A sudden spike in user activity can be disastrous for retailers, potentially leading to downtime or slow performance that kills conversions. Traditional scaling methods such as over-provisioning resources or sharding databases are often operationally brittle and can still result in hotspots or failures. In contrast, distributed SQL databases like CockroachDB offer elastic scaling capabilities, high availability, low latency, and strong consistency, making them ideal for retailers facing traffic spikes. By building an infrastructure that doesn't just survive the spike but thrives in it, retailers can ensure seamless customer experiences and maintain profitability. As spiky workloads become increasingly common, retailers are future-proofing their stack with CockroachDB to stay resilient and competitive.