Engine23

Foodservice Superstore

Commercial Foodservice Equipment & Supply

Overview

Engine 23 put “service” back into FSSS’s broken web site.

Another example where two previous integrators provided an unsuccessful experience including essentially being blackballed by Google. Our initial audit revealed several shortcomings. We began by completing upgrades including the UI. We cleaned up a laundry list of hacks and local overrides. From there we went to getting their site up and working properly. Fixed their integration including adding a third-party product to handle their complex shipping needs and commercial purchases such as a lift-gate delivery. This enabled them to support drop-shipping and lift gate.

The Challenge

Saving FoodService’s Broken Site

FoodService Superstore treats their customers like partners to provide food service businesses with equipment and supplies. They had an unsuccessful experience with two different Magento Silver Partner agencies so they sought out Engine23 for help fixing their broken website. After our initial audit, we found much that needed improvement, including the fact that their site was essentially blackballed by Google. We started with finishing their incomplete upgrade to 1.14 and responsive UI update. To reduce issues and make their Magento upgrade smoother, we cleaned up their laundry list of core hacks and local overrides. From there, we had a lot of work to do to get their site working. We fixed their integration with a 3rd party FACTS ERP. We also integrated ShipperHQ to handle their complex shipping needs and commercial purchases, like the ability for customers to purchase a lift-gate delivery. They were the first company on ShipperHQ to support drop-shipping and and lift-gate, so we helped them work through a number of issues before launching.

Their site was slow so we tracked down the old agency’s custom code that was breaking the caches. Installing and configuring REDIS improved their server side caching and provided faster page load speeds. When we optimized the MySQL, PHP and Apache configuration, we improved the speed on their server hardware and fixed their over-usage of memory issues. We also integrated a CDN to give their site a shorter load time, and installed our Engine23 CDN seamless integration and auto image minimizer extension. This made the CDN work seamlessly behind the scenes and improved page load speeds by loading the smallest-sized images possible. In the end, we reduced their overall page load time from four seconds to low single-second times.

How We Help

Improving Site SEO and Customer Accessibility

We were excited to get their site running smoothly, but we continue building our partnership with FoodServiceSuperstore. We mentioned earlier that their site was blackballed by Google. After our initial improvements, Google started indexing their site after not being indexed for many months due to negligence from their past agency. To update their security, we added HTTPS across the entire site which also improved their SEO. The site map was being rejected, so we fixed that along with tracking down the integration issues with their 3rd party Exactor tax system. We also installed an automated Google Merchant feed to increase the efficiency of the sales channel. Re-configuring their SOLR improved their in-store search results on their site. This ensures that once you have a customer on your site, they'll be able to locate what product they're looking for.

The most important aspect in our relationship with FoodService Superstore is to make sure their website is constantly supported. Their last two agencies left them with a broken site, so our goal is to keep their site supervised and running smoothly. We continue to guide them through certain key processes, like setting up different social media platforms and business listings to help their SEO. We started their company blog to deliver new content to their customers and boost SEO. Adding SEO microdata to boost search engine results and expanded customer reach. We optimized their page assets which helped their SEO and page load time, giving customers faster access to FoodService's products.

"Engine23 built a great enterprise system to manage the unique intricacies of our global organization. They were a pleasure to work with and I recommend them to anyone looking for quality workmanship."
Sheila Simpson

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