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Cosy Direct

CosyDirect partnered with Digital Aptech to modernize its Magento 2 store and build a scalable B2B purchasing ecosystem tailored for schools and educational institutions. The company needed a custom solution to simplify institutional buying workflows, automate approvals, and reduce manual administrative effort.

Digital Aptech developed a fully customized parent-child account and order approval system designed specifically around CosyDirect’s operational needs.

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Project Overview

CosyDirect is a UK-based e-commerce company serving schools, nurseries, and early years educational institutions across the UK and internationally. With a strong B2B customer base, the company required a highly customized purchasing workflow that could support multi-user institutional buying processes, spending controls, and approval-based ordering.
To meet these needs, a fully custom B2B account and order approval system was developed on Magento 2. The project included building a bespoke parent/child account hierarchy, configurable approval workflows, shared address functionality, and a tailored checkout experience: all designed specifically around how educational institutions purchase resources.
The solution was developed without relying on third-party B2B extensions, ensuring scalability, maintainability, and complete flexibility for future growth.

The custom solution significantly improved the purchasing experience for educational institutions by giving administrators greater control over budgets, user permissions, and procurement processes. By automating approval workflows and centralizing account management, the platform reduced manual administration, increased order accuracy, and streamlined purchasing across multiple departments and locations. The result was a more efficient, scalable e-commerce ecosystem that supports CosyDirect's continued growth and evolving customer requirements.

Client Background

CosyDirect offers over 30,000 imaginative and affordable learning resources designed to inspire natural learning for children. Founded in 2011 as a husband-and-wife business, the company has grown into a globally recognized supplier serving educational settings in more than 30 countries.
The company received the 2024 ERA Supplier of the Year award for businesses with over £10m turnover and holds ISO 14001 certification for its commitment to environmental responsibility.
CosyDirect specializes in bespoke Early Years and Primary educational products sourced directly from artisan designers and craftspeople, focusing on sustainable, reusable, and natural classroom resources.
Because their customer base primarily consists of schools and nurseries, purchasing is often handled by multiple staff members with varying spending permissions and approval requirements.

Challenges

No sub-account structure for institutions with multiple purchasers
No approval system for junior staff orders
No spending limits or approval thresholds per user
No shared institutional address functionality
No visibility controls between parent and child users
High manual administrative workload for account management and approvals
Product recommendation templates from N osto did not match the frontend design experience

Technology Stack Used

Magento 2
RequireJS
jQuery
Knockout JS
PHP 8.1
MySQL

The Solutions Provided

Parent & Child Account Hierarchy

- A scalable parent / child customer account architecture was built to allow schools and institutions to create multiple purchaser accounts under a single master account.

Parent accounts can:

Create and manage sub-accounts
Configure approval rules
Define spending permissions
Control visibility settings
Share delivery addresses

Child accounts can:

Place orders within assigned permissions
Access approved institutional addresses
Submit orders for approval when required

Custom Order Approval Workflow

- A bespoke approval workflow was developed to support educational purchasing processes.

Orders placed by child users can:

Be auto-approved within predefined spending thresholds
Require manual approval from budget holders when limits are exceeded
Move through a structured approval queue with status tracking

Parents receive a centralized dashboard displaying:

Pending approvals
Child account information
Submit orders for approval when required
Order totals
Dates and statuses

This eliminated the need for manual email-based approval handling.

Spending Controls & Threshold-Based Automation

- Custom spending rules were implemented per child account.

Features included:

Lower and upper spending thresholds
Auto-approval for smaller purchases
Manual approval only when required
Reduced approval fatigue for administrators

This created a balance between purchasing flexibility and budget control.

Shared Address Management

- A custom address-sharing mechanism was introduced to simplify institutional ordering.

Key functionality:

Child accounts can use parent delivery addresses during checkout
Parent addresses remain read-only for child users
Address editing and deletion restrictions prevent accidental changes

This removed the need for repetitive address entry and reduced delivery errors.

Optimized Magento Performance

- Performance optimization was a major focus during development.

The system used:

Native Magento collections with pager blocks
Single joined SQL queries using join Left
Optimized data loading for approval queues and order dashboards
Elimination of inefficient N+1 repository calls

This ensured smooth performance even with large institutional account structures and high order volumes.

Nosto Integration & Frontend Personalization

- The project also included a complete integration with Nosto for product personalization and campaign management.

Custom frontend template integration ensured:

Product recommendations matched the existing storefront design
Personalized campaigns blended seamlessly into the customer journey
Improved merchandising visibility without disrupting UX consistency

Key Features and Benefits

Fully custom parent/child account structure
Institutional order approval workflows
Threshold-based automatic approvals
Shared institutional address management
Approval queue dashboard
Configurable account visibility controls
Optimized Magento query performance
Seamless N osto personalization integration
Scalable and maintainable architecture without third-party dependency

The Results

Schools and nurseries can now manage multiple staff purchasers under a single account
Orders within approved spending thresholds flow automatically without manual intervention
Parent account holders have complete visibility of all child account activity
Shared addresses simplified the checkout experience for institutional users
Administrative workload related to approvals and account management was drastically reduced
Personalized product recommendations improved customer engagement and merchandising consistency

CONCLUSION

Transformed a standard Magento 2 store into a fully functional B2B institutional purchasing platform
Built a completely custom parent/child account hierarchy tailored for schools and nurseries
Enabled configurable order approval workflows with automated threshold-based approvals
Reduced manual admin effort through streamlined approval and account management processes

Allowed child users to access shared institutional addresses securely during checkout
Improved purchasing visibility for budget holders with centralized dashboards and order tracking
Optimized Magento performance using native collections and efficient S QL joins
Delivered seamless N osto integration with frontend- matched personalization templates
Eliminated dependency on third-party B2B extensions through a scalable custom-built solution
Created a future-ready platform capable of supporting growing educational institutions across multiple regions

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