Maréchal Fraîcheur – the Fresh Food Market with Sylius

Built by: Synolia Country: France Categories: Food visit website

Maréchal Fraîcheur – the Fresh Food Market with Sylius

Selling fresh, local produce online comes with constraints that standard eCommerce platforms weren't really built for - next-day delivery slots, pickup point selection, weekly basket updates, and a catalog that changes with the seasons. Maréchal Fraîcheur had been making it work since 2010, serving the Lyon metropolitan area with 800 products - from seasonal fruits and vegetables to cheeses, herbs, and grocery items - delivered the next day to a pickup point or directly to companies, with no subscription required. But when COVID-19 pushed order volumes higher than their old platform could handle, the cracks became impossible to ignore. Slow performance, a frustrating mobile experience, and an unintuitive checkout were costing them customers at exactly the moment demand was growing.

What was the problem?

In 2020, Maréchal Fraîcheur faced a major challenge. An increase in order volume (partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic) exposed the limitations of their outdated eCommerce platform, which struggled to meet new demands. Main issues:

Customers had trouble logging in and managing their accounts.
Selecting a pickup point was unintuitive.
The mobile shopping experience was frustrating and inefficient.
The platform was slow and outdated.

Maréchal Fraîcheur had to make a crucial decision: modernize the existing system or build a new, scalable eCommerce platform from scratch?

Goals

The main goal was to create a modern, scalable, and high-performance eCommerce platform that would meet customer expectations and offer a seamless mobile shopping experience.

Challenges

Technical debt accumulation leads to inefficiencies in system maintenance and development.
Scalability limitations restrict growth and operational flexibility.
Declining in-house expertise affects the ability to manage and enhance the platform effectively.
Operational inefficiencies result in slower response times and higher costs.

Why Sylius?

The decision to choose Sylius as the new eCommerce platform was driven by several key factors:

Flexibility – Sylius is a headless eCommerce solution, allowing for customized features tailored to business needs.
Performance – its lightweight architecture ensures fast and efficient operations, even with high order volumes.
Easy integration – Sylius enables seamless connections with external systems like ERP, CRM, and payment providers.
Future-proof – built with modern development principles, allowing for easy expansion and upgrades.

The project was entrusted to Synolia our Premium Solution Partner, which provided comprehensive technical and strategic support. Additional partners involved in the implementation included:

Axome – website design,
ABDR – ERP Sage integration,
Empirik – SEO optimization,
Paygreen – payment solutions.

We chose Synolia for their expertise and professionalism. Sylius stood out as a high-performance, lightweight, and adaptable solution. Our goal was to meet our customers’ expectations, as they are accustomed to shopping on major eCommerce websites. Investing in this platform means staying competitive over the long term.
Paul Maréchal, Director

Results

After implementing Sylius, Maréchal Fraîcheur saw significant improvements in both platform efficiency and customer experience.

Key improvements for the team:

✅ Easier product catalog management.
✅ Weekly basket creation takes minutes instead of hours.
✅ Product pages provide clearer information – highlighting producers, certifications, and seasonality.
✅ Seamless ERP Sage integration – automating processes and saving time.

Key improvements for customers:

✅ A more intuitive and faster checkout process.
✅ Easier pickup point selection based on delivery dates and availability.
✅ Optimized mobile experience – responsive design with improved navigation.
✅ Faster, smoother site performance, making shopping effortless.

📊 Key performance metrics:

📉 Checkout clicks reduced – only 7 clicks to complete a purchase (50% fewer than before)
📩 +172 new newsletter subscribers within the first month after launch.
📱 59% of traffic from mobile (vs. 50% the previous year).