Four Years of Record Summers: The Platform Partnership Powering AP Air’s Online Growth
Managed Support / Bespoke Software Development / Technical Partnership / E-Commerce
- 2022 Technical partnership established
- 4 consecutive Years of online sales growth
- Record summers Every year since the partnership began
Digital Trading took over our platform and immediately felt like part of the team. They understood the system, understood the business, and have consistently delivered over the years. Our online sales have grown every year since they came on board — that doesn’t happen without a technical partner who is genuinely invested in your success.
Gary Watling
AP Air
The Challenge
A specialist platform. A complex product. A partner needed to grow with the business.
AP Air Ltd is a specialist supplier of air conditioning parts for agricultural, construction, and vehicle applications — serving professional customers across the UK and beyond with a catalogue spanning hundreds of brands and thousands of parts. Their online platform is central to how customers find, select, and order the right components for their specific vehicles and machinery.
Getting that right is not straightforward. Air conditioning parts are highly application-specific — the correct compressor, condenser, or evaporator for one vehicle may be entirely wrong for another. The platform needs to guide customers accurately through that complexity, maintain the integrity of a large and constantly evolving product and vehicle dataset, and support the internal team in providing the expert guidance AP Air is known for.
When the platform’s original development company in the Netherlands stepped back in 2022, AP Air needed a technical partner who could take full ownership of a business-critical system — understand it, maintain it, develop it, and grow with the business. Not a contractor to hand tickets to. A partner to trust.
The Solution
Full platform ownership. Genuine partnership.
Digital Trading took over as AP Air’s technical partner in 2022 — assuming full responsibility for the platform and embedding as a long-term extension of the team.
The backend system manages every layer of the operation: vehicle data and product catalogues organised by type, brand, and application; product and OEM export pipelines; order management and customer administration; and the data integrity layer that ensures customers are guided to the right part for their specific vehicle. The internal support team relies on the same platform to provide the expert guidance that sets AP Air apart from generalist suppliers.
The relationship operates as a genuine technical partnership — not a break-fix arrangement. Digital Trading works proactively alongside AP Air, understanding the product, anticipating platform needs as the business grows, and contributing to decisions about capability and direction. When changes are needed, they are delivered with full context. When issues arise, they are resolved quickly by a team that knows the system inside out.
That depth of knowledge and continuity of involvement is not something that can be replicated by rotating developers or reactive support contracts. It is built over time, through consistent delivery and genuine investment in the business.
The Result
Four consecutive years of growth. Every summer better than the last.
Since the partnership began in 2022, AP Air’s online sales have grown every year — with each summer delivering record-breaking performance. Four consecutive years of growth is not coincidence. It is the result of a platform that performs reliably, evolves with the business, and supports the commercial ambitions of a team that knows its market.
The platform underpins AP Air’s ability to serve professional customers accurately and efficiently at scale — and the partnership that supports it has become a genuine competitive advantage.
- Technical partnership established in 2022, taking full ownership of a business-critical e-commerce platform
- Backend system manages vehicle data, product catalogues, OEM exports, orders, and customer administration
- Data integrity layer guides customers to the correct part for their specific vehicle or machinery
- Four consecutive years of online sales growth, with each summer delivering record-breaking results
- Long-term embedded partnership — proactive, invested, and aligned with AP Air’s commercial growth
Services:
- Managed Support
- Bespoke Software Development
- Technical Partnership
- E-Commerce