies celebrated at the age of 18? At ASM Web Services, yes, we like celebrations and we are happy because we have been making our clients’ technology projects a reality for 18 years. And if we take into account the last two years marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s almost worth double. We have always been committed to renewal and change, and this last year has left us with a lot of them.

2021 was an important challenge to assess the company’s growth trend. After a minimal stagnation in 2020, we have overcome it with a growth close to 15%, reaching a total turnover of more than 4 million euros.

This milestone has again been thanks to our customers, who continue to bet on us. It is worth highlighting two tremendously revealing data: 60% of sales in 2021 have been to customers with an antiquity of 5 years. But even more relevant is that 29.56% of sales were to customers who have been with us for more than 10 years.

This growth has undoubtedly been thanks to the dedication, commitment and sacrifice of a team of people, who despite having numerous job offers, have been loyal to this business model that 5 technicians founded 18 years ago. Today we are more than 50 professionals, with an average seniority of almost 7 years, involved and fully aligned with our mission: to be an ebusiness company open to the world where we grow together.

Teleworking and talent distributed throughout the territory

10 years ago we opted for teleworking and geographical dispersion in search of the best talent. We wanted professionals from all corners of the Spanish geography, from Barcelona to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, favoring family reconciliation.

It has been a tremendously demanding year, where with this small team we have been able to meet the growth in demand from historical and new clients, such as ILSA, Lladró, Kid&Us, Laboratorios Echevarne, Prysmian Cables, ESHOB, JumboDiset, Gonzalez Byass (through Minsait), etc. All this with the best will to add value, with endless working days, with production start-ups in highly complex environments, and always with the best and most praiseworthy attitude.

 

Reunión de parte del equipo de ASM Web Services en las nuevas oficinas de Barcelona

Meeting of part of the ASM Web Services team at the new offices in Barcelona.

Back to Barcelona: the culmination of an evolution

One of the changes of the last twelve months is that ASM Web Services has returned to Barcelona, where we started our business journey. The new headquarters are located at Avenida Madrid, 95, in a very central and well-connected area.

The objective of this move is to facilitate the proximity with our customers and partners such as Magento or VTEX, and also with our employees when it comes to combine face-to-face work and teleworking. Working from these new offices in Barcelona will facilitate the integration of the new Mobile Apps development company, which is also located in the same city.

This change of headquarters is the culmination of a process of evolution of ASM Web Services. At the beginning of 2021 we implemented a new operating model that involved the creation of tech hubs. The company now has two highly specialized development centers: one in Barcelona, focused on the development of Mobile Apps, and another in León, dedicated to Software Engineering and Pricing Optimization Tools.

New projects marked by Covid-19 prevention

The ASM Web Services team is a powerful, flexible team that adapts to the needs of each moment to offer the best solutions to our customers. And this year, it has responded to requests to create solutions in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are a few examples.

After a year of forced absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Mobile World Congress returned to Barcelona in 2021 and bet on two technological solutions developed by the mobile apps team of ASM Web Services: the Lead Retrieval and Vip Drop Off applications.

Lead Retrieval is a mobile app for real-time contact management that uses NFC technology and QR codes. Its use avoids physical contact between Mobile World Congress attendees, in addition to controlling access to the event. In the case of a Covid-19 positive among the attendees, it allowed the traceability of this person’s contacts.

It also has other interesting functions for exhibitors, such as having instant information about visitors by scanning the QR of the pass, obtaining contacts by bringing the cell phone close to the pass via NFC and viewing them later in reports with different filters.

Also developed for Mobile World Congress, the VIP Drop Off app is used to manage the parking area.

 

Tiketblok es una app que permite organizar eventos seguros en época CovidTiketblok is an app that allows you to organize safe events in Covid period

Tiketblok: an app for ‘Covid-free’ events

One of the great challenges during the pandemic has been to be able to concentrate people in an enclosed space to enjoy live music. Some clinical studies were carried out, such as the concert in May of Manel in La Mirona de Salt. A thousand people were able to attend and enjoy without security distances. The Tiketblok app was key.

This application, created by the start-up of the same name and developed by the mobile apps team of ASM Web Services, acts as an intermediary between attendees and events. It allows the entire audience of a large event to be identified through their cell phones.

All attendees had to prove that they were people with very low contagious capacity (MBCC), and have the ICC AOKpass virtual health certificate. The Tiketblok app connects anonymously with official health certificate issuers to include in the ticket itself whether the ticket holder is an MBCC person.

 

La aplicación OTR permite realizar competiciones virtuales entre corredores durante todo el añoThe OTR application allows virtual competitions between runners throughout the year.

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Open Trail Races: year-round races in spite of Covid

Covid-19 has forced people to sharpen their wits so that they can enjoy the activities they used to do safely. One example is the races. For several months they were cancelled, but technology offered the possibility of doing them alone through an app. And now both types of competitions coexist.

This is the case of the Open Trail Races app. Apart from calendars and marathons, it allows you to compete throughout the year. The runner has to install the app on his cell phone, register and download the track of the race he wants to run. It allows virtual competitions between runners comparing times and rankings to encourage participation.

