Raising money for children with TYPO3
We have been giving stranded orphans and children a loving home since 1954. With the donation web shop, which has been integrated into our existing TYPO3 website, the workflows are easier and projects as well as products can be promoted through one system only.
The challenge
For the organizational website of the international child welfare organization nph deutschland e.V., punkt.de has implemented a shop extension which enables donors to finance individual relief goods. The website of nph deutschland e.V. was developed using TYPO3, so the web shop was to be integrated there. This way editor have to maintain only one system. Furthermore, in case of an increase of traffic on the web shop, it should be possible to run it on its own server.
At the same time, the web shop for nph deutschland e.V. differed significantly from conventional web shops. While there aren't any product variations like size or color and no shipping addresses to consider, it needed filters for specific locations, background information on each product and donation certificates. "Donating differs from shopping," says Detlef von Houwald, online fundraiser at nph deutschland e. V. "Our web shop shouldn't be aimed at getting our customers to buy many expensive products. Instead, it should make them feel good. That, in turn, naturally had an impact on the shop's structure and functionality.
The solution
Before implementing the project, punkt.de sat down with nph Deutschland e. V. and their design agency made in to develop wireframes. These wireframes helped collecting new ideas and trying their technical feasibility. "The whole process was incredibly well thought out and structured." von Houwald reports. Together we decided to use the shop system Aimeos for the realization of the shop. This system manages the shopping process and it seamlessly integrates into the backend of TYPO3, which enables the editors to administrate within a familiar interface. Another benefit was the possibility of integrating specific elements of the shop via plugins in the TYPO3 backend. Nonetheless, the shop's specifications required many specific adjustments and customizations. Sliders, teaser text elements and the usage of gift card codes needed to be implemented. Also, the payment functionality was expanded with an API to the payment service provider PAYONE and the editor's workload has been reduced through automated processes e.g. automatically generated recommendations for similar products.
The ongoing cooperation: a continuous relaunch
The web shop has been online since October 2016, but nph Deutschland e. V. has many more plans. "The shop functionalities will be continuously expanded," von Houwald explains. In further steps, users will be able to share their watch list with friends and relatives and many more languages will be supported. "Another important goal is to further connect projects and products, for example by displaying products on the detail pages for projects," says von Houwald. Because many users visit the shop and the website on their mobile devices, both will be completely optimized for mobile usage.
It's not a question for nph Deutschland e.V. whether they will continue their cooperation with the team: "Extremely transparent, constructive and fast – that's how to describe the cooperation with punkt.de." And the fact that the web shop was honored with the TYPO3 Community Award in 2016 "was the icing on the cake of our cooperation so far," summarizes von Houwald.
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