Clean Harbors is a North American leader in environmental and industrial services, specializing in hazardous waste management, emergency spill response, and workplace safety solutions. With thousands of employees and partners operating in high-risk environments, having the right gear isn’t just about branding—it’s about safety, compliance, and performance. To streamline access to essential workwear and company-branded apparel, Clean Harbors needed a dedicated e-commerce platform where teams could easily find and order the gear they rely on every day.
The Challenge We Faced
Clean Harbors had a bold vision: a seamless online store network serving employees across the U.S., Canada, and beyond. Stran, our direct client, brought us in to turn this vision into reality. They needed a system where employees could easily select their work gear, route orders to the right department for approval, and navigate everything smoothly—especially on mobile.
Sounds simple, right? Not quite. The tech stack—Magento with a Progressive Web App (PWA) frontend—wasn’t fully compatible with some essential product types, like grouped and bundled items. That meant we had to find a way to bridge the gap, ensuring Clean Harbors’ teams could order what they needed without friction.
How We Made It Happen
It all started on November 22, 2022, with in-depth discussions alongside the Stran team. We mapped out the requirements, tackled the technical challenges, and laid the groundwork for a scalable, high-performance solution. From backend architecture to frontend user experience, every detail was designed to ensure seamless functionality across multiple regions. With a strong focus on usability, approval workflows, and mobile accessibility, we set out to build an intuitive platform that met Clean Harbors’ needs.
The Team Behind It
- Solution Architect – Oversaw the technical vision and system design.
- Lead Developer – Drove development and ensured seamless integrations.
- PWA Developer – Built a fast, mobile-friendly shopping experience.
- Frontend Developer – Designed and refined the user interface.
- QA Engineer – Conducted rigorous testing to guarantee stability.
The Tools We Used
To bring Stran’s vision to life, we built the platform on Magento with a Progressive Web App (PWA) storefront. This combination offered the flexibility of Magento’s powerful backend while delivering a fast, app-like experience without requiring downloads. Given Clean Harbors’ widespread workforce, a responsive, mobile-friendly solution was key—allowing employees to browse, order, and get approvals seamlessly from any device. We also integrated custom features to enhance order processing, ensuring the platform worked smoothly within their existing workflows.
Custom Touches
Smarter Ordering: We integrated the Amasty Order Attributes module, allowing users to select their department right at checkout. Instead of immediate payments, orders are automatically routed to managers via email for approval, streamlining the process and keeping purchases organized.
Grid View Upgrade: Magento’s PWA didn’t support grouped and bundled products out of the box, making multi-item purchases tricky. Stran had a smart idea—a custom Grid View (see it in action on the Men’s Performance Polo). Now, users can add multiple sizes and colors with a single click, making shopping smoother and faster.
Security & Performance Enhancements
Building an e-commerce platform for a company like Clean Harbors meant handling sensitive transactions and large-scale corporate ordering. We had to make sure the system wasn’t just functional but also secure and fast.
- Data Protection: Since the store handles employee accounts and internal approvals, we locked everything down with SSL encryption, secure API endpoints, and role-based access controls to ensure only the right people see the right data.
- Speed Optimizations: Magento, when paired with a PWA, can be resource-heavy. We stripped out unnecessary processes, optimized caching, and reduced time-to-first-byte (TTFB) to make sure users weren’t waiting around for pages to load.
- Scalability: The system had to handle spikes in traffic (e.g., company-wide gear rollouts). We optimized the infrastructure to auto-scale, preventing slowdowns when demand surged.
User Experience & Accessibility
Designing an e-commerce platform for Clean Harbors wasn’t about flashy visuals—it was about making ordering fast, intuitive, and frictionless for employees and corporate teams. These users aren’t casual shoppers; they need a system that works around their day-to-day operations.
Built for Mobile Workforces
Employees are often on job sites, not sitting at desks. The PWA structure ensures they can quickly place orders from their phones without downloading an app, keeping the process lightweight and accessible on the go.
Seamless Department Approvals
Since purchases are company-funded, we streamlined the approval process. Employees select their items, submit the order for manager approval, and receive confirmation only after approval—eliminating manual tracking and unnecessary delays.
Optimized for High-Volume Orders
Unlike standard retail stores, this platform serves teams ordering in bulk. We enhanced the shopping experience with a structured catalog, category-based filtering, and an improved cart system, making it easy to manage large, multi-item purchases with minimal effort.
By focusing on speed, simplicity, and the unique needs of Clean Harbors’ workforce, we built a system that delivers efficiency at every step.
Lessons Learned & Final Takeaways
This project wasn’t just about building an online store—it was about solving real-world challenges with smart, scalable solutions. The biggest hurdle? Magento’s lack of PWA support for grouped and bundled products. Without a fix, users couldn’t easily order multiple variations of an item, which was a major roadblock for Clean Harbors.
Instead of forcing a clunky workaround, we developed a custom Grid View solution. What started as a limitation became an upgrade—now, users can add multiple sizes and colors in one go, making the ordering process smoother and more efficient.
Since launch, the store has processed thousands of orders, with numbers steadily growing. This success highlights a key lesson: the best solutions don’t just fix problems—they improve the entire user experience. Constraints push innovation, and in this case, they led to one of the store’s most valuable features.
