Building a WooCommerce Store for the World’s Largest Government-run Retail Chain

Summary

A governmental organization approached Virtina to build a website that enabled the organization members to buy products like automobiles and home appliances. The government organization has provisions to provide concessions to its members on the said products. The process of getting this concession from the organization, including documentation and payment, was carried out directly through the office staff, and the client wanted to make this service available online.

After analyzing the client's requirements and the nature business, Virtina found they needed a website with superior security features and impressive customization capability. WooCommerce platform was the ideal choice for the client's unique requirements, and the experts at Virtina soon began working on the project. It involved building a WooCommerce website that could be accessed by multiple user types as well as admins depending on the nature of their needs.

Challenge

One of the significant challenges faced by Virtina was, the client's WooCommerce store had to be highly customized to support the needs of different types of users and admins accessing the website. The fact that there are different segments of users and admins logging in to the site meant, both the front and back-end had to be customized for each specific user/admin.

As the WooCommerce store had multiple admins, and as each admin had a specific role, the customized interface was inevitable for the store. The client needed to have admin access on a role-based model. This included a super admin who could access every aspect of the website via a customized dashboard. Apart from the super admin, there were two more admins who each played an essential role in the website's smooth functioning.

As the client's website deals with expensive products like automobiles, and since the client was a popular government organization, the website needed to have highly advanced security features. The WooCommerce store would also need to collect sensitive information like state-approved documents and identity cards; Which further raised the need for a secure system that could protect sensitive data the website deals with.

The client's website needed to be equipped with features that would securely allow users to upload documents through it. The documents also needed to be viewed by an admin group. This meant the data or information provided had to be accurately submitted to the admin for verification.

The WooCommerce store would be the hub for all members of the government organization in the country. This meant users had to have the flexibility to shop from any part of the country. It also meant that the website would be regularly accessed by at least three thousand visitors daily. Due to this high number of users purchasing via WooCommerce channel, the website had to be optimized to perform seamlessly even during peak traffic.

The website also had many products sold on it, and an average order value was between $8000-$10000. Due to the nature of products sold and the high number of daily visitors, the website would carry out transactions amounting to almost half a million dollars every day.

The WooCommerce store also needed to have capability to make payments directly through the website. Virtina was requested to implement a payment gateway that is both secure and reliable as the transaction amount is considerably immense for each order. Furthermore, the client also demanded users to have the freedom to make payment directly at the banks and later have it verified by submitting necessary documents.

Solution

Virtina had to come up with innovative solutions for each requirement which the client raised to provide superior performance and advanced functionalities. The project is one of the most highly-customized ones that we have had the pleasure of working on.

Virtina built a WooCommerce website from ground up, equipped to handle all the heavy lifting our client sought from the site. The advanced and complicated functionalities for delivering multiple users and admin types were central to this project. Each and every step throughout, was taken in a deliberate manner to ensure, every individual functionality worked without any issue.

A customized dashboard accessible from the back-end was implemented for each of the admins, including super admin. Dashboards were equipped with all the necessary functionalities needed for smooth execution of the work for the organization. Admin dashboard created for the super admin was equipped with all possible functionalities desired for a management hub, including full access to the website.

Security features which were implemented on the WooCommerce website are some of the best in industry. Everything from the registration on the website to order pickup from the seller was protected with an OTP (One Time Password) system. The security implemented on the website included login authorizations and even advanced server security to protect website data and integrity.

Our team equipped the client's website with advanced features which enabled users to upload any necessary documents, secure and easy. The experts at Virtina also ensured there is no scope of data mismatch or loss during the entire process. Virtina’s structured development process ensured that the verification process was uninterrupted and streamlined.

To accommodate the high traffic which our client's WooCommerce store had to deal with daily, Virtina employed a load balancer. Virtina made use of four distinct servers which ensured the website's optimal performance regardless of the number of users visiting the site at a time. Furthermore, Virtina also used Content Delivery Network (CDN) configuration to ensure the client's website's high load speed.

The client had an extensive collection of products sold by various sellers all over the country. Our team at Virtina made it possible for the user to filter products based on numerous aspects, including place, brand, supplier, etc. We also made it possible for the users to make their payments using any desired payment mode, including online payment and payment at the bank. All methods of payment were equipped with state of the art security features.

Results

The WooCommerce website is purpose-built and highly customized to provide every interaction on it from the frontend and backend. The multiple user types and admin types were presented with a customized experience which was specially designed for them. This, in turn, ensured a perfect, seamless working of the website from all ends.

The customized dashboards created for admins are ideal for a seamless experience. The customized design helps admins to smoothly go about their assigned roles consuming as little time as possible. Thanks to Virtina's friction-free design of the website, our client's business productivity saw unprecedented improvements.

The security features implemented by Virtina, effectively protected the client's valuable data. The OTP feature was implemented on every significant stage of purchase journey to ensure no foul-play could breach the client's business. This also had a positive effect on users and provided a reassurance about the WooCommerce website's security.

The comfortable and secure way of uploading documents on WooCommerce website enhanced the user experience. The quality of work maintained by Virtina made sure that the data transfer inside the client's WooCommerce system is secure and quick. This, in turn, enabled the client's work process to move swiftly, effectively improving their productivity.

The load balancer combined with CDN configuration resulted in optimal performance of the WooCommerce website. The client's site is built to handle a maximum number of users accessing it simultaneously without compromising performance. This greatly enhanced the user experience and ensured a memorable experience on the site.