How did Stobag transform its business with Hygraph?
Stobag shifted from a print-first business to a digital model by implementing Hygraph as its headless CMS. This enabled Stobag to consolidate fragmented product information, create a unified content layer, and deliver content efficiently across B2B and B2C channels. As a result, Stobag increased its online revenue share from 15% in 2018 to 70% today. Note: The migration is ongoing, and SAP remains the host for technical master data while Hygraph is becoming the single source of truth for product and marketing content. Source
What measurable results did Stobag achieve after implementing Hygraph?
Stobag hosts over 30,000 content entries in Hygraph, processes more than 1 million external API requests per month, and saw a 15% increase in online revenue shortly after launch. Over time, online revenue grew to represent 70% of the company's total share. Note: These figures are specific to Stobag's implementation and may vary for other organizations. Source
What were the main challenges Stobag faced before using Hygraph?
Stobag struggled with scattered legacy systems, including web CMS, InDesign files, Excel, and on-premise PIM. This led to content silos, duplication, and bottlenecks in updating information. Access to certain content was restricted to specific files, making updates slow and inefficient. Note: These challenges are common for organizations transitioning from print-first to digital content management. Source
How did Hygraph help Stobag overcome content silos and improve agility?
Hygraph enabled Stobag to consolidate content from multiple sources into a unified layer, allowing for modular content blocks and structured data relationships. The headless CMS approach allowed content to be reused across channels and delivered via APIs, breaking down silos and supporting agile content delivery. Note: Full migration from legacy systems is ongoing; technical master data remains in SAP. Source
Features & Capabilities
What features of Hygraph were critical for Stobag's digital transformation?
Stobag relied on Hygraph's robust GraphQL API, highly structured content model, image manipulation endpoint, translation management, content review workflows, and mass mutations. These features enabled Stobag to deliver content efficiently, manage B2B and B2C content separately, and support product configuration and dealer site updates. Note: Some features, such as mass mutations and translation workflows, require technical setup and may not be suitable for all teams. Source
How does Hygraph's GraphQL API benefit content management?
Hygraph's GraphQL API allows developers to query structured content in flexible ways, combine multiple queries, and reduce API requests while maximizing performance. This was a key factor in Stobag's selection of Hygraph over alternatives. Note: Teams unfamiliar with GraphQL may require onboarding and training to fully utilize this capability. Source
What is the advantage of Hygraph's structured content model?
Hygraph stores content in modular blocks with relational data models, enabling content reuse across channels and clear separation of B2B and B2C content. This reduces maintenance overhead and supports agile content delivery. Note: Migrating from page-based CMSs to modular content models may require changes in workflow and mindset. Source
Technical Requirements & Integrations
What technical requirements did Stobag have for its CMS solution?
Stobag required a CMS with a strong GraphQL API, structured content management, translation workflows, and mass mutation capabilities. The solution needed to support content delivery to multiple audiences via API and enable modular content reuse. Note: Not all CMS platforms offer these features; careful evaluation is recommended. Source
What integrations are available with Hygraph?
Hygraph offers integrations with Digital Asset Management platforms (Cloudinary, Bynder, Filestack, Scaleflex Filerobot), localization tools (EasyTranslate), hosting/deployment (Netlify, Vercel), video management (Mux), object storage (AWS S3), image optimization (Imgix), and Product Information Management (Akeneo). For a full list, visit Hygraph's Integrations Page. Note: Integration setup may require technical expertise and API familiarity.
Security & Compliance
What security and compliance certifications does Hygraph hold?
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (since August 3rd, 2022), ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant. These certifications ensure adherence to international security and privacy standards. Note: Detailed limitations not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics. Source
Customer Proof & Industry Coverage
Which industries are represented in Hygraph's case studies?
Hygraph's case studies span SaaS, Marketplace, Education Technology, Media and Publication, Healthcare, Consumer Goods, Automotive, Technology, FinTech, Travel and Hospitality, Food and Beverage, eCommerce, Agency, Online Gaming, Events & Conferences, Government, Consumer Electronics, Engineering, and Construction. For more details, visit Hygraph's case studies page. Note: Industry-specific features may vary; consult documentation for details.
Who are some notable customers using Hygraph?
Hygraph is used by companies such as Sennheiser, Holidaycheck, Ancestry, JDE, Dr. Oetker, Ashley Furniture, Lindex, Hairhouse, Komax, Shure, Stobag, Burrow, G2I, Epic Games, Bandai Namco, Gamescom, Leo Vegas, Codecentric, Voi, and Clayton Homes. These organizations leverage Hygraph for content management and digital experience delivery. Note: Customer implementations vary; refer to individual case studies for specifics. Source
Implementation & Onboarding
How long does it take to implement Hygraph, and how easy is it to start?
