“Roses are red, the web’s a delight,
With Magento, Hyvä, and JaJuMa in sight.
Fast and efficient, a beautiful flight,
E-commerce dreams, shining so bright.”
The world of ecommerce can sometimes feel like a roller coaster:
One moment your online store is buzzing with traffic and sales, the next it’s down, leaving you in a state of panic. That’s exactly what happened to one of our Magento clients: Rosemarie Schulz. Their once reliable site suddenly displayed nothing but an ominous error message, much like a storefront with its shutters slammed shut at the wrong moment.
But lets start the story from the very beginning:
The Calm Before the Crisis: From Routine Maintenance to Sudden Meltdown
We’ve built a long-standing relationship with this client through performance optimizations in the past and regularly applying essential security patches. For years, their Magento store operated reliably. Then, last summer, the situation took a dramatic turn. What began as a minor glitch—an error message replacing the usual smooth operation—quickly spiraled into a full-blown crisis.
Initially, we managed to get the site back online with a quick fix. However, it wasn’t long before the problem resurfaced. Further investigation revealed severe server issues: basic commands dragged on, SSH connections dropped frequently, and even service restarts were painfully slow. Despite our efforts, each remedy was only a temporary improvement, leaving the site persistently unstable. To add insult to injury, the hosting company’s support was utterly unhelpful, leaving our client stranded and desperate for a sustainable solution.
Project Rescue: Emergency Migration to a Temporary Server
When your site is crashing repeatedly and the hosting provider can’t (or won’t) help, you have two options:
Keep fighting a losing battle or move to a stable environment.
Together with the client, we chose the latter. We migrated the entire store to one of our development servers, immediately restoring site stability.
The key takeaway?
Always choose a reputable hosting provider.
Magento hosting doesn’t have to break the bank, but quality and support are non-negotiable.
Migrate to Another Platform or Re-Vamp on Magento with Hyvä Theme?
Server meltdown aside, the store was also long overdue for an upgrade. It ran on an older Magento version and an outdated Luma-based frontend. While our earlier performance optimizations had delivered decent LCP, FCP, and INP scores (even pre-Core Web Vitals), the initial load - especially on mobile - just wasn’t up to modern standards. Plus, the Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which had never received specific attention or optimization, was causing the store to fail its Core Web Vitals test.
The merchant had even considered switching to alternatives like Shopify, tempted by allegedly lower costs and slick marketing promises. We took the time to bust those myths, explaining why Magento, paired with the Hyvä theme and a little JaJuMa magic & experience, can actually be faster, more flexible, and surprisingly cost-effective. After all, who wants to trade real freedom, control and scalability for questionable SaaS marketing promises?
The Restart: Accelerated to Light Speed on a Low-Key Budget
Once the client decided to stay with Magento, we mapped out a plan with these clear goals:
- Upgrade Magento to the latest version for security and stability.
- Empower the Merchant with full control, free from risky third-party dependencies.
- Adopt Hyvä Theme & Checkout for a future-proof, lightning-fast frontend.
- Maximize Performance to enhance user experience and conversions.
- Stay Low Budget without sacrificing essential functionality or quality.
We kicked things off by upgrading Magento, doing some cleanup and refreshing all extensions (both third-party and custom JaJuMa Extensions), then integrated our latest performance enhancements. Next, we rolled out Hyvä Theme and Hyvä Checkout, migrated payment processing to Mollie, and carefully customized the new frontend to preserve the store’s familiar look and feel. By mid-October, the revamped site went live. Within minutes, the first order rolled in, and the initial performance data looked fantastic.
60 Days On Hyvä – Magento Is Fast, But Not Expensive!
The initial weeks following the launch were spent diligently monitoring the store's performance. It operated with the unwavering reliability of a Swiss timepiece. Our efforts were focused on making minor adjustments to further refine the performance indicators. After 60 days, the results were not just impressive – they were truly outstanding. We observed remarkable improvements across all key performance indicators:
- CLS plummeted from 0.3 to a perfect 0.0;
- LCP saw a dramatic reduction from 1.6 seconds to a blazing-fast 0.8 seconds;
- FCP improved from 1.3 seconds to a snappy 0.7 seconds; and
- TTFB decreased from 0.9 seconds to an impressive 0.4 seconds.
