In our line of work, we frequently see folks fighting the technology. We see teams devoting time to pricing strategies, fulfillment methodologies or more.

The real problem in many cases? The eCommerce platform (or how it was implemented).

As a leader, it may be easy to see change management issues while not understanding that the platform you’ve invested extensive time and money building is actually the problem.

Now the irony…

Industry surveys say two-thirds (or more) of B2B companies want to re-platform. But some of those don’t need to…and others definitely should.

So, where does your organization fit?

Hamstrung by a tool that will never get you where you want to go? Or falsely indicting the technology when there’s actually a change management culprit

And, for leaders who may or may not be working with the tech daily or can’t verbalize what’s wrong, it can be difficult.

So, here are some decision points, built from watching distributors & manufacturers struggle with this issue over the last 15 years.

The decision isn’t “is our platform perfect?” Nobody’s platform is perfect.

The decision is:

1. What are your customer objectives (%, revenue, etc.) specific to digital ?
2. Can you get there with the current platform?
3. If not, what will it take to get there vs. starting over?

Here’s the reality many miss: The more painful option may be keeping what you have.

Because technical debt is real. Every time you fight the platform to do something it wasn’t designed to do, you’re increasing your total cost of long term ownership.

The more you customize, the more expensive everything becomes—not just implementation, but every upgrade, every integration, every new feature you want to build three years from now.

So the real question isn’t whether you should replatform, it’s: Can you get there efficiently with what you have, or are you just throwing good money after bad?

Before you blame the technology, let’s talk about the things that have to be true for ANY platform to work.

1. Do You Have the Data?

Customer experience is a function of three things: **Data + Process + Technology**.

If you have bad data, even the best platform will deliver a bad experience.

I see this constantly. Incomplete product data. Workarounds to replicate ERP pricing in the eCom platform. Inventory that’s not synced. And then teams blame the platform when customers don’t use the site.

If the data online is reflecting poor processes or data, that’s not a platform issue. It’s likely a change management issue.

2. Are You Using It Correctly?

Many platforms can do what you need—if you actually leverage them properly.

I’ve seen companies abandon platforms because “they couldn’t do X,” when the reality was their team never learned how to configure the features that were already there. Or they tried to force the platform to work like their old system instead of adapting to how it was designed to work.

This is especially true with modern composable platforms. They’re powerful, but they require expertise to implement correctly.

3. Is It Really an Adoption Problem?

Low customer adoption isn’t always a platform issue. Sometimes it’s a change management issue.

If your sales team is actively undermining the platform, if your customers have no incentive to use it, if you haven’t done the work to drive adoption—you can replatform all you want. You’ll just have low adoption on a different platform.

Customer adoption requires strategy, communication, incentives, and ongoing support. That’s process and people, not technology.

The point: Before you decide to replatform, make sure you’re not trying to solve a data problem, a training problem, or a change management problem with new technology.

But if these don’t seem to be culprits, then it’s time to be objective about whether you can get there with the current tech.

There are certain things that aren’t optional in B2B e-commerce. If your platform can’t do these things elegantly—or at all—you have a real problem.

Pricing Integration

If customer can’t trust the price they see when logging in online, they simply will not use it. 

Period. End of story.

If integration issues mean customers see prices that don’t match what they expect, if your sales team has to constantly explain why the website price is “wrong”—you’re done.

This isn’t a feature. It’s existential.

Red flag: If your teams is spending copious time rebuilding processes online because data can’t be synced, you’re fighting the platform or the integration.

Fulfillment Trust

The second non-negotiable: If you tell customers something will be on their loading dock in a week, it better be there.

This means your platform needs to accurately communicate inventory availability, status and delivery. 

If you’re having integration problems that create fulfillment failures, that’s not a small issue. That’s a trust issue. And once customers stop trusting your fulfillment, they stop using the site and, if you’re lucky, call sales.

Search & Merchandising

Can customers find what they need quickly?

More importantly, does the platform allow you to maximize opportunity?

This is where a lot of platforms fail in B2B. Search needs to understand complex product relationships, hierarchies, and customer-specific catalogs. Merchandising needs to let you promote, cross-sell, and guide customers to the right products.

If your platform limits product discovery, you’re limiting revenue.

And if improving search requires major custom development every time, that’s a strong signal the platform wasn’t built for your use case.

Catalog Complexity

If you have customer-specific catalogs, complex product hierarchies, or organizational buying structures, your platform needs to handle this natively.

Not through expensive customizations. Not through workarounds. Out of the box.

Because if it can’t, every feature you add to the customer experieince (RFQ, subscriptions, approval workflows) is a new development project. And you’ll spend more time maintaining the platform than using it.

The test: If you can control these four things elegantly with your current platform—pricing, fulfillment, merchandising and catalog management—then you might not need to replatform. You might just need better execution.

