It’s a milestone in the company’s history. The Damen Schelde Marine Services webshop damenscheldeparts.com went live on 1 September. More than 85,000 parts for diesel engines for ships can be ordered quickly and easily online.

Managing Director Arnold Suykerbuyk and Tim Nieuwdorp, responsible for digital sales and marketing at DSMS, are very proud of the result. For years, the company had wanted to digitize the sale of spare parts.

Tim spent months setting up the webshop; taking photos of the products, writing product descriptions and specifications, prices and delivery times.

DSMS is world-renowned as wholesaler of diesel engine spare parts, including the legendary Sulzer, and its customers can now easily view and order products on their PC or phone.

The launch of damenscheldeparts.com has been a gradual process. The website was unveiled last year, but it has taken some time to get the entire product catalog online.

The number of visitors to damenscheldeparts.com is now about 2,500 per month, increasing from 500 per month before the coronavirus crisis. This is at the same time as customer visits by DSMS sales and account managers decreased from 100 per month to 0…

The webshop is an ideal way to turn a necessity into a virtue. As an alternative to physical visits to customers, DSMS has launched an intensive, targeted e-mail campaign that leads customers smoothly to the webshop. Every week, the campaign focuses on a different country or on a different product category.

When visiting the webshop, purchasing departments of shipping companies that are existing DSMS customers can click on the names of their own ships, and then order parts that that specific ship needs. Within a few mouse clicks and your new cylinder liner, piston or connecting rod will be packed and prepared for shipment from one of DSMS’ warehouses in Vlissingen, Singapore, Korea or China. The database of damenscheldeparts.com contains no less than 10,000 ships!

DSMS is planning to develop the webshop further. The intention is to link damenscheldeparts.com to platforms such as maritime trading website ShipServ.

“We have successfully made the digital transition,” says Arnold, “and we will soon be an omnichannel, meaning that customers can visit other sales channels via the webshop.”

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