Why do people make the decision to switch eCommerce platforms? There are several reasons why (oh hey, look what we have, a convenient list of reasons) many merchants need to make the switch to grow their business.
“Switching ecommerce platforms can create significant costs and complexity for businesses, and our desire is to make customers’ experience moving to BigCommerce as fast and convenient as possible,” said Paul Vaillancourt, senior vice president of customer success at BigCommerce. “Merchants don’t want to be bogged down in highly-technical data migration projects, nor do they want to rely on a third-party to ensure critical business data is appropriately transferred between platforms."
This is why people turn to Fortuitas to help them migrate data from their online store to BigCommerce--most with items in the range of 10,000 to 30,000 products/SKUs and multiple different types of data. However we have worked with businesses with over 8 million SKUs. The process of transferring data at scale requires the assistance of a team that has been there and done that (so to speak).
What are the 3 main consideration when migrating?
1. Features: Determine what functionality you need.
Figure out what technology you’re using, and cut the fluff if you’re paying for features that you don’t need. You may be using something that has been fully customized for your business that is now available through an app marketplace. Often times these apps have more features and connect through a modern API which saves you time and money when connecting multiple systems.
2. When to migrate: Make sure the timing is right.
As with software and technology, systems evolve and get better. When this happens, old technology reaches the end of it's cycle and new technology emerges. This is when many merchants need to consider a platform migration, especially to allow additional time for development and post-launch testing.
So just how long does it take to migrate to a new ecommerce platform?
It depends on the complexity of your business and how quickly your business can make decisions. If you work with an agency to migrate to a new platform, make sure you do an initial discovery with them to scope out the timeline. These are short engagements that allow an agency to dive a bit deeper into your systems. Once complete, not only will you have a better understanding of where youa re today, but it also gives you recommendations on where your business can be in the next 3-5 years. The discovery will define a clear schedule and budget and make it very simple for you to make the decision on which platform to use.
3. Development resources: Will you need to hire a team?
Because of the depth of eCommerce platforms and how many technology systems it touches, merchants should seek an agency to support the business through this process. While this is feasible for larger enterprises with built-out support teams, smaller and up-and-coming retailers may struggle to allocate the right head count and budget for developers.
So why the need for developers?
As an agency, one of the things that we strive to do is to create a schedule based off an initial discovery. This schedule gives your business insight into the project and and timeline for delivery. This is especially relevant to us at Fortuitas , as we pride ourselves on Quality, Integrity, and Service--all key components to WOWing our clients and delivering projects on time and in scope.
