Difrent

The Challenge

Difrent provides appliances, devices, and furniture rentals to Australian consumers who may not qualify for traditional financing. Their business depends on the ability to process applications quickly, assess creditworthiness through alternative data, and route leads efficiently to their support team.

Their existing Sitecore setup was:

• Expensive and overbuilt for their needs
• Difficult to update or manage internally
• Lacked a user-friendly way to process and track applications inside the CMS
• Not optimized for performance, accessibility, or mobile usage

The Approach

Replatforming + Custom Workflow Development

Scandia began by rebuilding the front-end experience using a modular, mobile-first design tailored for simplicity and accessibility. We then migrated all key content and processes from Sitecore to Umbraco.

More importantly, we engineered a custom back-office application review system inside Umbraco, allowing internal staff to:

• Review incoming rental applications
• Track application status and credit flags
• Trigger workflow steps and approvals
• Manage communications and record history
• Run reports across stages and product types

Infrastructure & Support

The site was deployed to a secure, scalable Microsoft Azure environment, with Scandia managing DevOps, uptime monitoring, and hosting reliability.

The Solution

The new Difrent platform empowers both customers and internal agents with tightly integrated tools—built for speed, control, and real-world operational needs.

At the heart of the platform is a custom back office section within Umbraco designed specifically for Difrent’s agents. This internal portal allows staff to:

• Review and manage incoming rental and loan applications
• Take and log phone calls with integrated applicant history and status tracking
• Handle payment plans and collections, with direct integration to Fat Zebra for secure payment processing
• Access real-time credit data from Illion, used for application risk scoring and decisioning
• Track product inventory across categories like electronics, appliances, and home goods
• Maintain full audit logs and user histories across every interaction

On the front end, the public website delivers a mobile-optimized, frictionless application experience, helping applicants complete rental requests quickly and intuitively. Other highlights include:

• Modular content and promotions management
• ADA-compliant, SEO-optimized design
• Secure Microsoft Azure hosting with full DevOps management
• Internal publishing tools for offers, updates, and FAQs—no devs required

The platform connects front-end experience with back-end operations through seamless APIs and service hooks—including live integrations with Fat Zebra for payment processing and Illion for alternative credit data scoring. These tools are core to Difrent’s ability to serve a broader audience and operate efficiently at scale.

What's Next

Scandia continues to support Difrent through a managed service retainer that includes:

• Iterative improvements to the workflow engine
• Monitoring and optimization of Azure-hosted infrastructure
• Support for new features like product bundling and customer re-engagement workflows
• Future integration with credit score APIs and partner CRMs
• Bringing in the finance and payments side of the business into the same platform for ease of access and a unified access to the entire client life-cycle

As Difrent’s customer base grows, the platform is built to grow with it—without losing sight of speed, accessibility, or trust.