The Cohaesus Guide to Replatforming Your E-commerce Solution

Introduction

The retail landscape has transformed dramatically over the past two years. In 2020, many organisations rapidly embraced e-commerce as physical store visits plummeted overnight. Since then, the balance between online and in-store spending has fluctuated with changing lockdown measures and evolving consumer behaviours. However, the expectations for digital experiences, particularly in e-commerce, have likely changed for good. Research from 2021 reveals that 70% of all shopping carts are abandoned. The reasons vary from high additional costs to overly complex checkout processes. Today’s online shoppers expect a seamless experience with various payment methods and delivery options, effortlessly transitioning between online and offline environments. These consumer demands and your evolving business goals might have highlighted issues within your current e-commerce platform. Frustrations, inefficiencies, or limited functionalities could prompt you to consider re-platforming. If this resonates with you, this guide is here to help.

What is Replatforming?

To begin with, what exactly is re-platforming? It involves replacing one software solution with another, typically from a different vendor. While complex for any business, the stakes are exceptionally high in e-commerce. Key considerations include business continuity, data migration and integrity, cost-benefit analysis, and time to market.

Step 1: Define Your Reasons for re-platforming

Replatforming is a significant undertaking, but it can bring measurable benefits to your business and brand when done correctly. Here are some common reasons for re-platforming:

• End-of-Life Platforms: Your current platform is nearing its end of life.
• Scalability Needs: Scalability is crucial for your business’s success.
• Customer Experience Improvement: You must enhance the customer experience (CX).
• Feature Enhancement: You want to add or enhance site features and functionalities.
• Stability, Security, and Performance: You must increase platform stability, security, and performance.
• Going Headless: You want to decouple the front and back end for multi-channel experiences.
• Cost Reduction: You aim to reduce running costs, including development, maintenance, and licensing.
• Efficiency Improvement: You want to increase efficiency by reducing the time spent on manual or automated processes.

Identifying your goals is crucial in pinpointing the right platform’s requirements.

Step 2: Assess the Need to Replatform

Replatforming is time-consuming and costly. It’s essential to consider whether there might be an alternative. Sometimes, entropy and technical debt cause your site to underperform. If modifications can address your issues and meet new business demands, working with what you have might be better. However, the re-platforming process can commence earnestly if migration is the only solution.

Step 3: Audit Your Current System

Conducting an in-depth review of your existing platform helps you understand all aspects of its performance. A thorough audit can identify the following:

• Core functionalities or features you want to retain.
• New functionalities or features you want in a new system.
• Desired platform behaviours and system interactions.
• Limitations or pain points for the new platform to resolve.

Your current system holds valuable data that can help identify user needs and friction points. For instance, on-site search data reveals user intent and content or feature requirements, while abandonment data highlights journey friction. Thoroughly tracking and reviewing this data is vital for informed decision-making.

By the end of this phase, you should have a clear view of why you’re re-platforming, what you aim to achieve, and specific requirements for a new platform. You can then focus on finding the right one.

Step 4: Shortlist and Select Your New Platform

Before delving into the re-platforming process, let’s explore different e-commerce platforms and vendors. Each has unique advantages and disadvantages depending on your goals.

Your specific requirements will help narrow down a shortlist of suitable platforms. Creating a vendor selection matrix can help match platforms and vendors with your needs to identify the best fit.

Considerations for Selection:

• Costs: Total cost of ownership, including licensing, hosting, training, maintenance, and upgrades.
• Migration: Data needing migration, such as customer logins, orders, and wishlists.
• Service Integrations: Necessary services and integrations, like PIM, ERP, payment processing, shipping, or search.
• Extensibility: Need for multi-language and market support, marketplace apps, and connectors.
• Time to Market: Development, customisation, and configuration timelines; out-of-the-box functionality.
• Non-functional Requirements: Other important factors like performance and scalability.
• Platform/Language: Technology compatibility with existing systems and internal team familiarity.
• Support: Platform ecosystem quality, including support materials, live chat, community support, and maintenance.

Replatforming your e-commerce solution can be a game-changer if done thoughtfully and strategically. By understanding your needs, conducting a thorough audit, and carefully selecting the right platform, you can set your business up for future success.