Case Study: Firewalls.com - Tech for the people, by the people

Overview

Since 1999, Firewalls.com has provided Internet security solutions for networks of all sizes. They sell numerous firewall and networking products from well-known brands at reasonable prices and provide world-class support.

Challenge

In 2020, Firewalls.com initially hired us to help upgrade their Magento 2 site. Later, they needed ongoing support to maintain site performance, add new features, and remain secure so that they could continue to serve their customers, increase sales, and stay competitive.

Project Info

  • ClientFirewalls.com
  • Date25 February, 2020

Solutions

  • Improved Site Security:

    To protect Firewalls.com from carding attacks ( a scenario in which a hacker tests thousands to tens of thousands of stolen cards on your website, putting your ability to collect future payments at risk ), we built a custom solution to automatically detect and block anyone that abuses the checkout process because nothing off the shelf worked for them. Additionally, we improved form validation and implemented better monitoring to allow us to prevent and detect intrusions.

  • Custom Shipping API:

    The checkout process was revamped to allow custom shipping rates and estimated delivery dates through a custom API that provides shipping rates based on customer location and inventory.

  • Improved Product Listings:

    The product listing pages were improved by adding lazyload to large images and optimizing images where needed. Additionally, custom caching was added to avoid reloading data where necessary, and some page elements were updated to load asynchronously to drastically reduce initial load time.

  • Platform Upgrades:

    Firewalls.com has been upgraded multiple times to take advantage of the latest features, performance enhancements, and security features in new versions of Magento 2.

  • Improved Site Speed:

    The site speed was enhanced by adding Varnish Full Page cache, optimizing the existing CloudFlare CDN account, and optimizing code.

Results

As a result of the ongoing support, Firewalls.com has seen the following benefits:

  • 10% Increase in Sales:

    Firewalls.com’s total sales have increased due to more traffic and fewer issues during checkout.

  • 40 % Increase In Site Speed:

    The average load time for the homepage and other important pages decreased from 2.5 seconds to < 1.5 seconds.

  • 99% Increase In Site Uptime:

    Downtime events have decreased drastically.

  • 99% Decrease in Security Incidents:

    The site no longer experiences weekly spam and carding attacks.

  • Improved Customer Satisfaction

    More predictable/cheaper shipping rates and better delivery estimates/times have led to higher ratings on customer reviews.

 

Conclusion

For the last three and a half years, our ongoing support has allowed Firewalls.com to improve its online presence, attract and serve more customers, increase sales, and remain competitive. The company’s commitment to its online infrastructure has helped it stand out in a competitive market and position itself for continued growth and success.