Business decisions are not easy. One has to consider many pros and cons before setting new steps or decisions into motion that can impact the business either positively or negatively. And one such crucial decision is whether or not to upgrade the eCommerce platform.

The eCommerce market is made up of all types of businesses. Some are multinational online stores whereas many are homerun or locally operated. The latter category relies a lot on eCommerce platforms available in the market to run their online businesses. Now with everything tech, there is always an indecisiveness about an upgrade. Business owners, especially in the small and medium segment, feel wary of upgrades. They think that new features, user-interface, etc. are costly and will disrupt their store’s user experience, hence unnecessary.

It is not true. You are letting go of numerous benefits by not shifting or upgrading your eCommerce platform to the latest version. The benefits not only outweigh the cost involved but also improve many other aspects of the store which are discussed below.

Reasons you should migrate from old to a new eCommerce platform.

• Reporting feature: Business owners need data to make important decisions. Hence there is a need for robust reporting features that provide sophisticated information like the average order value, store performance over a set period, graphs, comparison charts, and more. All new eCommerce platforms are loaded with such reporting features and help management make relevant decisions.

• Inbuilt testing functionalities: You would not want your customers to point out bugs in your eCommerce website, right? Upgraded store platforms have an in-built framework that allows you to test the store, identify bugs, and resolve them before the customers can point them. Saving you from major embarrassment.

• Improved mobile experience: There are close to 3.5 billion smartphone users worldwide. Mobile responsive online stores are the need of the hour. The latest eCommerce platforms make your store mobile-friendly and generate more revenue in the form of mobile shoppers. In fact, there are platforms that provide you websites as well as mobile apps made out of websites super quick.

• Enhance compatibility with the latest APIs in the market: Companies employ developers to continuously improve the platform’s compatibility with many third-party extensions. Business owners use these extensions to manage their stores in a better way and deliver a hassle-free buying process for the customers. You can make use of such third-party management extensions only when you migrate from old to a new eCommerce platform.

• Improved website performance: Ask the SEO people about the importance of faster page loading. The website’s performance has a crucial impact on a web page’s SERP ranking. Top page ranking means more traffic which in turn pushes the sales. The upgraded version of eCommerce platforms improves the page loading speed especially at the catalog and checkout pages for better customer experience.

• High scalability: Does your existing platform provide scalability? It is an important aspect that you need to consider as eCommerce businesses witness growth in sales every year. You may want to add new products to the store, and for that, the platform has to be scalable otherwise, the website will not function properly.

• Easy to use backend: No one is interested in wasting time and efforts to understand the eCommerce admin panel. Business owners want a backend that is extremely easy to understand and use. Every platform upgrade comes with a feature-rich and improved backend that makes store management and customization easy for both the owners and their employees.

• User-friendly checkout process: The cart abandonment rate is the most concerning pain point of many online businesses. A smooth, simple, and user-friendly checkout experience makes the buyer happy and reduces the cart abandonment rate. The latest eCommerce platforms are loaded with new features like the guest checkout option (without registration), order summary display, third-party payment and shipping integrations, etc. Together all these make the checkout process simpler, streamlined, and faster, thereby pushing the customer conversion rate through the roof.

• Better security: Customers prefer buying from an online store that keeps their personal (name, delivery address, etc.) as well as financial information (saved card details) safe. eCommerce platforms release enhanced security features with every upgrade like a two-factor authentication process, unique admin URL, improved data backup speed, etc. Another reason to upgrade is that companies stop releasing security updates and patches for older versions. Thereby making the older versions more prone to security breaches.

• Trendy storefront: The competition in the eCommerce industry is extremely high. A unique storefront is the best way to stand out from the competition and leave an impact on the visitors. Platform upgrades come with new and trendy store layouts that make online shopping more engaging and fun.

• No support service: Companies gradually shift their customer support services to the new platform users. And you will not be able to access their support services for old platforms after the expiry of the migration window.

There are many eCommerce platforms in the market and each one introduces new upgrades now and then. You can either stick to the one you already have and update to their latest versions or completely migrate to a new platform if the current one is unable to meet your business needs.