Just like everything, all businesses have a cycle of life too. It starts, grows, matures, declines, and then based on the owner’s efforts, it either gets reinvented or fades away into oblivion.
Most people think of an eCommerce website as a self-running business that does not need any efforts for maintenance.
The truth could not be farther from it. Ecommerce websites must also go through the same cycle of life.
Most modern eCommerce markets and platform options are filled with numerous solutions that need website programming.
If you are not well versed in the technicalities, it is best to leave that part in the hands of your web design company that you have hired for the project.
But even if that is the case, you still need to understand when it is time to switch platforms, and what are the rewards and risks.
Of course, you can also approach a reputable web designing company to guide you through the analysis of your current platform and migrate your eCommerce website to a new platform.
Reasons
Ecommerce platforms are the lifeline of any online retail website, so you would not think of moving to a new platform unless you have very strong motives to do so.
There are two main reasons why you would want to move your eCommerce website to a new platform.
Excessive Maintenance
If you have to face regular maintenance issues, bugs, and poor performance, it may be time to choose a new platform.
Constant maintenance problems might keep you from focusing on more essential factors, such as sales, marketing, and development.
Outdated
If you want to keep your eCommerce up to date with the changing market trends, your platform must be able to support your website with the required modifications.
It will help you to improve your customer’s experience by introducing new functions.
But if your platform is outdated and does not allow you to customize your website or integrate new features, it is time to move on to a new platform.
In either of the cases mentioned above, you will be losing money both ways. It will cost you high maintenance and lose revenue.
Platform migration can also be very costly, and you could lose money during the transition.
But the benefits outweigh the costs significantly. Here are the salient benefits of shifting eCommerce platforms.
Rewards
Not every business owner can notice that it is time to switch over to a new platform.
If you could not see the signs in time, it is never too late to change platforms because the rewards are much higher than the costs.
Growth of Business
Your eCommerce business will need to keep up with the market trends because these trends define the requirements of your customers.
Keeping up with the trends means more revenue, which means you will be able to concentrate on the growth of your business.
Your new platform can give you the much-needed features that your old platform could not, such as
- Display more products
- Multiple channels of sales
- Multiple store management
- Better web store management
Better Control Over Business
A better platform means better control over your eCommerce business.
Your new platform should be able to generate data for your KPIs that can show you the areas that need more focus or improvement.
It will also show you the sectors that are doing well so that you can concentrate on those.
Better Customer Experience
New features integrated into your website will ensure that your customer has a better experience shopping on your e-store than before.
It will also lead to better customer satisfaction and the return of the business.
Security
A new platform can give you better data security that will ensure a safer place to store customer details.
You can also highlight it on your website to attract new customers as well as assure present ones.
Costs
Although it is going to cost money to shift platforms, if you think of the long run, the financial benefits are much higher.
You will not lose money on maintenance and gain more revenue.
Mobile Website
If your last platform did not have this facility, you are going to draw a lot of benefit from it.
Since most customers prefer to shop on their phones these days, the addition of a mobile website can increase your revenues significantly.
Risks
There are two sides to every coin. Migrating from one platform to another has a few risks involved.
Extra Cost
Switching between platforms can be expensive, depending on the platform you choose and the modifications to your eCommerce website.
Moreover, you will lose revenue during the transition period.
SEO
You may lose your website ranking due to the downtime of the eCommerce store during the transition.
It might happen due to the change in the URL. Sometimes the website may get de-indexed due to problems with the robot text file, which can cause a loss of ranking.
Your web designing company can help you make things easier to regain your search engine ranking.
Business Processes
Some of the business processes might not be available on the new platform. You may need to find alternatives to those functions.
Speak to your website designer to incorporate alternative features.
You may need to weigh the difference between the added cost of migration and the business benefits from it.
Your website designers and business advisors should discuss and come up with the ideal solutions.
They should also choose the right type of platform for your new eCommerce website to lower maintenance costs and maximize revenues.