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Replatforming Checklist: What to Migrate, What to Rebuild, and What to Drop

Gigi J.K
Dec 16, 2025By Gigi J.K

Replatforming is one of the most expensive decisions an ecommerce business can make. Not because of the platform itself, but because teams often migrate everything by default, rebuild what does not need rebuilding, and carry forward technical debt that should have been retired.

This checklist is designed to help you decide what must move, what should be rethought, and what should be left behind when switching ecommerce platforms.

If you are still deciding whether you should replatform, use the AI-powered platform selector on https://ecommerceplatformselector.com/ to validate whether a move actually makes sense for your business.

Step 1: What You Must Migrate (Non-Negotiables)


These are assets that carry business continuity, customer trust, and revenue history. Dropping or mishandling them causes direct losses.

1. Products and Core Catalog Data

You should migrate:

  • Product names, SKUs, descriptions
  • Prices and currencies
  • Variants and attributes
  • Category or collection relationships

    You should not blindly migrate:
  • Legacy attributes no longer used
  • Deprecated product types
  • Workarounds created for old platform limitations

    Before migration, clean the catalog. Replatforming is the best time to normalize data.

2. Customers and Accounts

You must migrate:

  • Customer profiles
  • Email addresses
  • Account status
  • Password hashes if supported by the new platform

    You should reassess:
  • Guest checkout data
  • Inactive or duplicate accounts
  • Customers without recent activity

    Some platforms handle passwords differently. If password migration is not supported, plan for a password reset flow instead of forcing insecure hacks.

3. Order History (Selective)

Migrate:

  • Recent orders needed for support, returns, and accounting
  • Subscription and recurring order data
  • Order IDs referenced by external systems

    Do not migrate:

  • Orders older than your operational or legal requirement
  • Historical data only needed for reporting
  • For deep analytics, archive old orders in a data warehouse instead of bloating the new platform.

4. SEO-Critical URLs and Redirects

You must migrate:

  • Existing URL structures or map them with 301 redirects
  • Meta titles and meta descriptions
  • Canonical tags where applicable

    Dropping redirects is one of the most common and most expensive replatforming mistakes. Organic traffic losses are often self-inflicted.

  If SEO is a priority, compare platforms carefully using your selector tool:
 https://ecommerceplatformselector.com/

Step 2: What You Should Rebuild (Not Migrate As-Is)

These are areas where migration usually recreates old problems.

5. Theme and Frontend

Rebuild instead of migrating:

  • Custom themes built around old platform constraints
  • Performance-heavy designs
  • UX patterns that no longer convert

    Replatforming is an opportunity to:
  • Improve Core Web Vitals
  • Simplify navigation
  • Optimize for mobile-first commerce

6. Checkout Flow

Never migrate checkout logic blindly.

Rebuild checkout if:

  • It contains workarounds for old payment gateways
  • It relies on plugins that no longer exist
  • It was designed before modern UX standards

    Many platforms differ dramatically in checkout flexibility. Validate checkout requirements before committing to a platform using
    https://ecommerceplatformselector.com/

7. Integrations and Automations

Rebuild integrations when:

APIs have changed
The new platform offers native functionality
Existing integrations were brittle or custom hacks
Examples:

  • ERP
  • CRM
  • PIM
  • OMS
  • Shipping and tax engines

    Use this moment to reduce integration sprawl.

8. Promotions and Pricing Rules

Rebuild if:

  • Discounts were implemented through plugins
  • Pricing logic is overly complex
  • Rules were created to compensate for platform limitations

    Modern platforms often support pricing and promotions natively. Migrating old logic can block you from using better features.

Step 3: What You Should Drop (On Purpose)

This is where most teams fail.

9. Obsolete Plugins and Apps

Drop:

  • Plugins added “just in case”
  • Apps installed for one-time campaigns
  • Tools no one remembers why they exist

    Every plugin you migrate increases:
  • Maintenance cost
  • Security risk
  • Performance overhead
     

    10. Custom Code with No Clear Owner

    If no one can explain:
  • Why it exists
  • What breaks if it is removed
  • Who maintains it

    Then it should not be migrated.

  Replatforming is not data backup. It is architectural reset.

 11. Legacy Content and Pages

Drop:

  • Expired landing pages
  • Old campaign microsites
  • Thin content created only for SEO manipulation

    Keep only content that:

  • Still ranks
  • Still converts
  • Still serves a user purpose 

Step 4: Final Validation Before You Migrate

Before executing migration, confirm:

The new platform supports your future roadmap, not just current needs
Total cost of ownership is understood, not just license fees
Required customizations are feasible without heavy technical debt

If you are unsure, this breakdown on whether your ecommerce platform is helping or holding your business back provides a clear decision lens before committing to a migration:
https://ecommerceplatformselector.com/blog/ecommerce-platform-helping-or-holding-back

Replatforming should be a strategic reset, not a technical reaction.