Published | 13 min read
Key Takeaways
- ECommerce replatforming refers to the process of migrating an online store from one eCommerce platform to another.
- This can be done for a variety of reasons, including outdated technology, limitations in functionality, or a desire to improve the user experience.
- Replatforming involves careful planning and execution to ensure that data is transferred accurately and that the new platform is optimized for the specific needs of the business. It can also involve significant investments in time, resources, and cost.
- Replatforming eCommerce websites can lead to improved performance, increased sales, and a better overall customer experience.
ECommerce replatforming is a challenging process. It involves assessing the current eCommerce platform and making decisions to migrate to a new one. It is important for businesses to understand the implications of replatforming prior to taking any action.
A website and associated data that needs to be replatformed can severely limit the ability of businesses to compete within their market. To remain competitive, eCommerce retailers must assess their existing platforms and weigh the costs of replatforming versus staying put.
An effective migration process requires planning and an understanding of the potential risks associated with changing platforms. This article outlines when it may be time for businesses to consider replatforming and details the steps needed for a successful eCommerce platform migration.
What Is eCommerce Replatforming?
Ecommerce replatforming is an increasingly popular process of migrating a business’s online store from its existing platform to a newer, more efficient one. It is a complex and potentially risky venture for any business.
Replatforming requires careful consideration and planning in order to ensure a smooth transition with minimal disruption to the customer experience. To understand why eCommerce replatforming may be necessary and how to go about it, it is important to first consider the advantages of moving away from an existing platform and the steps involved in the migration process.
The Benefits of a New eCommerce Platform
Replatforming can provide several benefits for an online store for both your customers and your employees. These include improved scalability, better website performance, enhanced experience, greater flexibility with design features, access to new technologies and tools, as well as improved security measures.
By switching platforms, businesses can also benefit from reduced costs associated with hosting fees or subscription plans. They can also take advantage of specialized features that may have been unavailable on their previous platform provider.
Plan Carefully to Avoid Damaging Your eCommerce Store
Despite these potential advantages, however, businesses must be careful when considering replatforming due to its inherent risks. Migration requires significant time and resources as well as expertise in order to properly transfer data without any loss or corruption.
If not done correctly or thoroughly tested prior to launch date, the new platform could cause major disruptions in operations which would ultimately affect customers negatively.
3 Options When Replatforming eCommerce Sites
A company may decide to change platforms and host them in the same place, or they may change hosting locations during replatforming from their first eCommerce site.
- SaaS (Software as a Service): SaaS is a cloud-based eCommerce platform that is offered as a service by third-party providers. With SaaS, the provider hosts and maintains the platform, and users access it through a web browser. This type of platform is often subscription-based, and the provider typically handles updates, backups, and security.
- On-Premises: An on-premises (sometimes called "on-premise" or "on-prem") eCommerce platform is installed and runs on a company's own servers and infrastructure. This type of platform provides more control and customization but requires more technical expertise and resources to maintain. Companies that choose an on-premises platform are responsible for all maintenance, security, and updates.
- Cloud: A cloud-based eCommerce platform is similar to SaaS in that it is hosted by a third-party provider and accessed through a web browser. However, cloud platforms typically provide more flexibility and scalability than SaaS platforms. Cloud platforms can be public, private, or hybrid, and are often used by larger organizations or those with complex eCommerce needs.
Each platform type has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the choice depends on the specific needs of a business. SaaS is often the most cost-effective option for small businesses, while on-premises and cloud platforms are better suited for larger organizations with more complex needs.
What Is eCommerce Migration?
ECommerce migration, a part of eCommerce replatforming, is the process of moving an online store from one platform to another. The motivation for doing so can include a number of factors, such as wanting to upgrade technology, consolidate online stores to one platform, or transition away from a platform that no longer suits the business’s needs.
In any case, eCommerce migration requires careful planning and execution in order to avoid disruption.
