United Aqua Group Makes Waves in B2B Ecommerce

Introduction

United Aqua Group, established in 1963 and headquartered in Las Vegas, has long served as the premier buying group for pool and spa professionals in the United States. With a catalog of over 400,000 products and more than 300 owner-members in 45 states, the organization found its legacy platform struggling under modern demands. Slow load times, limited customization, and subpar search capabilities were impacting member satisfaction and order volumes.

Challenges with Legacy Platform

Prior to November 2020, United Aqua Group operated on a platform that lacked the speed and flexibility needed for a B2B audience accustomed to consumer-grade experiences. NuORDER’s performance inconsistencies made catalog navigation cumbersome, while the inability to tailor dashboards, login screens, and rating features restricted member engagement. Compounded by difficulty integrating critical data from Microsoft Dynamics GP, the team knew a change was overdue.

Evaluating Modern Ecommerce

A cross-functional task force evaluated multiple vendors, including X-Cart, Channel Software, Magento, and Shopify, against a definitive list of requirements: lightning-fast site speed, private logins, advanced search, ERP integration, media management, and a B2B invoice portal. BigCommerce B2B Edition emerged as the front-runner after a standout demo impressed stakeholders with its ease of customization and promise of feature-rich extensibility.

Customizing BigCommerce

Working closely with BigCommerce success services, United Aqua Group architected a storefront that supports private company logins, dashboards for weekly order comparisons, advanced SKU search, and multi-list shopping for repeat orders. Custom roles and permissions were implemented for corporate hierarchies, and an invoice portal allowed members to view, track, and pay invoices directly online. The platform’s open APIs facilitated seamless data exchange with Microsoft Dynamics GP via a .NET-based middleware layer.

Results That Made Waves

Launched in November 2020, the new site delivered on every promise. Members experienced dramatically faster page loads and intuitive navigation. Within four months, United Aqua Group reported a 284% increase in customers, a 539% surge in conversion rate, and a 336% jump in revenue, all directly attributed to improved performance and feature depth. Scott Ferguson, VP of United Aqua Group, declared, “One thing we were looking for was speed. BigCommerce B2B Edition delivers it.”

Looking Ahead

Building on this foundation, the team is now developing ACH payment functionality to allow members to pay specific invoices online, view credit lines, and manage balances directly within the portal. These enhancements aim to create a one-stop shop where members can handle procurement, accounting, and analytics without ever leaving the platform.