Major Bedding Retailer Handles 12,000 Simultaneous Users During COVID-19 Traffic Surge
Client: Major Bedding Retailer
April 15, 2020
Discover how Creatuity leveraged Adobe Commerce to scale a major bedding retailer's e-commerce platform during the COVID-19 pandemic. By implementing split databases, optimizing code, and executing a swift 62-hour migration, we enabled the platform to handle unprecedented traffic surges—scaling from 5,000 to 12,000+ simultaneous users while dramatically improving performance.
ABOUT THE CLIENT
A prominent American manufacturer and retailer specializing in bedding products—including pillows, mattresses, bed sheets, and sleep accessories—operates primarily as a direct-to-consumer business through their e-commerce platform. The company is known for their commitment to quality products and customer service.
THE CHALLENGE
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the client made a strategic decision to redirect 75% of their production capacity to manufacture face masks for frontline healthcare workers. This decision sparked a viral outpouring of support both online and in the press, including coverage in national media and government announcements.
The resulting publicity led to a dramatic surge in website traffic and sales. Unfortunately, their existing website infrastructure—based on the open-source version of Magento—was unable to handle the increased demand. The site would crash once traffic exceeded 5,000 concurrent visitors, resulting in lost sales opportunities and customer frustration. Add-to-cart actions were taking 30+ seconds or timing out entirely.
THE SOLUTION
Creatuity assembled a dedicated team of four developers to rapidly scale the platform. The solution included:
Adobe Commerce Migration: Migrated from Magento Open Source to Adobe Commerce (Magento Commerce) to access enterprise-grade scalability features, including split database architecture.
Split Database Implementation: Implemented Adobe Commerce’s split database feature, dividing the store database into three independent databases: CMS, sales operations, and checkout. This allows each database to exist on different servers, distributing load and improving performance.
Code Optimization: Comprehensive optimization of the site’s codebase to improve performance under heavy load.
Server Optimization: Worked closely with hosting partner LexiConn to optimize server configuration for high-traffic scenarios.
Rapid Execution: Completed the entire migration and optimization in just 62 hours—compared to the typical 3-month timeline for such migrations:
- Commerce migration: 10 hours
- Split scripts preparation and deployment: 42 hours
- Quality assurance: 10 hours
THE RESULTS
The transformation delivered immediate and dramatic results:
Scaled Concurrent Users: The platform went from crashing at 5,000 visitors to successfully handling 12,000+ simultaneous users—a 140% increase in capacity.
Dramatic Performance Improvement: Add-to-cart time decreased from 30+ seconds (or complete failure) to under 1 second, even under heavy load.
Business Continuity: The client’s primary concern shifted from “will the site crash?” to “will we run out of inventory?”—they were selling products so quickly.
Scalability Foundation: The split database architecture provides room for continued growth, with hosting partners confirming additional headroom for traffic spikes.
“It definitely helps with spreading out the queries and keeping checkout [and] sales running smoothly.” — Hosting Partner Technical Lead, after observing a 2,000 visitor traffic spike
Images Courtesy of New Relic – The graphs show that Adobe Commerce performs with a lower average response time when under a load spike caused by a large number of simultaneous users.
CAPABILITIES DELIVERED
- Migration: Rapid migration from Magento Open Source to Adobe Commerce in 62 hours
- Performance: 30x improvement in add-to-cart response time under load
- B2B: Scalable infrastructure supporting high-volume direct-to-consumer operations
INTEGRATIONS
- NetSuite: ERP integration for order management and inventory synchronization
- PayPal: Payment processing for high-volume transactions
- Elasticsearch: Fast, scalable search for product catalog
- Stripe: Alternative payment method for customer flexibility
CONCLUSION
This project exemplifies Creatuity’s ability to respond rapidly to urgent business challenges. By leveraging Adobe Commerce’s enterprise features—particularly the split database architecture—and executing a compressed 62-hour migration timeline, we transformed a crashing website into a high-performance platform capable of handling unprecedented traffic.
The success demonstrates the scalability benefits of Adobe Commerce and shows how the right technical expertise can help businesses not just survive but thrive when demand suddenly increases dramatically.
Project Team:
- Grzegorz M. – Commerce Migration Lead
- Tomek S. – Code Optimizations
- Krzysztof P. – Split Database Implementation
- Adam Ć. – Quality Assurance & Deployment
- Michael W. – Project Management
- Daniel K. – Team Coordination
- Jonathan V. – Server Optimization Coordination