Metro has ported the content management system (CMS) for its online presence to a new platform. The wholesale company opted for the solutions of the Linz, Austria-based start-up Storyblok. Thanks to the measure, click-through-rate for category products on the Metro website improved by 12 per cent, as the company reported in a user report.
By using the new system, Metro aims to make all processes involved in creating online content more efficient. This includes idea generation, automatically generated content using AI, A/B comparisons and a personalised approach for a better user experience. The company reports that it can now create more than 200 category pages in seven minutes and translate 10 such pages into three different languages within three minutes.
With the Storyblok platform, Metro is replacing a CMS developed in-house by its tech team. This did not meet growing requirements, led to bottlenecks and hindered innovation in the long term. The team therefore looked for an external solution. Decisive factors for the selection were: the software should allow the development of customised, reusable components, the system had to be user-friendly and allow additional tools to be easily integrated, and all components had to run centrally on a standardised platform and thus consolidate the workflows of the different user roles.
Editing without coding skills
After an intensive search, Metro opted for Storyblok, a so-called headless CMS. While traditional content management systems have a monolithic structure, a headless CMS only consists of a backend, the content repository. The user can access this via API from any device to edit, add or delete content.
Storyblok also integrates a visual editor. This shows a preview of the page to be edited. To change content, the user simply must click on the area to be edited. A panel then opens in which they can make all the desired changes. Via drag-and-drop content can be moved easily. This means that even users without programming knowledge can edit the web pages.
Personalised content generates traffic
Metro’s online range offers a very broad assortment which consists of numerous product categories, aimed at many different customer groups. Product pages are set to generate as much traffic as possible. High click and conversion rates can be achieved by personally addressing the different target groups.
This means that numerous websites with different content must be created and maintained. It’s not just about quality, but also about quantity, which is impossible for content managers to accomplish in a short space of time. This is why Storyblok uses artificial intelligence to automatically generate personalised content.
Old and new in parallel operation
The Metro Tech team began migrating to Storyblok with a proof of concept in which internal content was implemented first. The team then created and integrated further components until the entire Metro online marketplace was migrated to the new platform. During the migration process, the old system remained in operation. Users were initially able to choose from which source the respective content was displayed.
