Woodfield accelerates collections through customer-focused payment requests
Automated bulk messaging and online payment links with direct 1:1 payouts for seamless matching.
- Company: Woodfield
- Industry: Paint / Wholesale
- Employees: 80
- Headquarters: Uden, Netherlands
Business need
Business need
Woodfield owns and operates 12 paint stores in the Netherlands, offering around 10,000 products to professional painters and resellers. As customers often buy products on credit, more than 100,000 dunning letters were needed annually to collect outstanding receivables.
To complete a payment, customers previously had to log into their bank app and manually enter the bank transfer details from an invoice attached to an email. This additional effort created a significant barrier to timely payments, as customers often postponed the task or forgot it entirely.
As a result, Woodfield’s AR teams spent considerable time sending reminders to keep cash flows running while conversion rates remained low.
The payments also frequently contained incorrect amounts or references, causing inaccuracies and more manual effort throughout the cash application process. Waiting for payments to arrive and matching them efficiently further delayed the customers’ ability to order on credit again.
To establish a more effective collections process, Woodfield was looking for an integrated solution that would enable customers to pay outstanding invoices easily online.
Solution implemented
Solution implemented
Initially, Woodfield leveraged an existing integration between its accounting software and the Serrala solution Bill Presentment and Payment. Email reminders were equipped with new payment buttons, directing customers to branded payment pages on which the details of the requested payment are already pre-filled. Customers can pay with iDEAL, a common Dutch online bank-to-bank payment method, ensuring accurate, irrevocable SEPA Credit Transfers. Serrala also enabled direct 1:1 payout into Woodfield’s company bank account for smooth reconciliation.
When Woodfield subsequently moved to a new industry-specific ERP system based on Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, Serrala Bill Presentment and Payment was integrated flexibly into the new environment. Woodfield could therefore retain its automated payment request process despite the change in its underlying ERP landscape.
Results achieved
Results achieved
Today, Woodfield operates in a fully automated environment generating almost 100,000 payment links per year through an efficient and effective process from its ERP. Any iDEAL payment made through the solution results in a bank transfer to Woodfield’s bank account with the correct amount and reference for fast and reliable matching.
In addition, the payment pages produced by Serrala Bill Presentment and Payment provide a branded, multilingual customer experience. With iDEAL payments being guaranteed upon successful authorization by the customer, Woodfield gains clear visibility into both initiated and completed payments. This restores customers’ ability to place new orders on credit without unnecessary delays.
Client testimonials
“Choosing and keeping vendors is not only about functionality and price. It is also about collaboration. In Serrala, we found a solid partner for payment requests, whose people are responsive and pleasant to work with. They are also willing and able to think with us towards the best possible solutions.”
