RNF is rebranded as b2b.store to reflect focus on wholesale

RNF, the company responsible for launching the first ordering app in the wholesale sector for Bestway in 2013, is being rebranded as b2b.store.

Rob Mannion: ‘Unifying RNF and b2b.store under a single brand better reflects our focus on wholesale.’

The move follows the launch of b2b.store as the company’s freemium e-commerce platform for wholesale customers in 2020. The platform has already attracted 50 additional customers, including members of the Confex, Fairway Foodservice, Sterling Supergroup, Sugro and Unitas buying groups.

b2b.store has processed over 11,000 orders and is now operating in an increasing number of countries, as UK exporters look to sell internationally in local languages.

Rob Mannion, founder and CEO of b2b.store, said: “RNF was initially focused on developing mobile ordering apps for enterprise customers across a range of industries, from wholesale and utilities to automotive and leisure, but in 2018 we started to focus exclusively on the wholesale channel, where Bestway remains a key customer of ours.

“The business and the technology has evolved significantly since then, leading the digital revolution in wholesale and expanding our offer to become a highly scalable complete e-commerce solution. We remain fully committed to support our important long-term clients and have a dedicated team in place to do just that.

“As we look to the future, digital will play an ever-greater role, enhancing our customers’ abilities to make the most of opportunities created by data-driven services, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence.

“Unifying RNF and b2b.store under a single brand better reflects our focus on wholesale. It allows us to take a holistic view of the industry, using the resulting insight to create new services for B2B customers of all sizes, helping them optimise the digital opportunity.”

The rebrand follows the appointment of Mike Mannion as chief data officer and the promotion of Dale Jefferson to the role of chief technology officer at RNF last year.

Mannion continued: “The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated the move to digital for many business-to-business companies, including the wholesale sector. Still, many e-commerce solutions available to B2B customers are simply rebadged B2C products, which fail to take into account fundamental differences between B2B and B2C markets.

“At b2b.store, our entire approach is built around our deep understanding of B2B customers, honed over many years in the sector. This led, for example, to the launch of our freemium offer last year that removes one of the key barriers to digital entry for many wholesalers – price. This B2B focus also allows us to develop unique solutions for our enterprise customers that reflect the specific challenges they face.

“With data increasingly shaping the services we provide, our aim for the b2b.store brand is to become synonymous with innovation and with appreciation of the unique challenges faced by B2B customers. We are in a position to quickly integrate new technologies into our platform which ensures our customers can boost their commercial performance through the use of increasingly powerful data-driven digital services.”

Tel: b2b.store (01926) 298867