Ecommerce Migration That Accelerates Your Business Growth

Your current ecommerce platform is holding you back.

Most businesses hit this wall when growth accelerates: Your site crashes during peak sales, checkout processes frustrate customers, and adding new features takes months instead of days. Sound familiar? You're not alone. This operational stranglehold forces most growing businesses into a corner.

But here's what most don't realize: Ecommerce replatforming isn't a sign of failure, it's a growth strategy. When your ecommerce solution can't handle your growth, switching to a new one becomes inevitable. Research from The CUBE reveals that 60% of businesses plan to replatform within two years, while 39% already made the switch.

They're not running from problems; they're running toward opportunity.

That's precisely why this migration process matters to your bottom line: This guide shows you how to transform platform limitations into competitive advantages. You'll discover the step-by-step process that preserves your core functionality while unlocking new capabilities — faster load times, higher conversion rates, and systems that scale with your growth.

The results speak for themselves: Companies that replatformed with BigCommerce report improved site performance, better scalability and reduced operational costs. Meanwhile, Statista projects that B2B ecommerce migration investments alone will reach $4.2 billion in 2025, evidence that innovative businesses view replatforming as essential infrastructure investment.

Ready to break free? Let's walk through exactly how to plan and execute a migration that transforms your business rather than just moving it.

Ecommerce replatforming strategies and benefits

Understanding why to migrate is just the beginning. The real challenge lies in choosing the right approach for your specific situation.

Migrating an ecommerce platform to a new system is a complex ecommerce replatforming project that requires significant time and careful data handling. It's more involved than simply transferring the current ecommerce platform.

The following replatforming guide explains standard migration methods, platform-to-platform migrations, when each is most effective, and the benefits of breaking free from rigid systems.

Phased migrations.

A phased website migration (or soft launch) is a reassuring strategy for websites with high traffic. Instead of a sudden switch, this method gradually introduces the new platform to a small portion of visitors. This type of rollout allows teams to test the new site with a limited audience, giving them a chance to find and fix problems before everyone uses it.

This strategy is beneficial when the replatforming process is too time-consuming to complete in a single phase. The primary benefit is a lower risk of widespread issues that could affect essential business activities or frustrate customers.

Migrations to headless systems.

While phased rollouts reduce risk, some businesses need even more flexibility in how they build their future architecture.

This approach involves moving to a system where the customer-facing part of the website is separate from the back-end technology that runs it. This separation provides greater flexibility and prevents a company from being tied to a single, rigid platform. For larger businesses, this is particularly exciting because it means individual components, like the payment gateways or search function, can be updated or replaced in the future without needing to rebuild the entire website. This forward-looking approach opens up new possibilities for adapting to new business requirements and changing customer expectations.

Switching from a monolithic system to a headless or composable architecture stands in sharp contrast to legacy technologies and monolithic ecommerce platforms. During replatforming, businesses move to systems that use a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) or Content Management System (CMS) as the front-end interface.

Benefits of headless/composable migrations.

As mentioned, headless architecture separates your front-end from back-end systems, giving you control over each layer independently. This independence prevents vendor lock-in and reduces the need for costly platform overhauls when business needs change. Migrating to a headless or composable architecture brings significant benefits for enterprise and B2B operations. These include:

• Enhanced control and flexibility: You can modify individual components without rebuilding your entire system. When market conditions shift, you adapt quickly instead of facing business-threatening disruptions. Choose platforms with strong API documentation and partner ecosystems. These indicate genuine flexibility.

• Superior user experience. You control the presentation layer completely, moving beyond the limitations of legacy platforms. Companies report higher conversion rates when they can create custom shopping experiences that match their brand and user needs.

• Increased B2B flexibility. Enterprise operations require complex integrations with ERP, OMS, PIM, and DXP systems. Headless architecture handles these connections seamlessly, letting you adapt technology to your business processes rather than forcing your processes into rigid templates.

This approach builds systems that evolve with your requirements rather than creating obstacles to business growth.

Legacy systems to SaaS platforms (like BigCommerce).

Not every business needs the complexity of headless architecture. Many companies find their solution in proven SaaS platforms that have already solved common migration challenges.

