Managed IT and Cloud Service Consultancy and Gold Microsoft Managed Cloud Solution Provider, Crimson Line recently assisted in migrating OneDayOnly.co.za’s infrastructure to Microsoft Azure, to enable the leading e-tailer to scale and cope with massive volumes of customers on Black Friday.
Louis Koen, owner of Crimson Line and specialist Microsoft 365 and Azure project manager, says the move to Azure enabled OneDayOnly.co.za to maximise the Black Friday sales opportunities this year, scaling to accommodate the dramatic increase of shoppers who scour the site for bargains over the Black Friday weekend. OneDayOnly.co.za is now positioned to cope with any unexpected increases in traffic. They also benefit from enhanced disaster recovery, and have a solid foundation for future innovation and growth, he notes.
Daily deals site OneDayOnly.co.za has over 1 million daily newsletter subscribers, with over 256,000 people using the app and over 600,000 followers on social media. They have grown from selling one braai on their first day, to becoming a leading e-commerce player selling scores of products daily. During the lockdown, OneDayOnly.co.za saw phenomenal growth, with spokesperson Matthew Leighton commenting that they were 30 – 40% bigger by June 2020 than it had been just four months earlier.
On top of the growth due to the lockdown, the OneDayOnly.co.za also saw growth thanks to their innovation and increase in appealing daily special offers. They made headlines when they introduced 100% off Black Friday offers amongst other heavily discounted deals, prompting tens of thousands of bargain hunters to flock to the site and stay there, in the hopes of being first to snatch up the free goods, which caused the site to become unstable.
OneDayOnly.co.za approached Crimson Line to provide them with a hosting solution with high scalability that could handle traffic on big demand days like Black Friday.
Crimson Line’s expert team advised OneDayOnly.co.za on modernising their infrastructure and migrated to Azure to deliver scale, efficient disaster recovery and better infrastructure cost controls. “This was not a simple lift and shift: there were certain complexities. However, because we are a Microsoft Managed Cloud Solution Provider, we have the benefit of direct access to international experts at Microsoft, who are able to offer insight and support where necessary,” says Koen.
The successful migration has positioned OneDayOnly.co.za to offer bigger and better promotions and innovate further in the e-commerce space. Says Koen: “When Black Friday can bring much-needed revenues and brand awareness, retailers cannot afford to have their infrastructure fail during that crucial time.”
Christian Oberhofer, Director of OneDayOnly.co.za, said the Crimson Line team’s professionalism, dedication and unwavering support are what sets them apart from other service providers. “I cannot recommend them highly enough,” he said.
