How to Switch E-commerce Platforms Quickly and Easily
Running an online business is very dynamic, and one of the most challenging businesses is running a successful e-commerce store. With so many platforms to choose from, it’s common to choose one that gives the best first impression. However, these days, it’s also fairly normal to switch e-commerce platforms after a while.
Whether you outgrew your first platform or realized you just needed more features, we’ll help you understand how to switch e-commerce platforms and what to expect during the process — in a simple step-by-step guide.
Why Switching Could Benefit Your Business?
One of the main reasons so many people change e-commerce platforms is to gain access to advanced features and functionalities that aren’t available in their current platform.
Here are some of the advantages of changing e-commerce platforms:
- Improved functionality
- Scalability
- Cost-effectiveness
- Improved user experience
- Global reach
- Data-driven insights
Functionality
Functionality should be your priority, especially if your e-commerce store includes a large number of products. Having an advanced search feature in your store will help your customers find the products they’re looking for easily without spending a lot of time wandering different pages and categories. On the other hand, having enhanced product management features allows you to speed up the process of adding, editing, and organizing products in your online store.
Scalability
It’s essential to have an e-commerce platform that can follow your store’s growth in sales and visits without compromising its performance. Slow loading times are, believe it or not, among the biggest reasons for abandoned carts in online sales.
Cost-Effectiveness
Some platforms offer more cost-effective solutions for running your business. You might save on transaction fees, hosting, or additional app costs if your new platform has this built-in. In many cases, migrating to an e-commerce platform with a simpler fee structure could help you manage your expenses better.
Improved User Experience
The way to improve the success of your e-commerce store is by providing an amazing user experience. This means that you should always choose a platform that allows as much customization as possible, provides great load times, and includes a seamless checkout process.
Global Reach
If you’re looking to expand internationally, switching to a platform that supports global sales and logistics can help you tap into new markets without the constraints of a physical location. Some platforms offer built-in tools to help with global shipping, currency conversion, and international marketing.
Data-Driven Insights
Newer platforms often provide better analytics and tracking tools, helping you gather insights on customer behavior. This allows for more effective targeting and personalized marketing efforts, boosting conversion rates.
Switching E-commerce Platforms: Step-By-Step Guide
These steps will explain when it’s time to switch, how to make the process efficient, and what key factors to consider during your transition. To make the platform migration process as stress-free as possible, breaking it into manageable stages and following a clear roadmap is essential.
1. Assess Your Current Platform’s Weaknesses
Begin by analyzing what your current platform lacks. This could include poor performance under heavy loads, lack of customization options, or failure to integrate with necessary third-party apps. Make a detailed list of these issues to ensure you address them when selecting a new platform.
2. Gather Feedback from Your Team
Collect input from your sales and support teams, who are on the front lines working with customers. They can provide insights into what functionalities your customers expect and point out inefficiencies in your current system.
3. Make a List of Must-Have Features
Define what you need from your new platform. Common features small businesses look for include:
- Unlimited product catalog capacity.
- Smart search functionality.
- Seamless integration with marketing tools, payment processors, and shipping software.
- Strong reporting tools for tracking revenue and performance.
- Enhanced security features and mobile-friendly design.
These features will help ensure that your new platform can handle your current needs and scale with your growth.
4. Budget and Plan the Migration
Migrating to a new platform can be costly. Beyond the price of the new software, you need to factor in the cost of hiring experts to handle the migration, including data transfers, system setup, and design customization. It’s important to have a detailed budget and project plan to avoid overspending.
5. Work on a Migration Plan
Breaking the migration process into smaller stages is key. Start by mapping out the areas of your business that may be affected, then perform data backups, handle content migration, and set up custom features. Ensuring minimal disruption to your website’s performance is crucial to maintaining customer trust during the transition.
6. Research Potential E-commerce Platforms
Conduct thorough research on potential platforms that will satisfy your needs and fulfill your expectations. There are many options to choose from, each having a specific set of strengths and weaknesses.
This shouldn’t be taken lightly because there are slight differences that can have a significant impact later, whether it’s the features list, pricing, or any other aspect you might not think about right away.
Some of the Most Popular Current Options:
Vast ecosystem of extensions
Enables limitless customization 
Dropshipping-friendly
Social Media & Amazon selling integration 
Trusted by millions of businesses globally
Drag-and-drop store creator 
240+ design templates
Drag & drop product merchandising 
Start free with unlimited product listings
Built-in SEO tools and Google integrations 7. Plan The Right Time To Migrate Platforms
Although migrating doesn’t mean you’ll close down your old e-commerce store, it’s still best to switch platforms during the slow season. This will allow you to test out your new platform, make all the necessary changes, and fix any issues you might have overlooked.
By being cautious and testing everything before completely switching platforms, you’ll provide your customers with the best user experience.
Keep in mind that, depending on the complexity of the store, migrating an e-commerce store can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
8. Back Your Data Up & Migrate To The New Platform
Backing up your data and migrating it to the new platform is a vital step that brings several advantages. It ensures the safety of essential information such as customer details, product listings, and transaction history, protecting your business from data loss during the transition. A smooth migration also maintains your product information, pricing, and inventory accuracy, ensuring a seamless customer experience with minimal disruptions. By backing up data, you minimize the risk of downtime, allowing your business to continue operating efficiently. This process also safeguards, allowing for a quick recovery if any issues arise during migration, ultimately reducing risk and ensuring a successful switch to your new platform.
9. Set Up Plugins & Apps
Apps are different from platform to platform, and you should take your time to explore the possibilities and set up all the apps you think will improve the customer experience. Some may be the same as you had in the previous platform. However, it’s worth exploring other apps as they can improve sales and the overall customer experience.
