Our work / HBM Machines
One platform, seven markets: HBM Machines scales across Europe.
HBM Machines was ready to move away from a monolithic platform that limited growth and flexibility. The focus was on creating a modern, composable foundation that enables smarter commerce and automation and scales effortlessly as the business grows.
Flexibility to integrate best-in-class tools, instead of being tied to a single, all-in-one system.
Scalability through a multilingual setup with localised catalogues, pricing, and content. Ready to expand into new markets.
We worked as a single, integrated team with HBM. The engagement began with a definition phase to align on requirements, UX and architecture. We then delivered an MVP that covered the core journey end-to-end, and continued on a clear roadmap to full replacement.
Core e-commerce: navigation, search, PDPs, basket, checkout, VAT handling and customer service.
Localisation: market-specific catalogues, pricing, translations and content, managed centrally.
Performance and security as baseline criteria, not afterthoughts.
Developer experience that supports safe, frequent releases.
Close collaboration was essential. To keep decision cycles short, the teams co-located twice weekly in Utrecht and Waddinxveen. This enabled rapid knowledge transfer, hands-on training with the new stack and smoother planning across design, engineering and merchandising.
The new platform launched first in Austria, a new market for HBM and a strategic choice to validate the new setup with minimal functional and commercial risk. This approach allowed the team to fine-tune the platform before migrating legacy stores in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium over the following year.
The result is a single, composable codebase with market configuration, consistent product data and a content model that supports richer merchandising across all storefronts. Later on, we also opened new markets in Spain and Italy.
We built on a composable architecture that lets HBM select and evolve best-of-breed services:
Front end: Next.js with GraphQL.
Commerce and content: commercetools and Storyblok.
Product information: Akeneo PIM for centralised enrichment.
Search and merchandising: Algolia.
Data flows and automation: Boomi iPaaS and Channable.
Foundation: Lab Digital's Evolve accelerator platform to establish common patterns and speed delivery, while keeping the solution open and extensible.
Founded in 1972 in Gouda, HBM Machines has grown from a small tool shop into a European supplier of machinery, tools and accessories. The company aims to make quality tools accessible through a broad, fairly priced range, and continues to expand its European presence.
We help retailers move to a composable, single-codebase platform that expands market by market. Let’s talk about where you want to grow next.