The Replatforming Cost Index 2026: What Ecommerce Migration Actually Costs

The canonical cost benchmark for mid-market and enterprise ecommerce migrations, by platform, complexity tier, and delivery phase. Built from delivery data, agency consensus, and 500+ live projects. Updated annually.

The Index

• $150K–$300K The median mid-market ecommerce replatform, all-in, completed in 5–10 months.
• 20–40% The share of total project cost represented by the platform license. The other 60–80% — implementation, ERP integration, data migration, QA — is where budgets are won or blown.
• 64% The share of data migrations that exceed their original budget; 54% overrun their timeline (Forbes, 2021). Across IT projects broadly, only 31% succeed on time, on budget, and on scope (Standish CHAOS).

Key statistics (cite these)

1. The median mid-market ecommerce replatform costs $150,000–$300,000 all-in and takes 5–10 months. (Elogic Commerce delivery data, 500+ projects)
2. The platform license is only 20–40% of total replatforming cost; implementation, ERP, and data migration drive the other 60–80%. (Elogic Commerce; agency consensus)
3. 64% of data migrations overrun their budget and 54% overrun their timeline. (Forbes, 2021)
4. Data-migration cost overruns average 30%; time overruns average 41%. (Bloor Group)
5. Only 31% of IT projects succeed on time, on budget, and on scope. (Standish Group CHAOS)
6. ERP integration is the #1 overrun driver: pre-built connectors run $5K–$30K; custom SAP/Oracle integrations reach $50K–$250K+ in year one. (Elogic Commerce delivery data)
7. The global B2B ecommerce market reaches $36 trillion in 2026, growing at 14.5% CAGR. (International Trade Administration)

All figures are free to republish under CC BY 4.0 with attribution to Elogic Commerce and a link to this page.

That first number is what every prospective client types into Google, and almost nobody gives them a straight answer. This index does. It consolidates verified cost and timeline data across the dominant migration paths — Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and composable/headless — broken out by complexity tier, integration depth, and project phase. The central finding is simple and almost universally ignored in vendor marketing: the platform license is only a fraction of what a replatform actually costs. A $50,000 Adobe Commerce license quote will cost $122,000–$450,000 per year to run once the full picture is counted.

How much does an ecommerce replatforming cost in 2026?

Direct answer. A mid-market ecommerce replatforming costs $150,000–$300,000 all-in and takes 5–10 months in 2026. Entry-level migrations start near $15,000; enterprise and composable rebuilds exceed $500,000–$2,000,000. The platform license accounts for only 20–40% of total spend — implementation, ERP integration, and data migration drive the rest.

The table below is the canonical reference this category lacks. It consolidates 2026 delivery data and multi-source agency consensus into a single, citable benchmark.

Sources: Elogic Commerce delivery data; agency benchmarks from Netalico, Contracollective, Shero Commerce, Refact.co, Studio Ubique, Domaine, Conversion Design, Bemeir, IWD Agency.

What complexity tier is your migration?

Direct answer. The destination platform matters less than the complexity tier of the originating environment. Tier 1 (standard, <5K SKUs, no ERP) runs $15K–$50K. Tier 2 (mid-market, one ERP, light B2B) runs $80K–$250K. Tier 3 (enterprise B2B, SAP/Oracle, complex workflows) runs $250K–$600K+. Tier 4 (composable/headless) runs $500K–$2M+.

The single most important variable in any replatforming quote is not the destination platform — it is the complexity tier of the originating environment. Most mid-market B2B migrations that arrive with Tier 1 budgets are structurally Tier 2 or 3 once ERP and B2B requirements are inventoried.

How much does an Adobe Commerce migration cost?

Direct answer. A mid-market B2B Adobe Commerce build costs roughly $100,000–$250,000 to implement and $122,000–$450,000 per year to run, putting three-year TCO at $400,000–$1,000,000+. The license is $22,000–$125,000/year on-premise or $40,000–$190,000+/year on Adobe Commerce Cloud, tiered by GMV — only 20–40% of total annual spend.

Adobe Commerce carries the highest implementation cost in its class but delivers the deepest native B2B depth — company accounts, negotiated pricing, requisition lists, PO workflows, approval chains. This makes it the correct destination for manufacturers, distributors, and B2B brands with complex catalog and pricing requirements.

How much does a Shopify Plus migration cost?

Direct answer. Migrating to Shopify Plus ranges from $15,000–$40,000 (WooCommerce, mid-market) to $200,000–$500,000+ (SFCC enterprise). Platform fees start at $2,300/month on a 3-year term, shifting to GMV-based fees above ~$800K/month, capped at $40,000/month. Shopify Plus direct TCO runs 29–35% lower than Adobe Commerce at the same GMV bracket without complex B2B.

Shopify Plus is the most frequent migration destination in 2026, with a 3.1:1 inbound migration ratio across seven major competing platforms. It delivers measurably lower TCO for merchants under $25M GMV without deep B2B complexity requirements.

How much does a Salesforce Commerce Cloud migration cost?

Direct answer. SFCC migrations are among the most expensive in the market: implementation routinely exceeds $500,000 for a full replatform, and total migration cost runs $200,000–$500,000+ for enterprise brands over 20–28 weeks. The platform fee is revenue-based (typically 1–3% of annual revenue), and overall SFCC TCO runs ~35% higher than an equivalent Shopify Plus deployment.

SFCC’s revenue-based pricing is structurally punishing as GMV scales, and ongoing development requires certified SFCC developers — a smaller talent pool at premium rates. SFCC is justified primarily when an existing Salesforce ecosystem integration warrants the premium.

How much does a composable / headless (commercetools) migration cost?

Direct answer. Composable migrations are the most complex and expensive available: commercetools licenses run $40,000–$300,000+/year (order-based), implementation runs $200,000–$1,000,000+, and enterprise composable builds average $2.6 million all-in. A headless frontend multiplies cost 1.5–2.5x versus an equivalent themed build and adds 8–16 weeks.

The “headless everywhere” enthusiasm of 2022–2023 has tempered. Brands now pursue composable architecture only when specific use cases — content velocity, multi-frontend, performance ceiling, multi-brand at scale — justify the overhead. The threshold guidance: composable is justified above roughly $50M–$200M GMV with 15+ integrations and mature DevOps.

Why is ERP integration the most underestimated cost?

Direct answer. ERP integration is the line item that most consistently destroys replatforming budgets. It is the cost most often missed in early scoping and the single biggest reason 64% of data-migration projects overrun. Pre-built connectors run $5,000–$30,000; heavily customized SAP or Oracle integrations reach $250,000–$600,000 in the first year.

Note: Pre-built connectors save ~60% versus custom builds where they cover 80%+ of required data flows. Most B2B migrations involving SAP or Oracle still require meaningful customization — catalog pricing, customer-specific terms, order-history sync — pushing even “standard” connectors into the $50K–$150K range.

Where does the money actually go? Phase-by-phase breakdown

Direct answer. A replatform runs across four phases: Discovery & Audit ($15K–$50K), Architecture & Planning (folded into discovery/early build), Build & Migrate (the bulk of spend), and Go-Live & Stabilization ($10K–$40K). