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Preparing for peak trading

A checklist for getting your integration ready for Black Friday, product launches, and other high-volume periods.

When to use this

Use this checklist to get your integration ready for a high-volume trading period such as Black Friday, a product launch or peak season. Preparation well in advance makes the difference between a smooth peak and a stressful one. The checklist is organised by when to do each item: four weeks before, one week before, on the day and after peak.

For how HC processes volume spikes, see How HC handles high-volume events. If you are running a specific sale or promotion, see also Running a promotion or sale event.

Before you start

Steps

4 weeks before

  1. Confirm all streams are active and processing normally.

  2. Resolve any existing failures in the event log. Entering peak with a backlog makes it harder to spot new issues. See How to fix and resend a failed event.

  3. Check destination system API rate limits (ERP, 3PL) and confirm they can handle elevated throughput. Raise with HC if uncertain.

  4. Complete any planned integration changes before this point. Avoid configuration changes in the final weeks before peak.

1 week before

  1. Verify alert settings in Alerts (under Settings) > Configure Alerts: confirm the right people are receiving alerts and thresholds reflect peak expectations. See Setting up error alerts.

  2. Confirm team access to the Control Panel. Anyone who may need to monitor or act during peak should be able to log in.

  3. Run an end-to-end test order through the full flow and verify it arrives correctly at the destination.

  4. Review the bulk resend process with your team so everyone knows the procedure if failures need to be reprocessed.

On the day

  1. Check the Control Panel dashboard before trading opens. See Reading the dashboard.

  2. Monitor the event list during peak hours: failed events, retrying events and volume patterns.

  3. Keep HC's contact details to hand.

After peak

  1. Review the event log for the peak window.

  2. Reprocess any failures that were held back during the event.

  3. Check inventory and financial postings for the period to confirm accuracy.

What you should see

Going into peak, all streams are active and processing normally, the event log has no unresolved failures, and your end-to-end test order arrives correctly at the destination. On the day, the dashboard and event list show volume patterns without a rise in failed or retrying events. For what normal looks like, see What a healthy integration looks like and Understanding event statuses.

If it did not work

Failures or affected events appear during peak. Contact HC immediately using the urgent contact method. When you reach out, provide the stream name, the volume of failures or affected events, and the error messages shown in the Control Panel. Do not bulk-resend failed events until HC has confirmed the root cause: reprocessing events before the underlying issue is fixed can result in duplicate records or compounded errors.

Your test order does not arrive at the destination. See An event hasn't arrived in the destination system.

To contact HC, see How to get support.

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