10. Set Up The Checkout Process
Setting up the checkout process is a critical step in migrating to a new e-commerce platform and offers several key advantages. A well-configured checkout ensures a smooth and intuitive customer experience, reducing cart abandonment and increasing conversions. By setting up the checkout process effectively, you can customize payment options, integrate secure payment gateways, and create a seamless flow from cart to payment, all of which boost customer confidence and satisfaction. Additionally, optimizing the checkout process helps improve mobile responsiveness and reduces friction during purchase, making it easier for customers to complete transactions quickly and securely. This step is essential in ensuring a user-friendly experience that encourages successful purchases and drives revenue growth on your new platform.
11. Prepare for Launch
The last step before launching your new e-commerce store is to test everything out. This can be a pretty time-consuming task, and it’s recommended to have a team do the final checks. You’ll need to make sure all your products are listed, that all the buttons and links are working correctly, and, most importantly, that the checkout works.
Once you’ve checked everything, you can launch your new e-commerce store and follow analytics to see what you can improve further.
Potential Risks During Migration
Although our step-by-step guide makes it easy to switch e-commerce platforms, and there are many benefits to look forward to, certain potential risks remain to mitigate.
Some of the risks during platform migration include:
- Data loss
- Potential downtime
- Performance issues
- Integration challenges
- Time to adapt
How to Minimize Risks During Platform Migration
There are many things you can do during the preparation process that will minimize the possibility of future issues. We’ve mentioned some potential risks when you decide to switch e-commerce platforms, and here are a few key things you can do to avoid these risks.
Data Loss
One of the biggest risks while migrating from one platform to another is data loss or corruption. This can be a significant blow to e-commerce stores, especially those with a large number of products.
Backing up your data should be the top priority and the first thing you do. Regular data backups are like insurance for your e-commerce, and you can do them in two ways:
- Using a hard drive: The more affordable option is exporting data directly to your hard drive and keeping the file safe. It doesn’t cost anything, but in case you have hardware issues, you might lose this data.
- Cloud-based services: The second option is using cloud-based services and keeping all your important data online. These might come with a monthly or yearly subscription fee, but they are a very safe option.
Potential Downtime
Another risk that can set you back is potential downtime. Technical difficulties are not common, but they can impact the functionality of your online store. The longer your online store isn’t functional, the more profits you’ll lose, so it’s best to have someone experienced at e-commerce platform migration close during this process.
When you decide to change e-commerce platforms, you’ll want to test potential platforms for compatibility with your old platform. This should be done before deciding which e-commerce platform to switch to because it can significantly reduce the time it takes to migrate from one platform to another.
With many apps and integrations included, it’s best to choose a new platform that includes all the features you need, and that’s as compatible as possible to your old platform.
Performance Issues
Even if you make your e-commerce store look flawless, there are hidden issues that could disrupt the functionality of your business. Performance issues such as slow load times and broken links can lead to loss of leads and sales.
To overcome performance issues, thorough testing and tweaking are essential when building an e-commerce store and migrating from one platform to another. Often, performance issues are caused by seemingly irrelevant settings that are frequently overlooked.
Integration Challenges
Different third-party apps are essential for online stores to work flawlessly. Unfortunately, some apps you’re used to might not work with the new platform you’ve chosen, and it can take some time before you find replacement apps that will provide you with the features you need.
Having issues with integrating payment gateways and shipping carriers can disrupt the flow of business.
Doing thorough research about potential e-commerce platforms is not something you’ll find in the average step-by-step guide to migrating. Thinking outside the box and considering information genuine users leave in reviews can be a goldmine of information that can help you make an informed decision.
Although certain features are marketed, things are not always what they seem. Reading about user experiences using specific e-commerce platforms may give you insight into what to expect and whether it’s easy to switch to the new platform.
Time to Adapt
Lastly, even if everything works as it should, new e-commerce platforms may take time to get used to. Larger e-commerce businesses have entire teams working on improving sales and marketing, so it may take some time to get used to the new surroundings and processes.
This also applies to customers who may have to learn new ways of navigating through your online store and finding products they’re looking for.
It sometimes takes training and support to have everything working properly and for business flow to be smooth. Support and training can help you and your team adapt to the new platform much faster. You’ll also be able to use the new platform’s full potential. You can even create videos to help customers navigate your store and increase sales.
Final Thoughts
Even if you don’t know how to quickly switch e-commerce platforms, it’s a pretty easy process, and it’s something that you should consider if you want to scale your business, improve customer experience, and drive more sales.
Every platform comes with specific features, and it’s common for businesses to evolve and search for new opportunities. The process of migrating from one platform to another doesn’t necessarily need to be time-consuming and difficult. Still, you’ll need to prepare carefully and give it some thought before taking action.
Adding additional features or just improving the overall customer experience is reason enough to switch e-commerce platforms, and you should do everything you can to improve your business, no matter how challenging it might seem at first.
FAQs
Q: How long does it usually take to switch e-commerce platforms?
A: The time you’ll need to allocate for transitioning between platforms varies depending on various factors, one of which is the size of the online store. It can commonly take from a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on compatibility and complexity.
Q: Are there any risks involved when you change e-commerce platforms?
A: Switching platforms can involve a couple of potential risks, including data loss, downtime, performance and integration issues, and the time you and your team will need to adapt. However, with the necessary preparations, you can reduce these risks to a minimum.
Q: What are the steps to quickly switch e-commerce platforms?
A: The guide might be different depending on the platform you’re using and the platform you want to switch to, but most commonly, the steps include thorough planning, backing up your data, transferring data to the new platform, setting up apps and the checkout, final checks and preparations for launch.
Q: When is the best time to switch?
A: As a rule of thumb, the best time to start the migration process is when you expect the least visits and sales. This will allow you to tweak and analyze your new store and make necessary changes before high-volume traffic and sales hit.