ECommerce migration allows businesses to take advantage of powerful features and capabilities that may not have been accessible before due to outdated technology or unsupported platforms. This enables them to boost efficiency and productivity while providing customers with a better overall experience.
Why Do ECommerce Businesses Replatform?
Replatforming an eCommerce business is a strategic decision that requires careful consideration. There are several reasons why an eCommerce business might choose to replatform its existing system:
To Improve the Customer Experience
Replatforming can provide customers with a more user-friendly site, with faster page loads and improved navigation capabilities. It can also enable businesses to offer features such as personalized recommendations and product reviews, which can increase sales and loyalty.
To Remain Competitive
In the fast-paced world of eCommerce, staying ahead of the competition means leveraging technology to meet current market needs. Replatforming allows businesses to take advantage of new features such as mobile optimization and social media integration to reach more potential customers.
To Stay Up-to-Date
As technology evolves, so do consumer expectations for online shopping experiences. Replatforming ensures that businesses stay up-to-date with the latest trends in eCommerce, allowing them to remain relevant in an ever-changing marketplace.
To Reduce Costs
Replatforming can help reduce infrastructure costs associated with hosting, maintenance, and software upgrades by moving away from legacy systems to cloud-based solutions or Software as a Service (SaaS) models. This helps businesses save time and money while improving customer service levels.
ECommerce Migration and Replatforming Checklist
It's time to take a look at an eCommerce replatforming checklist. It will cover everything from assessing existing infrastructure and technology platforms to creating a plan for transitioning data, content, and customers. It also includes tips on how to minimize disruption during the migration process. By following this checklist, businesses can ensure that they complete the migration as efficiently and effectively as possible.
The key benefit of migrating or replatforming is that businesses can take advantage of new features and technologies while improving customer experience. This checklist provides users with the essential steps required when making this transition, allowing them to take control of their eCommerce journey and achieve greater success in their new online store endeavors.
Consult Your Team
Ensuring a successful eCommerce migration and replatforming project begins with consulting your team. Establishing what the business needs are, understanding existing customers, and improving experience should be the primary focus of any team working on the project.
It's important to look at factors such as user experience, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and data security before making a decision on which platform to use.
It's essential to ensure that the new platform is able to meet all current and future requirements for customers and products. Team members must consider how migrating will affect existing customers and whether or not changes need to be made to enhance the customer experience.
By communicating regularly with everyone involved in the project, teams can identify potential issues early on and address them quickly. With careful consideration of all these aspects of eCommerce migration and replatforming, teams can ensure they make the best possible decision for their business.
Determine What Your Current Platform Is Missing
It is important to assess what your existing eCommerce platform is missing before making the decision to migrate and replatform. Although migrating to a new platform may seem like an appealing option, it’s important to consider the time, effort, and cost of migration.
To determine what features or functions your current platform is missing, you should analyze any user feedback that has been collected on the existing platform. This will provide insight into what features customers are expecting from your store, as well as any areas that need improvement.
You should also research other similar online stores and their platforms to gain more insight into potential features that could benefit your own store.
When assessing potential new features for your eCommerce website, think about how they could potentially increase customer engagement and loyalty, improve website speed and usability, or enable promotional activities such as discounts or loyalty programs.
Create a Request For Proposal
The process of creating a request for proposal (RFP) is an essential part of eCommerce replatforming and migration. An RFP allows businesses to evaluate the cost, timeline, and quality of services from vendors. Through a structured project management approach and clear expectations, businesses can make informed decisions about which vendor to choose.
When crafting an RFP for eCommerce replatforming or migration, companies should consider the following items: budget, timeline, service level agreement, security requirements, technical specifications, and resources needed.
To ensure that all parties have a thorough understanding of the project scope and objectives, businesses should provide detailed information in the RFP. This includes outlining any legal requirements such as privacy policies and data processing agreements.
ECommerce companies should include all relevant details such as project milestones or quality assurance criteria to ensure that the vendor's product meets standards. ECommerce stores should also include information on payment terms and conditions, such as when payments are due and how they will be calculated based on milestone completion or other factors.
