Case study · Channel operations platform

A role-aware channel platform for dealers, technicians, and retail

How Excellira turned Strong Spas’s high-complexity B2B and B2C operations into one role-aware platform - and has kept expanding it for nearly a decade.

Client: Strong Spas
Industry: Manufacturing - hot tubs & accessories
Engagement: Ongoing partnership - 10+ years
Platform: Launched 2025, expanded continuously

The challenge

A storefront was never going to be enough

This manufacturer sells through dealers, technicians, factory-store teams, and retail buyers at the same time - each with different pricing, access, and approval rules. The real requirement was to make that complexity manageable for internal teams while keeping the platform reliable for channel partners.

Person relaxing in a hot tub surrounded by tropical greenery

Complex product and variant structures that were hard to manage in traditional admin workflows
Role-specific needs across dealers, technicians, factory-store teams, and retail buyers
Pricing and access rules that varied by customer type, with approval-gated account onboarding
Multi-user organizations managing their own sub-accounts, locations, and permissions
Operational dependence on system-to-system data flow for orders and business records

What Excellira delivered

One platform, built in phases - then kept evolving

Discovery and proposal ran as a multi-week process before implementation. The platform launched as a focused MVP, then expanded continuously based on how the channel actually worked.

Phase 1 · MVP

Manufacturing-focused eCommerce foundation
Dealer portal capabilities and role-based access
Dealer and technician application, onboarding, and approval workflow
Product/inventory operations layer for non-technical catalog management
Migrated ~36,000 historical orders and ~10,000 customer records

Phase 2+ · Post-launch expansion

ERP integration layer for orders and business records
Technician workflows, warranty invoice submission, and reimbursement status
Organization-level accounts with sub-accounts, locations, and permissions
B2B and B2C payment methods - purchase order and credit card
Order tracking visibility for consumer and freight identifiers

Information & support access

Structured file-library integration for role-based document access
Organized distribution of brochures, spec sheets, policies, and service docs
Connected to the client’s existing document workflow to keep materials current

AI-enabled experience layer

AI assistant trained on product data, specs, support content, and parts-interchange mappings
Guided part-finding flows, including model- and serial-based filtering
Self-service answers for product and technical questions

Inside the platform

Strong Spas storefront showing hot tubs, parts, and accessories — Storefront. One catalog serving B2B dealers and B2C retail buyers, with pricing and access rules applied by role.

Strong Spas dealer portal showing dealer resources, account tools, and orders — Dealer portal. Role-based resources, account and sub-user management, orders, and reusable purchase lists in one place.

Business outcomes

Core infrastructure the business now runs on

The platform moved from a launch project to business-critical infrastructure - with uptime sensitivity to match.

~36K

Historical orders migrated

~10K

Customer records migrated

~10 yrs

Continuous partnership and expansion

~10K/mo/

AI assistant interactions

Migration and usage figures are directional pending verified analytics. Pricing controls, role-based access, and ERP-connected workflows remain operationally critical at channel scale.

Before

Dealers and technicians relied on calls, email, and manual lookups for pricing, documentation, and order or invoice status.

After

Role-based portals provide self-service access to pricing, files, submission workflows, and status tracking in one place.

Before

Product and variant changes were hard to execute consistently at scale.

After

Business users manage catalog updates through a structured product-operations workflow built for non-technical teams.

Internal teams rely on the product-operations workflow for ongoing catalog management
Dealers and technicians submit and track business-critical requests in a single system
Onboarding and account management got dramatically easier via approvals and delegated sub-accounts

Excellira helped us streamline operations while delivering a better experience for dealers, technicians, and retail customers.

Andrew F., Marketing DirectorStrong Spas