Companies such as Coco Republic,The Beer Bat, Designerie, and Lekker Home switched from platforms like Adobe Commerce, Shopify, and Yahoo to BigCommerce. Organizations typically make this change because older technologies and single-structure ecommerce platforms create roadblocks. These systems prevent teams from building exceptional shopping experiences, reduce usability, and limit their capabilities.

Migration also helps reduce long-term maintenance costs and avoids the burden of continuous upgrades tied to legacy solutions like Magento.

Staying with an outdated platform creates several problems:

• Slower product launches

• Reduced team productivity and growth potential

• Sluggish page loading

• Dated website functionality

• Higher security risks

• Frustrated customers

Why ecommerce businesses migrate to new platforms

These migration approaches address the how, but understanding the why behind platform switches reveals the true business impact.

Companies rarely move because of one missing feature. Platform migration usually stems from strategic needs, driven by two key factors: scaling requirements and the actual cost of staying put. During a digital transformation, ecommerce leaders often discover that their existing system can no longer support sophisticated demands.

Poor performance and scalability limitations.

Your website serves as your digital storefront, making it your most valuable asset as an online business. Fast-growing companies often hit the ceiling of what their current platform can handle. Lack of oversight creates more than a minor inconvenience; it becomes a roadblock to growth.

Consider the real-world impact. Holiday sales might slow your site to a crawl. New product launches could crash your entire system. Unreliable performance and slow page speeds lead directly to lost sales and frustrated customers.

Platforms should launch your growth, not anchor you down.

Rising total cost of ownership (TCO).

Performance issues create immediate pain, but the hidden costs of doing nothing often prove even more damaging over time.

Platforms that seem affordable initially can become surprisingly expensive. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) includes not just subscription fees, but all related expenses needed to keep your site running without interruption.

Do you constantly pay developers or your development team for custom work just to get basic functions? Plugin costs might drain your budget, requiring constant maintenance and updates. Patching up older, inflexible systems drains resources that could be invested in marketing, product innovation, and customer experience.

Spending all your time and money just keeping your website functioning leaves nothing for building the future.

Gaps in your existing solution.

Customer expectations constantly evolve, and your business needs agility to meet them. Platforms that can't adapt risk leaving you behind.

Shoppers expect seamless experiences across social media, physical stores, and websites. Integration with essential business software, like inventory or accounting systems, becomes crucial. B2B sellers need specialized tools to handle complex orders and customer accounts.

Finding yourself constantly saying, "Our platform can't do that," signals you need a solution that can.

Migrating to BigCommerce

Recognizing these problems is the first step. The next step is finding a platform partner that can solve them systematically.

BigCommerce can help with a complete implementation toolkit. You'll get project management, data migration, solutions design, and thorough training for your team. Whether you're working with in-house developers or bringing in outside partners, BigCommerce knows how to assemble the right crew for a smooth launch.

Feedonomics powers your feed management, delivering omnichannel capabilities that transform your product data across multiple channels. BigCommerce gives you architectural flexibility too. Pick hosted low/no code solutions, go headless, or blend both approaches based on what works best for your business.

Enterprise customers get extra muscle with B2B Edition. Features like customer groups, tiered pricing, and custom partner logins help you manage complex business relationships with ease.

Take Toolden's story as an example. This leading UK-based retailer migrated to BigCommerce to unlock advanced B2B capabilities. With B2B Edition, Toolden delivers personalized pricing, account-specific catalogs, and custom checkout experiences that help them better serve trade customers and grow their business with confidence.

That's the kind of growth flexibility that turns ambitious plans into reality.

Choosing your ecommerce engine

Selecting an ecommerce platform is one of the most critical decisions you'll make for your business. It's the digital heartbeat of your operations — the engine that powers sales, manages customer data, and ultimately shapes your brand's online experience.

Each of the primary platform types offers a unique blend of control, convenience, and cost. The right choice for you will depend on your specific business goals, budget, technical resources, and your existing technology stack. Let's explore the landscape.

SaaS platforms.

Think of SaaS platforms as leasing a high-performance retail space in a premium, fully managed mall. These are ready-to-use, subscription-based solutions created and maintained by expert third-party vendors.

