The Challenge

A German e-commerce client with over 530,000 SKUs was trapped in an operational nightmare. Their product import process took 33 hours to complete, creating a cascading series of problems that threatened their business growth.

Critical Pain Points

  • Catalog updates could only run once a week due to duration
  • Out-of-date pricing and inventory information
  • Customer complaints about stock availability errors
  • Lost sales due to inability to quickly update product offerings

The client needed a solution that could handle their massive product catalog while enabling near-real-time synchronization with their ERP system via the Rubin API. The existing approach was fundamentally flawed and couldn't scale.

The Solution

I architected a complete overhaul of their import system, focusing on three core optimization pillars: intelligent batch processing, strategic database design, and asynchronous execution.

Technical Implementation

Optimized Batch Processing

Implemented dynamic batch sizing that adjusts based on payload complexity and server load, processing products in optimal chunks rather than one-by-one or all-at-once approaches.

Database Index Strategy

Created targeted composite indexes on frequently queried fields, reducing lookup times from seconds to milliseconds for product matching and update operations.

Asynchronous Queue System

Built a message queue architecture using Symfony Messenger to handle imports asynchronously, preventing timeouts and enabling parallel processing across multiple workers.

Redis Caching Layer

Implemented intelligent caching for category mappings, attribute lookups, and frequently accessed product data, dramatically reducing database queries during imports.

Results & Business Impact

Import Speed Increased 11x

Product synchronization time plummeted from 33 hours down to just 2.8 hours, transforming weekly catalog updates into multiple daily refreshes.

Dramatic Customer Satisfaction Improvement

Support tickets related to pricing errors and stock availability decreased by over 60%, significantly improving customer trust and retention.

Massive Infrastructure Cost Savings

Optimized delta synchronization reduced unnecessary API calls by 85%, cutting server infrastructure costs by approximately 40% while improving system stability.

Operational Flexibility

Business can now respond to market changes and promotional opportunities in hours, not weeks.

Technologies Used

Shopware 6 PHP 8 Symfony REST API MySQL Redis Messenger Doctrine

Project Details

Industry
E-commerce / Retail
Location
Germany
Project Type
Performance Optimization
Duration
6 weeks

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