This dramatic shift in performance is a testament to Hyvä's ability to deliver exceptional speed and efficiency:
| Metric | Before Hyvä | After 60 Days | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLS | 0.3 | 0.0 | Outstanding: -100% |
| LCP | 1.6 | 0.8 | Significant: -50% |
| FCP | 1.3 | 0.7 | Significant: -46% |
| TTFB | 0.9 | 0.4 | Significant: -55% |
The beauty of such speed is truly captivating, and this Hyvä launch was no exception.
However, our excitement wasn't solely focused on the performance metrics.
Successfully launching this high-performing site on a record-breaking low budget brought us at least as much joy as it did to our client.
Furthermore, we achieved this top-tier performance and a seamlessly operating online store on a cost-effective server.
Remarkably, we didn't need to rely on expensive and often complex technologies like Elasticsearch, Varnish, or Redis - just Magento, Hyvä with JaJuMa refinements and a stable hosting environment to achieve these results.
This showcase stands as a powerful testament to how well Magento is suited even for small merchants, thanks to manageable project budgets and minimized ongoing operational costs.
How We Built a Super-Fast Magento Store on a Super-Small Budget
Our approach rests on three key pillars:
- Magento: Enterprise-Grade Open Source eCommerce Powerhouse
Magento provides the essential foundation for unlimited flexibility, granting merchants complete ownership of their data, complete control over your ecommerce destiny and the freedom to operate independently without risky reliance on restrictive third-party platforms. All of this comes with a surprisingly low total cost of ownership, especially when compared to some proprietary solutions. - Hyvä: The Frontend Revolution – Fast and Fiscally Smart
Hyvä delivers unparalleled page load speeds and accelerates development thanks to its modern and developer-friendly technology stack. It benefits from frequent updates, robust maintenance, and the support of a vibrant and extensive community. With speed and performance ingrained in its very DNA, Hyvä is the guarantee for a future-proof frontend choice. Its streamlined architecture significantly reduces complexity compared to traditional Magento frontends, leading to faster development times and improved performance - JaJuMa: Expertise That Turns Possibility into Reality
With over a decade of experience working with Magento and as early adopters of Hyvä, we constantly strive to push the boundaries of what's technically achievable while ensuring our clients' complete satisfaction. Our deep understanding of both Magento and Hyvä allows us to craft efficient and cost-effective solutions. Our "JaJuMa magic" lies in our vast experience, our ability to leverage the full potential of Hyvä, and our impressive array of ready-made modules. These modules, developed from previous work and research, cover a wide range of functionalities, from performance optimization to marketing and legal compliance, allowing us to meet client requirements as easily as installing an extension. This minimizes custom development work and significantly reduces project budgets .
Key Takeaways: Magento Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive
If you've ever heard someone claim that Magento is expensive, slow, or exclusively for large corporations, it's time to raise an eyebrow, perhaps even two, and ask some pointed questions . Because, in the right hands:
- Magento does not have to be expensive and can be successfully run even on a tight budget
- Magento can deliver super-fast performance
- Magento is absolutely a viable and powerful platform for small merchants as well
This very project serves as compelling evidence of these truths. It's time to disregard the negative narratives surrounding Magento and be wary of any naysayers trying to steer you towards potentially inferior and less flexible SaaS solutions that come with their own set of game breaking limitations and dependencies.
Instead, seek out the <a tabindex="-1" title="JaJuMa Hyvä Expertise" href="https://www.jajuma.de/en/jajuma-shop/online-shop-with-magento-2-and-hyva-themes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">right partner</a> – one with deep industry know-how and a client-centric approach – to get your online store up and running in a way that not only meets your business needs but also brings you genuine satisfaction.
Ready for a Fast Launch Ecommerce Store?
If you’re looking to transform your online business with a Magento store that’s built on a low budget yet performs at lightning speed, contact JaJuMa today for a free consultation. We’ll help you launch your online store in record time - showcasing the true power of Magento, Hyvä, and our unique brand of JaJuMa magic.
Let JaJuMa help you launch your online store in record time!
