Problem
A major US sporting goods retailer needed a full eCommerce rebrand alongside a platform overhaul. The existing frontend was tightly coupled, making independent deployments and content updates difficult. The client required AEM for editorial authoring and React for component rendering — two systems that needed to work together without either team depending on the other for day-to-day changes.
Role
Lead Frontend Architect. I worked with senior engineers to shape the overall integration approach, contributed to key parts of the Node.js stitching layer, and led a team of 10+ engineers based in India through delivery. I owned the frontend and Node layer architecture, and handled cross-team communication with client stakeholders as the technical point of contact.
Stack
- Micro-frontends: Each React module built independently and deployed to Google Cloud Storage as static bundles
- CMS: AEM used as the authoring surface — authors compose pages by selecting which modules to include, with no engineering involvement per page
- Node.js layer: Receives AEM-authored HTML, resolves the required module bundles, and renders the page — SSR or CSR determined by per-module flags (
isSsr/isCsr) set at authoring time - Rendering: Hybrid — server-rendered for SEO-critical and above-the-fold modules, client-rendered for interactive components
- CI/CD: Build and deployment pipeline per micro-frontend, in collaboration with DevOps
Outcome
- Launched full eCommerce rebrand in 2018 on schedule
- AEM authors gained full page composition control without raising engineering tickets
- Independent per-module deployments decoupled release cycles across frontend teams
- Hybrid SSR/CSR approach allowed SEO requirements and interactivity requirements to coexist without architectural compromise
- Platform remained in active use post-launch; continues under Publicis Sapient support