Mattel, the company behind brands like Barbie and Hot Wheels, runs flash sales across multiple brands daily without crashing, even during high-traffic spikes, which wasn’t possible with its previous setup. By replacing a monolithic system with Shopify and integrating Contentstack as a headless CMS, Mattel enabled centralized content delivery to 15 markets, eliminated manual duplication, and gave business teams direct control over publishing without involving developers.
From Monolith to Microservices
The company moved from a monolithic architecture to a microservices-based setup to eliminate system bottlenecks and accelerate content delivery. The shift allowed teams to avoid technology lock-in and work across multiple platforms without reformatting content each time. One priority was enabling content reuse without relying on developers to replicate assets manually.
Mattel needed a CMS that fits into a cloud-based, modular stack to support this. Contentstack was selected for its:
- API-first structure
- ease of integration
- transparent pricing model
- unlimited publishing at a flat rate.
This allowed the company to scale content operations without cost spikes.
By decoupling content management from backend systems and frontends, Mattel gave its business teams the flexibility to author, localize, and launch content faster, reducing dependency on IT and supporting daily sales activity across multiple e-commerce storefronts.
Contentstack + Shopify: Two Engines, One Ecosystem
Mattel runs three e-commerce sites — shop.mattel.com, creations.mattel.com, and Americangirl.com — on a combined setup using Shopify for commerce and Contentstack for content management. Shopify processes transactions and manages product inventory, while Contentstack delivers localized content, banners, and product storytelling across all storefronts.
With this structure, content authors create materials once and publish them covering 10 countries in Europe and 5 across the Americas. Before this integration, teams had to manually copy and paste content into each site—a time-consuming and error-prone process that didn’t scale.
Now, business teams manage content directly in Contentstack without developer support. The CMS syncs with Shopify, enriching product pages with marketing assets and custom metadata. This setup enables Mattel to support daily flash sales across multiple brands without delays while keeping content consistent across regions.
PIM → CMS → Experience
Mattel pulls structured product data from its PIM system into Contentstack, where content teams enrich it for web presentation. This includes assigning category tags, adding merchandising blocks, and writing region-specific descriptions. The enriched content is then published to Shopify using custom schemas that align with Shopify’s object model—products, collections, pages, and shop elements.
For example, a product listed in the PIM with basic specs enters Contentstack, gaining marketing visuals, localized copy, and meta fields tailored to different markets. This enriched version syncs with Shopify via API and appears consistently across all storefronts.
Contentstack also manages non-product content such as banners, homepage sections, and campaign pages, allowing Mattel to control the entire digital experience from one interface. By centralizing content logic in the CMS, Mattel avoids duplication, reduces manual updates, and ensures every touchpoint—across 15 markets—follows a structured, scalable format.
Results That Scale
Mattel shifted from occasional high-volume flash sales—often resulting in site crashes—to daily sales across multiple brands with zero downtime. After launching its first Shopify-based sale, the product sold out in 13 minutes without failure. The company no longer spins up extra servers or throttles traffic to stay online.
With Contentstack, business teams update product pages, banners, and localized assets without waiting for developer tickets or deployment cycles. This direct access accelerates workflows and ensures faster reaction to market demands.
Previously, launching a new e-commerce experience took years and cost 20 times more than the current setup. With Contentstack and Shopify, Mattel delivers updates iteratively, avoiding large-scale infrastructure investments and multi-year projects.
The CMS is no longer a backend tool—it’s a strategic platform that enables faster launches, supports market expansion, and gives Mattel complete control over content delivery at a global scale.
