Ecommerce Site Re-Platforming Guide for 2023

According to a survey by Digital Commerce 360, 27% of ecommerce companies are looking to switch their primary ecommerce platform in 2023 - a sharp increase from the 18% that planned to re-platform in 2022. These companies plan on spending between $25,001 and $500,000 on their re-platforming efforts. The top reason for switching is to find “commerce software adapted for us and hosted externally in a single-tenant environment.”

Switching to a new ecommerce platform is a major undertaking, and this is the highest number of brands that intend to replatform that we’ve seen in this annual survey. We believe this is due to economic conditions, buyer behavior and historical trends all coming together to make 2023 the year of ecommerce re-platforming. It’s important to know why you’re re-platforming and to select the right platform for your needs, which we’ll walk through today.

Why Migrate to a New Ecommerce Platform?

The most common reasons for switching platforms are to increase control, reduce cost, improve speed, gain flexibility or maintain compliance with regulations. Here’s a quick look at each of these reasons.

Control: Many businesses feel limited by their current ecommerce platform and seek one that offers more customized solutions and more control over their store. This is reflected by the fact that the top reason cited for planning to re-platform in 2023 was “commerce software adapted for us and hosted externally in a single-tenant environment” - breaking this down into a simpler statement, ecommerce companies are saying they want to purchase an existing software package that they can have adapted to their needs and that they can control - i.e., a single-tenant environment - without having to host it themselves.

Cost: Companies often seek a new platform that can decrease the cost of operations without sacrificing quality or customer experience. The desire to move to a “hosted externally single-tenant environment” reflects these cost concerns - if you’re hosting your ecommerce platform on your own servers that you have purchased, you can’t control or vary the cost of hosting; you have sunk costs in the servers. By hosting externally but in a single-tenant environment, you can scale your ecommerce hosting expense up and down as levels of traffic, revenue and budgeting allows.

Speed: Older platforms may no longer be able to keep up with the latest performance techniques, so companies look for platforms that offer faster loading times for a better customer experience and higher Google Lighthouse scores, which can turn into better search result rankings.

Flexibility: A platform that offers API access, extensibility and the ability to integrate with other systems is important for businesses with multiple sales channels and complex customer journey requirements. Some older platforms use bespoke or now antiquated programming languages for customizations that make customizations challenging.

Compliance: Regulations and standards can change quickly, making it necessary to upgrade to a platform that can keep up with the latest requirements. For instance, some older platforms have struggled with the “right to be forgotten” requirements of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

What’s The Right Ecommerce Platform to Migrate To?

Despite what some platforms may try to tell you, there is no one-size-fits-all, best-for-all-businesses ecommerce platform. Depending on the needs of your business, your budget and your priority in re-platforming there most likely is one platform that is right for your business in this moment, however, what’s right for you may not be right for your competitor. This is why it’s important to engage with experts in the ecommerce ecosystem before selecting a platform - they can help you determine what your needs and priorities are so that you’re able to select the best platform for you.

Common selection factors for ecommerce platforms are up-front cost, ongoing cost, native features (i.e., B2B features if your business sells B2B or visual design features if your brand is highly design-oriented), freedom and implementation model (i.e., are you expected to self-serve and implement the site yourself, does the platform provider also handle implementations or are you expected to find a third party systems integrator or agency to implement the site).

You may be wondering what freedom has to do with selecting your new ecommerce platform…

What Does Freedom Have To Do With My Ecommerce Platform?

Many ecommerce professionals don’t think to include freedom as one of their selection factors for a new ecommerce platform, especially the first time they’re involved in selecting an ecommerce platform. This is something that typically emerges after you’re involved in working with a platform that restricts your freedom in some way.

Freedom in this context means being free to import and export your data as you need; being free to modify and customize the code that runs your site; being free to determine who your technology partners are; being free to customize the search and browse experience to fit your buyer’s needs; and being free to scale your ecommerce solution as your business grows.

Each of these areas of freedom adds complexity to the underlying platform, and platforms that are trying to keep things as inexpensive and simple as possible often restrict your freedom in the areas outlined above as a method to keep their development and support costs lower. Other platforms, especially legacy enterprise-level platforms try to keep you locked in to their platform by restricting your ability to easily export your data or integrate it into other systems yourself.

These factors are also a driving force behind that most common reason for re-platforming to find “commerce software adapted for us and hosted externally in a single-tenant environment” — software that fits that description will naturally allow more freedom for each ecommerce company using the software than other platforms. We’ll dig into some of the reasons why in an upcoming article on the differences between SaaS, PaaS and self hosting.

What Should I Do With My Ecommerce Platform in 2023?

If your platform is meeting your needs, and you feel it is likely to meet your needs for the next few years, it may not be time yet to entertain a conversation about re-platforming. But if you’re thinking about re-platforming, contact us or another ecommerce services provider you trust and ask for help navigating the different selection factors and reasons for re-platforming to determine the top one or two ecommerce platforms that are right for your business.