iFIT scales fitness experiences globally.
iFIT Inc. is a leading player in connected fitness, synonymous with performance and innovation. With a vast library of over 10,000 workouts filmed across 120+ countries and the owner of the legendary NordicTrack brand, iFIT delivers immersive fitness experiences. To continue delivering enhanced digital experiences that matched their brand, iFIT needed a digital experience that could operate efficiently at a global scale. Facing limitations with their existing all-in-one commerce platform, iFIT sought a more scalable and adaptable solution to enhance user experiences and drive customer acquisition.
From legacy on-prem SaaS to composable
When iFIT Inc. began exploring new commerce platforms, they were grappling with significant limitations of their legacy Java system. The existing platform required extensive maintenance, with upgrades taking anywhere from six months to a year to complete. This technical debt was particularly problematic for their international expansion plans, as each international site operated as its own separate commerce engine instance, creating a fragmented system that was increasingly difficult to maintain and update. The company needed not only to modernize their technology stack but also to provide their development team with opportunities to work with current technologies, moving away from their legacy Java platform.
Architecting a composable commerce platform
iFIT's solution centered on implementing a comprehensive composable commerce architecture with Commerce Layer at its core. The implementation process began with thorough proof of concepts comparing Commerce Layer to two other competitors. During this evaluation phase, iFIT discovered that Commerce Layer's performance could be significantly enhanced by establishing US-based server instances, which led to a fivefold improvement in speed. This early responsiveness to their needs proved to be indicative of the partnership to come.
Working with Orium, iFIT built a dynamic product model that could support their complex product line, allowing customers to customize their equipment with various options, including subscriptions and warranties. The platform's architecture established a clear separation between content and commerce functions, with Contentstack managing their product catalogs and rich media content while Commerce Layer handled all transactional operations.
"Commerce Layer's clean separation between content and commerce was a game-changer for us," says Wade Nielson from iFIT. "Other platforms we evaluated mixed these functionalities together, which would have made it much harder to manage and innovate."
The composable technology stack
This modern approach integrated several key composable, API-first technologies, including:
- Commerce Layer — The primary commerce engine.
- Contentstack — CMS for all content, including product catalog management.
- Algolia — Delivers fast, precise, and comprehensive search functionality.
- Vercel — Handles hosting to ensure smooth performance.
- Stripe and Klarna — Global payment processing.
- AWS — Global data synchronization.
- Google Analytics — Data analysis and tracking.
The Commerce Layer team's agility and responsiveness to our needs really set them apart from larger, more rigid platforms.
Global rollout, started in under 6 months
The transition to Commerce Layer's platform proved to be remarkably efficient. The initial launch in Canada was completed in less than six months. Building on this foundation, iFIT was able to launch nordictrack.com in less than four months, demonstrating the scalability and reusability of their new architecture.
Performance improvements were immediate and significant. When iFIT conducted A/B testing against their old platform, the results were so convincingly in favor of the new platform that they terminated the split test early, directing all traffic to the new experience. The performance improvements were both immediate and substantial, with the average page first load time improving by 31% (0.87 seconds) across the homepage and category pages. Additionally, user engagement increased by 13%, resulting in a higher conversion rate and increased revenues.
The new architecture transformed iFIT's operational capabilities. With a centralized administration system, they could now efficiently manage content-heavy product pages and synchronize commerce and content layers seamlessly. This unified approach particularly benefited their international expansion efforts, providing a scalable foundation for multi-brand and multi-country growth.
From a technical perspective, the composable architecture proved its worth through successful integration of multiple technology partners and enhanced content management capabilities for rich media assets. Commerce Layer's new Rules Engine provided the flexibility to implement custom, complex promotions features that were exactly what was needed.
The partnership with Commerce Layer has been particularly valuable for iFIT's business model. The platform's agile response times to technical issues, combined with their ability to quickly implement custom features, has supported iFIT's rapid growth. The pricing structure proved appropriate for their high-order value business, while the platform's flexibility allowed for customization to meet their specific needs.
Future outlook
With their new composable architecture in place, iFIT is well-positioned for continued growth and innovation. The platform provides a solid foundation for international market expansion, rapid deployment of new brand sites, and enhanced product customization capabilities. The improved synchronization between content and Commerce Layer enables truly immersive, brand-driven experiences, while the scalable architecture ensures they can maintain performance as they grow. This transformation demonstrates the power of transitioning to a composable commerce architecture with Commerce Layer.