Implementation time depends on project complexity. Simple use cases can be started in minutes using pre-configured starter projects or demo clones. Complex projects benefit from structured onboarding, including introduction calls, account provisioning, and technical kickoffs. Extensive documentation and community support are available. Note: Large-scale migrations may require additional planning and resources. Source
Limitations & Trade-Offs
Are there any limitations or scenarios where Hygraph may not be the best fit?
Hygraph's modular content model and GraphQL-native architecture may require workflow changes for teams used to page-based CMSs. Some advanced features, such as mass mutations and translation workflows, require technical setup. Detailed limitations are not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics. Note: Teams needing highly specialized legacy integrations or non-GraphQL APIs may want to consider alternatives.
Stobag shifts its print-first business to digital with Hygraph
30K
Content entries
hosted
15%
Increase in
online revenue
1M+
External API requests per month
The Stobag story
Your home is where you should feel comfortable and spend quality time. This is something Stobag firmly believes. Stobag has been developing and selling sun and weather protection products to bring this vision to life since 1964.
However, advancements in modern living have also impacted how we buy weather protection solutions. Traditionally, you needed to see product information in printed brochures, visit showrooms, and pick fabric samples in person. Now, you can get technical information about the products online and configure them according to your preferences.
That's why Stobag set out to seek digital transformation to match their business offers to a modern way of home living. For over 50 years, Stobag has relied on printed materials to help customers and partners choose between its various products. Today, Stobag strives to provide customers and partners with the most relevant information and the best online ordering experience.
To accomplish this goal, Stobag had to resolve a fragmented data landscape and create a unified content layer. Previously, Stobag's website was only a complementary marketing tool. It had a mix of B2B and B2C content.
Furthermore, product information was stored across siloed sources like Excel, InDesign, and on-premise PIM, making it difficult to access and use effectively to create business value.
To build the public website and the integrated customer portal, Stobag partnered with Intelliact. The pair opted for a headless approach to manage content on various apps and frontends, ensuring it is displayed at the appropriate time and place. Hygraph was chosen as the headless CMS to facilitate Stobag's digital transformation and easy content creation. As a result of Stobag's digital transformation, their online revenue has increased from 15% to 70% of their company share.
It's vital for us to have all the relevant information at the right place and at the right time. We can only do that if we have content in modules where we can arrange them in different ways and show it whenever necessary.
Daniel FiechterGroup Chief Information Officer (CIO/CDO) at Stobag
Project challenges
Hard to manage content with scattered legacy systems
Stobag used to primarily rely on printing, resulting in scattered information across different platforms like web CMS, InDesign files, and other documents. This led to content silos and difficulties in content management. For instance, certain information could only be accessed through an InDesign file and was not available elsewhere or retrievable via API.
This technical limitation forced Stobag to duplicate content whenever it was in a different context. This resulted in the same information being kept in multiple locations, necessitating updates being made in one place and replicated across others. Furthermore, this created a bottleneck in content updates, as the person with access to the InDesign file ultimately became the gatekeeper.
Digital transformation blocked by contentsilos
Agile digital customer experience is about providing the right content at the right time and place. The challenge faced by Stobag was repurposing existing content and targeting diverse audiences efficiently. For instance, instead of physically printing and mailing catalogs and price lists, providing consumers with online access to information and product configuration options on the company's website is more efficient.
To stay competitive in today's market, companies must offer fast and convenient customer ordering processes. Stobag's limited and inconsistent use of product information made it impossible to leverage and build value-added features like a product configurator. Such features could only be built if they had content in module blocks that could be arranged differently.
Project objectives
Agile content delivery with a headless approach
Stobag envisions a future where they could enable many-to-many content relationships, as they see an increasing need to present the same information in several locations and pull data from different sources. They seek a unified content layer to consolidate scattered content across multiple channels and be the single source of truth.
The headless approach enables the retrieval of content via APIs, which helps to break down silos and allows the same content to be reused in multiple locations. Since this approach provides infinite ways to present content throughout the customer journey, Stobag has decided it is the optimal choice for them.
Manage and request content in a structured way
This project strives to separate B2B and B2C content with maximized content reusability. Developers at Stobag and Intelliact required a solution that can not only manage content but also allow requests in a structured manner. The content needs to be delivered to different audiences in different locations through API. Therefore, Stobag's top priority when searching for a headless CMS was the availability of GraphQL.
