With support from Vericode, the group simulated 20 million concurrent users on critical APIs, ensuring resilience and performance during peaks of up to 15 million requests per minute.
Casas Bahia Group achieved R$8 billion in sales during Black Friday 2018 and managed to maintain the stability of its platforms even with traffic 30% higher than expected. To achieve this, it relied on the support of Vericode, a company specializing in software quality and IT, which implemented a load simulation process in essential APIs, focusing on preventing failures and guaranteeing performance.
During the preparation for the event, the Vericode simulated 20 million concurrent users using the K6 tool, focusing on APIs responsible for critical operations such as product search, authentication, and checkout, while Grafana, an open-source analytics platform, monitored latency and error metrics in real time. The platform withstood peaks of up to 15 million requests per minute without interruption, and according to internal estimates, downtime could generate losses of up to R$ 2 million per hour.
According to Kalil Picelli, delivery manager and partner at Vericode, the robustness of the operation during Black Friday was the result of careful preparation focused on preventing failures. "More than just supporting peak demand, the goal was to identify bottlenecks in advance and act preventively. The simulation with the K6 tool identified vulnerable points, allowing us to calibrate the infrastructure before the event, without compromising the customer experience," he states.
In digital retail, the availability and performance of APIs—responsible for essential functions such as search, authentication, and checkout—directly influence the consumer experience and the competitiveness of companies during periods of high demand. Vericode's strategy proved crucial given the scenario highlighted by a survey by FGVcias, which revealed that 551% of retailers experienced slowdowns or technical failures on Black Friday, with 40% of these issues being related to critical APIs.
For Kalil, the project demonstrates how the coordinated use of open source tools, practices DevOps and continuous observability can be crucial to ensuring results on high-volume dates. "Preparing for major events isn't just about testing limits. It's about understanding system behavior in different scenarios and acting proactively."
With a team of more than 200 experts, Vericode participated in performance and security projects in digital banks, acquirers and large marketplaces, focusing on operational reliability and scalability, integrating solutions such as FinOps and test automation in highly critical environments.
About Vericode
Vericode specializes in DevSecOps, Continuous Testing, and Observability, ensuring the resilience and reliability of critical systems for over 15 years. Founded in 2003, the company serves major players in the financial, retail, and acquiring sectors, including banks, fintechs, and brokerages, offering high-performance computing solutions to maximize the security and performance of digital operations. For more information, visit: https://vericode.com.br/pt.
