Whether it is selling books, groceries, gadgets or tickets, the volume of orders being taken online continues to grow. Ensuring that customers receive a prompt and personal experience, whilst remaining assured about security, is essential to the ongoing success of online retail. One of the key challenges for retailers is the management of the applications that provide up-to-date information about what’s on offer to customers and handle their orders—especially when there are peaks in demand.

This paper discusses how online retailers can better prepare their applications for a future of increasing, but often irregular, demand. It should be of interest to those tasked with managing online retail applications and those that manage the revenue streams that rely on them.