Meanwhile, to manage the content publishing process effectively, features like translation management, content review workflows, and mass mutations were also crucial requirements.
Hygraph’s solution:
Together with Intelliact, Stobag researched the market and shortlisted two headless CMSs, Hygraph and Contentful.
Following an extensive evaluation, Stobag and Intelliact chose Hygraph for its strong GraphQL API.
They trusted that Hygraph's deeply nested GraphQL queries would give them more flexibility in structuring and getting back structured content as they query it. Other considerations included the image manipulation endpoint and cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, Stobag enjoyed working with Hygraph because of its accountable product roadmap and timely support.
Here are the features that were critical to delivering the project successfully.
Robust GraphQL API
Hygraph's GraphQL capability met all of Stobag's requirements for success on the project. The GraphQL interface has all the content in the right shape to consume for each use case, which makes it different from other CMSs. Developers can query the data needed in a structured way and combine all queries together to reduce requests while maximizing performance.
Highly structured content model
With Hygraph, Stobag can manage and consume highly structured content with a relational data model rather than rich text. Unlike most headless CMSs that are page-based, Hygraph stores content with a modular approach; ready to be reused for multiple purposes across channels.
Despite being software as a service, Hygraph is not like the typical software as a service where everything's anonymous and vague. There's still a connection and the relation with the Hygraph team when we need support. Marco Egli Senior Consultant, Intelliact AG
The current setup
In rolling out the implementation, Intelliact created the data models, the structure, the schema, and showed the Stobag team how to use GraphQL APIs. Then Stobag took over the use of Hygraph.
Inside the Stobag organization, the IT department handles all infrastructure, consumes Hygraph content, and integrates it into different frontend systems. The Product Management team is responsible for feeding content into Hygraph.
Stobag and Intelliact developed the B2B customer portal "PartnerNet" and the B2C public website using two Hygraph projects, one managing general marketing content and the other acting as a product information database. Aside from technical content and mass data that comes from systems like SAP, Hygraph is becoming Stobag's single source of truth for product information and marketing content.
Here’s a closer look at Stobag use cases:
Product information system
Stobag is currently consolidating product information into Hygraph and plans to replace the legacy PIM applications eventually. The product information stored in Hygraph enables Stobag to leverage APIs for content reusability. This is critical to the customer journey, as product information is used in several touchpoints to support dealers.
The product information is used, for instance, in PartnerNet's eCommerce configurator. Stobag uses Hygraph to display and add product information for configuration attributes before customers purchase the products. Stobag describes the attributes within Hygraph and calls the right information during product configuration.
Stobag also uses Hygraph in several other ways to maintain good relationships with dealers. For example, Stobag now offers a feature that automatically updates dealer sites with product information from Stobag. The company also developed a fabric ordering tool that acts as a lead magnet, offering customers the option of ordering samples and setting up appointments with showrooms and then handing the leads over to dealers.
Website content management
Structured content allows Stobag to have a clear separation of B2B and B2C content now. This helps them be closer to the end customers and target them directly. The Hygraph headless CMS, on the other hand, has the advantage of interconnecting content between B2C and B2B use cases. This eliminates unnecessary time spent maintaining content.
The tech stack
Inside the Stobag tech stack, Hygraph headless CMS replaced the legacy system and fetched content from existing sources via APIs. SAP is the ERP system and hosts the master data. The frontend applications source information directly from SAP and other systems. Stobag uses CPQ software for the runtime environment to build the configurator inside PartnerNet on the web. Several other systems, such as CRM, are also involved in the customer journey.
As the migration moves along, Stobag will aggregate all non-technical information in Hygraph. SAP will remain the host for technical master data, while Hygraph will become the single source of truth for all other information.
The results and key benefits
By launching the new website and customer portal, Stobag has improved its content landscape and refreshed its brand identity. Through its online presence, Stobag now offers a seamless customer journey from B2C to B2B and has transformed its print-first business into a digital one.
Refreshed brand identity
Stobag not only launched a new website with this project but also refreshed the branding to align with their brand values. The content for B2B and B2C is now well-separated, reducing the need for unnecessary content maintenance.
Customer experience transformation
Stobag now offers an exclusive customer experience with PartnerNet. As the customer journey progresses, product information is better leveraged to assist the customer in ordering faster. Maintaining relationships with partners, such as the lead magnet Stobag developed, has become easier, which provides qualified leads to partners. This further enabled Stobag to create a seamless customer journey between B2C and B2B.
