Expanding e-commerce capacity
Despite the fact that people are reading less, the book market continues to perform rather well. This is partly due to the fact that the online choice is enormous and you have unique possibilities via a webshop to “link” people to a book. For online book and media seller BookSpot, both aspects, choice and personalization are therefore extremely important. To bring these aspects back even better, the company decided to redevelop the front end of its e-platform to a large extent with the help of LINKIT.
The challenge
The idea of the platform economy is that scale leads the pack. The larger the offer, the better. It was therefore extremely important for BookSpot to also offer their large, decades-old catalogue of media online. This would significantly increase the offer on the webshop. From having books only they now offer music, games and movies.
To support the strong growth of BookSpot, the new platform, which runs on Intershop, also had to become more user-friendly, scalable and easier to manage. What made the assignment challenging was that the legacy platform had to keep managed and continue operating while the new one was being built.
The solution:
JavaScript developer André Teixara was one of the LINKIT experts who contributed to this assignment. In total, more than 25 specialists worked on the new BookSpot.
The first phase of the process that he started with was disconnecting the front-end application from e-commerce platform Intershop. This created more flexibility and it was easier to manage the old application.
Expansion of capacity
At the same time, another team went to work on the new front end as well as upgrading Intershop. By working in parallel, visitors were still able to place orders on the old site, while the APIs were expanded and adapted to new needs. The capacity of the new platform, plus the associated pipelines, has also been adjusted so that the new app can handle millions of requests per day. In this way it was ensured that the platform can grow with the success of BookSpot.
Stack modules
The main stack used was ReactJS. With this stacking of modules, which work according to the principle “first in first out”, it is possible to deliver them quickly and clearly, while they are also easy to manage. In addition, Webpack was used to optimize the code and content and to deliver it quickly.
Finally, André and his team have minimized the number of external links. Those who remained are only called if anything is required.
Satisfied with the result
Converting a sailing ship was an interesting challenge for André. He is very satisfied with the parallel working method and the commitment of the different teams. By working Agile it was possible to keep the communication lines short and clear. Feedback could also be processed so quickly. The new tech stack is now optimally deployed, making the project more than successful.
Ready for the future
It was a special moment for both BookSpot and the developers when the new front-end was switched for the new one, all at the touch of a button. Not only is their range of entertainment offerings now much greater, the user-friendliness has also improved considerably, especially in the field of search, ordering, payment and delivery. Now, BookSpot is ready for the future. And it may come sooner than expected. There is now a whole waiting list of new features ready for development that will make ordering a book or a movie even easier and more fun.
Do you want to know what LINKIT can mean for your webshop or e-commerce? Please contact one of our experts for more information. Or read our whitepaper about the importance of excellent (mobile) web performance.
