Syufy Enterprises Achieves Greater Publishing Speed and Cost Efficiency by Switching from Sitecore to WordPress

Syufy’s Digital Transformation: Efficient Migration of 5 Websites from Sitecore to WordPress

Syufy Enterprises, a rapidly expanding entertainment and leisure company, faced performance and cost challenges with its legacy CMS. Partnering with Multidots, they transitioned to a WordPress multisite network, significantly reducing operational costs and improving site performance. This modernization, enhanced customer experience, and positioned Syufy for future growth across its diverse brands.

www.villasport.com

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Location North America

Project Duration 2 Months

Industry Performance Marketing

Cost Saving 2000

Solution Enterprise Software Integration

The Client

Syufy Enterprises is a fast-growing Marin-based entertainment and leisure company with over 1000 employees. They operate various businesses, including high-end athletic clubs, spas, restaurants, golf venues, shopping centers, public markets, and drive-in theaters. With a revenue of approximately $249.1 million, Syufy Enterprises is renowned for its rapid expansion and robust financial performance. The company is poised for continued growth, aiming to expand its existing brands and invest in new ventures in the coming years.

The Challenge

• Sluggish legacy Sitecore CMS impacted Syufy’s marketing team’s agility across diverse business units
• There was a need for a more cost-effective, flexible, performant, and user-friendly platform to enhance their online presence and integrate more closely with marketing strategies

The Solution We Delivered

In a strategic partnership with Multidots, Syufy Enterprises transitioned eight websites from an outdated Sitecore CMS to a streamlined WordPress multisite network on the WordPress VIP platform in just six months. 

This transformative project significantly cut Syufy’s annual operating costs while boosting performance and usability for site managers and customers. With a modern front and back-end digital experience unifying its diverse brands, Syufy’s custom WordPress solution has dramatically impacted its operational efficiency and customer interaction. 

Syufy’s partnership with Multidots has positioned Syufy for growth and helped drive greater customer engagement and increased revenue.

We can now easily manage content across multiple sites from a single dashboard, greatly simplifying our processes.

Amanda Settewongse

Digital Marketing Director for Syufy Enterprises

The Result

By adopting the open-source WordPress platform, Syufy immediately realized significant annual savings in licensing fees and technical maintenance, boosting both cost efficiency and operational effectiveness. Multidots further enhanced these benefits by reducing — and in some cases eliminating — the need for legacy middleware, enabling WordPress to communicate directly with third-party platform APIs.

The new WordPress multisite architecture brought numerous efficiencies, streamlining and accelerating the Syufy web team’s control over promotional content and sales across multiple brands and sub-brands, encompassing 27 business locations:

• VillaSport Athletic and Health Clubs: Eight locations across four states. [Est. 5+ hours saved weekly]
• Tomatina Restaurants: Eight locations in the Bay Area. [Est. 8 hours saved weekly]
• Peacock Gap Golf Club: Including the Range Cafe and event venue in San Rafael. [Est. 5 hours saved weekly]
• Santa Cruz Cinema and West Wind Drive-In Theaters and Public Markets: Seven locations in three states. [Est. 20 hours saved weekly]

During the rollout of the new sites, standard front-end web performance benchmarks improved by 20% to 60%, with an average improvement of 25% across all eight properties.