Large e-commerce platform rebuilt with Laravel, Vue.js and Elasticsearch

The client is an established online retailer with thousands of products across many categories and customers worldwide. Their platform had fallen behind demand.

The challenge

• Slow pages: long load times raised bounce rates and cut conversions.
• Ageing code: an outdated stack and poor coding practices made the platform hard to maintain and extend.
• Weak search: search was slow and inaccurate across a large catalogue.
• Inconsistent experience: slow navigation and delayed responses frustrated shoppers.
• Limited scale: the system could not absorb more traffic or product listings.

What we built

Back end: Laravel

An API-first Laravel back end handles the catalogue, customer data and other services. We refactored database queries, added Redis caching and moved background work such as emails, order processing and stock updates onto Laravel queues.

Front end: Vue.js

A Vue.js single-page application updates content without full page reloads. Vuex keeps product information, prices and promotions consistent, and lazy loading of images and assets keeps the first load light.

Search: Elasticsearch

Elasticsearch powers product search. Shoppers get fast results across a large inventory, faceted filters (price, category, brand, rating) and tolerance for common misspellings and synonyms.

Migration and rebuild

Existing product and customer data was migrated with its integrity intact. A modular architecture makes new features easy to add, and performance and load testing confirmed the platform could handle peak traffic.

Outcome

The rebuilt platform loads faster, finds products more accurately and is built to grow. Decoupling the front end from the back end also shortened development cycles for new features. We continued to support and maintain the platform after launch.

Work with us

Planning a rebuild of a slow or ageing platform? Tell us about it.