Multi-tenant commerce platform for Direct Wines
Consolidated cloned brand sites into one CMS-configured platform, cutting launch time from six weeks to four days.
Fractional product lead · Direct Wines · concluded March 2026
- PROBLEM
- Cloned e-commerce codebases made each new brand slow to launch and left site performance behind.
- BUILT
- A CMS-configured multi-tenant commerce platform for multiple brands, replatformed from React to Next.js.
- OUTCOME
- $100M+ DTC portfolio supported · 20 → 82 Lighthouse score · 6 weeks → 4 days new-brand launch time · 2 successful launches
- STACK
- Next.js · React
- STATUS
- handed over
Why it exists
Direct Wines operates a portfolio of branded wine storefronts, including WSJ Wine, FOX News Wine Shop, and Laithwaites. Those sites had grown as cloned e-commerce codebases. Launching another brand took six weeks, while the starting Lighthouse performance score was 20.
The brief was bigger than another storefront: replace the clones with one platform that could support distinct brands without rebuilding the same product each time.
What I led
I owned the product roadmap and led a six-person team through the consolidation into a CMS-configured, multi-tenant commerce platform supporting Direct Wines’ $100M+ DTC portfolio. The implementation moved the storefront from React to Next.js to improve SEO and site performance.
The product work stayed tied to the commercial goals of the portfolio:
- One platform, distinct brands. Shared commerce capabilities moved into one codebase, while brand teams could configure the experience through the CMS.
- A roadmap around customer behaviour. I prioritised speed to purchase, member sign-ups, retention, and average order value alongside the platform consolidation.
- Validation through real launches. The team used two successful new-brand launches to prove the model rather than treating the replatform as complete when the shared code shipped.
I also ran the ongoing stakeholder cadence around the work, presenting progress, priorities, and trade-offs to the Direct Wines leadership team.
The result
The Lighthouse score increased from 20 to 82. New-brand launch time fell from six weeks to four days, validated across two successful launches. The result was one configurable platform supporting a $100M+ portfolio instead of another set of cloned sites.
During the same engagement, I also built the AI development infrastructure used across the engineering organisation.