AF Group & Affinity Fuels

Delivering Content-Led Commerce at Scale

Key achievements

2 million litres of heating oil sold via the D2C platform
6% increase in digital revenue for Affinity Fuels
42% conversion rate (up from 25%) for online purchases
20% of orders now placed outside office hours

AF Group, the UK’s largest agricultural buying co-operative, partnered with Netcel to launch an integrated digital buying platform for its members and a new direct-to-consumer fuel brand, Affinity Fuels.

Powered by Optimizely, the shared commerce infrastructure delivers a seamless, content-rich experience across B2B and B2C audiences.

Key takeaways

Launched a unified Optimizely commerce platform for B2B and D2C

Blended transactional and editorial content for seamless digital journeys

Achieved rapid adoption and measurable revenue growth

Enabled 24/7 self-service and reduced operational load

Future-fit architecture supports expansion without duplication

The Challenge

AF needed to modernise its traditionally offline operations while managing:

A complex product catalogue
Two distinct audiences: co-op members and domestic fuel buyers
Operational efficiency without duplicating systems

The goal was to unlock new revenue streams through digital self-service and reduce call centre load.

Netcel's Approach

Experience Design

Created intuitive journeys tailored to B2B and B2C segments
Built editorial content to support complex purchase decisions

Solution Architecture

Delivered a unified commerce platform with shared architecture
Ensured future scalability for product and channel expansion

Operational Enablement

Enabled 24/7 self-service ordering
Streamlined content management across teams

The Solution

AF Group's unified platform now operates on Optimizely CMS and Configured Commerce, integrated with Graph, delivering:

✅ Member portal for farm businesses with expert-led support

✅ Affinity Fuels consumer channel offering online fuel purchase

✅ Editorial content supporting both transactional and advisory needs

Impact

❇️ 2 million litres of heating oil sold via the D2C platform

❇️ 6% increase in digital revenue for Affinity Fuels

❇️ 42% conversion rate (up from 25%) for online purchases

❇️ 20% of orders now placed outside office hours

❇️ 18,600+ products available for online ordering

Launching a unified digital platform didn’t just improve service — it created a flexible foundation for future growth. Netcel understood our business and built something that reflects our members’ needs while unlocking new possibilities.

Samantha Barrell Head of Technology, AF Group

Why Optimizely Configured Commerce?

Key to the platform selection of Configured Commerce are its strengths over other commerce platforms. Designed specifically for B2B, the platform enables the efficient set up and management of complex product groups, pricing models, buying relationships and quotation management. Combined with Optimizely's industry leading CMS that enables authoring of advisory content to delivers a frictionless buying process 24/7 and on any device.