International Paper-Trade Group: Webshop Relaunch Across 11 Countries
Coordination of an international webshop relaunch for a paper-trade group. 11 countries, 16 websites, 8 webshops. Role: IT and e-commerce project manager.
11 Countries
16 websites, 8 webshops coordinated and successfully relaunched
Context
An international paper-trade group with locations across several European countries faced the task towards the end of 2022 of consolidating its digital infrastructure: several country-specific websites and webshops that had grown organically over years needed to be brought to a unified technological baseline.
I worked as IT and e-commerce project manager from January to December 2023.
Scope
The relaunch covered:
- 11 countries with different language versions, currencies, and regulatory requirements
- 16 websites migrated to a unified platform base
- 8 webshops with country-specific catalogue and pricing structures
The complexity was not in the technology itself, but in coordination: external vendors, internal business units, and country-specific stakeholders with different priorities.
Evidence diagram
Paper-Trade Group Rollout Scope Map
The relaunch as a scope map: countries, websites, webshops, and coordination model.
Countries
11
Websites
16
Webshops
8
Project year
2023
Relaunch scope
Coordination model
Approach
Backlog management in Jira and Confluence: All requirements were centrally captured and prioritised in Jira. Confluence served as the documentation backbone for decisions, specifications, and handovers to external vendors.
Scrum as coordination framework: Two-week sprints enabled quick responses to changing requirements from individual countries. Sprint reviews with the relevant country stakeholders kept progress transparent.
Interface between business units and vendors: My role was primarily coordinative. I translated business requirements into technical specifications for external developers and, in the reverse direction, filtered technical constraints back into understandable options for the business side.
Architecture Decisions (ADR Summary)
| Decision | Direction | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Shared platform base | Unified technology for all 16 sites | Higher initial migration effort, lower long-term operations cost |
| Country-specific catalogues | Separate product catalogues per market | Data redundancy accepted, local pricing autonomy preserved |
| Localisation approach | Central content, local translation in workflow | Translation management via vendor rather than in-house team |
| Phased delivery | Country by country rather than big-bang release | Risk reduction, but extended project duration |
Result
The relaunch was completed successfully. All 11 countries, 16 websites, and 8 webshops were migrated to the new platform base. Country-specific features (prices, catalogues, languages) were preserved.
Lessons
Cross-border stakeholder management takes more time than expected. Aligning with country managers who have different priorities and timelines requires clear escalation paths and regular synchronisation checkpoints.
Documentation as a coordination instrument. With distributed teams and external vendors, written documentation is not overhead. It is the primary form of communication. Undocumented decisions get challenged retroactively.
Phased releases reduce risk. A country-by-country rollout slows down overall delivery, but errors in one market do not affect others.