Starting with the Right Foundations

From day one, we knew that a traditional “all-in-one” webshop would not be enough.

Wine retail brings specific challenges:

• rich product descriptions and storytelling
• large volumes of media (bottle images, labels, lifestyle photos)
• complex product attributes
• integration with ERP for stock and pricing
• strict reliability requirements during campaigns

Because of this, we designed Bear & Merlin as a modular system, where each component has a clear responsibility.

ERP as the Operational Backbone

At the core of our operations sits the ERP system.

The ERP is responsible for:

• master product records
• pricing logic
• stock levels
• orders and invoicing
• financial consistency

Instead of duplicating business logic inside the webshop, we made a clear decision:

ERP is the single source of truth for operational data.

The webshop never “guesses” prices or stock.

All critical data flows from ERP → webshop, ensuring:

• no overselling
• consistent pricing
• clean accounting

This separation allows us to evolve the webshop without risking business-critical processes.

Pimcore PIM: One Source of Truth for Product Data

Wine products are rich in information — grape variety, region, vintage, tasting notes, food pairing, alcohol percentage, and more.

To manage this complexity, we introduced Pimcore PIM.

Pimcore PIM handles:

• structured product attributes
• multilingual product content
• marketing descriptions
• classification systems

Why Pimcore?

• extreme flexibility in data modeling
• clear separation between business data (ERP) and marketing data (PIM)
• perfect fit for future multi-channel expansion

In our architecture:

ERP owns the “what” (product identity, price, stock)

PIM owns the “how it is presented”

Pimcore CMS: Content Meets Commerce

To keep Bear & Merlin fast and visually consistent, we used Pimcore DAM thumbnails as the single “image transformation layer” and made the frontend request the right image size for the right view (mobile vs desktop, listing vs detail, etc.).

What we did in Pimcore DAM (Thumbnails):

• Defined a thumbnail preset set per use-case (not “one size fits all”).
• Each preset standardizes:
  • Cropping strategy (cover vs contain) so product images don’t jump in grids
  • Maximum dimensions (so we never ship a 3000px image into a 300px tile)
  • Output format (prefer modern formats where supported)
  • Optional: background padding for “contain” cases (e.g., labels / bottle shots)

Frontend implementation (serving correct size per view):

• Implemented responsive images using + so browsers automatically pick the best thumbnail:
  • PLP tiles load smaller thumbs on mobile, larger on desktop
  • PDP gallery loads medium thumbs for previews and larger for the main image
• Ensured each UI component has a clear “image contract”:
  • Component knows its layout width on mobile/desktop
  • Component requests the matching DAM thumbnail preset
• Added lazy-loading for offscreen images (PLP, blog lists) to reduce initial load.
• Avoided layout shifts by always rendering images with fixed aspect ratio (CSS) matching the thumbnail strategy.

Why it matters:

• Faster page loads (especially PLP/category pages)
• Better Core Web Vitals (less bandwidth, less layout shift)
• Designers get consistent visuals, devs get predictable image variants, and DAM stays the single source of truth for transformations.

Pimcore DAM: thumbnails + responsive image delivery

High-quality visuals are critical for brand perception.

With Pimcore DAM, we centralized:

• product images
• labels and packaging
• lifestyle photography
• marketing assets

DAM gives us:

• versioning and consistency
• reuse of assets across CMS, PIM, and webshop
• optimized delivery through CDN

No more duplicated files, no more manual image chaos.

Redis – High-Performance Caching & System Stability

To ensure fast response times and consistent performance under load, Bear & Merlin uses Redis as a high-performance in-memory data store.

Redis is used for:

• caching frequently accessed data
• reducing load on core systems
• improving response times for repeat requests
• stabilizing the platform during traffic spikes

By introducing Redis, we were able to:

• significantly reduce database round-trips
• isolate performance-critical paths
• maintain predictable response times even during campaigns

Redis acts as a performance buffer between the webshop and underlying systems, allowing the platform to scale smoothly without sacrificing stability.

