From Custom to Standard: Migrating E-commerce Platforms

1. Why Consider the Switch to Standard Solution?

2. The Fundamental Shift in Perspective

3. Practical Considerations

4. Involvement Across the Organization

5. Facing the Same Decision?

Companies that have invested significantly in customized solutions often experience a range of challenges over time:

• Maintenance costs typically rise as the system becomes more complex. Security updates, technical debt, and reliance on specialist knowledge make it expensive to operate and develop the platform.

• Scalability can become a limitation. What worked with 1,000 orders per month often requires extensive rewriting for 10,000 orders. New markets, channels, or business models can be difficult to implement within a rigid architecture.

• Development speed is hampered by complexity. Where standard platforms are continually rolling out new features, custom solutions require manual development for everything from new payment methods to mobile optimization.

The transition from custom to standard involves a significant change in approach:

• From before: The platform is built and customized according to the company's existing processes and needs. Every workflow, every special rule, and every integration is designed exactly as desired.

• To going forward: The company examines which processes can be standardized to fit the platform's built-in functionality. The focus shifts from maximum customization to accepting best practices.

This shift requires an honest assessment of which of the company's current customizations genuinely create a competitive advantage, and which have simply accumulated over time without adding significant value.

• Business processes must be reviewed systematically. Inventory management, pricing, order handling, and customer service must be evaluated: Can they function with standard functionality, or are critical customizations needed? In many cases, companies discover that their complex solutions can be simplified without loss of functionality.

• Integration with existing systems requires special attention. ERP, CRM, and other core systems must be able to communicate with the new platform. Modern solutions typically offer APIs and standard connectors, but complex, self-developed integrations may require new development.

• Data must be migrated and structured. Product information, customer data, and order history must be transferred from often unique data structures to standardized formats. This demands thorough planning, validation, and often a degree of cleanup of existing data.

• SEO value must be preserved. Custom solutions often have unique URL structures. A detailed plan for redirects is crucial to avoid losing search engine rankings and organic traffic.

This is not just an IT project. Marketing must adapt campaigns and workflows, customer service must learn new systems, and management must accept that some previous options no longer exist in the same form.

The decision to switch from custom to standard is essentially about choosing between control and flexibility on one side, and speed, standardization, and lower costs on the other. There is no universal solution—only the solution that matches the company's current situation and future ambitions.

If you are considering migrating from a custom solution to a standard platform—or simply want to explore whether it makes sense for your company—we are here to help with a no-obligation dialogue.

Together, we can review your current situation, identify the real needs and challenges, and discuss possible paths forward. No standard presentations, just an honest conversation about what makes sense in your context.