1. Home
  2. Knowledge base
  3. Tutorials

WooCommerce High-Traffic Event Preparation Guide: Phase 3 

Last modified: October 8, 2025

Launch day operations

Overview

Purpose: Maintain service stability and optimal performance during your high-traffic WooCommerce event through proactive monitoring and rapid incident response.

Key principle: Proactive monitoring with rapid response to emerging issues. Every second counts during your event; clear procedures and quick decision-making prevent minor issues from becoming major incidents.

Success criteria:

  • Maintain 99%+ uptime throughout event
  • Keep uncached page response times under 2 seconds
  • Achieve target conversion rates despite traffic surge
  • Resolve any incidents within defined SLA timeframes

NOTE: While this guide includes role designations and assumes a multi-faceted team it can be adapted to smaller or even solo operations.  

Pre-launch final checklist

Each task includes key information to help with delegation, timelines, understanding the purpose of the task, and prioritization in a [Who] [Urgency] [Frequency] format. We recommend you review this entire guide at least 1 day prior to your event.

[Operations Lead] [Critical Alert] [Complete 1 hour before event]

Last-minute verification items:

  • All team members at their stations and communication channels active
  • Monitoring dashboards loaded and visible on dedicated screens
  • Emergency command reference printed and accessible
  • Payment gateway status pages checked (all green)
  • Email queue clear and SMTP service verified
  • Cache properly warmed on all critical pages
  • Change freeze communicated and acknowledged by all teams
  • Customer service team briefed on expected issues and responses

Team coordination

Roles and responsibilities during event

[Operations Lead] [Critical Alert] [Define before event start]

  • Operations Lead: Primary decision maker, escalation point, stakeholder communication
  • Technical Lead: System health tracking, performance monitoring, technical troubleshooting
  • Business Stakeholder: Revenue tracking, business metrics, go/no-go decisions 
  • Support Team Lead: Customer issue triage, support ticket coordination, FAQ updates

Communication protocols and setup

[Operations Lead] [Critical Alert] [Establish 30 minutes before event]

What you’re monitoring: Team coordination and information flow.

How to monitor:

  1. Set up dedicated Slack channel or Teams room: #event-comms
  2. Configure notification levels: Critical only during event
  3. Establish update cadence: Ex. every 30 minutes for status, immediate for issues
  4. Prepare shared dashboard with live metrics visible to all team members

Alert thresholds: Any team member offline or communication channel failure.

Communication schedule:

  • T-30min: Final team check-in
  • T-0: Event start confirmation
  • Every 30min: Status update to stakeholders
  • Every 60min: Metrics summary to leadership
  • Immediate: Any incident notifications

Shift schedules and handoff procedures

[Operations Lead] [Monitor Closely] [Every shift change]

Shift handoff checklist:

  1. Current system status and any active issues
  2. Recent actions taken and their outcomes
  3. Upcoming scheduled tasks or concerns
  4. Updated metrics vs. targets
  5. Any customer patterns or recurring issues noted

Monitoring framework

Essential metrics to track continuously

[Technical Lead] [Critical Alert] [Continuous]

What you’re monitoring: Core system health and business performance indicators.

How to monitor:

  1. Google Analytics Real-Time for visitor tracking
  2. WooCommerce Analytics > Orders for business metrics
  3. Query Monitor (on staging mirror) for PHP pressure indicators
  4. Browser DevTools on actual site for real response times

Alert thresholds:

  • Visitors exceed 150% of projected: Scale monitoring frequency
  • PHP worker pressure signs: TTFB >800ms on cart/checkout
  • Cache hit ratio drops below 85%: Investigate immediately
  • Conversion rate drops >20% from baseline: Business review required

PHP worker pressure indicators

[Technical Lead] [Critical Alert] [Every 15 min]

What you’re monitoring: Signs of PHP worker saturation without direct worker monitoring.

How to monitor: Watch for these observable indicators of PHP worker pressure:

  1. Increased TTFB on uncached pages (cart, checkout) rising above 700ms
  2. Admin dashboard becoming sluggish or timing out
  3. Email sending delays (orders not getting confirmations promptly)
  4. Timeout errors (504 Gateway Timeout) appearing in logs
  5. Slow response on admin-ajax.php requests

Alert thresholds:

  • TTFB on checkout exceeds 1 second
  • Any 504 errors reported
  • Email queue backing up beyond 10 messages

Response procedure:

  1. Immediate: Check which plugins are active and consuming resources
  2. Assessment: Identify specific bottlenecks using Query Monitor on staging
  3. Escalation: Disable non-critical plugins per pre-approved list

Emergency commands:

# Quick check of active plugins

wp plugin list --status=active --field=name

# Disable specific heavy plugin if needed

wp plugin deactivate plugin-name --skip-plugins

See our full guide to accessing server logs here.

