The pharmaceutical sector is undergoing a profound digital transformation, and at the forefront is Meafarma. This young, dynamic, and constantly growing company has distinguished itself through its innovative approach and dedication to its online community's experience.
The company's strategic vision has been recognized by Casaleggio Associati, which listed Meafarma among Italy's most relevant eCommerce businesses, commending its ability to combine technology, service, and customer relationships.
In this journey, the adoption of smart solutions like those offered by Google Maps Platform plays a key role. Tools such as Place Autocomplete, often little-known to businesses but a part of our daily lives, simplify the checkout process, reduce shipping address errors, and tangibly optimize logistics.
A story of growth and innovation that we delved into with Melania Ciaramella, eCommerce Manager, and Vincenzo Rutigliano, Chief Marketing Officer of Meafarma.
- Before adopting Google Maps Platform services on your eCommerce, how was your checkout service organized, and what critical issues did you encounter among users?
"Before adopting Google Maps Platform services", explains Melania Ciaramella, eCommerce Manager at Meafarma, "the checkout process relied exclusively on manual address entry by the user, without any autocomplete or validation support. This approach left ample room for error: addresses were often incomplete, poorly formatted, or even incorrect.
The consequences were multiple: on one hand, an additional workload for our customer care team, who had to contact customers or manually correct addresses in the system; on the other, shipping delays and a higher risk of undelivered packages, with inevitable negative impacts on the customer experience.
The integration of Google Maps’ Address Autocomplete feature effectively solved these critical issues by simplifying user data entry, improving address accuracy, and contributing to a much smoother and more reliable logistical management".
- What impact has the integration of Google Maps Autocomplete had on data entry errors and conversion rates? (Do you have any metrics?)
"Although the monitoring activity", he continues, "of the implementation is still ongoing, we are seeing a very positive impact leading to a reduction in fill-in errors by about 50 percent. We have already seen a decrease in customer complaints and manual intervention by the team to correct addresses".
- How complex was it to integrate Google Maps Platform with your existing eCommerce or management system?
"The integration was generally simple and fast," says Vincenzo Rutigliano, Chief Marketing Officer at Meafarma, "thanks to the collaboration with our technical partners. We use OpenCart as our CMS, we quickly implemented the Google Maps APIs via the 'Google Address Autocomplete' plugin. Simultaneously, our colleagues at power2Cloud assisted us in creating the API key and enabling the 'Places API'.
Once the integration was complete, we conducted the necessary tests to ensure that the address fields filled via the autocomplete function were correctly registered in the CMS and transferred without errors to our WMS, the system that manages logistics and shipments. This allowed us to improve the accuracy of delivery addresses, reducing errors and delays in order management".
- How did power2Cloud's support and collaboration facilitate the transition or progressive adoption of Google APIs?
"In today's market, building strategic and reliable partnerships is a crucial factor for scaling one's business sustainably and effectively. The collaboration with power2Cloud", Vincenzo continues, "which has been consolidated for several years, has been a key element in this process for us.
Together, we have successfully tackled complex and high-impact projects, such as the migration from Universal Analytics to GA4, the implementation of Google Consent Mode v2, and the adoption of the entire Google Workspace suite. The introduction and configuration of Google Maps APIs fit into this structured path of digital evolution.
What we appreciate most about power2Cloud is their rigorous and results-oriented approach: every project phase, from design to production, is meticulously handled. Their team is characterized by expertise, precision, and listening skills. Nothing is left to chance, and every implementation is accompanied by constant verifications that allow us to guarantee high performance and operational continuity.
This synergy has allowed us to adopt Google APIs progressively and smoothly ensuring full control and complete compatibility with our internal systems".
- What new functionalities based on Google Maps Platform do you plan to integrate in the near future?
"We are evaluating the integration of additional Google Maps Platform functionalities to improve the user experience and optimize logistical processes. Among the solutions that interest us most" suggests Vincenzo Rutigliano, "it’s the Distance Matrix API. In agreement with our shippers, this would allow us to estimate real-time delivery times based on distance, offering customers precise and transparent information already during the checkout process".
- Do you believe geolocation will become increasingly central to eCommerce competitiveness? How so?
"Absolutely. Today", confirms Vincenzo Rutigliano, "personalization and efficiency are two fundamental drivers for acquiring and retaining customers: knowing the user's location allows for improving both aspects.
From a marketing perspective, it enables localized communication and promotion strategies, which are more relevant and thus more effective. In a competitive environment such as this one, the eCommerce that can best leverage location data will be the one capable of offering a truly tailored and therefore more memorable experience."
- What services are essential for a user-centric/high-performing eCommerce?
"A truly high-performing and user-centric eCommerce," concludes Melania Ciaramella, "must ensure customer care that is genuinely attentive to user needs, capable of offering effective support before, during, and after purchase. It's important to forge strategic partnerships with carriers to guarantee punctual, traceable, and, when possible, fast deliveries. Furthermore, logistics is also a key component of the customer experience.
For us at Meafarma, meticulously managing every operational detail is fundamental in order to offer a reliable service centered on people’s needs".