Bakers Delight speeds digital marketing rollouts with Boomi

Bakers Delight has overhauled its digital marketing systems with Boomi software, shortening the rollout time for new platforms across its network.

The Australian-owned business operates more than 700 stores across Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States, and employs more than 10,000 people through its franchise network. It trades as Bakers Delight in Australia and New Zealand and as COBS Bread in Canada and the US.

Its technology team had been managing a set of point-to-point integrations linking customer, pricing, product and location data across store, eCommerce and loyalty systems. As a result, each new platform required existing connections to be reworked, adding time and cost to technology projects.

To address this, Bakers Delight implemented Boomi Enterprise Platform, including Data Hub and API Management, across processes covering customers, products, store locations, promotions, coupons and orders. The system now sits between its digital marketing tools and core systems, including Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce.

Keng Ng, Chief Technology Officer, Bakers Delight, said the change was driven by the cost and complexity of adding software under the old model.

"We required a foundation that could support rapid, low-cost deployment of new systems - removing the cost and complexity of re-engineering integrations every time we added a new platform," said Ng.

"This laid the groundwork for the business to adopt new systems and capabilities quickly, without disrupting what's already in place."

Faster rollouts

The revised setup has allowed Bakers Delight to reuse integrations when adding several platforms to its marketing and commerce systems. Klaviyo was deployed in three months, Shopify in four months and Talon.One in nine months, according to the company.

Those projects covered the group's global franchise network. Reusing customer, product, pricing and location integrations reduced implementation work for each new system.

Ng said the approach changed the speed of delivery.

"Because core integrations were built once and reused, every new platform was deployed significantly faster than expected, with Klaviyo live in just three months, Shopify in four and Talon.One in nine, across our global franchise network," he said.

"Having centralised integration and master data has also proven critical when the business needs to act quickly across multiple systems."

Pricing response

Bakers Delight pointed to a pricing update earlier in the year as an example of the new setup in use. It said geopolitical events in the Middle East created rapid cost fluctuations, prompting the business to revise prices across systems.

According to the company, the centralised architecture allowed those changes to be made more quickly and consistently than before. For a franchise group operating across several markets and brands, synchronising pricing and promotional data can be a significant operational challenge.

Boomi Consulting helped establish the programme at the outset, while vendors including Klaviyo and Talon.One contributed internal resources during implementation. External partners also supported Shopify and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce work.

Bakers Delight has also built internal integration and data engineering resources as part of the programme, suggesting a broader shift away from project-by-project connections towards a more standardised internal technology function.

Ng said the work had expanded beyond the original brief.

"What started as a need to modernise quickly and affordably has become a platform that gets stronger with every addition, giving the business the agility to move faster and with more confidence each time," he said.

Boomi framed the project as an example of integration being treated as a business function rather than a one-off technical task. The software group said reusable connections can help companies introduce new systems without repeatedly changing the applications already at the centre of operations.

"Bakers Delight has demonstrated how treating integration as a strategic business capability enables organisations to innovate faster and respond with greater agility," said David Irecki, Chief Technology Officer, APJ, Boomi.

"By building a reusable integration foundation, Bakers Delight can bring new digital capabilities to market faster while creating the trusted data foundation needed to support future innovation."