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E-Commerce Store for a Large Auto Parts Retail Chain
Contact Us
We will get in touch with you to discuss your business goals and provide a clear demonstration of an online store example.
When Business Growth Stalls Because of the Website
- 600employees
- 44branches
- 300 000 +SKUs
- 600 +pickup points
About the Project
- Client: a large auto parts group with separate wholesale and retail divisions. What do you do when scaling hits a wall — because the site can't handle the load, and the functionality isn't there? The answer is simple: change the site. And if the developer can't deliver the required functionality with the stack they have? Then you change the stack and the developer.
The client is a long-established supplier of auto parts, consumables, and related products.
We had already built their wholesale B2B portal. It was time to update the retail store as well.
The Problem with Bespoke Legacy Platforms
The first version of the platform was built on a custom engine using the Yii2 framework. The owners fell into a common trap: by choosing a bespoke codebase, they believed they could control everything. That turned out not to be the case. Handing a project off to a new team is always difficult — even with documentation, and documentation is usually the first thing skipped. Maintaining and developing a site someone else wrote is resource-intensive. The owners found themselves stuck in a cycle: repeatedly paying developers just to keep the site running and make minimal improvements.
The engine was blocking all scaling efforts: adding more branches, suppliers, and pickup points was beyond what the platform could handle. Developers spent a year and a half promising results — and delivered nothing. At a high hourly rate, standing still cost the client a significant sum. How many growth opportunities were missed in that time is harder to calculate.
The engine was blocking all scaling efforts: adding more branches, suppliers, and pickup points was beyond what the platform could handle. Developers spent a year and a half promising results — and delivered nothing. At a high hourly rate, standing still cost the client a significant sum. How many growth opportunities were missed in that time is harder to calculate.
When the platform can't keep up, you change the platform.
Notably, this situation on the retail side was unfolding while the wholesale portal was operating successfully.
Management made the call: change everything — the stack, the platform, and the development team. The backend was handed to us.
Management made the call: change everything — the stack, the platform, and the development team. The backend was handed to us.
Project Objectives:
Improve backend performance
Deliver a new store design
Implement branch network functionality
Expand the retail product range by onboarding additional suppliers
Why We Were Selected
- We had successfully delivered the client's wholesale B2B portal
- We have deep domain expertise in auto parts
- We understand the client's processes — and are actively involved in them
- Most importantly — we have a proven library of auto parts commerce modules
A large library of battle-tested modules means we can build on proven, debugged components — rather than shipping day-one patches after using entirely original code and untested integrations.
Frontend–Backend Separation
No development team — no matter how experienced — can skip the critical phases of any project. Every engagement starts with pre-project discovery: we assess the current state and gather requirements from all stakeholders. What is learned at this stage determines how accurately the right technical approach is chosen.
After working through the functional and technical requirements, the team found that the retail portal requirements matched the wholesale portal requirements at approximately 85%. Together with the client and the frontend development team, we decided to build the retail store on a copy of the wholesale platform. This delivered significant savings in both development time and cost. To improve site speed and performance, a separated frontend–backend architecture was applied. The backend was integrated with 1C: Trade.
After working through the functional and technical requirements, the team found that the retail portal requirements matched the wholesale portal requirements at approximately 85%. Together with the client and the frontend development team, we decided to build the retail store on a copy of the wholesale platform. This delivered significant savings in both development time and cost. To improve site speed and performance, a separated frontend–backend architecture was applied. The backend was integrated with 1C: Trade.
Coordinating Two Development Teams
The frontend was handled by a separate development team. To synchronize with them and establish shared processes, our backend team carried out the following:
- Set up a shared development environment for the client's frontend team and our backend team.
- Configured a distributed version control system (Git).
- Defined and documented shared project development standards.
- Designed the architecture and API method maps together with the client's specialists who would integrate functionality on the frontend.
- Established release planning and release synchronization processes.
Platform Selection for the Backend
To recap: the previous stack was unsuitable for solving the original scaling problem. The decision was made to build the retail site on a copy of the wholesale platform. The wholesale portal backend is built on 1C-Bitrix.
