Reasons to Replatform
Is your business growing unexpectedly fast? Are you concerned about the lack of future support for your current platform? Does your existing site experience slowness or frequent outages? Is your site unable to take advantage of new technologies? Is it high time to say goodbye to the outdated and tired website you’re currently using? If you’re asking yourself any of these questions, then it might be time to seriously consider replatforming.
For any business, having a secure, responsive, and prominent online presence is the most important part of the brand experience. Your website is meant to be the backbone of the company and an exciting place that draws people in and gets them interested in the products or services being offered. Your online store is tied directly to your revenue generation. For these reasons, and so many others, it’s important to ensure your website has high visibility and creates a consistently engaging customer experience.
According to Forrester Research, 74% of businesses report concerns that their current platforms will not allow them to scale properly, and 78% say their existing solutions cannot support the agility of cross-channel order management. Considering such statistics, we find some of the greatest challenges for online storefronts. When businesses struggle to meet their needs for growth and cross-channel functionality, replatforming can be the best answer.
If you’re concerned about everything this process entails, or specifically the costs involved, it might be best to conduct a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the benefits of replatforming outweigh the risks and expense. It’s helpful to look at the future outcome you are hoping to achieve and consider the value it offers your business.
The following are some of the greatest benefits to replatforming:
- Increased functionality around mobile platforms.
- Maintaining a consistent experience across channels.
- Scalability and better functionality for company growth.
- Greater customization and optimization options.
- Integration with key business applications for consistent data.
- Improved customer support and more efficient response times.
Platform Transformations
There are benefits to using each major platform on the market, depending on the specific needs of your business. In many cases, Shopify can be the best option for helping to increase your site’s functionality on mobile devices. Countless businesses have turned to the Shopify platform to successfully increase mobile conversions. In this specific case, MMA Warehouse achieved a 60% (average) improvement in mobile conversion rates.
For other businesses, when they are struggling to scale up and grow revenue, using a platform like BigCommerce helps to boost efficiency without sacrificing quality. As the top SaaS platform on the market, they offer differentiated commerce experiences with greater flexibility for the future. As an example, Yumi used the BigCommerce platform to increase their site’s agility and speed to market, helping to increase their revenue growth by 43% month over month.
Magento, being one of the most widely used platforms for online retailers, also has many advantages for those looking to replatform. Consider migrating to Magento 2 Commerce to drive revenue growth, improve conversion rates, and increase site traffic, with an intuitive design that simplifies the process of creating and managing content. As a recent study has shown, “customers that have migrated to Magento Commerce 2 already experience a cost savings of 62% when deploying new content, such as landing pages, new product launches, etc.”
Customer Experience Performance
In the modern age, online shoppers expect sophisticated and connected online retail experiences. Likewise, eCommerce businesses are expected to offer their customers an innovative experience with state-of-the-art features, cutting-edge technology, and seamless multi-channel integration. Another important part of the equation for online success is creativity. Customers are attracted to an experience that differentiates from the norm, which can be difficult for retailers to achieve.
According to Forrester’s Customer Experience Index (CX Index™), customer experience performance has had little improvement in over four consecutive years. “Most brands are stuck in the middle, struggling to improve over competitors. Zero brands are rated to have an excellent experience… [and] for every 1-point drop in CX Index score, companies lose 2% of their returns.”
With the current lack of creativity in the industry, there is also great opportunity. As an online retailer competing with so many others, you can deliver the unique experience customers expect and establish a stronghold. More than improving performance, replatforming helps your business capitalize on this gap in the customer experience. It can boost your ability to be more creative and stand out from the moderate crowd.
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Though it can be a daunting task, replatforming positions your online store to reach new heights. It can inspire more traffic and even more customer loyalty. There is a certain level of investment required, of course, but the strategy is to reposition your site for the future, maximize your return on investment, and secure your position as a leader in the industry. When your platform is scalable and easier to manage and support, your website provides an enhanced shopping experience. This boosts conversions and sales, offers more creative opportunities, and strengthens your brand.
Beyond the reasons for future development, certain red flags can point to a more immediate need for transitioning and finding a better solution for your business. If your site has frequent outages, if the load time is too slow, or if customer data becomes compromised in any way, you’re not only losing out on customer trust, you’re also likely doing harm to your brand. In these cases, replatforming and fortifying your site is a necessary step to take. Your customers need to know their information is safe throughout the entire experience on your website. They also expect a responsive site they can rely on time and time again.
It’s important to consider all your options and make the best decision for your business. You can reach out to our team at DCKAP if you have any questions or concerns. We can help you find the best platform for your needs, with the experience and tools that can help your business from early in the transition period to the time after everything goes live. Our diversely qualified team will ensure that your online store (and your brand) stands out and becomes the front-runner it was always meant to be.
