A technical catalogue and a trade shop on one website
01 — The brief
Two ways of buying, one website
Ash Air sell everything from a workshop air compressor to a nitrogen skid for a laser cutting plant. Those are two completely different buying decisions and the site has to serve both.
At one end sits specification-led industrial equipment: rotary screw compressors, vacuum pumps, blowers, oxygen and nitrogen generation, piping, dryers and filtration. Those sales start with a technical question and end with a conversation, an audit or a site visit, not a cart.
At the other end sits the trade shop: air tools, fittings, hoses, service kits, small piston compressors. Those buyers want a price, a shipping cost and a checkout.
Behind both is an operating service business with regional technicians, service centres and 24/7 breakdown support, plus a marketing team publishing news, technical articles and case studies every month.
A page per product family Forty-three product categories each get their own landing page with the range, applications and technical detail, plus quick links to case studies, benefits and the blog, so someone specifying equipment can self-serve a long way before they call.
By the numbers
A big site, run by the client
Feature
The online shop runs inside the same site rather than beside it. Trade and DIY buyers get a cart, an account, shipping and promotional pricing, while the industrial range keeps its enquiry and service paths. One platform, one login for the Ash Air team, one place to update a price or a promotion.
- Shop categories by use: home and DIY, professional workshop, oil-free, petrol
- Product pages with specifications, pricing and add to cart
- Promotional banners and free shipping offers the team runs themselves
- Book a service, live chat and regional contacts on every page
- Sign in, cart and checkout on mobile as well as desktop
02 — The process
How we got there
- 01
Mapping the range
Every product family, brand and application area was mapped before design started, so the category tree matched how customers specify equipment rather than how the warehouse is organised.
- 02
Separating the two journeys
Industrial enquiry paths and trade shop checkout paths were designed as distinct routes that share a header, so neither audience has to wade through the other's content.
- 03
Building the shop
Products, categories, pricing, shipping rules, accounts and checkout built on Oncord commerce, with promotional banners and offers the Ash Air team control.
- 04
A content engine
Blog, news, case studies and application pages set up as client-editable content types, which is what has let the team publish hundreds of technical articles since launch.
- 05
Search and ongoing marketing
Structure, metadata and technical SEO through the build, then continuing search and content work as the range and the shop have grown.
The shop, in the site Air tools, accessories, maintenance kits and small compressors sell directly, with the same header, brand and search as the industrial range. Free shipping and seasonal offers are switched on by the client, not by us.
03 — The outcome
One site doing three jobs
A catalogue an engineer can navigate, a shop that transacts, and a service network that is easy to reach from anywhere in the country.
The site has kept growing without a rebuild: 720 pages indexed today, hundreds of products and articles added by the Ash Air team, new brands and product families slotted into the existing structure.
Fuel stay involved on search, content and commerce as the range changes.
Ready for a website like this?
Let's build the next one together
Design, build, content and search, handled by one Auckland team.