The OTR racing application has been developed by the ASM Web Services team for The Trail Zone, a company dedicated to sports tourism that creates and designs unmarked trail stations and competitive circuits 24/7 with the application. It currently has more than 130 races, championships and stage races throughout Spain.

The most powerful version of Akeneo PIM

The French multinational Akeneo, of which ASM Web Services is an official partner, launched a renewed version of its product information management system, its most powerful version: version 5.0 of Akeneo PIM software in Enterprise and Community editions, which we are implementing in 2 new customers.

These are some of the projects completed this year, which we can share with all of you.

Finally, I would like to give my sincere thanks to all of you who have made this possible.

Justo Soria

CEO ASM Web Servies

 

 

Tenerife, new trail running destination for the Open Trail Races app

Open Trail Races (OTR) allows trail running all year round.

Open Trail Races (OTR) allows trail running all year round.

There are more and more followers of trail running throughout the year, without the need to wait for a specific competition. For all of them, here comes great news. The racing app Open Trail Races (OTR) incorporates Tenerife as a new trail running destination.

Tenerife has a series of conditions that make it ideal for this sport: altitude, varied terrain, many trails and an optimal climate throughout the year. For this reason, Tenerife Tourism has decided to include it in the OTR app. It has counted on the collaboration of trail runner David Lutzardo to select the best trails on the island.

ASM and Open Trail Races

We are very happy to see that the app is growing. The ASM Web Services team developed the Open Trail Races app for The Trail Zone, a company dedicated to sports tourism.

To use it, the user installs it on the device with which he will follow the route, registers and downloads the race track. To follow the routes, a GPS device is required, as the routes are not specifically marked for environmental, ecological and respectful reasons. The OTR application also allows virtual competitions between runners comparing times and rankings to encourage participation.

 

Tiketblok: an app to organize ‘Covid-free’ events

Tiketblok permite identificar a todo el público de un gran evento.Tiketblok makes it possible to identify the entire audience of a major event.

The cultural sector is relying on technology to try to recover normality and overcome the serious consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest example of this could be seen during the concert of the group Manel held a few days ago in the hall La Mirona de Salt (Girona). It was attended by 1,000 people who were able to enjoy live music without security distances. How was this possible? Thanks to the Tiketblok app.

This application, created by the start-up of the same name and developed by the mobile apps team of ASM Web Services, works as an intermediary between the attendees and the events. It allows the entire audience of a large event to be identified through their cell phones. Tiketblok also offers event organizers a communication channel with attendees, in addition to including an identity and health certification within the ticket itself.

How does Tiketblok work?

To gain access to the concert, all attendees had to prove that they were people with very low contagious capacity (MBCC), and have the ICC AOKpass virtual health certificate. They could obtain it in about thirty associated pharmacies in Girona in three ways: by means of a negative antigen test, proving that they had passed the Covid-19 during the last three months or proving that they were vaccinated.

Tickets could be purchased through the La Mirona website, and were registered in the Tiketblok app, which the public had to install on their cell phone to access the event. The Tiketblok app connects anonymously with the issuers of official health certificates, to include in the ticket itself whether the ticket holder is an MBCC person.

This technological solution to ensure Covid-free events has already attracted the attention of other cultural event organizers such as Live Nation, Madrid’s WiZink Center or Vienna’s opera houses.

Find out what improvements are included in the new Akeneo PIM 5.0

The new Akeneo PIM 5.0 version comes with a revamped rules engine / © Akeneo

The new Akeneo PIM 5.0 version comes with a revamped rules engine / © Akeneo

The new Akeneo PIM 5.0 is now available in Enterprise and Community editions. The French multinational Akeneo, of which ASM Web Services is an official partner, has released a revamped version of its product information management system. The new PIM comes a year after the previous version was launched during the Akeneo PIM Summit 2020. In this post we summarize the main new features.

1. Increase automation with Akeneo PIM 5.0

The new version of Akeneo PIM comes with a revamped rules engine that includes Rules Builder. This new screen will allow users to create and manage business rules more easily. The screen takes all actions from YML files (which will remain available) and allows marketing teams to, for example, automatically categorize products, copy attribute values or set defaults.

2. Increased connectivity

A new API has also been introduced to facilitate data synchronization and distribution with third-party applications. The Events API accelerates data synchronization between Akeneo PIM and third-party applications. This new API is complementary to the existing REST API.

In addition, the new Akeneo PIM 5.0 features enhancements to Connections to allow users to track sent and received data more accurately. Increased autonomy to act on synchronization errors.

3. More facilities for monitoring data quality

The enhanced Data Quality Insights dashboard is another new feature of Akeneo PIM 5.0. It is designed to make it easier to monitor product data quality and get recommendations on how to improve it. It incorporates advanced spell checking features and language coverage to meet the needs of internationalized businesses.

4. Improves import and export

Import and export capabilities are also improved. A stop button and progress bar have been added, as well as new export profiles for assets and reference entities. Users can choose to export attribute tags instead of attribute codes.

5. Add custom units of measure

Finally, Akeneo PIM 5.0 allows you to easily create custom measurement units and measurement families, which join the wide range of traditional and standard measurements available in PIM.

Interested in any of the new features of the new version of Akeneo PIM? Get in touch with us. The ASM Web Services team will help you integrate this management system into your eCommerce.