Article

Nisbets - An Omnichannel Composable Storefront

Aim of the project was to provide the Client with a brand new storefront solution, completely decoupled from their backend logic and most of all composable. On top of that, another key part of the delivery was the enablement of the Progressive Web App experience so to add an even more tailored channel for the customer base.

The team successfully delivered the E2E project, maintaining full functional parity, for 11 multi-language, multi-country websites in a fairly reduced timeframe compared to the typical same-size implementations.

Challenges

  • Re-engineering of the integrations and customisations already in place with the new structure of the solution, based on an API layer and a composable decoupled storefront on top.
  • Performance, tracking and SEO issues brought in by the new storefront structure and the single page application approach.
  • Maintaining the functional parity despite the lack of a comprehensive and up to date functional specification document.

Solution

The overall solution was based on two main areas:

  1. the implementation of the backend logic (OCC layer) to build the full set of APIs to power the Storefront.
  2. the implementation of the new AngularJS based storefront in Single Page Application.

As per the challenges, here are the main resolutions:

  • Integrations and customisation reviewed from ground up to match new tech structure OCC+Storefront.
  • Performance improvement via caching mechanisms and leveraging on the new SPA approach.
  • Tracking and SEO re-implemented to maintain the data visibility.
  • Functional parity achieved via a strong implementation validation process.

Results and value added

  • The websites now running on the Composable Storefront are easily maintainable and can be updated according to a separate roadmap in respect of the backend (usually requiring a more lengthy implementation).
  • The performances delivered by the Single Page Application approach are improving the User Experience on the websites.
  • The PWA has created a new and more personal and tailored channel for users which the Client is planning to further develop as part their Client engagement roadmap.