CERATIZIT Group, specialising in machining tools and hard material solutions, were looking to relaunch their global corporate website with new content and new technology. The main task was to support the customer journey of the different target groups with a new digital solution in the best possible way. The result is a digital experience platform in the B2B manufacturing segment combining product information and informative corporate content with linked e-commerce functionalities.
- Customer
- Ceratizit Group
- Customer since
- 2018
- Go-Live
- February 2021
- Website
- https://www.ceratizit.com/
18
people in the team
8
development sprints
35+
components developed
Different Target Groups
CERATIZIT Group does not only offer a vast product portfolio for different target groups – the international company consists of business units with a complex structure, all of whom contribute content. That is why, apart from creating central access to all information for CERATIZIT, the company also wanted our help in moving away from a hierarchically structured portfolio towards a flexible customer experience: From anywhere on the corporate website, customers can access the product portfolio of cutting tool solutions and hard material solutions. In self-service, they can access information on expertise, applications, solutions and products. The new solution is based on the Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) content management system, using a headless architecture.The comprehensive experience also incorporates the e-commerce solutions accessible via the frontend. Links and instructions on the related landing page take users to the right shop.In a nutshell, CERATIZIT.com describes the potent character of a website with a global focus. It can also be tailored to the demands of regional markets. Thanks to this, the commerce solutions of the company will be integrated more closely and seamlessly into the site itself in the future. The bandwidth of services provided by Unic in this project is enormous.
New Navigation Structure
Based on extensive analysis, we were able to completely restructure the existing site architecture with the CERATIZIT Group and significantly improve access to the products. The navigation structure now reflects the desired clarity and takes into account the customer journeys defined ahead of time. Users can now access hard material solutions or cutting tool solutions from different access points. Every one of these tabs (industries, products, applications and services) contains tailored content and leads to the information or product the user searched for. Details pages on individual products can be enhanced with integrated tab navigation enabling easy switching between subpages.Should visitors be looking for a broader overview of products, the portfolio can also be accessed by industry or product application. This showcases the industries and applications served by the CERATIZIT Group. In addition, potential customers will receive information on the specific industry knowledge or product applications of the CERATIZIT Group, based on their specific needs. If required, users can access the relevant product portfolio from here.
Needs-Based Search
Seek and ye shall find, this was the motto for the needs-based search we developed for CERATIZIT.com. Users can not only search for regular website content. Attributes such as documents and locations are also taken into account on hundreds of subpages in seven languages.The same goes for the location and contact search on the company site. Both searches offer filters for the search results to obtain detailed information. Users can search by continent, country and product world. In addition, they can filter by dealer, career, production and sales. A well-structured interactive map provides additional visual information.
Sticky – Your Special Contact Feature
We additionally included the search variants described above in a minimalistic sticky element. The sticky element offers access to the contact form, service and location search with a click and is always visible on the CERATIZIT pages. The only exception is the HR area. We decided against displaying this information here since it is less relevant for applicants during the application process. Here, the sticky element is converted into an “apply” button.
Career and Media
The human resources and media areas have also been overhauled. Both categories are included in the top-level navigation and use tiles to guide users to relevant pieces of information. Here, we also included a powerful search for news and press releases.A special feature: The career section not only provides international job postings; every posting also includes a direct jump-off to the application form.
Flexible Marketing, Individual Modules
What looks elegant and simplistic in the frontend is based on a backend with a multitude of layout variants. Apart from simple teaser images, sliders and other layout options and modules are available to editors. It is also possible to combine the entire range.To allow for flexibility not just in template design but also in content management, we implemented what are known as experience fragments for the marketing of the CERATIZIT Group. These allow employees to use the same content in several locations on the website, adjusted for context. The kick: Search engines only index the content of the original page, avoiding any SEO issues with duplicate content.
A modern, lightweight and airy design with a new image language make a strong impression. The new navigation concept and a complete responsive design make it easier than ever to find the right information and deliver a great user experience throughout all devices.
Christian Stinshoff
E-Business Specialist \ Group Marketing & Communication
State-of-the-art Architecture for the Industry
As mentioned above, we created a headless architecture for CERATIZIT.com. This means that the frontend is decoupled from the backend. Both components are still connected for standard processes such as data exchange, but with this architectural approach, changes to the frontend can be implemented without them affecting the backend, and, of course, vice versa. The CMS is the central system for the management of information. The frontend accesses the backend via APIs to retrieve the required data sets. This way, content can be reused for other channels or touchpoints in the future. External sources such as Google Maps are linked directly to the frontend and are only enriched with information from the backend. Of course, the digital platform allows for the integration of additional services.To provide maximum flexibility to the different teams, they use different instances (development layer, integration layer and production system). In the development layer, software architects can test and execute code without interference. The integration layer is the right environment to test specific functionalities or content types before they move to the production system. The dedicated production system decouples the code from the “sandbox” and ensures the quality of the CMS.
The highly modern headless architecture will allow us to go much further than simply revamping our existing company website. The new software infrastructure will lay the foundations for our digital online future over the next few years and will allow us to be more flexible in responding to future requirements. This will open up new avenues for unparalleled sales and marketing activities.
Christian Stinshoff
E-Business Specialist \ Group Marketing & Communication
Contact for your Digital Solution with Unic
Book an appointmentAre you keen too discuss your digital tasks with us? We would be happy to exchange ideas with you: Jörg Nölke and Gerrit Taaks (from left to right).
Contact for your Digital Solution
Book an appointmentAre you keen to talk about your next project? We will be happy exchange ideas with you: Melanie Klühe, Stefanie Berger, Stephan Handschin and Philippe Surber (clockwise).