Consider Each Platform
When considering eCommerce platforms, it is important to evaluate the current system and decide what capabilities should be migrated to the new platform. The eCommerce platform should support current processes and enable future growth.
It is important to understand how integrated the existing system is with other systems. Consider whether any customizations need to be ported over and if any data needs to be transformed for compatibility. Also consider what features can be enhanced on the new platform that is not available on the existing one.
The new platform should have robust scalability, reliability, and security capabilities. It should also provide a seamless user experience that drives customer loyalty and increases conversions.
Evaluate the features that are available on the new platform such as payment options, fulfillment methods, analytics tools, and marketing integrations. Also, consider how easy it will be to manage product catalogs and migrate store data and content updates on the new platform.
Watch For Hidden Costs
When migrating and replatforming an eCommerce website, it is important to be aware of hidden costs that can arise. These maintenance costs could include additional search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, unexpected website code modifications, or additional development team support.
Organizations should take a holistic approach to the migration and replatforming process by taking into consideration all potential costs before beginning. A comprehensive cost analysis can help identify any areas where extra work may be needed during the migration.
This could involve additional SEO efforts to ensure that the new site is properly indexed by popular search engines or coding tweaks to ensure the existing website's portability. It may also require additional resources from a development team if more complex changes are needed on the new eCommerce site platform.
Organizations should build in a budget for unexpected costs and plan for contingencies in their eCommerce migration strategy in order to minimize any financial surprises down the road. Taking a proactive approach will help organizations better manage their budgets and avoid potential frustrations associated with unanticipated expenses during the transition process.
Prioritize Your Integrations
The modern world is a complex place, especially when it comes to eCommerce migration and replatforming. Business owners must prioritize their integrations to ensure a successful transition. The truth is that the hidden costs of migrating from one platform to another can be significant and unpredictable.
To avoid potential pitfalls, savvy business owners will take time to assess what third-party applications and custom solutions are necessary for their new system before embarking on the process of replatforming.
It's important to consider the impact that third-party applications have on the migration process. For instance, if your current platform relies heavily on them for critical functions such as shipping or payment processing, you'll need to make sure that those third-party apps are compatible with your new eCommerce platform.
Any custom solutions developed for your current platform must be ported over or re-created in order for them to work after the migration.
Hire an Integration Team
When it comes to eCommerce migration and replatforming, an important step is to hire an integration team. An integration team should have the expertise and experience needed to ensure a successful migration process. They will be responsible for overseeing the eCommerce data migration and ensuring that all migrations are complete and accurate, as well as CRM or ERP integration.
The integration team should include both technical and non-technical personnel who can assist in areas such as project management, business analysis, quality assurance testing, data mapping, and new eCommerce site training. Having the right people on board is essential to ensuring that the entire process is completed successfully.
In addition to hiring an experienced integration team, it is also important to make sure that they have access to the necessary tools and resources they need to make the transition as smooth as possible. This includes access to clear documentation on how the eCommerce platform works and what processes are required for a successful migration.
By providing them with these tools, you can ensure that your eCommerce platform is migrated correctly without any disruptions or delays.
Design the New eCommerce Site
The design and development phase of the new eCommerce website requires careful planning in order to ensure a successful transition for your business. It is important to consider the interface, usability, content, and overall appearance of the site. High-end website design is a must to stand out from the competition.
It is essential to ensure that all eCommerce data is migrated correctly from the old site to the new one. The following checklist will help you ensure a smooth transition:
- Design a unique look and feel for your eCommerce website that meets customer expectations while maintaining brand recognition.
- Incorporate user-friendly navigation and an intuitive checkout process into the design of the website.
- Make sure all existing data is migrated correctly from the old system to the new one by testing functionality with sample orders and customers.
It is also important to think about security when designing your new eCommerce website. Ensure that your site has up-to-date encryption protocols in place to protect customer information and transactions.
