Evidence based replatform decisions
We have run migrations for brands trading across multiple markets, in B2B and B2C, with catalogues and systems that do not integrate easily. That experience shapes every recommendation we make.
Most replatforming projects fail on the decisions made before the build. The wrong platform, an underestimated integration, custom functionality nobody reviewed, or a business case that never convinced the board. We work through those first.
We compare platforms against your requirements, your customers and your business goals, model the total cost of ownership across both or multiple platforms and help write the case in language the finance and leadership teams can act on. If the answer is to stay where you are and fix what you have, we will say so.
We work across Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce, Hyva, Storyblok, Klaviyo and Akeneo, so the recommendation comes from experience with each of them.
Shopify Premier partner
Top-tier Shopify expertise across migration, build and growth.
Adobe Commerce partner
Deep experience in complex Magento and Adobe Commerce builds.
Best ecommerce replatform 2025
Award winner for the House of Hackney migration to Shopify Plus.
20+ years' experience
Two decades of moving ecommerce businesses between platforms.
What replatforming with us involves
Platform selection and comparison
We gather requirements across commercial goals, catalogue, markets, B2B and B2C trading, integrations and internal team skills, then compare platforms against them. You get a shortlist with the reasoning written down, so the choice can be defended to anyone who asks.
Total cost of ownership
Licensing, hosting, development, third-party apps and the internal resource needed to run the platform, modelled over several years. The comparison covers what you spend today against what each option would cost, which is usually where the argument for moving sits.
The business case
A replatform needs sign-off from people who will never read a technical specification. We can write the case: costs, benefits, risks, timeline, and how the internal team and its skills would need to change afterwards. Written to be presented, argued over and approved.
Migration planning and delivery
Product and customer data, integrations with ERP, PIM and fulfilment systems, design, content and analytics, planned and delivered together. Our development and marketing teams work through the same plan, so launch day is not the first time anyone checks the two line up.
Protecting search visibility
Organic traffic dips after most migrations. How far and for how long depends on the preparation. Our SEO team maps URLs and redirects, preserves content and metadata, validates the technical build before launch and watches performance closely afterwards.
Technology partner selection
The platform is one decision among several. Payments, search and merchandising, product information management, fulfilment, customer service and marketing tools all need to work together. We assess those alongside the platform so the whole stack is decided at once.
Why choose Unified for your replatform
01
We build on Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce, Hyva, Storyblok and Akeneo, and we have moved businesses between them. Partner status tells you we know a platform well. It does not decide your answer before we have looked at your requirements.
02
Our consultants sit alongside the developers, designers and SEO specialists who deliver the migration. Recommendations are costed and scoped by the team who would do the work, so the plan you approve is the plan that gets built.
03
Redirect mapping, metadata, site structure and technical validation are scheduled into the development phases. Most of the organic damage done during migrations comes from leaving these until the fortnight before launch.
04
Replatforming is expensive and disruptive. If your problems are conversion, merchandising or performance on a stable platform, targeted work will get you further for less money. We would rather say that early than take on a project that should not happen.
05
A new platform changes what your people do day to day. Some skills stop being needed, others have to be hired or trained. We map that out during discovery so the change lands with the team already prepared for it.
06
Launch is the point where the real work on performance starts. Several of our client relationships have run for more than ten years, through more than one platform between them.
Replatforming projects we're proud of
A migration to Shopify Plus with dedicated UK, US and EU stores, blended B2C and B2B trading, PIM and ERP integrations, and a bespoke wallpaper and fabric calculator built as a Shopify app.
Best ecommerce replatform 2025
Winner
Regional storefronts launched
3
A total cost of ownership analysis made the case for moving off Magento 2. The migration came with a full redesign, a simplified checkout and a modular component system the iCandy team runs themselves.
Increase in engagement
+44%
Reduction in checkout abandonment
-15%
Photowall sell customised wallpaper across Europe from a bespoke platform built in-house over more than a decade. We ran a ten-week discovery to establish whether Shopify was the right home for the business, including on-site workshops in Sweden with their leadership, growth and engineering teams. The output was a business case covering platform fit, total cost of ownership, delivery approach and more.
Discovery and business case
10 weeks
Monthly visitors assessed
500k+
How a replatform runs with us
Assess
Current platform, costs, integrations, catalogue, markets, team skills and the problems driving the change.
Compare
Platforms and partners scored against your requirements, with total cost of ownership modelled for each option.