Here is what the agency's founder and head said about the platform at the time:
Here is what the agency's founder and head said about the platform at the time:
“
First, there is a large pool of developers on the market. When a business acquires an IT product, it is not a one-time purchase. It requires ongoing support, maintenance, and development — and that means people. There are over 21,000 agencies in Russia capable of working with 1C-Bitrix, so the risk of losing developers is minimal — they can always be replaced. This also explains the relatively low development cost: high competition keeps prices from inflating. Niche or exotic platforms cost more.
Second, 1C-Bitrix functionality covers 90% of e-commerce requirements — likely more. Integrations with services and databases, a native app marketplace, and a large library of ready-made solutions both accelerate development and make stores resilient.
Third, the platform provides a high level of data security. The 1C-Bitrix security toolkit includes a proactive filter, web antivirus, one-time password and authentication protection, integrity monitoring, suspicious activity detection, and DDoS protection.
I have roughly 15 more arguments, but the vendor isn't paying me to advertise.
Bitrix is not perfect. But it is number one in Russia, particularly after the exit of Western platforms. In 16 years of web development we have used Joomla, built our own CMS, and built stores on Shop CMS. WordPress is an excellent system — but for specific use cases.
Second, 1C-Bitrix functionality covers 90% of e-commerce requirements — likely more. Integrations with services and databases, a native app marketplace, and a large library of ready-made solutions both accelerate development and make stores resilient.
Third, the platform provides a high level of data security. The 1C-Bitrix security toolkit includes a proactive filter, web antivirus, one-time password and authentication protection, integrity monitoring, suspicious activity detection, and DDoS protection.
I have roughly 15 more arguments, but the vendor isn't paying me to advertise.
Bitrix is not perfect. But it is number one in Russia, particularly after the exit of Western platforms. In 16 years of web development we have used Joomla, built our own CMS, and built stores on Shop CMS. WordPress is an excellent system — but for specific use cases.
Project Execution
Here is what was delivered on our side — the backend — following the functional and technical requirements phase.
First, the requirements and specifications were used to produce a detailed technical brief covering the entire system. Without such a document — with metrics and acceptance criteria written in — development can descend into chaos and run indefinitely.
This was followed by phased module development. We delivered everything described in the brief, and a bit more.
First, the requirements and specifications were used to produce a detailed technical brief covering the entire system. Without such a document — with metrics and acceptance criteria written in — development can descend into chaos and run indefinitely.
This was followed by phased module development. We delivered everything described in the brief, and a bit more.
Platform-Wide Features
- Branch network functionality with regional segmentation
- Per-branch warehouse stock level management, with priority ranking of stock availability in catalogs and search results
- Onboarding of a large number of suppliers to expand the product range
- Online payment acquiring (card processing) setup
Marketing Team Features
- Campaign and newsletter creation and management tools
- Core SEO tools for the e-commerce store
- Extended site–1C data exchange functionality
At launch, existing customer registration data was migrated to the new platform. SEO equity from the previous site was preserved by retaining the same URLs already indexed by search engines.
Customer-Facing Features
- Delivery ETA calculation based on the customer's branch, warehouse stock availability, and logistics dispatch schedule
- Product search by vehicle VIN, part number (SKU), and product name, with cross-reference database lookup
- Catalogs with vehicle compatibility filtering and parameter-based part selection
- SMS-based registration and authentication
- Advanced product filtering tools
- Garage feature (saved vehicle profiles)
Results
The client's management had to make a difficult call: effectively tear down the retail site and rebuild it from scratch. The decision proved to be entirely justified — scaling alongside business growth, and actively driving that growth, became significantly easier.
We are glad that the client trusted us with building and supporting their platform. Both parties grew through this project. We gained invaluable experience, sharpened our skills, and expanded our library of applied modules. The retail platform accelerated its development, and we sincerely hope it will continue to do so — with our continued support.
We are glad that the client trusted us with building and supporting their platform. Both parties grew through this project. We gained invaluable experience, sharpened our skills, and expanded our library of applied modules. The retail platform accelerated its development, and we sincerely hope it will continue to do so — with our continued support.