I am a web developer for a small web design and reseller-hosting firm. One of our clients has a fledgeling product which is going to be featured on Good Morning America in a few weeks and we are trying to figure out what we need to do to prepare for the onslaught of hits and orders.

We are planning on using our usual e-commerce solution osCommerce to sell the product and are consulting our hosting provider about what kind of hardware we'll need. We hope their expertise is good enough to know what's needed.

Has anyone else been through an experience like this before? Any recommendations about how to approach the problem/challenge?

Well first of all, congratulations to your client, he's going to be experiencing some insane amount of business soon. If you don't have much experience in managing high traffic websites/commerce systems, I strongly suggest that you hire someone knowlegeable to help out with the situation. If his URL is going to be displayed throughout his segment, then you'll definitely need to purchase a seperate dedicated server put solely towards the use of his website. A dual xeon for one month from The Planet for $200 could mean the difference between accepting hundreds of orders and a bunch of timeout errors for potential clients. If you're seeking advice from your web host, make sure they know what they're doing, in all likelihood, they've never experienced something like this.

Out of curiosity, when will his Good Morning America segment be aired and what is his website?

Thanks for your reply, Incognito. We have discussed bringing in a consultant but have not decided yet where or how we'll get a reliable one who knows how to handle our specific situation. We just found out about all this today, so we are reaching out in all directions to inform ourselves (hence this thread).

We are already putting in the request for a dedicated server but we want to feel confident that we'll really be able to squeeze every drop out of this opportunity.

I was told the segment would air in 3 weeks. The client's product is called Taste-Less Dietary Supplement. From what I understand (I'm just a code monkey), it renders sugar tasteless and thus counteracts your desire to eat sugary foods. I apparently can't post the URL because I haven't made 5 posts yet but it's www dot taste-less dot com.

Good luck for you and your client. It sounds like it should be a great success. I do not have any advise for your situation however, it think you turned to a forum that should have some advice or companies that others can recommend.
Also welcome to the forum!

It can very exciting. A few of our clients happen to do this from time to time - they do some informercials as well. And a lot fo them are featured in women's magazines.

One very important thing - contact your client contact his merchant account provider immediately and let them know. If they do not, they run the risk of having their account suspended for a couple of days (depending on their MAP) until it is worked out. A sudden onset of terrific business is (unfortunately) a red light to a MAP for possible fraudulent transactions. But if they contact the MAP now, it can be well documented and therefore he should not have any problems.

That's a strange product, I'll have to watch for the segment :)

Corey brought up a good point there, would be devastating to take a burst of orders, but with no means to process them. Keep us updated on how this goes :)

I'll be watching. Sounds interesting.