Replatforming an online store is one of the highest-risk projects a retail team can run — the biggest failure modes (data loss, SEO drops, checkout downtime, broken integrations) are all preventable, but only if someone checks for them before cutover day. This checklist is for founders, ecommerce directors, and IT leads planning a platform migration in the next two quarters.
Before You Start
- [ ] Catalog every integration touching the current platform: ERP, POS, marketplaces (Amazon, eBay), email/SMS tools, reviews, loyalty, tax engines, and shipping carriers
- [ ] Talk to every team that touches the system — customer service, warehouse, finance, marketing — and document workarounds they rely on
- [ ] Set a launch window outside peak season; for most retailers Q4 is off-limits, and Q1/Q2 gives runway for monitoring before the next peak
- [ ] Confirm budget covers a 20–36 week timeline for mid-size catalogs, not the 8-week estimate most platform sales reps quote
- [ ] Decide who owns the rollback call, and under what conditions it gets triggered
Data and Catalog
- [ ] Map every product attribute, variant, and pricing field between the old schema and the new one — don't assume a 1:1 mapping
- [ ] Export and archive full historical order, customer, and review data before any cutover, regardless of what the new platform claims to migrate automatically
- [ ] Rebuild marketplace feed configurations (Amazon, eBay, Google Shopping, POS) on the destination platform — these do not carry over automatically
- [ ] Validate customer accounts, saved payment methods (tokenized, not raw), and subscription/recurring billing records
Technical and Integration Readiness
- [ ] Confirm real integration architecture for ERP, not just a marketing claim of "ERP-ready" — most Shopify-to-NetSuite or Magento-to-ERP failures trace back to nobody deciding, in writing, which system owns which field
- [ ] Test every checkout path end-to-end on staging, including guest checkout, saved cards, gift cards, and any regional payment methods
- [ ] Load-test the new platform against last year's peak traffic, not average traffic
- [ ] Confirm API rate limits and webhook reliability under load for any middleware you're keeping
SEO and Redirects
- [ ] Build a full URL redirect map (old URL → new URL) before launch, not after
- [ ] Preserve canonical tags, structured data (Product, Review, Breadcrumb schema), and meta titles/descriptions during transfer
- [ ] Submit the new sitemap to Google Search Console on launch day and monitor the coverage report daily for the first week
Vendor / Partner Evaluation Criteria
| Criterion | Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Native ERP/integration depth | High | Ask for a reference client running the same ERP you use |
| Migration tooling and data mapping support | High | Who does the mapping — you, them, or a third party? |
| Uptime SLA and support escalation path | Medium | Get named severity definitions, not just "24/7 support" |
| Total cost of ownership over 3 years | Medium | Include integration, apps, and dev hours, not just license fee |
| Rollback and staging environment support | High | Confirm you can run parallel environments during cutover |
Red Flags to Watch For
- A vendor or agency that can't name a client reference running your specific ERP or POS integration
- No documented rollback plan, or a rollback plan that assumes zero data changes during the migration window
- Migration timeline estimates that ignore your catalog size, variant count, or historical order volume
- Load testing offered as an optional add-on rather than a standard part of go-live readiness
How to Use This Checklist
Work through each section with the actual team members who own that function — don't fill this out solo. Use the vendor scorecard to compare finalists side by side rather than reading proposals in isolation. Plan for intensive monitoring in the first 72 hours post-launch, weekly reviews for the first month, and a formal 90-day retrospective.