Elasticsearch – Search, Filtering & Discoverability

Product discovery is a critical part of the customer experience, especially for a catalog as rich and structured as wine.

For this reason, Bear & Merlin integrates Elasticsearch as a dedicated search and indexing engine.

Elasticsearch is responsible for:

• fast full-text product search
• advanced filtering and faceting
• structured queries across product attributes
• scalable indexing of product and content data

By decoupling search from the primary data stores, we achieved:

• lightning-fast search responses
• flexible filtering without performance penalties
• improved product discoverability

Elasticsearch allows customers to explore the catalog intuitively - whether they search by name, region, grape variety, or tasting profile - while keeping the core systems focused on data integrity rather than query performance.

Why Redis and Elasticsearch Matter Together

Redis and Elasticsearch complement each other:

• Redis optimizes speed and stability for frequently accessed data
• Elasticsearch provides powerful, scalable search capabilities

Together, they ensure that Bear & Merlin delivers a fast, responsive, and user-friendly experience, even as the product catalog and traffic grow.

Payment Integration with Stripe

For payments, we chose Stripe.

Stripe offers:

• high reliability
• strong fraud protection
• clean APIs
• support for future payment methods

The integration was designed to be:

• secure
• decoupled from business logic
• easy to extend

Payments are processed externally, while the webshop remains focused on order flow and customer experience.

Parcel Delivery Services Integration

A great webshop experience doesn’t end at checkout.

We integrated parcel delivery services to handle:

• shipment creation
• tracking numbers
• delivery status updates

This ensures:

• transparency for customers
• automation for the operations team
• fewer manual errors

Shipping becomes part of a smooth, predictable workflow.

Support Systems: Reliability, Performance, Visibility

Modern e-commerce is not just about features — it’s about stability and observability.

Cloudflare

Cloudflare acts as our first line of defense and performance layer:

• DDoS protection
• WAF
• global caching
• improved page load times

S3 as CDN Storage

All static assets are stored in S3-compatible storage and served via CDN:

• scalable
• cost-efficient
• fast global delivery

New Relic APM

To truly understand what’s happening inside the system, we integrated New Relic:

• application performance monitoring
• error tracking
• transaction visibility

This allows us to:

• detect issues before customers notice
• optimize performance continuously
• make data-driven decisions

The Result: A Future-Proof Commerce Platform

By combining:

• ERP for operations
• Pimcore PIM, CMS, and DAM for data and content
• Stripe for payments
• delivery integrations
• Cloudflare, S3, and New Relic for reliability

we created a platform that is:

• scalable
• maintainable
• resilient
• ready for international growth

Bear & Merlin is not just a webshop - it’s a commerce ecosystem designed to evolve.

Lessons Learned

The most important lesson?

Architecture matters more than speed.

Building it right from the start:

• reduces long-term costs
• prevents technical debt
• enables faster innovation later

Bear & Merlin is built not only for today’s customers - but for tomorrow’s growth.

About Bear & Merlin

Bear & Merlin is a modern wine webshop created with a deep passion for quality products and thoughtfully crafted digital experiences.

Our mission is to bring carefully selected wines closer to customers through a platform that combines authentic storytelling, transparency, and technical excellence. Every bottle in our assortment is chosen with attention to origin, craftsmanship, and character - and presented through rich content that helps customers understand not only what they are buying, but why it matters.

Behind the scenes, Bear & Merlin is built on a robust, scalable digital architecture that allows us to grow without compromising quality. By integrating advanced systems for product information, content management, media handling, payments, and logistics, we ensure a seamless experience from first click to final delivery.

We believe that great wine deserves a great digital experience - one that is fast, reliable, informative, and human. Bear & Merlin is not just an online store, but a carefully designed ecosystem where technology supports storytelling, and where craftsmanship meets modern commerce.

As we continue to evolve, our focus remains the same: quality without shortcuts, technology with purpose, and experiences that feel as refined as the wines we offer.