Local Publishing Giant’s Migration from a Legacy System to Magento + Hyvä

About

Zvaigzne ABC, one of the largest book publishers in the Baltics, has been at the forefront of the industry since its inception in 1966 as a textbook publisher for schools. Transitioning to a private publishing house in 1993, Zvaigzne ABC has since expanded its reach, operating 35 physical stores and an eCommerce platform, zvaigzne.lv.

Beyond its extensive book catalog, Zvaigzne ABC serves a diverse audience, including individual customers and institutional partners such as schools, universities, and preschools. With its roots in education and a strong presence in the retail sector, Zvaigzne ABC continues to adapt to readers’ needs, offering print books, eBooks, audiobooks, and more.

Project goals

To meet the demands of a modern publishing business and expand its digital presence, Zvaigzne ABC set out to replace its outdated systems with a forward-looking eCommerce solution. We defined the following strategic goals:

• Upgrade from legacy systems to a platform with strong support and scalability for long-term use
• Create a user-friendly eCommerce experience to make it easy for customers to explore and purchase books online
• Provide tailored experiences for individual readers (B2C) and institutional partners (B2B), including schools, universities, and preschools
• Increase sales via eCommerce by leveraging the capabilities of a modern digital storefront
• Streamline employee workflows by optimizing data processing and order flow management
• Enable a solution that is suited for eBook and audiobook sales
• Expand product categories to enrich and diversify product groups, such as office supplies and other complementary items.

Approach

We implemented a comprehensive approach to address these goals, combining a complete redesign, platform migration, and system integrations. 

Platform migration and redesign

Zvaigzne ABC’s legacy Avalon platform was replaced with the latest version of Magento, paired with the Hyvä theme for improved performance and modern design capabilities. The transition provided the client with a scalable, user-friendly eCommerce solution for B2C and B2B audiences.

To ensure a smooth and efficient development process and auto-scalable infrastructure, we recommended ReadyMage during the build phase and post-launch. 

ERP and third-party integration

A key project component was integrating the new Magento platform with Zvaigzne ABC’s new ERP system, MS Navision. While a third-party agency was still developing ERP, we worked on frontend customizations and styling with test products before completing data migration and ERP integration at a later stage. Despite this limitation, our team maintained flexibility to ensure seamless functionality once actual data was introduced.

To further enhance the platform’s capabilities, we customized Magento and integrated AWS S3 Bucket for secure storage and management of media assets and seamless payment processing through EveryPay. 

We also ensured that Māconis, Zvaigzne’s digital educational platform accessible via maconis.zvaigzne.lv, is integrated with the new website.

Custom Luma checkout

Given Zvaigzne ABC’s multiple user groups and varied shipping requirements—including predefined shipping addresses for institutional partners—checkout processes required extensive customization. Using the default Luma checkout presented additional challenges, as it demanded significant time and effort to accommodate diverse user journeys while ensuring a seamless purchasing experience.

Results

The migration of Zvaigzne ABC’s eCommerce platform to Magento with Hyvä delivered exceptional results, driving growth and resolving critical technical challenges. We expect to see long-term organic traffic growth of up to 25% three months after the go-live.

Technical SEO

• Structured data markup enables rich snippets that display prices and stock status directly in search results
• URL structure streamlined with over 21,000 301 redirects
• Canonical tags improve indexability and ensure search engines focus on relevant content
• Reduced number of indexed pages, resolving overindexation issues.

Improvements across key metrics

• +12.4% clicks for branded queries YoY
• +47.4% impressions for branded queries YoY
• 8.5% CTR
• 1,631 new keywords
• 1,715 keywords ranking higher

Does your eCommerce platform need an upgrade? Contact us today to discuss the best approach and kick off the transformation! 

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