If you have read our article “When is the time to migrate your online store to a new platform?” You already know that migration can be one of the most stressful stages in the development of your online business. Therefore, in this article we will tell you what to look out for and how to prepare if you need to change the platform.
How do you prepare to change the platform of your online store?
Here are the main points to prepare for when you decide to migrate to a new system:
- Reasons and Objectives (First of all, I set out the clear reasons and goals for migration. This can be key for both platform selection, timing, budgeting and just about anything else in future migration.
- Human resources (project team) If you think you can delegate to busy managers, operational staff or people who do not understand online businesses to supervise the migration process - you are a lot of lying. Your team should be ironed, prepared, boiling and boiling in online commerce or, at worst, over-enthusiastic about what it engages with.
- Ongoing Processes (Pros and Cons) - Very rarely have we seen companies in Stenik that provide us with a description of current processes. In fact, it can be extremely important because some of the processes need to be migrated and others to be refined and now is the right time.
- Current Functionality (Pros and Cons) - Continued from the previous point we should also add a description of the current functionality you are using. We often get clients to access their current admin panel explaining "log in and view everything yourself". However, the interpretation of each functionality is as important as itself, so if you want to be prepared, it is to systematize the features you use, how you use them, what you like about them and what you do not like.
- Description of desired new functionalities - here we get to the nature of the cause of migration. However, you are changing the system because you want certain things that you do not currently have available. It's good to describe what you want as a feature, but it's even better to specify the end result you want to get using that feature.
- Structural changes - Moving even further into the migration process, we also refer to the structural changes that are most often found in the product catalog.
- Choosing a platform and company based on the above - if you have planned things well and have prepared yourself in the previous points, it will be time to choose a developer and platform company . If you want to know how to do it best, we have a whole joker deck for you, which we have hidden in our video "How to choose a platform for my online store"
- Stages and Priorities - Once you are familiar with the company that will work with your plans, it often turns out that you need to change some of them. The reason for this lies in the old saying about many watermelons under one arm. Usually, in the migration, you want to hit not all 2 rabbits with one bullet, but this is not always possible and the project must be divided into stages. And with the setting of stages comes the setting of priorities. I also open the timing bracket here, because our practice at Stenik shows that a migration can take between 3-4 and 12 months, and therefore you need to think very well about the right time to start your new e-shop.
- Database migration (what, how and when).
- SEO migration planning (SEO agency involvement).
- BONUS Board Up to + 50% buffer budget and term
And so in this article, we showed you the mandatory components of a migration that you need to prepare for. It is your turn now and remember that it is always a good idea to seek eCommerce business consulting , as we at Stenik have before deciding, as this can save you a lot of headaches in the future.
