Quick Summary:
Blickers is an online store where you can buy glasses. It gets about 50,000 people visiting the site every month. Blickers is known for having a lot of glasses to choose from, good prices, and great customer service. It was started to make buying glasses online easy and fun.
Understanding the Client's Challenges
Blickers encountered a significant obstacle in its journey to becoming the top digital platform for glasses shopping.
- Deprecated Technology: The website was built on the outdated webapp2 framework, which was no longer supported. This posed a risk to the application's security, performance, and future scalability.
- Inefficient Architecture: The entire application, including end customer and support functionalities, was built into a single source code. This monolithic architecture was difficult to maintain and limited the platform's ability to scale effectively. As the user base grew, the application struggled to handle increased traffic and load, leading to performance issues and a poor user experience.
- Insufficient Distinction Between Customer and Support Services: Having both end customer and support functionalities within the same application created a complex and confusing user interface. This design made it difficult for users to navigate the platform and access the needed support. Additionally, it made it challenging for the support team to manage and respond to customer inquiries efficiently.
- Scalability Issues: With a growing user base of 50,000 monthly users, Blickers faced significant scalability challenges. The monolithic architecture and outdated technology stack made it difficult to scale the application to meet the increasing demand. This limitation affected the application's performance and posed a risk to the platform's ability to grow and adapt to future needs.
- Security Concerns: The use of deprecated technology and a lack of regular updates left the application vulnerable to security threats. This risk not only compromised the privacy and security of user data but also posed a significant risk to the platform's reputation and customer trust.
- Limited Innovation and Flexibility: The monolithic architecture and outdated technology stack limited the platform's ability to innovate and adapt. This constraint hindered Blickers' ability to introduce new features, improve user experience, and stay competitive in the online spectacles selling market.
Utilized our Expertise to Address Business Challenges
To address the challenges faced by Blickers, we have outlined a comprehensive digital transformation plan. This plan aims to modernize the application, improve its architecture, and enhance the user experience. The key components of our proposed solutions are:
- Framework Upgrade: We propose transitioning Blickers from the outdated webapp2 framework to Django, a robust and modern Python web framework. This upgrade will significantly improve the application's performance, security, and scalability.
- Microservice: Architecture Implementation: We aim to implement a microservice architecture, which involves breaking down the monolithic application into smaller, independent services. This approach will enhance the application's scalability, maintainability, and resilience.
- Automated Data Injection: We propose introducing automated data injection through supplier website scraping. This innovative approach will streamline the process of updating product information, reducing manual errors and saving time for the team.
- Separate Support Application: We plan to develop a dedicated support application using Angular, a popular framework for building web applications. This separation will improve the support team's efficiency and provide a better platform for handling customer inquiries, leading to faster resolution times and improved customer satisfaction.
- Modern End Customer Application: For the part of the application where customers can browse and purchase glasses, we suggest using React, a JavaScript library known for its speed and flexibility. This will create a fast, responsive user interface that enhances the shopping experience and encourages more users to visit Blickers.
- Automation Deployment: We propose automating the deployment process to the Google Cloud Platform using CI/CD pipelines and Terraform. This approach ensures a smooth, efficient deployment process, reducing the risk of errors and ensuring that updates are rolled out quickly and reliably.
You might want to read our <a href="https://swansoftweb.com/services/software-modernization/" target="_blank">Software Modernisation</a>
Leveraging Expertise to Solve the Business Problems
To implement our solution proposition and achieve the goals of solving Blickers' business problem statement, we leveraged our expertise in:
- Framework Upgrade: Using our deep knowledge of Django and Google App Engine, we upgraded Blickers to a newer, safer framework. This made the application faster, more secure, and easier to grow.
- Microservice Architecture: Based on our experience with microservice architecture, we split the application into smaller, independent parts. This made the application easier to manage, update, and make bigger.
- Automated Data Injection: Using our skills in web scraping and Google Cloud Functions, we automated the process of updating product information. This made it easier to keep the inventory up-to-date, reducing mistakes and saving time.
- Separate Support Application: Using Angular, we created a dedicated support application. This made it easier for the support team to handle customer inquiries, leading to faster answers and happier customers.
- Modernization of the End Customer Application: For the part where customers can buy glasses, we used React. This made the shopping experience faster and more enjoyable, encouraging more people to visit Blickers.
- Automation Deployment: With our experience in CI/CD pipelines and Terraform, we automated the process of getting the application ready for use. This made it easier to update the application and reduce the risk of errors.
Business Benefits Achieved/Results
The transformation of Blickers into a modern, scalable, and user-friendly application has been a resounding success, marked by significant improvements in user experience, sales, and customer base growth. Here's a breakdown of the key achievements:
- The upgrade to Django and the adoption of a microservice architecture have resulted in a seamless, responsive, and intuitive interface. This has not only made Blickers more appealing to existing users but also attracted new customers, expanding the platform's customer base.
- The modernization of Blickers has directly impacted sales, with the improved performance and scalability of the application allowing it to handle a growing user base more effectively. This has led to a significant increase in sales, demonstrating the effectiveness of the new technologies and architectural patterns.
- The separate applications for end customers and support have not only streamlined the shopping process but also improved customer service, further boosting customer retention and loyalty. This has resulted in an expanded customer base, showcasing the platform's ability to cater to a wider audience.
- The automated data injection process, powered by Google Cloud Functions, has ensured that Blickers' inventory is always current. This feature has reduced the risk of out-of-stock items, enhancing customer satisfaction and reducing the need for restocking.
- The transition to a microservice architecture has improved the application's performance, allowing for faster response times and a more efficient use of resources. This has not only enhanced the user experience but also reduced downtime, leading to a more reliable and stable platform.
- The adoption of Google App Engine and the microservice architecture has provided Blickers with the scalability and flexibility it needs to grow. This has allowed the platform to adapt to changing market demands and user needs, ensuring its long-term success.
In conclusion, the transformation of Blickers into a modern, scalable, and user-friendly application has been a resounding success, marked by significant improvements in user experience, sales, and customer base growth. By embracing modern technologies and architectural patterns, Blickers has not only overcome its immediate challenges but also positioned itself for future growth and innovation.
