Modernise without disruption
How can three digital storefronts be improved without interrupting the services customers already rely on? That was the challenge Sanofi faced with VaxServe, VaccineShoppe and SanofiShop, its three US storefronts.
Each store had its own identity and served customers through an established commerce platform. The modernisation needed to improve the customer experience and create a more consistent development approach across the sites, while preserving each brand and avoiding a full replacement that could put business continuity at risk. The challenge was not simply to change the pages. It was to find a realistic way forward within the existing environment.
The challenge was one of balance
Protect continuity
Customers already relied on these storefronts. Improvements needed to move forward while existing services continued to operate.
Respect each brand
VaxServe, VaccineShoppe and SanofiShop needed a more consistent development approach without losing their distinct identities.
Three storefronts, one shared direction
Storefront | What needed to remain | Shared direction |
|---|---|---|
VaxServe | Its identity and established customer journeys | Gradual improvement on the existing commerce platform |
VaccineShoppe | Its identity and established customer journeys | Gradual improvement on the existing commerce platform |
SanofiShop | Its identity and established customer journeys | Gradual improvement on the existing commerce platform |
First, understand the terrain
Decoders began by working with the people involved in the project. Through stakeholder discussions, Decoders helped clarify requirements, understand needs and identify technical and organisational obstacles. This informed a practical direction for the modernisation, grounded in the reality of the teams and the platform. Instead of proposing a one-time transformation, the approach made it possible to improve customer journeys gradually while existing services continued to operate.
Viable for the platform. Understandable for the team.
The direction started with requirements, customer needs and the technical and organisational constraints of the existing environment.
A strategy that moved into action
Align: clarify requirements and obstacles with stakeholders.
Improve: combine technical strategy with hands-on development and early performance improvements.
Prepare to continue: establish a development team and a shared foundation for ongoing delivery.
Early performance gains made the approach tangible
The work combined technical strategy with hands-on development to get that direction moving. The initial performance improvements were substantial: pages that had previously been difficult to use became faster and more responsive. These early improvements demonstrated the value of the chosen approach and gave the team a concrete foundation for further work.
Faster pages. Better response.
The reported improvement was qualitative: pages became faster and more responsive. No numerical performance benchmark is claimed.
Prepare the team to keep going
The engagement also addressed Sanofi's ability to continue making progress after the initial phase. Decoders helped establish a new development team and lay the groundwork for ongoing delivery. This connected the strategic direction with a working structure that could support future improvements, rather than leaving Sanofi with a recommendation and no clear path to implement it.
A clear handover of scope
Decoders
Strategy, assessment and the startup phase of the modernisation, including early development work and helping establish a new team.
Broader implementation
Other contractors subsequently took on the broader implementation. The later stages are not presented as Decoders' work.
Meaningful progress without replacing everything
Decoders' scope focused on strategy and the startup phase of the modernisation. Other contractors subsequently took on the broader implementation. That distinction matters: the value of this phase was in assessing the situation, defining a viable direction and getting the work underway without claiming ownership of the later stages.
The value to Sanofi was a way to begin modernising without disrupting the business: improve the customer experience gradually, preserve the identity of all three brands, and prepare a team and shared direction for the work ahead. For organisations with critical platforms, the project shows how meaningful improvements can begin without replacing everything at once.
A similar challenge?
Talk through what needs to change, what needs to keep working and a practical place to begin.
