Replatforming a website involves

Migrating your current website to a new platform can be a complex process requiring careful planning and execution. Knowing what to expect and how to prepare for the project is just as important as choosing the right partner to help put your new site live.

Having supported many clients over the years with some of the more complex elements of replatforming an eCommerce website, here are some of our key considerations to keep in mind when considering this project.

Define Goals and Objectives

Re-platforming an eCommerce website is a big decision. Clearly defining the goals and objectives for replatforming will put you in good stead both with the project and your stakeholders. Whether it’s improving user experience, enhancing performance, increasing scalability, or adding new features, having clear goals will guide the replatforming process and help measure success. Never forget to use whatever data metrics you to help develop SMART objectives for ongoing ROI measurement.

Evaluate Platform Options

Research and evaluate different platform options based on your requirements, budget, scalability, customisation needs, and future growth plans. Ideally, start with a pro and con list about your current platform – what works for you and what doesn’t, and this will help to highlight gaps in which to investigate.

Additional functionality to consider is ease of use for both the platform admin as well as the end users, available integrations needed both now and, in the future, support packages on offer, security features, and scalability.

Understand your Data

Plan and execute the migration of data from your existing platform to the new one. This includes product data, customer information, orders, content, and other relevant data. Ensure data integrity and accuracy throughout the migration process to avoid any disruptions or data loss.

Know your SEO Considerations

Replatforming a website will possibly influence your website’s search engine optimisation (SEO). This is your chance to review all the URLs you have on your existing site and audit them. Make sure you review the URLs in your analytics platform to ensure you know high volume traffic pages on your existing website.

Redirect old URLs to corresponding new URLs to maintain SEO rankings and ensure that metadata, sitemaps, and other SEO elements are properly configured on the new platform. Ensure that you implementation can advise you, as this will be critical to any launch.

Design and Customisation

Determine the level of design customisation and branding requirements that you will need for the new website. Start with what you like about your old platform in terms of design elements and then find examples of other websites you like to give your implementation partner a steer.

Ensure that the new platform supports the design elements and features needed to achieve your desired look, feel and brand guidelines.

Functionality and Features

Evaluate the functionality and features of your existing platform and compare with what is being offered by the new platform, ensuring that your replacement meets your business needs. Make sure you keep an open mind when reviewing all the options available.

Consider features such as inventory management, order processing, payment gateways, shipping options, and third-party integrations.

User Experience (UX) and Customer Journey Mapping

Mapping out the customer journey throughout the website as part of the design will highlight any areas that may not work on closer inspection. Compare what customers experience with the current platform vs how they will travel through the new website and make sure you are clear in what experience your customer will have when shopping with you.

Prioritise user experience and conduct thorough testing of the new website before launch, using the map you have created as a benchmark.

Testing

Before you press the GO button, conducting a thorough test of the platform is crucial. Test usability, navigation, page load times, checkout process, and other critical elements to minimise problems and profit loss at launch.

Ideally, include users from across the business to run the tests, however, be clear on the role they are playing. At this stage, it is not to make design or infrastructure changes, but to make sure the platform is working as expected.

Security and Compliance

Regardless of which platform you use, ensuring the right security measures are in place to protect customer data, payment information, and sensitive business data – for both the migration and post go live.

Ensure that the new platform complies with relevant industry standards and regulations, such as PCI DSS for payment processing and GDPR for data protection. Your implementation partner should be able to advise you on these throughout the process, however it is the responsibility of each business to protect their own data.

Backup and Contingency Plans

Before the migration starts, make sure that you have backup and contingency plans to mitigate risks during the replatforming process. Knowing that you have a robust rollback plan in case of unforeseen issues or complications will be a great peace of mind, as will putting in systems to regularly back up data to prevent data loss moving forward.

Training and Documentation

The key to a new platforms’ success will be the team using it. Providing training and documentation for staff members who will be managing and using the new platform will ensure a smoother transition experience for all involved. Ensure that your team are familiar with the platform’s features, functionality, and best practices through training sessions, creating platform superusers and creating a visible space on an intranet (or similar) so that the information is easily accessible.

