Digitization is shaping retail, impacting everything from customer experience and operational efficiency to data-driven decisions and innovation. When retailers embrace digital transformation, they position themselves to meet the evolving needs of consumers and drive long-term success.
Hot Topic, a leading retailer known for its pop culture-inspired merchandise, went on a journey to modernize its technology and enhance its customer experience. In a recent webinar, Concord’s Chief Revenue Officer, Arjun Nagar, sat down with Hot Topic’s Chief Technology Officer, Gary Megson, and MuleSoft’s Channel Architect, Ramya Veerubhottla, to discuss Hot Topic’s digitization journey and what other companies can learn from their experience.
Hot Topic's drive for change stemmed from two big needs: aligning with the digital expectations of their target audience and tackling their outdated technology.
“Our customer at Hot Topic is in their teens and twenties, so digitization is all they’ve ever known. For us, we have to be at that leading edge of digital. They typically don’t even watch TVs—they get everything from a device,” Gary said.
For these customers, static websites just don’t cut it anymore. They seek interactive, seamless digital experiences through apps and social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
To help deliver a consistent and engaging omnichannel experience, Hot Topic needed to modernize its outdated systems—some of which were 8 to 12 years old—and shift to cloud-native, SaaS-based solutions. The goal was to provide real-time, scalable integration across various platforms and gain better insights into everything from inventory management to customer interactions.
Hot Topic’s decision to migrate from Microsoft BizTalk to MuleSoft was driven by several factors. BizTalk’s 2012 version was outdated and no longer stable enough to support their growing needs. MuleSoft, on the other hand, offered the scalability and flexibility required to manage high-volume transactions across multiple cloud environments, including Google Cloud, AWS, OCI, and Azure.
“BizTalk 2012 was outdated, unstable, and didn’t function well. As we embarked on upgrading all our backend systems—merchandising, omni-channel systems, and supply chain—we knew we needed to move to a tool that could support those environments. We have a relatively large number of stores and an extremely large number of SKUs, so much of what we do is high volume. That’s why we selected MuleSoft—it was about scalability, being cloud-native, and having the ability to connect all the disparate clouds between the various SaaS products we use,” Gary said.
MuleSoft's strength lies in its ability to integrate disparate systems, providing a unified view of customer data and enhancing the overall shopping experience.
“Specifically in retail, we offer a Customer 360 approach, making sure all systems are connected and that data is transferred from inventory, where the stock is, to the frontend, where the customer places the order. Seamless integration is at the core of MuleSoft; it’s our foundation,” Ramya said.
MuleSoft’s API-based approach and cloud-native capabilities made it the ideal choice for Hot Topic's digital transformation.
BizTalk 2012 was going out of support, so Hot Topic faced tight deadlines to make a move.
Choosing the right implementation partner was key for Hot Topic’s migration. With a small internal IT team, Hot Topic needed an experienced partner to help with the transition.
“Our team had never set up MuleSoft before, so for us, it was about getting a partner who could come in, do a quick start with us, and guide us through the setup without us making a bunch of mistakes as we worked our way through it,” Gary said.
Concord, already familiar with Hot Topic through previous work on Salesforce Commerce Cloud, was chosen based on their MuleSoft expertise. Concord’s team built out the new integrations linking the SaaS products Hot Topic was launching. They had several major system go-lives in quick succession and over the course of 18 months, migrated 160 integrations to MuleSoft. Most were re-architected to be API-based and new, but some were simply lifted and shifted to move off the unsupported platform, with plans to address them at a later stage.
Concord learned a lot from this large-scale transformation, but at the end of the day, it was about staying focused on Hot Topic’s interests and ensuring they met the goals that had been established.
“These are large-scale transformations where the cost of poor execution can be huge…There needs to be a very clear focus on outcomes: improving inventory turnover, achieving clarity on supply chain optimization, enhancing supply chain efficiency, and improving demand forecasting. These environments need to be agile, able to pivot quickly to serve the audience, reduce errors, and improve delivery times,” Arjun said.
Concord benefited from a strong understanding of the MuleSoft platform, but more importantly, a strong partnership with key stakeholders and cross-functional teams, including IT, architecture, project management and business analysis.
"The work together was a recipe for success—superior focus on requirements, exceptional clarity of communication, and a focused initiative on execution," Arjun said.
The migration to MuleSoft has made a big difference for Hot Topic’s operations. Hot Topic can now quickly integrate new systems, significantly speeding up their ability to respond to market trends and customer needs. The new order management system, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and app offer enhanced features and are all constantly upgraded, enabling Hot Topic to better support the customer roadmap and offer a more dynamic shopping experience.
