Businesses often outgrow the technology platform on which a website was originally built. Deficiencies in functionality become more evident as a business evolves, and there is a realisation that what was right five years ago may now not be fit-for purpose.  Platform technology is also advancing at such a rapid rate that there will be new solutions that are simply just a better fit. But how do you evaluate what the best ‘fit’ is for YOUR business?

Every business is unique, and the mix of strategic objectives, customer experience goals, team structure, operational processes and technical infrastructure means requirements will never be exactly the same from one business to another.  I’ve listed below the six most important questions that you should ask (and answer) when selecting a new ecommerce platform.

1. CURRENT AND FUTURE BUSINESS OBJECTIVES.

What is your business looking to achieve in the next five to ten years? Business objectives – such as achieving scale through entering new markets, diversifying product or opening new sales channels – will all influence your core requirements and help you narrow down the range of platforms for you to consider.

2. FUNCTIONALITY REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS.

From product set-up and management to site design and UX, understanding the functional requirements of your site (present and future) and articulating them in a functional spec is critical to selecting the most appropriate platform for your business.  When reviewing potential solutions, it’s important to consider not just IF your requirements can be met, but also HOW! Any functionality that is not available out-the-box will require either a 3rd party app or custom development – each presenting their own set of pros and cons. 

3. EXISTING TECH STACK.

Mapping out your current tech stack as well as what it may look like in a few years will help you identify and filter out platforms that just aren’t compatible. Do they have standard out-the-box integrations with your ERP, CRM, CMS, etc? If so, are there any limitations that should be considered in the context of your business model or structure. If not, what are the implications of a custom integration (time, cost, resource)?

4. INTERNAL TEAM STRUCTURE AND SKILLSET.

How big is your team and do you have internal resource to support all aspects of running a website. If you outsource your IT department then you may wish to consider a fully hosted platform, such as Shopify or BigCommerce, rather than a self-hosted platform that makes you – the merchant – responsible for PCI compliance, security patches and version upgrades. How big is your ecommerce team and how often are they updating content and products, and across how many stores? What role does Customer Service play and what are their needs? Who is responsible for site design, how much flexibility do they need, and what is the extent of their HTML knowledge?

5. VENDOR ROADMAP AND PARTNER LANDSCAPE.

What are the business priorities for each platform vendor under review, and how financially secure are they? As with your own business, growth is likely to be an objective, but is that through market expansion, product development and/or diversification? The focus and financing of a vendor should be questioned so that you can sign up with complete confidence that the platform will support your business not just now, but in the long term. Similarly, the number of implementation partners that are available to your business, with proven experience of developing on your chosen platform technology, will help you weigh up any other potential complexities and/or risks. 

6. TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (TCO).

Last but certainly not least are budget considerations. TCO should be a sum of the initial build investment, ongoing development, 3rd party app requirements, support and maintenance, as well as hosting costs and version upgrades, if applicable. Depending on your business objectives you may find that the commercials are clearly much more favourable with one platform over another, and this may well be the deciding factor.

Navigating and managing the process of replatforming a website can be daunting, given the level of investment required and broad scope of such a project. 

HOW CAN I HELP?:

• Identify your business requirements

• Review and select a platform technology and partner that is best for YOUR business

• Manage the implementation process through to go-live.

Read more about how I helped Craster replatform its ecommerce site.  Please feel free to contact me for more information or just an informal chat.