Dashboard setup and alert configuration

[Technical Lead] [Critical Alert] [Continuous]

Multi-tab monitoring setup example:

  1. Tab 1: Google Analytics Real-Time (traffic flow)
  2. Tab 2: WooCommerce Analytics (orders and revenue)
  3. Tab 3: Pingdom/UptimeRobot (external monitoring)
  4. Tab 4: Payment gateway dashboard (transaction success)
  5. Tab 5: SMTP provider dashboard (email delivery rates)
  6. Tab 6: Pressable Metrics (cache and performance)

Alert configuration priorities:

  • Critical: Site down, payment failures, database errors
  • High: Performance degradation, high error rates, cache issues
  • Medium: Individual feature issues, email delays
  • Low: Non-customer-facing issues

Real-time email monitoring

[Technical Lead] [Monitor Closely] [Every 30 min]

What you’re monitoring: Email delivery performance and queue status. If you’re not using an SMTP plugin to route email through your own provider, you are also watching for Pressable’s 200/hour limit.

How to monitor:

  1. Check SMTP provider dashboard for delivery rates
  2. Verify test order emails arriving within 5 minutes
  3. Watch for customer complaints about missing confirmations

Alert thresholds:

  • Delivery rate drops below 95%
  • Any order confirmation delayed >10 minutes

Response procedure:

  1. Immediate: Check SMTP service status
  2. Assessment: Review email send rate vs. Pressable limit
  3. Escalation: Implement email batching or priority queue for order confirmations

Mobile performance monitoring

[Technical Monitor] [Monitor Closely] [Every 30 min]

What you’re monitoring: Mobile-specific conversion and performance metrics.

How to monitor:

  1. Google Analytics: Audience > Mobile > Overview for device breakdown
  2. Track mobile vs. desktop conversion rates separately
  3. Use real device to test checkout flow every 30 minutes
  4. Monitor mobile-specific error rates in analytics

Alert thresholds:

  • Mobile conversion rate 50% below desktop
  • Mobile cart abandonment exceeds 70%
  • Mobile page load times exceed 3 seconds

Response procedure:

  1. Immediate: Test checkout on actual mobile device
  2. Assessment: Check for mobile-specific JavaScript errors
  3. Escalation: Consider mobile-specific optimizations or simplified checkout

Payment gateway status monitoring

[Business Stakeholder] [Critical Alert] [Every 15 min]

What you’re monitoring: Real-time payment success rates and gateway health.

How to monitor:

  1. Check each gateway’s merchant dashboard:
    • PayPal: Transaction success rate
    • Stripe: Payment completion percentage
    • Square: Authorization rates
  2. Monitor WooCommerce order notes for payment failures
  3. Track payment method distribution for anomalies

Alert thresholds:

  • Any gateway success rate below 95%
  • Unusual concentration on single payment method
  • Multiple customer reports of payment issues

Response procedure:

  1. Immediate: Verify gateway API connectivity
  2. Assessment: Check for specific error patterns
  3. Escalation: Consider disabling problematic gateway, communicate alternative payment options

Emergency commands:

# Check recent failed orders if using HPOS

wp db query --skip-column-names --silent "

SELECT COUNT(*) AS failed_last_hour

FROM \`$(wp db prefix)wc_orders\`

WHERE status = 'wc-failed'

  AND date_updated_gmt > (UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL 1 HOUR);

"

# Check recent failed orders if not using HPOS

wp db query --skip-column-names --silent "

SELECT COUNT(*) AS failed_last_hour

FROM \`$(wp db prefix)posts\`

WHERE post_type = 'shop_order'

  AND post_status = 'wc-failed'

  AND post_modified_gmt > (UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL 1 HOUR);

"

# List active payment gateways
# Because this check requires an authenticated admin user, this code snippet selects the first admin in the list
# You may wish to modify it if you prefer a more tailored behavior

wp --user=$(wp user list --role=administrator --field=ID --skip-plugins --skip-themes | head -n1) \

   wc payment_gateway list --fields=id,enabled

Incident response procedures

Change freeze protocols

[Operations Lead] [Critical Alert] [Continuous enforcement]

Absolutely prohibited during event:

  • Code deployments or Git pushes
  • Plugin installations or updates
  • Theme modifications or customizer changes
  • Database schema alterations
  • DNS record modifications (except emergency failover)

