How Interlight enabled safe A/B testing on a 2 million SKU catalogue

The challenge: replicating production for testing and evaluation

Interlight is a trusted source for lighting products and replacement parts for both commercial and residential needs. With a robust online presence at interlightus.com, they serve as a go-to destination for energy-efficient and specialty lighting products.

As Interlight continues to grow, its leadership team, particularly Aaron Gray (COO/CTO), sought to enhance testing capabilities by replicating their BigCommerce production environment into a sandbox environment. This was especially important as Interlight began working with vendors looking to implement tools like VWO for A/B testing, which require a fully operational and populated staging store.

Their goals included:

• Evaluating vendor-proposed design and functionality changes.
• Testing new tools and apps in a safe, production-like environment.
• Running A/B tests without risking live storefront performance.

Scale and complexity

The scale of their catalogue, with around two million SKUs, introduced additional complexity to the process. Manual export-import approaches were quickly ruled out for being time-consuming and error-prone. Interlight needed a reliable, automated solution that could scale with their needs and support frequent testing cycles.

The solution: implementing Vortex IQ StagingPro

Interlight adopted Vortex IQ's StagingPro platform to automate the replication of their BigCommerce production store into a staging environment. The platform's ability to move extensive data elements, including product catalogues, custom pages, store settings, and themes, meant Interlight's team could maintain a realistic test environment with minimal manual intervention.

Key benefits included:

• Bulk migration of catalogue and configuration data.
• Support for ongoing updates between staging and production.
• Elimination of redundant manual effort for environment setup.

The outcome: an efficient, scalable testing environment

With StagingPro, Interlight now operates a scalable sandbox that mirrors their live BigCommerce store. Where their internal vendor previously spent 5 to 8 hours on manual replication, StagingPro offers a scalable and time-saving alternative.

• Test site changes and third-party tools safely before deploying to production.
• Achieved significant time and cost savings by eliminating manual environment setup.
• Selectively migrate content and configuration with the Plus Plan.
• Manage theme files efficiently.

Looking ahead

Interlight continues to explore how StagingPro can play a central role in their digital operations. With a stable, production-like sandbox in place, they are well positioned to vet third-party apps and changes in a secure space, run meaningful A/B tests using platforms like VWO, and deliver a consistent, high-quality experience to their customers.