You need to upgrade your eCommerce operations. But you want the process to go as smoothly as possible. Our eCommerce and digital marketing expert Sam Jones shares his insights – from potholes to avoid to realistic timeframes. It’s everything you wanted to know about eCommerce migration strategy, but were afraid to ask!
We find it often happens when a business hits a turning point. They’ve established their brand in the market. No longer a start-up, their turnover is £500,000+ a year. Their direct-to-consumer channel is in place and they’re doing good business.
They’ve outgrown the initial systems, and they’re now encountering problems. The business leaders realise they need to upgrade the technology to enable the next stage of growth.
It’s usually been developed over the years with piecemeal improvements. It’s often ‘cobbled together’, both in terms of the technology and the team.
Usually, businesses want to:
The most common message we receive as eCommerce migration strategy experts is ‘everything is broken – we need to start again’.
Initially it may appear to be a fresh, new platform packed with ‘new stuff’. Can the layout be sleeker? Can the pages download faster? But this can ultimately be a step backwards.
It’s a mistake to dismiss the current system’s set-up and successes out of hand. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!
It’s crucial that a detail-orientated team delivers a complete spec of what’s currently in place. They also need to see it from the customer experience viewpoint. This can be outsourced to eCommerce migration experts such as ourselves.
The piecemeal systems in place at £500,000 up to £10 million or more have often existed for a long time. 5+ years isn’t unusual.
Listing everything a new system needs to provide becomes a massive task. Unfortunately the little tweaks are rarely recorded, notes have been lost, or they’re all in the head of a team member who has left. Elements easily missed during scoping include:
A £3 million turnover company wanted to expand to £10 million. Their direct-to-consumer (D2C) and business-to-business (B2B) channels had shown consistent growth. They were eager to get ready for the next scaling period.
Their team diligently created the specification documentation. However, it only focused on new features. For exampleenterprise resource planning integration (ERP) and website layout. Very little effort was made to capture everything already in place.
The business expected the new platform to immediately trigger a jump in growth. Instead the performance fell off a cliff whilst bugs were fixed. A lot of effort was required to hit pre-project metrics again. This meant the large capital investment took time to show a profit.
The company experienced around six months of poor trading when compared to previous trajectories. Eventually, there was a period of really strong growth. However many of the growing pains could have been avoided if past developments had been accounted for in the spec.
Yes, for the best results, a fresh pair of eyes is essential. You need specialists who really get into the details a business requires to interact with its customers. Somebody who understands internal processes around such aspects as product, sales, distribution, and accounting. Plus the detail of the technology stack.
Website development agencies aren’t always the best fit for specifications. They usually have multiple projects on the go and don’t have the necessary time, interest, or resources. You often also get people leaving mid-project, both on the internal team and the development team.
Web developers want their clients to be excited about the great new system. Why talk about the disadvantages and the length of time it takes to get from re-platforming to business growth?
We bring established relationships and proven working practices. We understand the bigger picture and see the project through from beginning to end. This makes a huge difference to results!
As proactive, honest consultants we are the realistic ‘translators’, connectors and buffers between the techies and the business. We set expectation from the outset. We look at internal processes with a fresh, external view. We also bring detailed knowledge, project management skills andyears of experience around what works and what doesn’t.
Our aim is to improve delivery outcomes and manage expectations realistically. Ultimately, we represent the customer on the receiving end of the re-platforming project.
A project for a business of more than £500,000 turnover needs:
A successful re-platforming takes at least 6 months. 12 to 18 months is more realistic, depending on the project’s complexity. Key stages include:
You are almost certainly then going to have a minimum of 3 months of disruption following launch. Even when the right people, skills, and project management are in place, this could stretch to 6 months. Without high levels of dedicated resources? 12 months.
Absolutely. In our fast-moving, competitive, global environment, any business wanting to stay close to the end consumer and ahead of the competition will need to migrate their eCommerce platforms.
Such upgrades can transform a business through:
All this enhances profitability and competitive advantage.
Need a team to guide you through the pitfalls ofeCommerce migration strategy? Here at comsim, we’ve decades of experience in moving and upgrading manufacturers, from those producing gravel to robots.
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