The flexibility and scalability provided by MuleSoft also mean that Hot Topic can easily manage seasonal spikes in traffic and quickly adapt to new pop culture trends. This agility is key for a brand that thrives on staying ahead of trends and engaging with customers in real-time.
“Moving to MuleSoft has given us the ability to centralize everything, allowing us to build and expand on a single platform. It has also enabled us to reuse components we’ve already built, so when something new comes up, we can leverage existing work,” Gary said. “This enables us to quickly introduce new capabilities, such as live selling during TikTok events. We go to a lot of events where we set up pop-up stores, and this technology allows us to do so efficiently. We’re very reactive to the pop culture world and what’s happening, and we want to be able to go to that event and participate. This really allows us to quickly pivot and do things that are new to the business.”
The future is bright for Hot Topic. With great products and talented people, they’re excited for what’s to come. The company will continue their journey of modernization, focusing increasingly on what matters most: the customer.
“For me, the key is collaborating closely with my business partners and leveraging data from Medallia to understand customer preferences. If we don’t know what customers want and need, there’s no guarantee that our efforts will be effective,” Gary said. “In the coming years, our focus will be on keeping pace with customer expectations through the systems we've already implemented, while also upgrading the older systems that still need attention. Although upgrading these systems is challenging and the benefits may not be immediately tangible, it’s essential for future flexibility and optimization. Once we are fully cloud-based and our systems are modernized, the real work begins. This is when we can truly leverage our technology to provide a constantly evolving customer experience. It’s a significant effort, but it’s crucial for aligning with our customers and enhancing their journey."
Hot Topic is about 65% complete with addressing their technology debt. Over the next few years, they have major upgrades planned with MuleSoft playing a critical role. Integrations will be vital for maintaining accurate data across systems and providing analytics to their BI platform for informed decision-making.
Gary and Ramya offer this advice for those navigating a modernization journey:
1. Understand Your Customers: Tailor your digital transformation to meet the expectations of your target audience. For retailers, this means delivering a seamless and interactive digital experience.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to happen but make sure you understand your integration journey and your business goals. As yourself, ‘what am I trying to get to and what do I need to enable my other business partners and the customers themselves. How do I put more power and control into my customers’ hands?’” – Gary Megson
2. Properly Plan: Effective planning is crucial. Make sure you think about the incremental steps to get there to make sure your integration is successful.
“As a customer, it’s of great importance for a product to perform. I like to say, planned cities always have better traffic. The same thing applies to integration. If you’re sitting down charting your roadmap, make sure your architecture is level, address your scalability concerns, and take incentive from what you have done before to better your future.” - Ramya Veerubhottla
3. Choose the Right Tools: Selecting the right technology—like MuleSoft for integration—can make or break your transformation. Ensure the tool you choose aligns with your scalability and integration needs.
“No digital transformation is complete without integration, so I urge leaders to give this some thought. It’s never just one system within an organization—there are often many systems that don’t know how to talk with each other. Integration forms the base of everything that we do. It’s of utmost importance we choose the right product." - Ramya Veerubhottla
4. Partner with Experts: An experienced implementation partner, like Concord, can help navigate complex migrations and ensure that your systems are set up correctly from the start.
“I can’t reiterate how important picking the right implementation partner is. They will keep you on the right track and they’ll save you a lot of time and money in reaching your goal. And when you get there, the outcome will be higher quality, more scalable, more sustainable. Everything is better when you have a partner that knows how to get you there.” – Gary Megson
5. Build for the Future: Focus on creating reusable components and a flexible architecture that can adapt to future needs. This approach will pay off as your business evolves.
“As you do this, don’t think of anything as isolated because much of what you’re doing will involve similar conversations between a couple of partner systems. There are many components you can build once, test once, and avoid having to reinvent the wheel.” – Gary Megson
6. Iterate and Improve: Digital transformation is an ongoing journey. Be prepared for continuous improvement and upgrades to keep pace with changing technologies and customer expectations.
"Be prepared to have multiple iterations of upgrades – there’s a constant growth there.” – Gary Megson
Hot Topic’s successful migration to MuleSoft, with the help of Concord, shows how strategic digital transformation can enhance customer experiences and operational efficiency. By leveraging the right technology and partnerships, retailers can stay ahead in the competitive landscape and deliver value to their customers.
As Hot Topic continues its modernization journey, the lessons they’ve learned and successes they’ve achieved offer valuable insights for other businesses embarking on their digital transformation paths. Want to hear more? Check out the full webinar here or contact Concord to learn if MuleSoft is the right integration platform for your business.
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