Advanced Turf Solutions

A green industry distributor offering turf and ornamental products, ATS was previously limited to selling only to in-person B2B and B2C customers at physical locations. This constrained its growth and potential to just the markets in which it operated a brick-and-mortar store. 

The goal was to sell directly to businesses and consumers nationwide through multiple online channels, and that required ecommerce storefronts and back-end systems to process and fulfill orders in a timely manner. 

Using Salesforce as its foundation for digital innovation, ATS came to Studio Science with a handful of needs. ATS wanted to help empower its customers with access to the information they needed electronically, while enabling digital commerce experiences for both B2B and B2C customers. It also needed an order management system (OMS) for a better post-purchase journey. 

Using a people-centered design approach – paired with extensive knowledge of Salesforce clouds – Studio Science and ATS began with that first need, providing existing B2B customers with online account access, where they could easily see past orders, invoices and update account information at their fingertips. Studio Science designed and implemented a self-service portal, called ATS Connect, built on Salesforce Experience Cloud. This allowed customers to access their order history, view frequently asked questions, and update their profiles.  

After the successful launch, ATS and Studio Science turned their attention to launching the brand’s first B2B and B2B2C commerce sites on Commerce Cloud. The first store specialized in selling high-end grass seeds to both businesses and consumers in one platform, which was followed by a second storefront selling winter products such as ice melts and snow shovels. 

The shift to a digital-first buying experience both preserved long-lasting customer relationships – by meeting them where they were and wanted to be – and also created new market opportunities for the business to grow.

For everyone on the front end to work seamlessly, ATS and Studio Science overhauled its back of house. The company’s legacy OMS (Salespad) was no longer being supported, and ATS also needed to replace other custom applications. With Salesforce OMS, ATS can now not only track order intakes, but also manage the various stages of fulfillment and has omnichannel inventory visibility to view product inventory across locations. Studio Science also built in several customizations, including the ability to more easily adjust orders after placement, such as going into an existing order summary to discount items. 

Studio Science centralized ATS’ data and integrated its systems into its OMS platform, including Avalara for tax and Great Plains as its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. ATS was able to move away from custom products and tables, could leverage Salesforce for pricing, and could more easily onboard new customers by migrating into existing workflows. 

With a modern and cohesive tech stack and the right operational framework, Advanced Turf Solutions went from being a regional company to a national distributor. These commerce and OMS solutions provide a scalable and consolidated digital operations infrastructure, making the lives of its team members easier and providing customers with the service they expect.