Home24 is a leading online furniture retailer offering a wide range of furniture, accessories, and decor to help customers style their interior spaces. With a significant presence in multiple European markets, Home24’s mission is to provide quality furniture with a seamless online shopping experience. However, as the company expanded, they faced several technical challenges that required expert intervention to ensure continued growth and operational efficiency.

Challenge

Home24’s rapid expansion and growing customer base brought several challenges to the forefront:

1. Inventory System Integration: Home24 needed to integrate various inventory systems from their designers with their Navision ERP system. This was critical to maintaining accurate inventory tracking and ensuring seamless operations across different regions.

2. Monolithic Codebase: Home24 was operating with a large monolithic codebase, which hindered their ability to scale and maintain efficient development processes. This structure made it difficult for multiple teams to work concurrently on different parts of the system without causing bottlenecks or integration issues.

3. Scaling the Engineering Team: With the ambition to expand further into European markets, Home24 needed to scale their engineering team from 30 to 70 engineers. This growth was necessary to support the increased demand and ensure that new features could be developed and deployed rapidly.

4. Feature Implementation and Bug Fixing: The online store required continuous development of new features and ongoing bug fixes to enhance user experience and maintain competitiveness in a crowded market.

5. Market Expansion: Home24 aimed to scale their operations into additional European countries, including Italy, France, and Belgium. This expansion necessitated a robust and flexible technical infrastructure capable of supporting multiple languages, currencies, and regional requirements.

Solution

We approached the project with a clear strategy to address Home24’s challenges comprehensively:

1. Inventory System Integration: We successfully integrated various inventory systems from Home24’s designers in formats like CSV, Text, and Databases with the Navision ERP system. This integration was crucial for maintaining accurate inventory data, enabling efficient order processing, and ensuring that stock levels were consistent across all sales channels.

2. Breaking Down the Monolith: We began by conducting a thorough analysis of Home24’s existing monolithic codebase. Understanding that this structure was a significant impediment to scaling, we assisted in the process of decomposing the monolith into microservices. This architectural shift allowed for more efficient and independent development by multiple scrum teams, each comprising seven members. The microservices approach not only improved productivity but also enhanced the system’s scalability and maintainability.

3. Team Scaling: To support Home24’s growing needs, we were strategically involved in the hiring process of scaling the engineering team from 30 to 70 skilled engineers. This expansion was managed carefully to maintain a cohesive and productive working environment, ensuring that new hires were integrated smoothly into the existing team structure.

4. Feature Development and Bug Fixing: We worked on implementing new features that enhanced the functionality of Home24’s online store. By prioritizing user-centric design and robust testing, we ensured that each feature added value to the user experience. Simultaneously, we addressed and resolved existing bugs, ensuring a stable and reliable platform for customers.

5. Market Expansion: To support Home24’s entry into new European markets, we helped develop and deploy localization features that catered to the specific needs of Italy, France, and Belgium. This included support for multiple languages, currency conversions, and region-specific promotions, all while ensuring compliance with local regulations.