TYPO3 & Magento online store combined
The basis for the Hark website launched in March 2020 and the online store it contains is a combination of Magento 2 and TYPO3 CMS. While all products, sales-related content and configurations are made in Magento, the content management system TYPO3 is used to supplement the content.
The new Magento 2 version of Mage UniTY, developed by web-vision, was used to combine the two systems.
Fireplaces or stoves are not "off-the-shelf" products and should blend in as seamlessly as possible with the existing surroundings, often the living space within a detached house. They should match the furnishings and style of the house and its owners. This is why fireplaces and stoves are highly individualized and configurable items.
Based on the Magento 2 system, web-vision has created a configurator that allows website users to configure a stove in terms of body color, door design, glazing color and nominal heat output, for example.
Depending on the appliance type and equipment, the dynamic configurator adapts with the corresponding configuration options so that, for example, completely different configuration options, such as the surround design or cladding, are available for the user to choose from.
The configurator also reacts dynamically to the user's selection. For example, if the user changes the color of the door design or the cornice, a corresponding image is displayed in the gallery. Of course, the product's technical data, downloads and energy and product data sheets are also adapted accordingly.
Extensive product imports and ERP connection
Magento itself is known for having a very flexible system for creating product attributes and attribute sets. A Magento 2 standard installation already comes with just over 60 product attributes for creating and managing products in Magento. Common attributes such as article number, product name, description or various price types are already available "out-of-the-box".
The Magento 2 instance of Hark expands the product information with almost 350 product attributes and thus enables the implementation of the previously mentioned configurators and also filtering on category pages for users.
Website visitors can use the existing filters to easily find the right products for them and compare them with other items.
All product information with all the necessary technical data comes from the in-house ERP system, is enriched in the PIM system at Hark with information such as energy labels, images or downloads and finally transferred to the store.
web-vision has created various import profiles based on the Magento High Speed Import, which, in addition to product master data, also transfer cross-selling, downloads, energy labels and condition-related changes to the Magento system.
Studio finder for over 200 branches
The Hark company has over 200 locations throughout Europe. The studio finder in the new website was developed as a TYPO3 extension and offers visitors the opportunity to find the nearest stove studios and branches based on their own location.
If the user has agreed to the location determination in the browser, the nearest studios are automatically determined and the distance in kilometers to the location is displayed.
The website visitor also has the option of entering their zip code to display the studios within a radius of 50, 100, 150 and 200 km on a Google map.
Each individual fireplace studio and branch has its own details page, where the respective opening hours, nearby studios, consultation appointments and even virtual tours are possible. The virtual tours were embedded in the TYPO3 website using Matterport.
Hark
The traditional company Hark has been on the market since 1971 and has been providing expertise in the areas of stove and fireplace construction for almost 50 years. Based in Duisburg, the company develops, produces and sells high-quality, durable and innovative stoves at over 200 locations in Europe.