Make the case
A written business case covering costs, benefits, risks, timeline and the impact on your internal team.
Plan
Technical architecture, data mapping, integration design, redirect strategy and a phased delivery roadmap.
Migrate
Build, data migration, integration testing, SEO validation and a controlled launch with rollback planned.
Grow
Organic and paid performance monitored, conversion work started, and the roadmap picked back up.
Assess
Current platform, costs, integrations, catalogue, markets, team skills and the problems driving the change.
Compare
Platforms and partners scored against your requirements, with total cost of ownership modelled for each option.
Make the case
A written business case covering costs, benefits, risks, timeline and the impact on your internal team.
Plan
Technical architecture, data mapping, integration design, redirect strategy and a phased delivery roadmap.
Migrate
Build, data migration, integration testing, SEO validation and a controlled launch with rollback planned.
Grow
Organic and paid performance monitored, conversion work started, and the roadmap picked back up.
Platforms we migrate to
The technologies we know well enough to recommend, and to advise against
Shopify and Shopify Plus suit most brands moving off legacy platforms, with lower running costs and a faster release cycle.
Adobe Commerce remains the better fit where catalogue complexity, pricing rules or trading models need deep customisation.
Hyva gives Adobe Commerce a much faster storefront, and can be an alternative to moving platform entirely.
Storyblok handles content separately from the store, useful when several markets need different pages and messaging.
Klaviyo carries email, SMS and customer data across a migration, which protects retention revenue during the move.
Akeneo takes product data out of the platform, which makes the next migration considerably easier than this one.
FAQs
What is ecommerce replatforming?
Replatforming means moving an online store from one ecommerce platform to another.
It covers product and customer data, integrations with business systems, design and content, analytics and search visibility.
Most businesses replatform because their current system has become expensive to maintain, slow to change, or unable to support the markets and channels they want to sell into.
How long does an ecommerce replatform take?
A straightforward migration with a small catalogue and few integrations can run in three to four months.
A larger project involving several markets, B2B trading, custom functionality and ERP or PIM integration usually runs six to nine months from kick-off to launch.
Discovery and the business case typically add another eight to twelve weeks before the build begins.
How much does replatforming cost?
Cost depends on catalogue size, number of markets, integrations and how much bespoke functionality needs rebuilding.
We model total cost of ownership across several years instead of quoting the build alone, because licensing, hosting, third-party apps and internal resource often change significantly after a move. That model forms part of the business case we produce during discovery.
Will replatforming damage our SEO?
Organic traffic usually dips briefly after a migration and then recovers. The size of that dip depends on preparation.
Our SEO specialists work alongside the development team from the start: reviewing existing URLs and organic performance, mapping redirects, preserving content and metadata, validating technical requirements before launch and monitoring performance afterwards so problems are caught quickly.
How do you choose the right ecommerce platform?
We start with requirements: commercial goals, catalogue and merchandising needs, markets and currencies, B2B and B2C trading, integrations with existing systems, internal team skills and growth plans.
Platforms are then compared against those requirements with the reasoning written down, so the decision can be defended internally instead of being taken on preference.
Which platforms do you migrate to?
Most of our migrations move to Shopify Plus or Adobe Commerce.
We also work with Hyva for Adobe Commerce storefronts, Storyblok for content, Akeneo for product information and Klaviyo for email and retention. We are a Shopify Premier partner and a Klaviyo Gold Master partner.
Can you migrate from Magento to Shopify?
Yes. Magento to Shopify Plus is the migration we run most often, including for The Conran Shop, House of Hackney and iCandy.
We also migrate from WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud and bespoke in-house systems.
Do we have to rebuild our custom functionality?
Not always. Some custom logic can be carried across as a platform app, reusing the code you already have. Some is better replaced by native platform features. Some turns out to be unused.
Working out what actually needs to move is part of discovery, and it often reduces the scope of the build.
Should we replatform or improve what we have?
Replatforming is expensive and disruptive, so it should be the answer to a problem that optimisation cannot fix.
If the current platform is stable and the issues are conversion, merchandising or performance, targeted improvements usually deliver more for less. If maintenance costs keep rising, releases keep slipping, or the platform blocks new markets and channels, moving is the better option. We will tell you if we think you should stay.
Can you help us build the internal business case?
Yes. A replatform needs approval from people who will not read a technical specification.
We produce a written business case covering cost comparison, expected benefits, risks and mitigations, delivery timeline, and the impact on internal team structure and skills, so the decision can be taken with the full picture.