Municipality of Sievi
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The online store offers residents a smooth and fair way to conduct business
“In the past, residents would sign up for classes—such as exercise classes—some by email or WhatsApp, some by phone, and some even in person. If there were a limited number of spots, it was hard to keep track of when a certain number of sign-ups had been reached, since the information was scattered among different people and in different places,” recalls Controller Merja Haavisto.
There was a need to simplify the payment collection process, as the payment terminals required for card payments were often located at a few fixed cash registers in a completely different place from where the exercise class or camp was actually held. As a result, payments were made in cash, which created pressure to get the funds into the municipality’s coffers as quickly as possible.
As banking services had been scaled back, taking cash to the bank had become more difficult year by year in a small town. On the other hand, even processing small payments was expensive and time-consuming.
At the initiative of the Director of Well-being, work began on developing electronic services. A Ceepos online store was built for the municipality and launched in early 2024. In addition to sports services, the online store began selling items such as stalls at the summer market and products made in the employment services workshop.
As a "hidden" product, the online store began offering surplus food from schools for sale to the municipality's own staff.
Get your information quickly without waiting in line
Office Secretary Anne Huhtala and IT Secretary Mari Yrttikoski are responsible for adding products to the online store.
“The beginning was challenging, as I had to train the staff of the Well-being Services Department to use the online store while also learning the system myself. But now the online store has made it easier, especially for registration and, on the other hand, for processing refunds for sports services. If a participant has to cancel their registration, the money is refunded through the online store, and no one has to pick it up in cash anymore,” Huhtala says.
The ease with which product information forms can be edited ensures that the necessary information is always collected during the registration phase, regardless of the specific need.
Yrttikoski also sees online shopping as a more convenient way to shop than waiting on hold with a call center.
"Spots for the children's activity days are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. There's no longer any need to wait in line; instead, everyone can reserve spots at the same time through the online store," Yrttikoski says.
Especially among older residents, the transition to online shopping initially met with some resistance to change. However, the municipality has organized online shopping tutorials specifically for seniors. Little by little, they, too, have begun to get the hang of it.
Siev doesn't want to go back to the way things were. Online shopping has streamlined work, particularly in the wellness and fitness sectors. Siev lists the reduction in cash transactions and invoicing as the biggest benefits of the Ceepos online store.
Yrttikoski feels that the benefits of e-commerce are now becoming a reality, since it is no longer necessary to create all products from scratch; instead, the settings from previous, similar products can be applied to new ones as-is.
“As a tip for other small municipalities, I’d say to set aside enough time and resources at the beginning to familiarize yourselves with the new system. Small municipalities are always busy, but if you take that time at the start so that everyone learns how to use the online store, the benefits will start to show more quickly,” Yrttikoski emphasizes.
After its first year, Sievi still has room to improve its online store operations. The hope is to add the option to book municipal meeting rooms and staff parking spaces through the online store.
“Why not try selling books that the library is phasing out through the online store?” Haavisto wonders.
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