Emergency-only allowed actions (pre-approved list):

  • Edge Cache purging via Pressable plugin
  • Object Cache flushing if absolutely necessary
  • Specific plugin deactivation from approved list:
    • Social media auto-posters
    • Backup plugins
    • Marketing automation tools
    • Non-essential analytics plugins
  • Content updates through WordPress admin
  • Payment gateway toggling or configuration adjustments
  • Emergency maintenance mode activation

Incident escalation framework

Level 1: Critical (immediate response required)

[Operations Lead] [Critical Alert] [Response within 5 minutes]

Triggers:

  • Complete site downtime
  • All payment processing failing
  • Database connectivity lost
  • Security breach indicators
  • Complete Edge Cache failure

Response procedure:

  1. Immediate (0-2 min):
    • Acknowledge incident in comms
    • Check external monitoring for confirmation
    • Initiate emergency diagnostics
    • Contact Pressable support or payment gateway support as appropriate
  2. Assessment (2-5 min):
    • Determine scope of impact
    • Identify root cause if obvious
    • Begin mitigation steps
  3. Escalation (5+ min):
    • Notify all stakeholders
    • Implement emergency response
    • Consider maintenance mode

Level 2: Urgent (response within 15 minutes)

[Technical Lead] [Critical Alert] [Response within 15 minutes]

Triggers:

  • Performance degradation (>5 second load times)
  • Error rate exceeds 10% of requests
  • Payment gateway partial failures
  • Cache hit ratio below 70%
  • PHP worker saturation symptoms

Response procedure:

  1. Immediate (0-5 min):
    • Document symptoms and metrics
    • Check for obvious causes
  2. Assessment (5-10 min):
    • Run diagnostic commands
    • Review recent changes
  3. Escalation (10-15 min):
    • Implement fixes or workarounds
    • Update stakeholders

Level 3: Important (response within 30 minutes)

[Support Team] [Monitor Closely] [Response within 30 minutes]

Triggers:

  • Minor feature malfunctions
  • Individual payment method issues
  • Email delivery delays
  • Isolated customer complaints
  • Non-critical plugin errors

Response procedure:

  1. Log issue with timestamp
  2. Assess customer impact
  3. Implement fix if straightforward
  4. Document for post-event review

Emergency response playbooks

Cache system failure

[Technical Lead] [Critical Alert] [Immediate response]

Symptoms: All pages showing x-ac: MISS, severe performance degradation

Response procedure:

  1. Verify cache status across multiple pages
  2. Attempt cache purge via Pressable cache management plugin or the command below (then re-warm cache)
  3. If unsuccessful, contact Pressable support immediately
  4. Consider reducing traffic (pause marketing campaigns)
wp edge-cache purge --domain=yoursite.com

Payment processing failure

[Business Stakeholder] [Critical Alert] [Immediate response]

Symptoms: All transactions failing, gateway timeout errors

Response procedure:

  1. Check gateway status pages
  2. Test with different payment method
  3. Review webhook logs for errors
  4. Toggle to backup payment gateway if available
  5. Communicate alternative payment instructions to customers

Database connectivity issues

[Technical Lead] [Critical Alert] [Immediate response]

Symptoms: Database connection errors, site showing error establishing connection

Response procedure:

  1. Verify with: wp db check
  2. Check Pressable status page
  3. Clear object cache: wp cache flush
  4. Document all errors for support
  5. Contact Pressable support
  6. Activate maintenance mode if unresolved

Rollback decision framework

[Operations Lead] [Critical Alert] [As needed]

Immediate rollback triggers:

  • Site downtime exceeding 5 minutes
  • Payment processing failure rate >25%
  • Database corruption detected
  • Security incident confirmed
  • Unrecoverable performance degradation

Rollback execution procedure:

1. Activate maintenance mode:

wp maintenance-mode activate

2. Backup database with all current order and customer data

wp db export event-recovery-backup.sql

3. Restore database from backup:

wp db import backup-pre-event-[date].sql

4. Clear all caches:

wp cache flush

wp edge-cache purge --domain=yoursite.com

5. Verify restoration:

  • Test critical paths
  • Check payment processing

6. Deactivate maintenance mode:

wp maintenance-mode deactivate

Communication templates

Regular status update template

[Operations Lead] [Monitor Closely] [Every 30 min]

EVENT STATUS UPDATE - [Time]

========================

Traffic: [current] visitors (target: [projected])

Performance: [avg response time]ms, [cache hit]% cache hits

Orders: [number] orders, $[revenue] revenue

Conversion: [rate]% (baseline: [baseline]%)

Issues: [None/Description and status]

