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In a competitive market, the pressure to stay ahead can push you to consider replatforming as your only option if your current webshop solution feels restrictive. But before you make this significant investment and go through a process that's always painful and risky, it's crucial to evaluate whether replatforming is really necessary — or whether expanding your existing platform might be a better strategy.
The replatforming trap: is it really necessary?
Except for outdated/end-of-life technology, re-platforming is rarely a hard requirement. The urge to replatform often comes from missing functions or inefficient and cumbersome processes. However, these challenges can often be resolved without a complete review.
It's time to start thinking differently about e-commerce platforms. Traditionally, they have been seen as monolithic, all-in-one solutions that should manage everything from customer engagement to product management, order processing, and marketing. But in today's ecosystem, a platform doesn't have to do everything. Instead, it should be seen as a hub that acts as a customer-facing front end, channeling data and functionality from other specialized applications and solutions.
Less is more: simplifying the customer experience
When it comes to e-commerce, adding more functionality isn't always the answer. In fact, focusing on an optimized and simplified customer journey with carefully curated touchpoints and interactions can significantly improve the overall experience. The goal is not to overwhelm the customer, but to effortlessly lead them to conversion.
For example, instead of presenting a confusing series of calls to actions and messages, the experience can be streamlined so that every interaction feels intuitive and focused. This is particularly important for B2B webshops, where users are often flooded with suggestions such as “get a quote” and “contact our team” —even when the user is past the orientation phase and has committed to buying. Research shows that the perceived quality of touchpoints plays a crucial role in shaping customer decisions, especially in B2B environments. Maintaining well-crafted touchpoints without overwhelming customers is key to improving the customer experience. (source: sentisium)
Use solutions instead of switching platforms
While the initial focus in e-commerce is often on the customer experience, admin users play an equally crucial role in the success of your platform. The term “admin users” is a generic name, but in reality, it represents an extensive team with different roles, processes, and specific needs. By combining them under one term, we run the risk of generalizing the requirements of each team and overlooking the unique solutions that each department needs to operate efficiently.
As companies grow, it's only natural that they outgrow the out-of-the-box functionality of their e-commerce platform. These platforms are typically designed for startups or beginners to mid-size users and offer a wide range of basic functionalities to cover many features. However, as your team grows into power users, they demand more sophisticated solutions. A financial department, for example, wants specific accounting software to balance books and file taxes, while a merchandising team needs a robust system to manage thousands of products sold across multiple channels and languages. Likewise, the purchasing team needs tools that can predict inventory levels and process hundreds of purchase orders sent to dozens of suppliers.
An “all-rounder” e-commerce platform often doesn't have the depth it takes to support these more advanced features. Instead of replatforming, the key is to integrate specialized solutions that meet the specific needs of each team, increasing the longevity and capabilities of your current platform. As research by Forrester Consulting shows, companies that adopt best-of-breed solutions that align with their collaborative strategies see better results in complex business goals and greater overall benefits. (source: Atlassian)
Deploy your teams effectively to support all customer touchpoints
You don't need the latest and greatest e-commerce platform, or even a composable platform, to provide a great experience for your customers. Often, you can go a long way with the platform and solutions you already have. The key is to focus on how well those systems enable your teams to perform at every customer touchpoint.
A customer-focused approach by identifying the various touchpoints in your customer journey is crucial. Understand what your customers expect from each interaction and make sure the solutions you implement enable your teams to meet those expectations. Performing Service Blueprint Workshops with your team can provide great insights about where to start, and helps you identify gaps and opportunities in the current process.
For example, when a B2B customer contacts the sales department, they expect to speak to someone who has in-depth knowledge of the product range, has access to their purchase history, and can make a customized offer on the spot, sharing that offer immediately. On the other hand, when a product is returned, they don't need that human interaction. Simple instructions and a financial department that quickly refunds their payment using the method used is what is expected here.
Each of these touchpoints requires specific solutions that enable different teams—from sales to customer service to finance—to seamlessly support the customer experience.
Our recommendation: augmentation over replatforming
In many cases, the limitations of your current e-commerce platform can be addressed without the need for a complete re-platforming. The first and most important step is understanding your customer touchpoints and their expectations. Identify these interactions and assess how your internal processes and teams support them. Once you have that clear overview, you can determine the best ways to expand your existing platform.
However, there are situations where re-platforming can become unavoidable. If your current system is a true legacy platform that doesn't support modern integrations or can't keep up with industry changes, it may indeed be time to consider a switch. Even then, careful planning and understanding what you really need from a new system is crucial to avoid facing the same limitations in the future.
The Open Commerce team has extensive experience in finding out a team's actual requirements. Interested in hosting your own Service Blueprint workshop? Get in touch with us and let's talk!
