How Martin Guitar Left a Homegrown Platform in Under Two Months
Martin Guitar replaced its homegrown ecommerce site with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, built on Red Van's Autobahn framework with Storefront Reference Architecture and Salesforce Order Management. The new site was developed in under two months, delivered on time and on budget, with Lighthouse performance scores in the 90s across the board.
Who is Martin Guitar?
Since 1833, Martin Guitar has set the standard for acoustic excellence, crafting instruments that have shaped music history for nearly two centuries.
Martin sells high-consideration, high-value instruments to players who research extensively before buying. For that customer, the site is part of the product evaluation, not just the transaction. Page speed, product detail, and order transparency carry more weight than they would for a low-ticket catalog.
What problem did Martin Guitar need to solve?
Martin Guitar was running a homegrown ecommerce platform that limited flexibility and needed to move to Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
Homegrown platforms tend to age the same way. They work until the business needs something the original build did not anticipate, and then every change becomes a custom development project against code only a few people understand. Martin needed a commercial platform with a real ecosystem behind it, order management included, and it needed the move to happen without a long build that would leave the brand stuck between two systems.
Requirements that defined the project
- Replace a homegrown platform with Salesforce Commerce Cloud
- Implement Salesforce Order Management alongside commerce
- Deliver on a short timeline without descoping
- Improve site performance measurably
- Give the team more flexibility than the previous platform allowed
- Stay on time and on budget
How did Red Van solve it?
Red Van built Martin Guitar's new site on Autobahn, featuring both Storefront Reference Architecture (SFRA) and Salesforce Order Management (SOM), and delivered it in under two months.
Autobahn is Red Van's Salesforce Commerce Cloud accelerator. It supplies the pre-built components and integrations that would otherwise be scoped as custom development on every project, which is what makes a sub-two-month build possible without cutting scope. The build shipped with Lighthouse performance scores in the 90s across the board, which is a deliberate architectural outcome rather than a post-launch optimization pass.
What the platform includes
Autobahn SFRA Build
A full Salesforce Commerce Cloud storefront on Storefront Reference Architecture, built with Autobahn's pre-built components in place of custom development.
Salesforce Order Management
SOM implemented alongside commerce at launch, so order handling, fulfillment, and customer service run on the same platform as the storefront rather than in a separate system.
Performance-First Architecture
Lighthouse performance scores in the 90s across the board at launch, achieved through the build rather than through a remediation project afterward.
Migration from Homegrown
Catalog, content, and commerce functionality moved off Martin's custom-built platform onto a commercial platform with a supported upgrade path.
Improved User Experience
A substantially better customer experience than the previous site, built to support the research-heavy purchase journey of a high-value instrument buyer.
Platform Flexibility
Commerce Cloud gives Martin's team far more flexibility than the homegrown platform allowed, including access to the wider Salesforce ecosystem as needs evolve.
What were the results?
Martin Guitar launched a fully functioning Salesforce Commerce Cloud site in under two months, on time and on budget, with Lighthouse scores in the 90s across the board. The new site offers an immensely better user experience than the homegrown platform, and Commerce Cloud gives the team flexibility it did not previously have.
- New site developed in under two months
- Lighthouse performance scores in the 90s across the board
- Delivered on time and on budget
- Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Order Management live together
- Homegrown platform retired
- Substantially improved user experience
- Greater platform flexibility than the previous build allowed
- Access to the Salesforce ecosystem for future capability
On time, on budget, and beyond expectations is a phrase every agency uses. Martin Guitar's version of it is a fully functioning Commerce Cloud and Order Management build in under two months, with measurable performance scores attached.
“"It was amazing how quickly Red Van was able to stand up a fully functioning site. And not only was it quick, but our new website offers an immensely better user experience, and Commerce Cloud gives us much more flexibility than we had before."”
What services did Red Van provide?
- 01Discovery and Architecture
- 02Salesforce Commerce Cloud Implementation
- 03Salesforce Order Management Implementation
- 04Autobahn Platform Deployment
- 05Legacy Platform Migration
- 06Site Performance Engineering
- 07UX and Storefront Design
- 08Data Migration
- 09QA and Launch Support
- 10Ongoing Managed Services
Frequently asked questions
How long does a Salesforce Commerce Cloud implementation take?+
Martin Guitar's site was developed in under two months, including Salesforce Order Management, and delivered on time and on budget. Red Van's Autobahn framework supplies pre-built components and integrations that would otherwise be custom work. Timelines vary with catalog complexity, integration count, and internal readiness.
Should we replace a homegrown ecommerce platform?+
Usually when every change has become a custom development project and the knowledge sits with a handful of people. Martin Guitar moved to Commerce Cloud for flexibility it could not get from its own build. A homegrown platform that still serves the business well is not a reason to replatform.
What Lighthouse score should an ecommerce site have?+
Scores in the 90s are achievable and worth targeting, and Martin Guitar launched there across the board. The important detail is that performance came from the architecture rather than a later optimization pass. Retrofitting speed onto a slow build is consistently more expensive than designing for it.
Should Salesforce Order Management go live with commerce or come later?+
Launching them together avoids an interim period where orders flow into a system you are planning to replace. Martin Guitar went live with Commerce Cloud and Salesforce Order Management in the same build, so order handling and fulfillment ran on the target architecture from day one.