In a digital world, site speed is essential for customer satisfaction, boosting SEO, reducing bounce rates, and improving overall conversions. Although SuiteCommerce is a steady and reliable eCommerce platform, there are certain tricks you can apply to optimize your site, deliver a top-notch user experience, and maximize conversions.
Today, we’ll walk through fairly simple, practical, and actionable ways to optimize the performance of your SuiteCommerce or SuiteCommerce Advanced (SCA) site, based on our experts’ real-world experience and overall NetSuite eCommerce best practices.
1. Audit and Measure First
Before fixing anything, it’s crucial to evaluate your site’s current performance. Conducting SEO and UX audits by experts is definitely the best option to get a complete, professional scan and tailored action plan.
However, when on a budget, you can also use tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Lighthouse to identify problem areas and track progress. When using them, pay attention to metrics such as:
- Time to First Byte (TTFB)
- First Contentful Paint (FCP)
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Keep in mind that SuiteCommerce’s performance is influenced by both front-end and back-end factors, so a holistic view is key, which is why we always recommend getting a NetSuite support expert on board to get the whole picture.
2. Image Optimization
Heavy images are one of the most common reasons for performance issues and low speed. Here are some best practices to optimize them:
- Use WebP format when possible.
- Use lazy loading for off-screen images.
- Compress assets without compromising quality using tools like TinyPNG or Squoosh.
- Define proper image dimensions to prevent layout shifts.
SuiteCommerce supports responsive images (images that are designed to adjust their size and resolution based on the size of the screen they are being viewed on), so take advantage of that feature too!
3. Minimize Customizations and Reduce Unused Code
Custom features and themes can slow things down if not properly managed or developed by professionals. Just remember that each line of code you don’t load is a performance gain! Try the following tips:
- Remove unused templates, CSS, and JavaScript files.
- Refactor large modules into smaller, reusable components.
- Avoid heavy front-end logic on PLPs and PDPs (like real-time pricing or complex scripts).
- Use deferred or async loading for non-critical JS.
4. Enable Caching Strategically
SuiteCommerce supports various layers of caching:
- Edge caching (CDN) for static content like images, JS, and CSS.
- SSP application-level caching to store data and reduce server calls.
- Browser caching through proper cache-control headers.
Work with your NetSuite support team or partner to determine cache settings without sacrificing real-time data accuracy.
5. Reduce API Calls
Every server call adds latency. Try to reduce the load:
- Consolidate data requests into single calls when possible.
- Use SuiteScript caching for reusable server responses.
- Avoid unnecessary API calls on page load—defer or lazy load where appropriate.
Be careful when using real-time pricing and inventory visibility, as these often require multiple back-end calls.
6. Optimize the Checkout Experience
Your checkout process should always be as simple and fast as possible. Here are a few tips:
- Strip down unnecessary scripts and custom fields.
- Reduce third-party integrations that fire on checkout pages.
- Consider enabling the single-page checkout option for faster experiences.
Remember, the fewer distractions or friction at checkout, the more sales you’ll close!
7. Regularly Monitor and Update
SuiteCommerce, like any digital platform, is constantly evolving and adapting to current trends. This is why performance monitoring should be a regular practice.
Make sure you test regularly after each release or theme update, monitor your site via tools like Google Analytics, and stay tuned about SuiteCommerce and NetSuite updates through third-party blogs like this one, newsletters, or NetSuite’s site.
For more complete and detailed information, we strongly recommend working with a NetSuite partner who will make sure you’re leveraging your platform to the maximum.
With over 15 years of experience, 500+ clients, and around 6,500 hours of SuiteCommerce support per year, we have helped countless companies in different industries and verticals reach their maximum potential and boost growth through NetSuite. Contact our team today to see how we can help you boost performance and increase sales!
