Just like a physical store, online stores need to be maintained. However, if not approached carefully and strategically, ongoing maintenance can lead to major disruptions, including downtime and compromised operations.
Below we explore different strategies to mitigate downtime risk and ensure a smooth maintenance workflow that will help simplify your team's day-to-day operations while building trust and authority amongst your retail clients.
What is downtime?
Downtime refers to an instance where a server or network does not respond to a user's request. This could be planned - to complete software, hardware, or system updates - or unplanned, often stemming from hardware or software failures that crash a retailer's systems.
Depending on the ecommerce platform, as well as your agency's internal expertise, the likelihood of downtime might be higher or lower, and so is your ability to minimise its effects.
The platform
Your choice of platform plays a key role in ecommerce success.
Many legacy platforms suffer from technical debt, requiring continuous updates just to stay secure, and can quickly become expensive to maintain, especially as "quick fixes" start stacking up, leading to unstable operations and recurring performance issues overtime.
Newer, more agile platforms have surfaced to address this. Solutions like Aero feature a lean core and modern architecture that don't weight as much on server infrastructure, allowing for tweaks and updates to be carried out with minimal disruption.
With all the key features out-of-the-box and ability to extend and integrate as needed, Aero offers everything a retailer needs to get started without the feature bloat. Not only does this create faster, more reliable sites, it also allows for better split testing and isolated updates, while significantly reducing downtime.
Platform support
How much support you get from your chosen ecommerce platform can significantly impact service delivery.
Full access to source code, training, documentation, and on-going technical support can make or break a project, especially as client needs get more demanding and complex.
Greater access means your agency can resolve issues more quickly, rather than having to wait for a remote support team. It also enables you to create fully customisable, scalable stores that better suit retailers' current and future requirements.
Platform transparency on software changes, fixes, and updates is another key aspect. Having clear visibility over the product roadmap allows you to plan ahead and mitigate any expected downtime, identify improvement opportunities, and evaluate long-term alignment.
Apps and integrations
Poorly developed and maintained integrations are another leading cause of downtime in ecommerce.
With Aero, plug-ins are carefully vetted to ensure safe and reliable integration, allowing you to extend the platform as needed with risking platform disruption.
We work closely with agencies to deliver high-quality, high-performance solutions while providing creators with full support. Our approach? A clean, efficient core coupled with accessible documentation and technical guidance, helping you build and scale effortlessly.
Work with Aero
Get in touch today to start building with Aero.
