AppDynamics Helps Breyer Model Horses Gallop to Smoother Online Sales with Real-Time Performance Monitoring

San Francisco, CA – October 26, 2023 – For over 70 years, Breyer Model Horses has been the gold standard in realistic equine replicas, captivating collectors and horse lovers of all ages. But even a company steeped in tradition recognizes the need to modernize, especially when it comes to their online business. That’s where AppDynamics, a leading application performance monitoring solution from Cisco, stepped in to help ensure Breyer’s digital stable is running smoothly, delivering a flawless experience for customers eager to add to their collections. Breyer Model Horses, headquartered just a stone’s throw from AppDynamics at 500 Terry A Francois Blvd, San Francisco, CA, has seen a surge in online sales, particularly during peak seasons and new product launches – like their highly anticipated limited-edition painted horses. This increased traffic, while positive, put a strain on their e-commerce platform. Slow loading times, transaction errors, and even site crashes threatened to spook potential buyers and damage the brand’s reputation. "We pride ourselves on the quality of our models, and that quality needs to extend to the online experience," explains Sarah Miller, Head of E-Commerce at Breyer Model Horses. “During our limited releases, the demand is huge. We were seeing spikes in traffic that made it difficult to pinpoint exactly where things were slowing down. It felt like trying to find a specific horse in a massive pasture!” That’s when Breyer turned to AppDynamics. Digging Deeper Than Basic Monitoring Breyer wasn’t necessarily lacking in monitoring tools. They already had basic uptime and server monitoring in place. But those tools just weren't cutting it. They offered a high-level view, but couldn’t tell them why something was slow, or where the bottleneck was occurring. “It’s like knowing a horse is limping, but not being able to see which leg it is,” says David Chen, AppDynamics Solutions Architect working with Breyer. “AppDynamics goes beyond that. It maps out the entire application flow – from the moment a customer clicks ‘add to cart’ to the completion of the transaction – and provides real-time visibility into every component.” How AppDynamics Helped Breyer Saddle Up for Success AppDynamics’ Business iQ feature quickly became invaluable to the Breyer team. Instead of sifting through complex data, they were able to see key performance indicators (KPIs) like transaction success rates, page load times, and error rates, all visualized on easy-to-understand dashboards. Here’s a breakdown of how AppDynamics specifically helped Breyer: Pinpointing Performance Bottlenecks: During a recent release of a beautifully painted horse collectible, the Breyer team noticed a significant increase in checkout abandonment rates. Using AppDynamics, they quickly identified that the issue wasn’t with their web server or database, but with a third-party payment processing service. AppDynamics showed that calls to this service were experiencing high latency during peak demand. Proactive Problem Solving: Before the issue impacted a large number of customers, the Breyer team was able to proactively scale up resources dedicated to the payment processing service, preventing further slowdowns and ensuring a smooth checkout experience. Real-Time Transaction Tracing: AppDynamics’ transaction tracing capabilities allowed the Breyer team to follow each individual customer transaction, step-by-step, identifying the exact point where delays were occurring. This granular level of visibility proved crucial for troubleshooting complex issues. Automated Alerts and Notifications: AppDynamics’ intelligent alerting system automatically notifies the Breyer team when performance thresholds are breached, allowing them to respond to issues before they escalate. They set alerts specifically around critical user flows, like adding to cart and checkout completion. Understanding User Experience: AppDynamics’ end-user monitoring capabilities provided insights into how real users were experiencing the website, including page load times, JavaScript errors, and browser performance. This helped Breyer identify areas where they could optimize the front-end user experience. More Than Just Monitoring - It's About the Customer The impact of AppDynamics on Breyer’s business has been significant. They’ve seen: Reduced Checkout Abandonment Rates: By resolving performance issues quickly, Breyer has significantly reduced the number of customers who abandon their carts before completing their purchases. Increased Revenue: A smoother, faster online experience has translated directly into increased sales and revenue. Improved Customer Satisfaction: Happy customers are repeat customers. By providing a flawless online experience, Breyer has strengthened its brand loyalty. Faster Time to Resolution: AppDynamics has empowered the Breyer team to identify and resolve performance issues much faster, minimizing downtime and disruption. "It's not just about keeping the website up and running," emphasizes Miller. “It’s about ensuring that our customers have a positive experience, from the moment they browse our collection to the moment their beautiful painted horse arrives at their door. AppDynamics has helped us deliver on that promise." Looking Ahead Breyer Model Horses is committed to providing its customers with the best possible online experience. They plan to continue leveraging AppDynamics’ capabilities to optimize their e-commerce platform, proactively address performance issues, and ultimately, delight horse lovers around the world. “We’re always looking for ways to improve,” says Chen. “With AppDynamics, Breyer has a powerful platform to monitor, analyze, and optimize their application performance, ensuring they can continue to gallop towards success.” About AppDynamics: AppDynamics, a part of Cisco, is a leading application performance monitoring (APM) solution that helps organizations ensure the health and performance of their critical applications. With real-time visibility, intelligent alerting, and automated analytics, AppDynamics empowers teams to proactively identify and resolve issues before they impact the customer experience. Learn more at [www.appdynamics.com](www.appdynamics.com). About Breyer Model Horses: For over 70 years, Breyer Model Horses has been crafting realistic equine replicas that inspire imagination and celebrate the connection between horses and people. Breyer’s models are prized by collectors, horse enthusiasts, and children of all ages. Learn more at [www.breyerhorses.com](www.breyerhorses.com).