Sto Explorer

Sto AG is one of the most important international manufacturers of products for building facades. The company is a global leader, particularly in external wall insulation systems. The product range is supplemented by paints and renders, high-quality facade elements, floor coatings and products for concrete repair. The product range is very extensive (see photo of the printed product catalog). Traditional websites cannot satisfactorily display such a quantity in hierarchical sorting: The number of clicks through the product hierarchy and, above all, the page views and loading times associated with each click would make it far too cumbersome to use.

Intelligent product navigation "Sto-Explorer"

At the end of 2007, we approached Sto AG with the idea of the "Sto Explorer". The idea was enthusiastically received and quickly implemented, but only for the international website. Now, during the relaunch of www.sto.de, the "Sto-Explorer" was also integrated on the important German website, including some improvements.

Explorative and targeted navigation

The "Sto-Explorer" is a Adobe Flash navigation tool that enables users to navigate systematically, quickly and efficiently through Sto AG's extensive product catalog. The product range can be searched both exploratively (for users who want to get an initial idea of the product range) and in a targeted manner (for users who are looking for information on specific products). The HTML content selected in the navigation is reloaded via AJAX below the Flash application without having to reload the page.

The new version of the "Sto-Explorer" includes the following improvements:

1. deep linking: one URL for each node

Each node within the product hierarchy can be accessed via a unique URL. This means that you can link to any pages in the product catalog so that the "Sto Explorer" jumps to the desired point when opened and loads the corresponding product page.

2. search engine optimization (SEO): Understanding search engines Flash

The deep linking just mentioned is an important prerequisite for search engine optimization: By giving each path in the product hierarchy its own URL, the (dynamically reloaded) content becomes visible to search engines.

3. measurability

Analysis and statistics tools (Google Analytics & eTracker) do not have to be dispensed with when using Flash: every selection in the Flash application is logged just like a normal call to an HTML page.

4. data transfer from existing software

The product catalog is taken directly from an SAP system via XML exchange format. This has the advantage that the products displayed on the website are always up-to-date and do not have to be maintained twice. Subsidiaries whose product catalog varies do not have to make any further effort to adapt the online presentation.

5. corporate design

With Adobe Flash technology, web applications can easily be designed in a company's corporate design. For example, Sto Explorer uses the embedded Sto Frutiger corporate font.

Languages

The Sto Explorer was published in the following languages and countries:

• German (versions for DE Intranet, DE Internet, CH, AT)
• English
• Dutch
• French
• Italian