Automaailm: when speed is of the essence

The challenge

A car parts store has to offer everything from a turn signal cover for a 2020 Peugeot to a John Deere pedal tractor for kids. Handling a range like that takes systems that can cope with large volumes of data and growing demands, and Automaailm's old store no longer could.

The store is closely tied to several external systems: product catalogues, the traffic register, warehouse systems and accounting software. These integrations made the site slow, and every request took longer than customers were willing to wait. Search results often showed duplicate products, and the mobile view was no longer up to date.

What we did

We rebuilt the store from the ground up. Magento 2 gives the back end the speed and efficiency it needs, React provides a smooth user experience, and Elasticsearch, together with a middleware layer built specifically for Automaailm, makes searching for products and filtering product lists faster. The design stayed largely the same, while the mobile view was rebuilt.

• Fast search and product lists. The middleware layer and a well-designed new database speed up product search and the filtering and display of product lists.
• Every product once. We built an ID-matching system, so each product appears in search only once and it is clear whether it is available in the online store or only in a physical shop.
• A product catalogue put in order. The external catalogue's documentation was incomplete, and the old solution was written in another programming language for an older version of the catalogue. We worked out its logic, and today the integration runs without problems.
• A new mobile view. Shopping on mobile is much more pleasant than before.
• More payment and delivery options. EstoPay and new delivery methods were added to the checkout.
• Automated delivery management. A custom delivery and parcel label module notifies the carrier automatically when a courier is needed, and shipping labels can be generated straight from the admin panel, without entering data by hand.

“In the end, we got the solution working. Today the system works as expected and without problems. Add a thoughtfully built new database, and you get a solution that is a real pleasure to use.” – Tanel Särgava, Project Manager, Opus

The result

Search, product lists and product pages work much faster than before, and each product appears in search only once.

• A faster shopping experience. Integrations no longer slow down every request.
• A clearer product range. Duplicates are gone, and availability online or in store is visible at once.
• A better mobile experience and more payment and delivery options.
• Less manual work. Ordering a courier and creating shipping labels happen automatically.
• Long-term technical reliability.

“On the surface these changes may seem small, but all of them help Automaailm offer its customers the best possible shopping experience while ensuring the solution's long-term technical reliability.” – Tanel Särgava, Project Manager, Opus