But if any of these are constant struggles, keep reading.

Let’s talk money.

Because at the end of the day, this is a business decision. What will it cost to stay versus what will it cost to go?

Staying on Your Current Platform

If you stay, here’s what you’re signing up for:

• Development costs to build/customize your way to where you need to be
• Ongoing maintenance of every customization you make
• Integration workarounds and their perpetual upkeep
• Opportunity cost: What features are you NOT building because you’re fighting the platform?

That last one is the killer. I see companies spend so much time and money just keeping the lights on, they never get to build the features that would actually differentiate them in the market.

Moving to a New Platform

If you replatform, yes—there are implementation costs. Sometimes significant ones. No one wants to re-platform, it’s painful and sucks immense team time.

But here’s what you get:

• A platform that does more of what you need out-of-the-box
• Better customer experience & path to customer adoption
• Lower long-term maintenance costs
• Faster time and less expense to new features

The real math: Even if upfront costs are similar, the right platform means you’ll spend less fighting limitations and more building a better, more profitable, customer experience.

The relevant questions:

– Based on what I know of the last 24 months, where will I be in another 24?

– And where would you be if you made the jump?

Because, if done correctly, it’s not a re-platform it’s an upgrade. And the 3 years TCO may very well be lower than customizing a platform you’ve out-grown or was a bad fit to begin with.

Here are the four questions that will tell you whether you should stay or go.

Question 1: Technical Capability

Can your current platform technically do what you need?

• Pricing integration that customers trust
• Fulfillment accuracy that builds confidence
• Search and merchandising that drives revenue
• Catalog complexity that matches your business model

If the answer is yes, but only through heavy customization, that’s a yellow flag.

If the answer is no, not really, that’s a strong replatforming signal.

Question 2: Cost to Get There

What will it cost to build/customize your way to where you need to be on the current platform?

Get real numbers. Not estimates. Talk to your implementation partner and your internal team and understand:

• Development costs
• Timeline
• Ongoing maintenance costs for the next 36 months

Then compare that to an estimate of what re-platforming might look like—including implementation, data migration, and training. While you may not know true costs until you go through the tech selection process, an estimate will get you close.

Factor in opportunity cost—especially, where possible, projections of increased order value, conversion rate, etc. If it takes longer to get there on the current platform, what is that delay worth?

Question 3: Data & Process Readiness

This is critical: Do you have the data quality and business processes to support ANY platform?

If the answer is no—fix this first. A new platform won’t solve bad data or broken processes. You’ll just have the same problems on newer technology.

Data is always improving but, if your current state is solid and your processes are sound, then platform evaluation becomes much clearer. You can actually assess whether the platform is the constraint.

Question 4: Customization vs. Out-of-the-Box

How much are you customizing versus configuring?

Every platform requires some configuration and customization. That’s normal. But if you’re heavily customizing core functionality—order and catalog management, merchandising and more—you’re likely building technical debt.

Finding a platform the fits more of your customer and management requirements natively lowers  total cost of ownership.

Less customization = lower long-term costs. Full stop.

Strong Replatforming Signals

• Teams are restructuring business processes to accommodate platform limitations
• Pricing integration requires workarounds and manual fixes
• Customers don’t trust what they see on the site—pricing, inventory, delivery dates
• Search and merchandising improvements require major custom development
• Every new feature takes 3x longer than it should because you’re fighting the platform
• Maintenance costs keep climbing year after year
• Your implementation partner keeps saying “well, that’s not really what the platform was designed to do”

Your Platform Might Be Fine

• Core functionality works out-of-the-box with minimal configuration
• Customizations are strategic and limited, not fundamental
• Integration points are stable and reliable
• You’re building features, not fighting limitations
• Maintenance costs are predictable and reasonable
• Your team can implement new capabilities without major development projects

The decision to replatform isn’t about finding perfection. It’s about trajectory.

Can you get where you need to be efficiently? Will you be building features or fighting limitations? Does the cost math make sense over a 3-5 year horizon?

It’s not my goal to sell anyone on re-platforming. 

But in my experience? More companies need to replatform than realize it. They’re stuck in the sunk cost fallacy, throwing good money after bad because they’ve already invested so much.

But I’ve also learned: Some companies just need better data and better adoption strategies. The platform is fine—they’re just not using it correctly or haven’t done the work to drive customer usage.

The difference: A good platform makes building easier. A bad one makes everything harder.

Your job as an executive is to figure out which one you have.

And if you’re spending more time fighting your platform than leveraging it—if your teams are restructuring your business to accommodate technology instead of the other way around—you probably already know the answer.

Be sure to reference the asset, ‘Is It Time to Re-Platform?’ included with this issue. It provides additional detail on the decision criteria. 

And, as always, please reach out if we can help in any way.