A very large automotive catalog replatforms across several agencies

The Challenge

One replatform, several agencies, no single owner

Tdot Performance sells automotive aftermarket parts across Canada from a catalog large enough to strain any platform.

The move to a new enterprise platform involved several development agencies and the platform vendor itself, with no one party accountable for the result.

Meanwhile the old store still had to trade safely, on a platform generation no longer receiving security support.

The Strategy

Be the one technical voice the vendors answer to

PeakBeyond took the technical lead role on the client's side: advising how the build should be split between agencies, which catalog search approach to use, and what qualifications the developers needed.

We insisted on hardening the existing store in parallel, because a business cannot pause security while a replatform runs.

During the build we worked the performance and platform tickets directly with the vendor, so problems were resolved rather than passed between suppliers.

The Solution

Technical leadership through two launches

PeakBeyond took the technical lead on the client's side across several agencies, so the program had one voice the vendors answered to.

• Set the shape of the build — Advised how the work was divided between agencies and what qualifications the developers needed.
• Chose the approach for a very large catalog — The catalog search strategy for a parts catalog of that size.
• Kept the business trading during the build — Hardened the outgoing platform rather than pausing security for the replatform.
• Drove the problems to resolution — Worked performance and platform tickets directly with the platform vendor instead of letting them pass between suppliers.
• Led both launches and what followed — Launch support for both storefronts, then triage and prioritization of search sync, bot protection, feed and import issues.

One accountable technical voice carried the program through two launches, and a post-launch deployment brought product pages down to about four seconds from timing out.

The Results

Both storefronts live, and product pages that load

The first storefront launched in February 2023 and the second in July 2023.

One post-launch deployment brought product loads down to about four seconds, from timing out altogether — the difference between a catalog customers can browse and one they abandon.

Post-launch, search sync, bot protection, feeds and imports were triaged and prioritized rather than left to each agency's backlog.

A multi-agency replatform reached two launches because one technical voice was accountable throughout.