SaaS is an excellent fit for growth-focused companies that need to launch quickly and efficiently without a large, dedicated IT team. The platform vendor handles the heavy lifting, freeing you to focus on what you do best: marketing, merchandising, and selling.

On-premise platforms.

An on-premise solution is the equivalent of designing and constructing your flagship store from the ground up. These platforms are built, hosted, and maintained entirely in-house using your company's servers and resources, often by a dedicated team of internal developers.

This approach offers the ultimate authority over every single aspect of your ecommerce ecosystem, but it comes with a high burden in both maintenance and talent.

Cloud-based platforms.

Cloud-hosted platforms strike a compelling balance between the control of an on-premise build and the convenience of outsourced infrastructure. This model often follows an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) approach.

Essentially, you build and manage your custom platform software, but you host it on a third-party cloud provider's infrastructure, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud. You're building a custom engine but housing it in a state-of-the-art garage run by global experts.

Headless commerce.

Headless commerce is not a platform type itself, but a revolutionary architectural approach that you can apply to any of the models above (though it's most common with SaaS and Cloud). A headless system "decouples" the front-end presentation layer (the "head," or what customers see and interact with) from the back-end commerce engine (the "body," which handles logic like pricing, inventory, and checkout process).

This separation unlocks radical agility and is the optimal solution for businesses that demand:

• Blazing-fast user experiences (UX): Developers can use modern, high-performance frameworks (like React or Vue.js) to build unique, lightning-fast storefronts without being constrained by a traditional platform's template.

• Complex, omnichannel architectures: Sell seamlessly across a website, mobile app, smart mirror, IoT device, or any other digital touchpoint, all powered by a single, centralized back-end. Connectivity is the key to creating a truly unified brand experience.

Building your ecommerce migration plan

Choosing the right platform type sets your foundation. Now comes the detailed work of planning a migration that protects your business while unlocking new capabilities.

Careful planning leads to a smoother move. When the migration process is informed and deliberate, it reduces costly mistakes and unnecessary delays, especially when it comes to integrations, data security, and forecasting TCO. Use this ecommerce migration checklist to guide each step with confidence.

Audit your business and customer needs.

Start by reviewing what your business does well and where it falls short. Match that against what your customers need. For B2B buyers in particular, expectations are rising — think fast quotes, detailed product data, and flexible ordering. Knowing where the gaps are shapes your migration strategy.

Create a migration RFP.

Outlining your needs in a formal RFP helps vendors tailor their responses. It sets expectations early and gives your team a chance to evaluate different approaches before committing to a path. A detailed RFP leads to better partnerships.

Plan your budget and TCO.

Budgeting isn't just about upfront costs. Account for licensing, custom development, ongoing customer support, and scaling needs. Estimating the full lifecycle cost of your ecommerce platform now prevents hard tradeoffs later.

Review integrations and platform fit.

List your tools, workflows, and tech stack. Then identify what must stay, what needs replacement, and where new connections are required. Early evaluation of compatibility helps prevent performance issues later.

Safeguard and test data transfers.

Transferring data is a high-risk step. Whether you use APIs or manual imports, verify accuracy and security at every point. Build in time to test and confirm your ecommerce data migration lands exactly where and how you need it.

Manual.

In-house IT departments may implement manual transfers and are often the choice for smaller sites.

App.

Some providers include a data migration application that automates most of this.

API/microservices.

These can be developed in-house or externally to provide a case-specific application.

Engage all stakeholders.

Replatforming isn't just an IT project. Customer service, marketing, sales, and leadership all rely on the platform in different ways. Bring everyone to the table to ensure the solution supports the whole business.

Common ecommerce migration myths

Even with solid planning, misconceptions about migration can derail progress before it starts. Before starting a significant move like replatforming, it helps to separate fact from fiction. These are some of the most common myths that hold teams back.

You'll lose sales during migration.

With the right plan, that's rarely the case. A phased migration allows your current site to stay open while the new one is built. Picture it more like moving houses — you don't tear one down before the other is ready.

We'll lose our store design.