Print-to-digital business transformation
In 2018, Stobag’s online revenue was 15% of its total business share. Nowadays, it’s at 70%. In 2019, the PartnerNet customer portal was built from scratch to become a one-stop shop for dealers online, and it has proven successful. With Hygraph, Stobag is working towards a future where they will only provide print on demand, where dealers would receive their personalized price lists with one click, and content would come from Hygraph.
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Be the first to know about releases and industry news and insights.
Stobag shifts its print-first business to digital with Hygraph
30K
Content entries
hosted
15%
Increase in
online revenue
1M+
External API requests per month
The Stobag story
Your home is where you should feel comfortable and spend quality time. This is something Stobag firmly believes. Stobag has been developing and selling sun and weather protection products to bring this vision to life since 1964.
However, advancements in modern living have also impacted how we buy weather protection solutions. Traditionally, you needed to see product information in printed brochures, visit showrooms, and pick fabric samples in person. Now, you can get technical information about the products online and configure them according to your preferences.
That's why Stobag set out to seek digital transformation to match their business offers to a modern way of home living. For over 50 years, Stobag has relied on printed materials to help customers and partners choose between its various products. Today, Stobag strives to provide customers and partners with the most relevant information and the best online ordering experience.
To accomplish this goal, Stobag had to resolve a fragmented data landscape and create a unified content layer. Previously, Stobag's website was only a complementary marketing tool. It had a mix of B2B and B2C content.
Furthermore, product information was stored across siloed sources like Excel, InDesign, and on-premise PIM, making it difficult to access and use effectively to create business value.
To build the public website and the integrated customer portal, Stobag partnered with Intelliact. The pair opted for a headless approach to manage content on various apps and frontends, ensuring it is displayed at the appropriate time and place. Hygraph was chosen as the headless CMS to facilitate Stobag's digital transformation and easy content creation. As a result of Stobag's digital transformation, their online revenue has increased from 15% to 70% of their company share.
It's vital for us to have all the relevant information at the right place and at the right time. We can only do that if we have content in modules where we can arrange them in different ways and show it whenever necessary.
Daniel FiechterGroup Chief Information Officer (CIO/CDO) at Stobag
Project challenges
Hard to manage content with scattered legacy systems
Stobag used to primarily rely on printing, resulting in scattered information across different platforms like web CMS, InDesign files, and other documents. This led to content silos and difficulties in content management. For instance, certain information could only be accessed through an InDesign file and was not available elsewhere or retrievable via API.
This technical limitation forced Stobag to duplicate content whenever it was in a different context. This resulted in the same information being kept in multiple locations, necessitating updates being made in one place and replicated across others. Furthermore, this created a bottleneck in content updates, as the person with access to the InDesign file ultimately became the gatekeeper.
Digital transformation blocked by contentsilos
Agile digital customer experience is about providing the right content at the right time and place. The challenge faced by Stobag was repurposing existing content and targeting diverse audiences efficiently. For instance, instead of physically printing and mailing catalogs and price lists, providing consumers with online access to information and product configuration options on the company's website is more efficient.
To stay competitive in today's market, companies must offer fast and convenient customer ordering processes. Stobag's limited and inconsistent use of product information made it impossible to leverage and build value-added features like a product configurator. Such features could only be built if they had content in module blocks that could be arranged differently.
Project objectives
Agile content delivery with a headless approach
Stobag envisions a future where they could enable many-to-many content relationships, as they see an increasing need to present the same information in several locations and pull data from different sources. They seek a unified content layer to consolidate scattered content across multiple channels and be the single source of truth.
The headless approach enables the retrieval of content via APIs, which helps to break down silos and allows the same content to be reused in multiple locations. Since this approach provides infinite ways to present content throughout the customer journey, Stobag has decided it is the optimal choice for them.
Manage and request content in a structured way
This project strives to separate B2B and B2C content with maximized content reusability. Developers at Stobag and Intelliact required a solution that can not only manage content but also allow requests in a structured manner. The content needs to be delivered to different audiences in different locations through API. Therefore, Stobag's top priority when searching for a headless CMS was the availability of GraphQL.
Meanwhile, to manage the content publishing process effectively, features like translation management, content review workflows, and mass mutations were also crucial requirements.
Hygraph’s solution:
Together with Intelliact, Stobag researched the market and shortlisted two headless CMSs, Hygraph and Contentful.
Following an extensive evaluation, Stobag and Intelliact chose Hygraph for its strong GraphQL API.
