Webring SymbioStream

SymbioStream is an intelligent tool that optimizes user flow in a net of complementary shops in order to convert the free users into buyers.

Specific features of the service

The basic idea behind the system is to redirect traffic between shops with complementary offers, e.g shops with films and home cinema centres, or shoe shops and sock shops. The second criterion for the partner selection decision is the profile of their customers (like age and gender). The SymbioStream service is available to the public through online shopping directory Sklepy24.pl.

Functional and graphic design

The most notable element of the SymbioStream service is its widget, which advertises complementary online shops. The widget appears in the header as a floating element of a webpage. Currently it is integrated with an online shopping search engine Kangoo.pl. Exemplary usage of the SymbioStream service can be seen on SklepSPA.pl webpage.

Technicalities

The greatest technical challenge related to the SymbioStream project was the necessity to handle numbers of simultaneous requests from hundreds of shops displaying the widget and promoting the complementary shops. The system was expected to accept the requests and respond to them immediately and to log stats at the same time. The problems around efficiency were solved by the use of the memory buffer system Memcached, which stores all current stats and then dumps them to PostgreSQL database in 15 minute intervals. Moreover, the Memcached system stores sets of ready-made widgets which are also generated and refreshed in 15 minute intervals. The SymbioStream system has already been implemented and it currently operates successfully on hundreds of online shopping webpages, reaching one million widget views per day. The whole system uses only one VPS with LightTPD.