What to Look for in AI Solutions: An Ecommerce Guide
Jan 03, 2025 • 10 Minute Read • Thomas John, Commerce Practice Lead
See All Our Insights
A Framework for Peak-Ready Commerce: Lessons from a Restaurant Chain
Oct 10, 2025 • 3 Minute Read • Commerce Strategy Team, Verndale
Platform weaknesses show up in the worst moments. This is especially true for commerce and marketing leaders managing internal and external expectations of their brand's digital experience.
You're faced with the challenge of closing the gap between customer expectations and the realities of legacy commerce systems, while proving ROI on every investment. And if you don't close those gaps, you're at risk when peak traffic events and demand expose underlying challenges.
That was the case for our client, a leading restaurant chain, during the holiday season, one of the most high-pressure digital commerce events of the year.
They came to Verndale after their site went down on a peak day while working with another agency. Orders froze, customers couldn’t check out, and the brand lost millions in revenue. It was a Thanksgiving nightmare no business wants to repeat.
That’s where we came in, helping them rebuild confidence in their platform and turn things around for the following year, achieving a 53% lift in online revenue and a 30% reduction in server load during their next peak season.
Seasonal spikes—whether in B2C retail, B2B procurement, or manufacturing—expose tech debt and experience gaps that can be anticipated and prepared for. For our client, the stakes were high: lost sales, disappointed customers, and a reputation on the line.
Commerce Challenges: Tech Debt, Experience Gaps, and ROI Pressures
Across industries, commerce leaders wrestle with the same pain points:
- Tech debt and integration complexity make performance unpredictable.
- Experience gaps emerge when platforms can’t keep pace with customer expectations.
- ROI pressures demand clear, measurable returns on commerce investments.
The solution lies in adopting a disciplined, framework-driven approach for scalability and performance. So how do you get there?
How to Build a Scalable Commerce Framework That Handles Peak Demand
For this restaurant chain, following a repeatable, 4-step framework that any commerce leadership team can adapt was the key to putting aside quick, temporary fixes and building confidence in their platform's ability to scale and be ready to support their seasonal traffic surge.
Step 1: Start with a Platform Inspection for a Clear Diagnosis
A full digital platform review establishes the baseline. This means evaluating system health, integrations, and potential bottlenecks. For this project, early inspection uncovered vulnerabilities that would have otherwise surfaced under pressure.
Takeaway for leaders: Without a clear understanding of current-state performance, optimization efforts risk being reactive and incomplete.
Step 2: Load Testing and Traffic Simulation for Commerce Platforms
Generic load testing only goes so far. We utilized Peak Holiday scripts, designed to mimic actual customer behavior, including how traffic surges, where customers drop off, and how mobile usage differs from desktop usage.
Takeaway for leaders: Simulation and load testing for ecommerce ensure you’re not just testing volume, but also customer experience under real-world conditions.
Step 3: Optimize Commerce Platforms for Speed and Scalability
Armed with data, the team applied targeted platform tuning, reducing latency, optimizing integrations, and preparing the system to meet and exceed expected demand by 1.5 times.
Takeaway for leaders: Scalability isn’t about adding servers; it’s about smarter optimization that reduces load while preserving the quality of the experience.
Step 4: Real-Time Monitoring and Proactive Commerce Management
The final step is ongoing monitoring and proactive management during the events. This meant real-time oversight and adjustments to keep the platform resilient.
Takeaway for leaders: Commerce doesn’t pause when traffic surges. Proactive monitoring enables teams to shift from firefighting to confidence-driven management.
Commerce Performance Outcomes: Revenue Growth and Load Reduction
The results validated this framework, preventing system failure and creating a capacity for growth.
- 53% increase in online revenue during the holiday event.
- 30% reduction in server load, enabling more traffic without over-investment.
- Record traffic successfully fielded, with holiday meals sold out.
How to Prepare for Seasonal Spikes Across Industries
While this case centered on holiday demand, the framework applies far more broadly, including:
- Manufacturers can manage seasonal procurement cycles without system slowdowns.
- Distributors can handle order spikes tied to supply chain shifts.
- Retailers can scale promotions without sacrificing customer experience.
- Digital leaders across industries can prepare platforms for moments of high demand, from product launches to system migrations.
The key is building repeatability. Each cycle of inspection, simulation, optimization, and monitoring compounds platform resilience. Plus, it builds organizational confidence.
Quick Takeaways for a Peak-Ready Website
- Technology and Infrastructure: Audit your ecommerce platform to uncover hidden weaknesses and areas for improvement.
- Load-Testing: Simulate real-world traffic patterns, not just generic loads.
- Digital Preparation: Optimize for efficiency and scalability, not just added capacity.
- Proactive Strategy: Monitor performance in real-time to stay ahead of potential issues.
Turning Digital Risk into Platform Resilience
Commerce investments should create value, not uncertainty. By following a structured framework, leaders can shift from worrying about commerce platform performance to leveraging it as a competitive advantage.
This story proves the point that when preparation meets process, peak demand becomes an opportunity rather than a risk.
Is your commerce platform future-ready, or just hoping to survive the next surge?
If you know there's room for improvement with your ecommerce platform, but aren't exactly sure where, or what could improve your top-line growth, our Commerce team can help. Verndale's free ecommerce platform assessment provides the insights you need to address those opportunities. Learn more and get in touch with our experts to get started.