Caching can help deliver a fast browsing experience for ecommerce sites by making frequently accessed pages load quickly. Dynamic scaling can help the site handle spikes in traffic when browsers become buyers to capture more revenue. While 95% of site traffic is from window shoppers, caching pages can improve their experience and make them more likely to convert to buyers. Pairing caching with dynamic scaling ensures the site can handle unpredictable traffic spikes during checkout periods.

1. Cache for Browsing
Scale for Selling
February 2014

2. Is your site costing you more money than it’s making?
A poor performing site treats customers browsing your site the same as if they are
buying from your site.
Slowly
Sophisticated caching can help deliver an eCommerce site that is fast for browsing.
Dynamic scaling can help capture more revenue when browsers become buyers.
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3. Do You Know Who Your Serious Customers Are vs. the Window
Shoppers?
95% of traffic to web-sites is read-only
Most visitors to your site are window-shopping.
They’re checking out:
• your products
• pricing
• shipping costs
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4. Window Shoppers May Eventually Turn into Serious Shoppers
A 1-second delay in page load time equals 11% fewer page views,
16% decrease in customer satisfaction, and 7% loss in conversions
Improving the speed and performance of your site can help the window-shopper and
the buyer.
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5. Cache for Faster Response Time
Define the average time between requests for any given
page
Consider:
• How long can a page live in cache without impacting the
customer experience
•
Length of time that allows a page to remain dynamic and
fresh
We recommend setting cache for 5-10 seconds. After the cache has
expired, the page will be refreshed from the application server.
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6. Cache for Faster Browsing
Categorize different page types
Consider:
• Identifying read-only, popular pages that experience a high
volume of repeat visit
•
Identifying pages where customers will click buy
We recommend caching all catalogue, read-only, static page
(assets). This will move traffic demands from the application to the
caching tier, improving the experience of both your window-shoppers
and the serious buyer.
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7. Cache for Improved Customer Experience
Identify the pages that have infrequent repeat visits
Consider:
• How caching may expire for pages that have infrequent
repeat visits, resulting in requests hitting the application
server.
We recommend analyzing traffic to determine where visitors go within
the site then pre-warm the cache based off that analysis.
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8. Scale for Selling
Scaling for unpredictable, spikey traffic to your site
Consider:
• How you can detect window shoppers vs. serious shoppers
•
How you can ensure transaction-based activity goes
straight to the application server.
We recommend marrying a caching tier with an application scaling
tier. If your site experiences a spike in checkout volume, an
application that can dynamically scale can help your site capture new
revenue.
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9. Cache for browsing; Scale for Selling
Prepare your eCommerce platform for caching by:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Identifying static components (i.e. images, scripts, html pages)
Determining the time frame when pages should be refreshed
Identifying pages that experience frequent repeat visits
Identifying common traffic patterns to ensure traffic from buying
customer is sent to the application server
5. Identifying assets that should not be cached (i.e. a Twitter feed)
Remember: Caching alone is insufficient to deliver a fast and
responsive eCommerce site. Sophisticated caching + dynamic
scaling can transform a poor performing site into a revenue capturing
site.
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