Client: Large orthopedic product retailer with 7,000+ SKUs
Role: Lead Developer • Team Lead • Project Manager
Timeline: ~3 months
Stack: WordPress, WooCommerce, Custom JS, PHP, CI/CD

🚨 The Problem

The client’s e-commerce platform had grown into a slow, fragile monster:

  • 7,000+ SKUs loaded on a bloated WooCommerce build
  • Page loads were so slow that users bounced before even seeing products
  • Manual deployments risked breaking critical features
  • JS and PHP logic was buried in legacy theme files, riddled with errors
  • The codebase was barely maintainable and increasingly expensive to touch

Performance, reliability, and user experience were all suffering. Sales were starting to follow.

🧠 My Role

I led the full refactor, bringing in a small team, defining technical goals, and rebuilding core systems to be faster, safer, and easier to manage.

🔧 What I Delivered

  • Built and managed a focused dev + QA team to execute the project cleanly and efficiently
  • Introduced CI/CD pipelines to eliminate manual deployment risks
  • Refactored key performance bottlenecks:
  • Replaced heavy JS libraries with lightweight custom handlers
  • Moved non-critical blocking scripts (e.g., login, featured products) to async AJAX
  • Cleaned up error-prone PHP and restructured code using OOP principles
  • Modularized business logic into CMS components—no more hardcoded chaos
  • Optimized caching and asset delivery based on content volatility and usage patterns
  • Provided ongoing post-launch support and documentation to empower the client team

📈 Business Results

  • +30% improvement in site performance, reducing bounce rates and lifting user engagement
  • ~20% increase in sales within 6 months, driven by better UX and conversion flows
  • Fewer support tickets and dev escalations, thanks to a cleaner, more stable codebase
  • Improved SEO, due to faster page loads and proper metadata structuring
  • Empowered non-technical staff to manage key features without dev intervention

* * *

Running on legacy bloat and crossed fingers?
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Let’s talk performance → 🚀

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