Performance Engineering
Maximizing E-commerce Performance
The Client
Our client is a fast-growing e-commerce retailer start-up specializing in clothing and
accessories. Despite a rapidly growing business, the client’s website was experiencing several
performance issues that negatively impacted the user’s experience, consequently costing the
client valuable sales and lowering customer satisfaction.
The Challenge
The client came to us with a desperate need to improve the performance of their website. While
the website was suitable, it was constantly plagued with frequent slowdowns and page load
delays as the startup’s traffic kept growing. Moreover, the website’s infrastructure completely
lacked scalability, which would make it difficult for it to handle the demands of a growing e-
commerce shop.
Thus, the client needed a solution that would ensure optimal performance even with increased traffic and could capitalize on all sales opportunities.
Thus, the client needed a solution that would ensure optimal performance even with increased traffic and could capitalize on all sales opportunities.
The Solution
Upon thorough analysis, our team was able to create a multi-faceted approach that would ensure
the client had a solid digital platform. We worked closely with the client to ensure we tackled all
the performance issues to allow our clients the best business value.
The first step was to reduce the load time of the website to create a better experience for users. Our engineers took advantage of different caching strategies including, browser caching, content delivery network (CD) caching, and client-side and server-side caching techniques at various levels of the application stack. Thus, we reduced the need for repetitive data retrieval, which minimized server load and sped up content delivery to users.
We also conducted a thorough analysis of the front-end code, looking for any opportunities to optimize the code for a smoother experience. Our team consolidated and compressed several parts of the JavaScript and CSS files to help reduce the amount of data transmission to create a smooth browsing experience.
The second step we took was to conduct an in-depth analysis of the startup’s database. Databases are often an overlooked but essential part of any website that can harbor the user's online shopping experience. After our thorough analysis, we found and enhanced several inefficient queries and indexing key fields. We were able to create the most efficient databases with reduced load times. This helped maximize the performance of the entire system.
We also helped improve the website’s scalability capabilities by reconfiguring the client’s server infrastructure to optimize resource utilization. By applying load-balancing techniques, we ensured the even distribution of incoming traffic across multiple servers. This minimized the risk of server overload and downtime during peak periods, ensuring the website could always handle any increase in traffic, particularly during peak seasons like holidays or promotional events.
Finally, we conducted rigorous chaos testing of the new and improved digital platform. With our chaos engineering tool, we created several targeted attacks and constraints in the client’s enhanced infrastructure, looking for any vulnerabilities, and allowing us to make the website more resilient and reliable.
The first step was to reduce the load time of the website to create a better experience for users. Our engineers took advantage of different caching strategies including, browser caching, content delivery network (CD) caching, and client-side and server-side caching techniques at various levels of the application stack. Thus, we reduced the need for repetitive data retrieval, which minimized server load and sped up content delivery to users.
We also conducted a thorough analysis of the front-end code, looking for any opportunities to optimize the code for a smoother experience. Our team consolidated and compressed several parts of the JavaScript and CSS files to help reduce the amount of data transmission to create a smooth browsing experience.
The second step we took was to conduct an in-depth analysis of the startup’s database. Databases are often an overlooked but essential part of any website that can harbor the user's online shopping experience. After our thorough analysis, we found and enhanced several inefficient queries and indexing key fields. We were able to create the most efficient databases with reduced load times. This helped maximize the performance of the entire system.
We also helped improve the website’s scalability capabilities by reconfiguring the client’s server infrastructure to optimize resource utilization. By applying load-balancing techniques, we ensured the even distribution of incoming traffic across multiple servers. This minimized the risk of server overload and downtime during peak periods, ensuring the website could always handle any increase in traffic, particularly during peak seasons like holidays or promotional events.
Finally, we conducted rigorous chaos testing of the new and improved digital platform. With our chaos engineering tool, we created several targeted attacks and constraints in the client’s enhanced infrastructure, looking for any vulnerabilities, and allowing us to make the website more resilient and reliable.
Results & Benefits
Following the application of our performance engineering solutions, our client saw a significant
improvement in their website:
Faster Page Load Times
The optimization and acceleration techniques applied to the website
caused a 50% decrease in the average page load time, resulting in a smoother browsing
experience for the user and a reduced bounce rate.
Increased Conversion Rates
The enhanced website responsiveness techniques created a
smoother browsing experience, which caused conversion rates to improve by 30% and translated
to more sales for the startup.
Enhanced Scalability
Our scalability techniques ensured that the client’s digital platform could
seamlessly handle traffic spikes during a promotional week without interruptions.