They trusted that Hygraph's deeply nested GraphQL queries would give them more flexibility in structuring and getting back structured content as they query it. Other considerations included the image manipulation endpoint and cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, Stobag enjoyed working with Hygraph because of its accountable product roadmap and timely support.
Here are the features that were critical to delivering the project successfully.
Robust GraphQL API
Hygraph's GraphQL capability met all of Stobag's requirements for success on the project. The GraphQL interface has all the content in the right shape to consume for each use case, which makes it different from other CMSs. Developers can query the data needed in a structured way and combine all queries together to reduce requests while maximizing performance.
Highly structured content model
With Hygraph, Stobag can manage and consume highly structured content with a relational data model rather than rich text. Unlike most headless CMSs that are page-based, Hygraph stores content with a modular approach; ready to be reused for multiple purposes across channels.
Despite being software as a service, Hygraph is not like the typical software as a service where everything's anonymous and vague. There's still a connection and the relation with the Hygraph team when we need support. Marco Egli Senior Consultant, Intelliact AG
The current setup
In rolling out the implementation, Intelliact created the data models, the structure, the schema, and showed the Stobag team how to use GraphQL APIs. Then Stobag took over the use of Hygraph.
Inside the Stobag organization, the IT department handles all infrastructure, consumes Hygraph content, and integrates it into different frontend systems. The Product Management team is responsible for feeding content into Hygraph.
Stobag and Intelliact developed the B2B customer portal "PartnerNet" and the B2C public website using two Hygraph projects, one managing general marketing content and the other acting as a product information database. Aside from technical content and mass data that comes from systems like SAP, Hygraph is becoming Stobag's single source of truth for product information and marketing content.
Here’s a closer look at Stobag use cases:
Product information system
Stobag is currently consolidating product information into Hygraph and plans to replace the legacy PIM applications eventually. The product information stored in Hygraph enables Stobag to leverage APIs for content reusability. This is critical to the customer journey, as product information is used in several touchpoints to support dealers.
The product information is used, for instance, in PartnerNet's eCommerce configurator. Stobag uses Hygraph to display and add product information for configuration attributes before customers purchase the products. Stobag describes the attributes within Hygraph and calls the right information during product configuration.
Stobag also uses Hygraph in several other ways to maintain good relationships with dealers. For example, Stobag now offers a feature that automatically updates dealer sites with product information from Stobag. The company also developed a fabric ordering tool that acts as a lead magnet, offering customers the option of ordering samples and setting up appointments with showrooms and then handing the leads over to dealers.
Website content management
Structured content allows Stobag to have a clear separation of B2B and B2C content now. This helps them be closer to the end customers and target them directly. The Hygraph headless CMS, on the other hand, has the advantage of interconnecting content between B2C and B2B use cases. This eliminates unnecessary time spent maintaining content.
The tech stack
Inside the Stobag tech stack, Hygraph headless CMS replaced the legacy system and fetched content from existing sources via APIs. SAP is the ERP system and hosts the master data. The frontend applications source information directly from SAP and other systems. Stobag uses CPQ software for the runtime environment to build the configurator inside PartnerNet on the web. Several other systems, such as CRM, are also involved in the customer journey.
As the migration moves along, Stobag will aggregate all non-technical information in Hygraph. SAP will remain the host for technical master data, while Hygraph will become the single source of truth for all other information.
The results and key benefits
By launching the new website and customer portal, Stobag has improved its content landscape and refreshed its brand identity. Through its online presence, Stobag now offers a seamless customer journey from B2C to B2B and has transformed its print-first business into a digital one.
Refreshed brand identity
Stobag not only launched a new website with this project but also refreshed the branding to align with their brand values. The content for B2B and B2C is now well-separated, reducing the need for unnecessary content maintenance.
Customer experience transformation
Stobag now offers an exclusive customer experience with PartnerNet. As the customer journey progresses, product information is better leveraged to assist the customer in ordering faster. Maintaining relationships with partners, such as the lead magnet Stobag developed, has become easier, which provides qualified leads to partners. This further enabled Stobag to create a seamless customer journey between B2C and B2B.
Print-to-digital business transformation
In 2018, Stobag’s online revenue was 15% of its total business share. Nowadays, it’s at 70%. In 2019, the PartnerNet customer portal was built from scratch to become a one-stop shop for dealers online, and it has proven successful. With Hygraph, Stobag is working towards a future where they will only provide print on demand, where dealers would receive their personalized price lists with one click, and content would come from Hygraph.
Sign up for our newsletter!
Be the first to know about releases and industry news and insights.