Stakeholder Management

Communicate regularly with stakeholders to keep them feeling included in the project. Including internal teams, external partners, and customers, throughout the replatforming process so that every person keeps the key objectives for doing the project clearly in their minds.

Keep them informed about the timeline, progress, and any potential impacts on their operations or user experience.

Having a deeper understanding of these vital stages has ensured that we support our clients not only in the migration process but also in their future growth plans.

Knowing what you must consider internally will help you brief your implementation partner and arm them with all the right information to help you make the right platform, design and infrastructure decisions needed for your business to be successful.

And if you are considering a project, on a small or large scale, make sure you use a partner that can not only do the delivery but also support you through each of these stages.

Introduction

Making the decision to move from one platform to another is always a big step, and a huge responsibility for the person or team who is going to implement it.

As an implementation partner specialising in retail e-commerce, we understand the challenges and opportunities that come with platform migrations. Throughout this blog, we’ll guide you through the migration process and highlight key considerations you need to think about to ensure a successful transition. As always, we want to offer you our expert advice and experience to ensure a seamless experience that maximises your business potential.

Embarking on a migration journey can be daunting. It signifies growth, evolution, and the need for greater efficiency and functionality. However, without proper planning and execution, it can also pose risks to your business operations and customer experience.

Why might a business consider migrating to a new platform?

• Existing platform unable to scale: If your current platform is struggling to handle the growing volume of data, transactions, or user traffic, a new platform with better scalability will help you accommodate your growth goals
• Outdated technology: Legacy systems or platforms that are no longer supported or have limited functionality can hinder your ability to stay competitive. Migrating to a more modern or new platform can provide access to the latest features and technologies previously unavailable.
• Cost savings: The ongoing maintenance and development costs of the current platform may be high, bespoke and not easy to do. Migrating to a new platform can lead to reduced operational expenses in both the short and long term.
• Improved functionality: A new platform may offer you more advanced features, better integration capabilities, or a more user-friendly interface that can enhance productivity and efficiency for the business and its customers.
• Competitive pressures: If competitors have moved to a new platform that offers significant advantages, the business may need to migrate to stay competitive in the market.

Platform Comparison: WooCommerce vs. Shopify

As a result of recent projects (see our case studies here), several of our clients have re-platformed from WooCommerce onto Shopify. In response, we wanted to highlight the differences between these two platforms, and outline things you need to consider should you feel this is the right move for you.

Comparison of key features between WooCommerce and Shopify

You’ve decided to move from WooCommerce to Shopify: what to consider next.

Technical Considerations

You’ve decided that moving from WooCommerce to Shopify is the right move for you. Before you start the process, we have created a checklist for you so that you know what to expect with an e-commerce website platform migration, and specific areas to pay attention to when moving from WooCommerce to Shopify.

Plugins and Extensions

• Create a list of all plugins/extensions you currently have, what their purpose is and why you use them. This is a good starting point for understanding your future needs.
• Knowing which existing WooCommerce plugins/extensions you want to match, identify equivalent or alternative solutions on Shopify.
• Check the Shopify App Store for apps that offer new functionalities required for your store that can form part of your customer journey wish list.
• Consider the cost implications of using third-party apps on Shopify compared to WooCommerce plugins as there can be discrepancies – however your implementation partner will be able to support you with this.

Data Migration

• Know your Products: Ensure all product data (titles, descriptions, images, SKUs, pricing) is documented in a central place for audit and design purposes, as this will be critical to check that everything has migrated accurately.
• Customer Data: Personal data held by companies in platforms is subject to strict GDPR laws, and we would recommend a CRM to ensure that this governance is adhered to. However, if you have consent according to GDPR, transfer customer data including names, emails, addresses, and order history.
• Order History: Migrate order details, statuses, and transaction data to enable benchmarking, forecasting and improved customer experience on your new Shopify platform.
• Categories and Tags: This is a great opportunity to review all your categories and tags to ensure a new, improved hierarchy offers the best experiences both internally and externally when transferred.
• Reviews and Ratings: Research shows that social proof helps customers make decisions.
• Decide whether to migrate existing product reviews and ratings.

