From a Magento 1 shop to a headless setup on AWS – growing from 5 to 10 stores
- Client
- RABE Bike
- Industry
- Bicycle retail,
- E-commerce
- Duration
- 2014 - today
- Technologies
- Magento,
- Vue.js,
- Tailwind CSS,
- WordPress,
- AWS
The challenge
When the collaboration began in 2014, the business ran through five stores, a Magento 1 shop and a separate TYPO3 website.
The business grew, and increasingly online too, faster than the existing system could keep up.
-
start with Magento 1 and TYPO3
- 2014
-
stores at the start of the collaboration
- 5
-
shop that had to grow faster than its system
- 1
Online as good as in store
A bike retailer with a network of stores does not just sell products. Stock levels, store information, service, leasing and advice have to work online just as they do in store, across a range of thousands of items, many brands and strong seasonal swings.
A platform for many years
On top of that came a requirement that no single project can solve: the platform had to keep pace with the company over many years without every growth step triggering a risky full relaunch.
Our solution
Instead of a big-bang relaunch, we developed the platform in stages.
Each step could be delivered on its own, and the business kept running throughout. First came the migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2, with product data, customer accounts and order histories carried over cleanly.
Headless frontend on Vue.js
In the next step we separated the frontend from the shop back end. A headless frontend on Vue.js has since delivered short load times and a modern shopping experience, while Magento 2 keeps running as a stable commerce back end. The team maintains editorial content such as the magazine, store pages and jobs in WordPress.
Scalable operation on AWS
To handle the seasonal peaks, we moved operations to AWS. The infrastructure scales up when the spring rush begins or a sale starts, and can be scaled back down when things quieten.
Design together with Noisy Oyster
The design was created together with the agency Noisy Oyster: a distinctive brand world that showcases products in a big way and makes the stores visible.
The results
Five stores have become ten, and online revenue has multiplied over that time.
Growing from 5 to 10 stores
The platform kept up with every one of these steps without the business ever having to stand still.
-
of collaboration since 2014
- 12 years
-
stores in that time
- 5 → 10
-
full relaunches with downtime
- 0
The platform today
Today the platform consists of Magento 2, Vue.js and WordPress and runs scalably on AWS. New stores, brands or features can be added without touching the architecture.
Long-term technical responsibility
Behind this is continuous development: requirements change, the company grows, and the technical foundation has to keep pace. For us, long-term technical responsibility means developing systems so that they still fit the business after many years.
Our services
- Concept & e-commerce strategy
- Shop migration Magento 1 → Magento 2
- Headless frontend (Vue.js)
- WordPress for magazine & branch pages
- API integration
- Cloud hosting & scaling on AWS
- Performance optimisation
- Maintenance and further development
Tell us about your project.
You don't need to know the solution yet. In a first conversation we listen, then you get an honest assessment – and either a proposal or a clear no if we're not the right fit.