Next Update: [Time]

Incident communication template

[Operations Lead] [Critical Alert] [As needed]

INCIDENT ALERT - [Severity Level]

================================

Issue: [Brief description]

Impact: [# customers affected, business impact]

Response: [Current actions being taken]

ETA: [Expected resolution time]

Updates: Every [10/15/30] minutes

Customer service coordination guidelines

[Support Team] [Critical Alert] [Continuous]

Common issue quick responses:

  1. Payment failed but charged: “We’re experiencing temporary payment processing delays. Your order is being processed and you’ll receive confirmation within 30 minutes. No duplicate charges will occur.”
  2. Site slow/timeout: “Due to high demand, you may experience slower load times. Please refresh the page or try again in a few moments. Your cart has been saved.”
  3. Can’t checkout: “We’re experiencing high traffic. Please ensure you’re not using autofill for payment fields and try a different browser if issues persist.”

Escalation triggers from support:

  • More than 5 customers reporting same issue
  • Payment gateway specific problems identified
  • Security concerns raised
  • Unable to access admin functions

Event monitoring best practices

Proactive monitoring schedule

[Technical Lead] [Critical Alert] [Time-based]

First hour (intensive monitoring):

  • Every 5 minutes: Cache hit ratio check
  • Every 10 minutes: Payment success rate review
  • Every 15 minutes: Full dashboard review
  • Continuous: Error log monitoring

Peak traffic periods:

  • Every 10 minutes: Performance metrics check
  • Every 20 minutes: Conversion funnel analysis
  • Every 30 minutes: Email queue status
  • Hourly: Comprehensive health check

Standard operations:

  • Every 30 minutes: Routine dashboard review
  • Hourly: Stakeholder update
  • Every 2 hours: Team shift consideration

Quick diagnostic procedures

[Technical Lead] [Critical Alert] [As needed]

Keep these commands ready for immediate execution:

# System status check
wp cli info

# Cache verification
curl -I https://yoursite.com/ | grep x-ac

# Database health
wp db check

# Recent errors
tail -100 /tmp/php-errors | grep -i "error\|fatal"

# Active sessions
wp db query "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM wp_woocommerce_sessions WHERE session_expiry > UNIX_TIMESTAMP();"

# Failed orders in the last hour if using HPOS
wp db query --skip-column-names --silent "
SELECT COUNT(*) AS failed_last_hour
FROM \`$(wp db prefix)wc_orders\`
WHERE status = 'wc-failed'
  AND date_updated_gmt > (UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL 1 HOUR);
"

# Failed orders in the last hour if not using HPOS
wp db query --skip-column-names --silent "
SELECT COUNT(*) AS failed_last_hour
FROM \`$(wp db prefix)posts\`
WHERE post_type = 'shop_order'
  AND post_status = 'wc-failed'
  AND post_modified_gmt > (UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL 1 HOUR);
"

Resource utilization monitoring

[Technical Lead] [Monitor Closely] [Every 15 min]

Pressable monitoring note: Use the Pressable control panel’s Metrics section for near real-time cache hit ratios. Edge cache purging should only be used as emergency intervention.

PHP worker pressure indicators: Watch for increased TTFB on uncached pages (cart, checkout), timeouts on admin functions, and delayed email processing. These indicate PHP worker saturation even without direct worker monitoring access.

Observable pressure signs:

  1. Cart page loads exceeding 1.5 seconds
  2. Checkout page loads exceeding 2 seconds
  3. Admin panel sluggishness or timeouts
  4. Bulk operations failing
  5. Scheduled tasks (cron) delays
  6. Email confirmation delays

Event conclusion procedures

[Operations Lead] [Monitor Closely] [Event end]

Final assessment checklist:

  • Document final metrics vs. targets
  • Capture any unresolved issues
  • Save monitoring dashboard screenshots
  • Export performance data
  • Schedule post-event review meeting
  • Thank team members
  • Begin Phase 4 transition

Handoff to Phase 4:

  1. Compile incident log with timestamps
  2. Document all actions taken
  3. Save performance metrics
  4. Note customer feedback themes
  5. Prepare preliminary recommendations

Next steps

With the event complete:

  1. Allow 30 minutes of continued monitoring for trailing traffic
  2. Gradually restore normal operations (remove change freeze)
  3. Begin Phase 4 post-event analysis within 24 hours
  4. Schedule lessons learned session within 48 hours
  5. Document everything while memories are fresh

Success during your high-traffic event depends on preparation, clear communication, and rapid response to issues. This guide provides the framework; your team’s coordination and decision-making will determine the outcome.