You're not starting from scratch unless you want to. A good ecommerce website can replicate much of the look and feel of a site; most platforms allow you to match or improve your design with ease. If you're happy with the current design, you'll find that quality platforms are remarkably flexible and can handle most design needs.

Replatforming kills SEO.

Search engine rankings don't have to take a hit. Planning by using proper redirects and preserving URLs can protect your search visibility. In many cases, upgraded platforms offer stronger SEO tools that help you rank better over time.

We can just copy everything.

It's rarely a clean copy-and-paste. Legacy features or outdated workflows often need rethinking. Take this chance to fix what's not working and enhance the shopping experience before migrating anything over as-is.

We can replatform ourselves.

Handling this solo may sound doable, but risks pile up fast.

Integrations, data structures and backend logic all have hidden traps. Bringing in platform experts can save time, prevent errors and keep your launch on track. Most platforms have migration services to ensure a successful migration of your online store. These services can be crucial for troubleshooting post-migration.

Attempting a replatforming process in-house without an experienced development team can also make the migration far more time-consuming than expected.

How BigCommerce supports B2B migration

With these myths dispelled, B2B businesses face unique considerations that require specialized platform capabilities.

B2B companies face distinct challenges when selling online compared to retail businesses. Complex relationships drive your operations — custom pricing for each client, multiple buyer hierarchies, and specialized purchasing processes that vary by account.

Your ecommerce platform choice determines whether these workflows function smoothly or create bottlenecks. Beyond adding features, you need infrastructure that grows with your business and serves buyers who expect seamless digital experiences.

This is precisely where BigCommerce B2B Edition shines. The platform handles multi-tiered pricing, role-based access and custom workflows without requiring extensive development work.

Tame the complexity of B2B sales.

Your customers don't all get the same price, and your ecommerce site shouldn't treat them that way. BigCommerce is designed to handle the details that define B2B commerce.

• Custom pricing and catalogs: Effortlessly create unique price lists, volume discounts, and even specific product catalogs for different customer accounts.

• Smart buyer roles: Empower your clients by letting them set up their teams with different permissions, from buyers who can place orders to managers who must approve them.

• Flexible quoting: Many B2B deals start with a conversation, not a click. Our platform supports a seamless quote-to-order process, allowing buyers to request a quote and your team to create and send custom proposals directly from the dashboard.

Streamline the long buying cycle.

The circuitous B2B sales process often involves multiple people, internal approvals and careful planning. We provide the tools to make this collaborative process simple and efficient.

• Approval workflows: Set custom rules so that purchases over a certain amount or from specific users automatically require a manager's sign-off before the order is finalized.

• Shared shopping carts: A buyer can build an order and then share the cart with their manager or procurement department for quick review and purchase.

• Punchout ready: For your largest enterprise customers, punchout integration is key. It allows them to shop on your BigCommerce site directly from within their own procurement system (like Coupa or SAP Ariba) and pull the cart back for easy, compliant purchasing.

Keep your business running smoothly.

A new storefront is only as good as its connection to the rest of your business. A smooth-running operation is everything, and your ecommerce platform must act as the central hub, not an isolated island.

We've built BigCommerce to integrate with the essential systems you already rely on, ensuring your business never misses a beat.

• ERP and CRM integration: Connecting your ecommerce site to your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is crucial. It ensures that inventory levels, customer data, and order information are always in sync, eliminating manual work and preventing errors. By linking your customer relationship management (CRM) platform, you give your sales team a complete, 360-degree view of every customer interaction, both online and off.

The final word

Consider replatforming part of your company's natural growth. Just as you take on more resources (headcount, tools, etc.) to develop new products, you'll need to do the same to keep pace with or surpass the market.

Customer expectations for user experiences are high, and it's up to you to meet them. Replatforming can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be crippling. Taking a measured approach will help ensure a more straightforward process.

Whether you're aiming for a complete redesign or simply improving site speed and performance, the investment in an up-to-date platform pays off quickly. Take advantage of customer feedback to guide where improvements matter most.

With BigCommerce, you get a platform that not only understands the complexities of your business but gives you powerful tools to manage them and grow.

FAQs about ecommerce migrations