Custom Functionality

• Identify custom functionalities or features implemented on the WooCommerce site and why they have been bespoke. It might be a lack of desired functionality or something that needs to be reproduced because of a specific business need.
• Determine if similar functionalities can be achieved on Shopify using apps or custom development.
• – Assess the feasibility of recreating custom code or integrations on the Shopify platform.

SEO Optimisation

• Pull all meta titles, descriptions, and header tags off your existing site and review, rewrite and optimise for Shopify.
• Monitor 404 errors where pages don’t exist or redirects no longer work, and implement proper redirects to avoid broken links and preserve SEO equity on your new site
• Configure shipping settings in Shopify to match existing shipping methods and zones from WooCommerce

Shipping Configuration

• Configure shipping settings in Shopify to match existing shipping methods and zones from WooCommerce and/or update them.
• Set up shipping rates, carriers, and fulfilment options based on business requirements. This is a chance to create revised policies, rates or information and communicate to your customers.
• Review Shopify’s built-in shipping features or third-party apps for advanced shipping needs to see if this is a possible solution for your business.

Performance Optimisation

• Before migrating, optimise images and assets for faster loading times on Shopify. Details of all image sizes can be found here: https://www.shopify.com/uk/blog/image-sizes
• Use Shopify’s built-in caching and CDN (Content Delivery Network) to improve on page image delivery, site speed and improved performance.
• Monitor site speed and performance metrics using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to see where additional speed savings can be made. The average eCommerce website loads at 2.5 seconds for mobile, and consumers expect between 0-4 seconds load time regardless of device.

Testing and Quality Assurance

• Your implementation partner will create a testing and QA plan, however when the platform is released to UAT, conduct thorough testing of the migrated Shopify site to ensure functionality, data integrity and any hidden design flaws.
• Test product pages, checkout process, payment processing, and any custom features or integrations as customers will expect the switch over to be seamless.
• Perform cross-browser and device testing to ensure compatibility and responsiveness and not just the most used device as shown in analytics.
• Ensure you use a ‘Bug Log’ (which may be a spreadsheet or a platform like Jira) to monitor all issues and the solutions being deployed, as you can check post go live.

Backup and Rollback Plan

• Your implementation partner will create backups of WooCommerce site data and files before initiating the migration.
• They will also create a rollback plan in place in case of any issues or unexpected outcomes during the migration process.
• Ensure data integrity and security throughout the migration process with documentation and testing to avoid data loss or corruption. More GDPR guidance about migrating customer data can be found here: https://www.complygdpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Info-sheet-GDPR-Considerations-For-Database-Migration.pdf.

Post-Migration Monitoring and Support

• Monitor the Shopify site closely after migration for any platform issues or performance concerns. Your implementation partner should be supplying you with either ongoing support or a time frame to continually test and log bugs post go live.
• Provide support and training for staff members or administrators managing the Shopify site. This can be in the form of super users or creating online webinars or a portal where how to guides can be found. This won’t necessarily be included in your migration package so check with your implementation partner.
• Address any post-migration issues promptly and ensure that issues are implemented promptly according to how they are categorised (often Critical, Urgent, Low etc)
• Celebrate that your new site is live!

Conclusion

While there are always pros and cons with any platform, it’s important to be clear about what it is you want to achieve and what experience you want to give your customers. Remember: it is more important that the new website has a high level of functionality and supportability over the design.

It’s important to carefully evaluate your options and plan the migration process accordingly, both internally before you start and once you have a implementation partner in place. This could be a lengthy process depending on the size and depth of your website, so make sure you keep the communication up with internal stakeholders throughout.

If any of the above sounds like something you are in the process of looking at, our experienced team are more than happy to discuss with you. Whether you are right at the beginning of your journey researching options, to knowing you want to get onto Shopify and are choosing a delivery partner, speak to our team who can help answer any question you may have.