It was 9:07AM on a Friday and the news crashed into my office like a brick through the window: the site was down.  Again.

This seemed like the third time it happened in as many weeks.  I had a good team, and they always scrambled to get the problem fixed, but enough was enough.  It was time to fix the root cause before the rapidly approaching holiday season put us down for the count.

Warning signs of a success overload

A site/store crash can happen for many reasons that would otherwise be considered good events.  

Perhaps that reporter finally came through and put a story about your company’s latest product on the air.  Maybe it was that perfectly timed sale email that brought a flood of traffic to your site.  It might even be that your steady, incremental marketing plan has paid off.

Make no mistake: success can kill an online store.

Digital band-aids can only do so much… sometimes the solution needs to be more radical.  In my case, to get to the heart of the problem required “ecommerce replatforming,” and while it wasn’t cheap, it solved the major problems. Ecommerce replatforming—that is, switching from one e-commerce platform to a new one—is potentially one of the most expensive, but worthwhile, investments an online store can make… but only if you need it.

Done right, it can give your brand the tools and technology to grow while remaining perfectly stable; that is, no more late night and early morning “surprise” crashes.  Done wrong, it can put you out of business… fast.

If your business’ success hinges on an online store and it is growing, you need to know about ecommerce replatforming and how to tell if you need to consider it.

Ok, so what is ecommerce replatforming?

Sounds expensive, right?  It can be.  Time-consuming and risky, too.  So why would anyone do it?

Growth.  Specifically, so your growth doesn’t kill your online store.
Your e-commerce platform, aka your online store system, is designed to support your company’s growth.  It is possible to outgrow your e-commerce system, and reach a point where your success will cause it to fail.  If you are reaching that point, replatforming may be the right choice.

On the flipside, sometimes your current e-comm platform is perfectly fine, but needs a few tweaks.  I cleaned up a replatforming gone wrong where a decision-maker leaped without looking toward a shiny new platform and burned through about a million dollars in losses and costs trying to fix it.  All they needed was to add RAM to their server to handle the additional processing load… a small electronics board you can buy online for $50 and learn to install yourself on YouTube.  Look hard, then leap.

Other clients have doubled-tripled-10x-ed their business by being on the right platform.  If replatforming is an option you are considering, go into the conversation with your eyes open.

Start at “No”

I’ve been working in e-commerce for a long time and part of my business is helping clients successfully go through the process of replatforming.  I still tell clients contemplating replatforming: start at no.  Start by saying that you will NOT replatform, unless you can prove with facts why you need to do it.

Let me repeat: I get paid to guide clients through switching e-comm platforms, and my first piece of advice is not to rush into doing it.  Jumping in without looking is as dangerous to a business as diving into a pond of unknown depth.

Don’t Get Dazzled

The prospect of a new e-comm platform can be very exciting.  I’ve seen tech-savvy executives get dazzled by the list of features and personalizations available on a new platform.  Perhaps a site you love is on that platform, or your worst enemy… um, closest competitor… uses it.

Whatever eye-popping designs and features you see probably won’t be live for three to six to nine months, so don’t let neat add-ons draw you into making a long-term decision on impulse.

Start at no, and require the team or vendor to make a case.

The First Round of Questions You Need to Ask

Conversations about replatforming are typically not one-and-done, but here are some key questions for you to ask to get your end of the conversation going in the right direction:

• Is our current e-commerce platform unstable?  
• How often does it crash, and why?
• Is that due to the platform or our server/hosting?
• Can’t we just patch those problems?
• If we don’t fix these problems, where will we be one year from now?
• How much money have we lost from previous crashes? Take a guess.
• Are we growing fast enough to need a new platform?
• Can our current platform technically support our growth over the next 3-5 years?
• Can we improve our current platform to make it support that growth?
• What does our current platform prevent us from doing right now?  What will a new platform allow us to do?
• Can we afford to do the whole process right for less than 10% of our revenue?  (This is a good, initial number to start at.)
• What platforms do you have in mind and who else is using them?

The project has not been fully thought through until your team or the vendor proposing a replatforming can clearly answer those questions.

Bottom Line

Depending on where you are in your business, which e-commerce platform your online store is on, and 75 other factors, e-commerce replatforming may or may not be the right step for your company.

On the positive side, it can unlock TONS of potential in your online store and help you reach the next level.  It can give you the site you’ve always dreamed of, and come to embody your vision for the future of your company.

On the negative side, a replatforming that is poorly planned, executed and/or tested can leave you with a new platform that costs more, doesn’t work as well, and hurts your business more than your old platform.  Sometimes these new obstacles can be so detrimental that they cause massive losses (financially and in productivity) and kill your business.  More businesses than you might expect have had close calls after poorly done replatforming.

The most important note for e-commerce executives contemplating a new platform is that it’s a tricky process, and many e-commerce platforms will make it sound like it’s a simple upgrade.  Sometimes, a fresh pair of eyes looking at your current system and “punching it up” is all you need, and asking some hard questions is part of due diligence.  

Go into the conversation with your eyes open, start at no, and require your internal team or vendors to build a case why replatforming will support your company’s growth for at least the next five years.  Replatforming is full of both potential and risk, and navigating the process successfully is the key to sustained growth for your online store.

Fixer Group Consulting specializes in helping online retailers with replatforming, marketing and branding.

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