How to use it
- 01
Start with reasons
Write down what the current platform prevents, with evidence. If the list is mostly about product data, photographs or service, a new platform will not fix it, and the checklist has already saved you a project.
- 02
Walk the admin screens
Open the list of installed apps, the discount settings, the delivery rules and the theme code. Mark each feature you find. The ones you had forgotten are the reason this part exists.
- 03
Decide each kind of data
Give products, customers, orders and balances their own level. Money owed to customers, such as gift cards and store credit, must move exactly and be checked afterwards.
- 04
Name the hand-made integrations
Ask each department what they download, upload or copy from the store. A file that one person moves every morning is an integration, and it will stop on launch day unless it is listed.
- 05
Fix the switch
Choose the decision maker, the rehearsal and the way back before work starts. Those three answers decide how calm launch week will be.
What a replatforming plan has to settle
A move to a new platform touches every part of the business that the store touches. These six parts are the ones that go wrong when they are left to the final weeks.
| Part | What it settles | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Reasons | What the move is meant to solve | A platform cannot fix problems that belong to data, content or service |
| Features | What is kept, replaced or dropped | Anything unlisted is dropped by accident and found by customers |
| Data | What moves, what is archived, what stays | Balances and consent records carry legal and financial weight |
| Connections | Every system and file that depends on the store | Each one must be rebuilt and tested, including the informal ones |
| Search | Addresses, redirects and what search engines read | Missing redirects lose visitors and rankings together |
| Switch | Who decides, when, and how to go back | A rehearsed switch on a quiet date is rarely eventful |
A worked example
A cycle retailer leaving an unsupported platform
The example is an invented cycle shop. Load it to see the whole plan. Its reasons are sound, and the interesting findings sit in the connected systems part.
- FeaturesSubscriptions are dropped, since almost nobody used them. Loyalty points and basket emails are replaced by what the new platform offers.
- Hidden rulesTwo items in the app list turn out to be custom code: a block on delivering bikes to islands, and a tax rule for trade customers. Both must be rebuilt.
- Informal linkThe marketplace depends on a stock file uploaded by hand each morning. It becomes a proper integration in the plan.
The plan has a decision maker, a dated rehearsal and a way back. The open items are the redirect map and the open orders, which will be finished in the old store.
What this tool does not do
The checklist makes the move visible. It does not carry it out, and some questions need people who know your systems.
- It does not choose a platform. That needs your requirements tested against a trial store.
- It does not read your store, so it cannot find features you do not mark.
- It carries no estimate, because effort depends on the catalogue, the integrations and the custom code.
- Nothing is sent anywhere. The plan stays in this browser until you copy or download it.
What to do with the finished document
Take the plan to each department and ask what is missing. Finance, the warehouse and customer service will each add a line. If you want our reading of it, send it over and we will say what we would check first. Send it through the contact page or book a 30-minute call and bring it along.
Common questions
What does replatforming mean?
It means moving a live online store from one ecommerce platform to another, with its products, customers, orders and integrations. It differs from a redesign, which changes how the store looks on the same platform. A move usually involves some redesign as well, because themes do not transfer, but the main work is in data, integrations and search visibility.
How do we know whether we really need to move?
List the problems and ask of each whether a new platform would solve it. Unsupported software, limits you keep hitting, failing integrations and unsuitable costs are platform problems. Thin product data, weak photographs and slow service are not, and they follow you. If most of your list is in the second group, fix those first.
Why does the checklist ask about files handled by hand?
Because they are the integrations that get lost. A nightly export that someone uploads to a marketplace, or a spreadsheet the accountant downloads each week, appears in no system diagram. On launch day it simply stops, and the first sign is usually a complaint from whoever depended on it.
Can we use this before choosing a platform?
Yes, and that is the best time. The list of features to keep, data to move and systems to connect is exactly what you need in order to compare platforms on facts. Mark each kept line against every candidate as built in, available as an add-on, needing custom work or not possible.