When it comes to beefing up e-commerce platforms, many merchants are opting to remodel rather than buy a new home.

A recent study from Internet Retailer suggests retailers are customizing what they have to make it fit their evolving needs rather than undergoing the costly and tedious task of researching, finding and switching platform providers.

That makes sense, says Peter Sheldon, vice president of strategy at e-commerce platform provider Magento Commerce, the No. 1 provider to Top 1000 online retailers with 186 e-retailer clients in the Top 1000.

“An e-commerce platform is sticky,” Sheldon says. “You can change analytics or personalization fairly easily, but changing an e-commerce platform is like performing open heart surgery. It can be a six-, 12- or 18-month project. You want to get it right.”

Meanwhile, merchants that are taking the plunge to replatform or set up a new online store want to make sure it is worth the time and money. Many of those retailers are pegging ease of use as a top priority.

That’s a big reason Juliana Mathewson, director of e-commerce at Alfred Dunner Inc., a manufacturer of women’s sportswear, chose software-as-a-service platform Workarea from WebLinc LLC, which the vendor hosts and operates. The manufacturer has been around for more than 70 years but began selling online in the fall of 2016, in part because department stores…

To get immediate access to the rest of this article and thousands more, sign up for a free Strategy Membership using the Join for Free button below. If you’re already a member, please sign in.