*An interview with Eyal Gantz, the founder of wilco.web.
eCommerce merchants are gearing up for the busiest season of the year. But according to Eyal Gantz, founder of wilco.web, many are overlooking critical technical preparations that could significantly impact their holiday revenue.
Eyal is the founder of wilco.web, a technical agency specializing in Shopify store optimization and support. His team has helped hundreds of merchants prepare for and succeed during the holiday shopping season.
We sat down with Eyal to discuss common mistakes and how to avoid them:
Biggest technical pitfalls to watch out for this holiday season
Q: What’s the biggest technical mistake you see merchants make before BFCM?
Eyal: “Most merchants don’t realize they’re sitting on a potential problem until it’s too late. They’ve been managing their store themselves, making small tweaks here and there. But during the holiday season, when traffic spikes and they need to make rapid promotional changes, those small customizations can cause big issues.
Last year, we had a client who modified their theme’s code for a special discount display. It worked fine during regular sales, but when Black Friday hit and they needed to update multiple promotional banners quickly, the custom code conflicted with their changes. What should have been a 5-minute update turned into hours of lost sales.”
Q: What are some warning signs that merchants should watch for?
Eyal: “If you’re noticing any of these, it’s time to get professional help:
- Your theme customizations sometimes ‘break’ when you update products or collections.
- You’re spending hours figuring out how to make simple design changes.
- Your site loads slower than it used to.
- You’re worried about making changes because something might break.
These are all signs that your DIY approach might not scale well during high-traffic periods.”
Avoiding a Black Friday catastrophe
Q: Can you share a success story of preventing a holiday disaster?
Eyal: “We had a merchant who was planning multiple flash sales throughout Cyber Week. They came to us in October, concerned about their ability to update promotions quickly. We reviewed their setup and found their theme had been customized in a way that made price updates incredibly complex.
We streamlined their promotional system before the holiday rush. When Black Friday came, they were able to run six different flash sales over 48 hours, with each promotion updating perfectly on schedule. No technical issues, no missed sales windows, no revenue lost to delays.”
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Backups and testing
Q: What’s one technical aspect merchants often overlook?
Eyal: “Theme backups. Many merchants don’t realize that their theme customizations aren’t automatically backed up. We’ve seen cases where a merchant makes a quick change during a busy sale period, something breaks, and they have no way to revert to the working version.”
One client nearly lost an entire day of sales because [they didn’t backup properly]. Now we ensure all of our merchants have proper backup systems and testing procedures in place before making any promotional updates.
Q: What advice would you give to merchants preparing for this holiday season?
Eyal: “Start testing now. Try to break things before your customers do. Make promotional updates at scale. Load test your customizations. If anything feels clunky or uncertain, get professional help before the holiday rush begins.”
“Remember, during BFCM, every minute of technical issues is lost revenue. The cost of proper support is always less than the cost of preventable problems during peak sales periods.”
The power of proactive support
Q: What’s the most common feedback you get from merchants after their first holiday season with proper technical support?
Eyal: “The most common thing we hear is ‘I wish I’d done this sooner.’ Many merchants don’t realize how much stress they’re carrying until it’s gone. When they can focus on marketing and sales during BFCM, knowing their technical foundation is solid, it transforms their holiday season experience.”
Conclusion
Preparing for the holiday rush means more than just stocking inventory or creating eye-catching promotions—it’s about ensuring your store can handle the pressure. As Eyal emphasized, a stable, optimized, and professional setup can be the difference between a record-breaking BFCM and costly downtime.
Don’t let technical issues crash your sales. Talk to an expert and make this BFCM your smoothest and most successful yet with 8fig’s flexible funding and eCommerce tools.
Is your store ready for the holiday rush? 8fig merchants can access exclusive 15% discounted holiday preparation packages from wilco.web.
Have article ideas, requests, or collaboration proposals? Reach out to us at editor@8fig.co – we’d love to hear from you.
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