You should also consider implementing fraud prevention tools to protect against malicious activity on your site. With careful planning and execution, you can create an effective, eCommerce sales platform that has all of the features necessary for success.
Conduct an SEO Audit
A key part of the eCommerce migration and replatforming process is conducting a thorough SEO audit prior to migration.
The purpose of this SEO solution is to review and evaluate the performance of your current website against best practices and competitor websites. An audit should analyze all aspects of your website’s SEO including its technical setup, content quality, keyword research, search engine visibility, and other factors that influence how well it ranks in search engines such as Google.
It's vital to know where you are with SEO on your previous platform so that you can transfer your current rankings to the new one. If you lose traffic, it's vital to find out why so that you can address the problem on your new eCommerce site platform.
Determine How Data Will Be Migrated
Once the SEO audit is completed and any necessary changes have been made, it’s time to determine how data will be migrated when replatforming an eCommerce store. This is a crucial step as it can help reduce costly errors and ensure that the replatforming process runs smoothly.
Data migration should be approached with caution, as there are several types of data that need to be migrated such as product pages, customer order information, inventory information, and other essential store data.
It’s important to ensure that all of the necessary data is transferred properly and accurately so that no information is lost or corrupted. To achieve this, businesses must consider which methods are best for their particular situation and plan out the migration process accordingly.
There are typically two approaches to migrating eCommerce store data: manual data migration or automated data migration. Manual data migration requires manually transferring each piece of information from one platform to another, while automated data migration involves using software tools to automatically move large amounts of stored data without any manual intervention.
Businesses should carefully evaluate their needs and resources before deciding which approach would suit them best. Automated tools may be more cost-effective in some cases but may not be suitable for more complex stores with intricate databases. Ultimately, businesses must make sure they select a method that meets their individual requirements while ensuring accuracy and reliability throughout the migration.
Test, Fix, Repeat
The concept of 'test, fix, repeat' is a common one in the world of eCommerce replatforming. This method allows for the continual optimization of a new platform's performance while ensuring that any issues encountered during the migration are identified and addressed quickly.
To ensure that this process is as effective as possible, a comprehensive eCommerce replatforming checklist should be used to audit the store's performance before and after the migration. Such a checklist will help ensure that any issues are identified and fixed early on in the migratory process.
To make sure that no issues go unnoticed during an eCommerce migration or replatforming project, it is wise to use a performance auditing tool to track changes in the store's performance over time. This can help identify trends or potential problems that should be addressed before they become more serious problems down the line.
It is important to remember that eCommerce migrations and replatformings require both preparation and maintenance if they are to be successful. Having a clear plan in place for testing, fixing, and repeating throughout the entire migration is essential for achieving desired results with minimal disruption to the customer's experience.
Launch Your New Platform
The time has come to launch your new eCommerce site. As soon as the platform is live and operational, it's important to keep track of any issues that may arise.
Once you have completed these steps, it is time to begin the next stage in your eCommerce journey—go live! Utilizing effective launch strategies can help ensure a successful transition and make sure that customers are able to quickly start using your product or service without incident.
To maximize success, establish metrics and performance indicators before launch day that will give you an accurate picture of how well your new eCommerce store site is performing after launch. Finally, monitor customer feedback closely in order to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty moving forward.
Conclusion: Migrating eCommerce Platforms
Migrating to a new eCommerce platform is a complex process, requiring careful consideration of all aspects of the migration. It is critical to have a comprehensive checklist in order to ensure that all requirements are met and that the transition is successful. The checklist should include an assessment of current needs, a request for proposal, an SEO audit, data migration plans, and extensive testing and debugging.
With the right approach and planning, the eCommerce replatforming process can be a smooth one, allowing for further growth for any business.
Ultimately, with due diligence exercised through each step of this checklist, businesses will find themselves on the path to success with their new eCommerce platform. With proper preparation and the right implementation strategy, any organization can make the most out of its replatforming project while minimizing risks along the way.