Behind the Innovation: Powering Science at Every Step™

A simpler path to lab ordering: Listening to lab managers to ensure their scientists can focus on research

Our U.S. and Canada VWR.com sites recently launched a simplified self-service onboarding experience, making it easier for new customers to register, create an account, and place their first order.

As a global provider of lab specialty products and services, VWR®, part of Avantor®, knows that every scientific breakthrough starts in the lab.

So, when we heard from lab managers that some of our administrative processes were cutting into scientists’ valuable lab time, we paid attention.

A streamlined customer onboarding process

In the past, opening a customer account could be time-consuming and required many steps – whether you were an individual looking to purchase lab supplies with a credit card, a lab manager needing to add their department to an existing business account, or an organization that wanted to do business with us for the first time.

“These are very different lab customers in different stages of the buying process, so we quickly recognized that we needed a better solution that would help protect our customers’ valuable research time,” Thorsten Kopp, VP of Customer Services & Support at VWR, explained.

VWR simplified the customer onboarding process to just minutes for simple accounts, and two days for complex accounts.

As a result, VWR redesigned the process end to end, creating tailored onboarding paths for personal users, new business customers, and existing account holders, as well as a streamlined guest checkout option for purchasing non-restricted products. The new process reduces onboarding steps by more than 40%, creating a faster, more intuitive experience.

“VWR’s streamlined onboarding process offers simpler navigation, better progress visibility, and improved customer guidance,” Kopp explained. “Enabling customers to engage and purchase faster with fewer obstacles gives them back more time for the most important part of their job – science.”

Explore VWR’s simplified onboarding process here.

Faster quotes and RFP responses

By embedding technology and intelligent tools into the purchasing process, we are also helping our teams work more effectively and respond to customers with greater speed and precision.

Like consumer online purchasing experiences that recommend alternative products, the new smart tool helps Avantor quickly identify products that meet customer specifications or specialized requirements. By reducing time spent on product research and manual product mapping, the tool helps us deliver faster, more informed responses to RFPs, bids and tenders.

“What we’re seeing in our pilot programs is significantly faster product mapping, reducing turnaround time from days to hours,” Kopp said. “We’re also able to incorporate configurable business rules to address sustainability considerations or other specialized customer requests.”

Looking ahead

“These initiatives are just the beginning,” Kopp noted. “VWR continues to partner with our lab customers to make the purchasing process simpler, frictionless and more intuitive.”

We’re taking a fresh look at many of our practices throughout the purchasing journey, from product research and quotes to contracting, to remove unnecessary complexity and better serve our customers.

Experience VWR’s simplified onboarding process here.

Explore other customer service options at VWR: https://www.vwr.com/us/en/support/customer-service