The document discusses strategies for maximizing online storefront performance during traffic spikes, emphasizing collaboration among a diverse team of experts. It outlines a checklist for server management, scalability, and efficient caching in Magento, suggesting best practices for handling increased online shopping activity. The importance of responsive design and preparing for peak traffic days is also highlighted to enhance user experience and minimize downtime.

1. Maximizing your online storefront for
dramatic traffic spikes

2. a little
about us

3. is a Zulu word that refers
indaba to a gathering for sharing
ideas, doing business, and
discussing important
matters.

4. an experienced team of
we‘re designers, developers,
pm’s, sales and accounting
- all working together to
create awesome sites.

5. we have a variety of
clients from archery, to car
who parts, to subscription sites,
to tea, to online
marketplaces, clothes,
bikes and beef!

6. we have four Certified
smart Magento Developers on our
team, ensuring your code
will run properly.

7. is flying helicopters, filling
the office keg, cracking
fun jokes, and creating
amazing, functional and
converting websites for
clients.

8. what we
do at indaba

9. we design
for
usability,
based on
design best
practices
with a
discerning
eye for
design

10. we
develop
websites
with
develop clean,
functional
code in
magento
and cms
platforms:
*certified

11. we dig
deep to
problem figure out
what your
company
solve needs, and
provide
the best
possible
solution.

12. topics of
discussion
shoppers create plan maximize

13. shopping
online is growing, growing, growing

14. Forecasted online shoppers
[Source: U.S. Online Retail Forecast]
$202
billion
$226 $327
billion billion
2011 2012 2016

15. Forecasted online spending
[Source: U.S. Online Retail Forecast]
192
167
billion
billion
will spend will spend
$1207 on $1738 on
average in average in
2012 2016

16. $96 billion
estimated for holiday spending in 2012
[Source: Shop.org]

17. 23%
23% of all
ecommerce sites
are using Magento
77%
Magento
[Source: Tom Robertshaw, Magento Developer/Meanbee] Other eCommerce

18. Expect the unexpected!
spike!

19. so, what does
this mean?

20. you need a
storefront
that delivers

21. create
an appropriate server environment

22. here’s a
handy
checklist:

23. Server Checklist
1
Create a backup strategy:
Nothing ever works flawlessly, all
the time.

25. created forgot
the the
buzz backup

26. spike!

27. Server Checklist
2
Plan for high volume:
Create scalability, and allocate
enough servers for overflow.

28. 9 servers

29. 12 servers

30. Server Checklist
3
Expect the unexpected:
Perform load tests to make sure
your site can perform under peak
load scenarios - before the traffic
hits.

32. 8,000 Orders
300,000 dollars
1 radio promotion

33. Expect the unexpected
9000
spike!
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
11/30/12 12/10/12

34. Server Checklist
4
House the development server and
web servers in the same
environment.
Allows for updates to be made,
without interfering with the main
site, as well as quick pushes to the
live environment.

35. Server Checklist
5
Enable Magento caching features:
Make sure visitors to your site
aren’t loading all content,
all the time.

36. The average web
page has 8% more
requests this year
than last.
86 98
requests
[Source: Alexa.com 2012 Page Speed and Web Performance]

37. HTTP Caching
Get content to customers. Quickly!
application accelerator
also known as a caching
HTTP reverse proxy

38. 60 shops 3500 products

39. Server Checklist
6
Schedule reports or other admin
tasks during off-peak times:
Don’t run admin tasks during a
rush, or you risk interfering with
the customer experience.

40. run reports
outside
magento

42. when sites
are slow
Just a 1-second retailers
delay in page load can lose
can result in
increased site
abandonment. 7%
[Source: Aberdeen Group]

43. slow sites
cause
stress
AND
anger

44. Server Checklist
7
Use a CDN for serving up static
content (images)
Again, don’t make the customer
load unnecessary content
throughout the pages.

45. Out of top 2000
retails sites, only
459
23% use a CDN
23%
/2000
[Source: Alexa.com Top 2000 Retail Websites]

46. Server Checklist
8
Remove inactive pages, old
promotions and products.
Having old content just bogs down
processes on your server.

47. clean the clutter

48. Server Checklist
9
Get rid of any extra functionality
or modules you aren’t using.
Eliminate unnecessary functions
on your site.

50. Server Checklist
10
Minimize the number
of concurrent
promotions running.
The more rules, the
more calculations
needed.

52. Server Checklist
11
Set any catalog rules
before any peak hours:
It takes time for Magento
to update prices to your
catalog, so give ample
time to update rules - well
ahead of peak traffic
times.

53. maximize
usability and accessibility across all platforms

54. Responsive Design
Make sure your promos can be seen everywhere!
big
promo

55. 1 in 5%
online sales will
happen on a
mobile device
[Source: Strangeloop Collective Study]

56. tablet owners
spend
21%
%
more than
desktop and
laptop shoppers
[Source: Strangeloop Collective Study]

57. Responsive Design
Brendan Falkowski, Gravity Department

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60. Ever heard the phrase:
So easy a monkey
could do it?

66. wrapping
it all up

67. plan for
peak days,
allocate
plan enough
servers so
you don’t
experience
down time

68. streamline
your
magento
store as
prepare much as
possible,
and share
the load
between
servers

69. create a
site that
is usable,
design friendly,
and
follows
best
practices

70. the end!
www.indabagroup.com / hello@indabagroup.com / @indabagroup