New Year, New Platform Five reasons to re-platform now to thrive in 2021

Technology advances rapidly, and it can be hard to keep up with the latest and greatest tech on the market. But when your eCommerce business depends on it (and they all do), it’s essential to find the right platform that will grow with your business and update its offerings as new advances become available.

If you want to convince someone in your business that now is the time to change, here are five key reasons to say goodbye to your legacy tech, embrace new technology, and re-platform now to thrive in 2021.

Beat technological glitches

Legacy systems become tired and outdated with the advancement of technology. Its features can no longer keep up with growing needs, and it fails to deliver on its promises. When your software is broken, you can try to fix it, or you can replace it.

But there are only so many repair patch-ups you can make before an overhaul becomes impossible. Too many plugins and add-ons can clog up the system, and it may not be able to cope anymore. If your tech stack resembles a game of Jenga, the best solution may be to re-platform.

Cut down platform costs

If the upgrade your current platform is forcing on you is not worth the cost or an overhaul is too expensive, then your decision might be made for you. Maintenance fees and incessant upgrades become more costly as time goes by.

Cookie-cutter systems eventually fail. The type of platform or legacy system you have purchased probably started out as a good deal, but if you feel like it’s causing you to haemorrhage money, then it is no longer fit for purpose.

Access true scalability

Maybe your brand has evolved, and your bespoke legacy system no longer suits your business’s needs. You want to know you’re in control and right now you’re not. You want control of your digital marketing and brand campaigns and have a say in what new tech you employ, but your tech stack is disabling your business processes and diminishing your return on investments.

Perhaps you have performance issues, such as speed, functionality, or user experience. This usually means your eCommerce site is experiencing lag at critical points in the shopping experience, e.g. checkout, or the virtual changing room, causing shopping carts to be abandoned and keeping customers from returning. You need a platform that can scale according to your needs, not one that hinders your growth.

Be at the forefront of emerging tech

Some of the exciting tech advancements projected to lead the way in 2021 that your company might want to consider are artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual realities (AR) and (VR), voice commerce and progressive web apps (PWA).

You might want to take advantage of some of the upcoming tech innovations we’ve talked about in previous articles, but what if your legacy tech won’t support them? Being proactive about making a change before a major deficit hits you is preferable to climbing out of a hole later.

If your platform is standing in the way of your company’s progress, then re-platforming is a no-brainer.

Avoid getting trapped in an upgrade cycle

Have you ever thought to yourself that your tech products have an embedded use-by date built into the system, that the product coincidentally dies just after its warranty expires? Your suspicions might be warranted. Sometimes the tech plugins you use have passed their ‘best before’ date, and your software will no longer be supported unless you subscribe to an upgrade. Or the platform you use entirely may cease to invest in future maintenance and advanced features. We have seen it happen multiple times.

Finding an honest approach to better tech investments doesn’t have to be complex. You can start here.

In summary

Now is a great time to replatform. It is a buyer’s market, and the eCommerce space is booming. If your platform isn’t ready to meet your current and future demands, you could be at a serious disadvantage.

Finding the right solution for your eCommerce business may seem formidable, but it shouldn’t be. To get you started, consider BetterCommerce’s modular tech solution.

We offer a scalable, headless eCommerce platform designed to automate business processes under one roof. If you want seamless integration with new, innovative tech, AI-powered modules and omnichannel shopping, a customised and empowering consumer experience in a system that is simple and intuitive to operate and maintain, and real-time, data-driven analytics, amongst other great features, look no further than BetterCommerce.

We’d love to talk to you about your needs today.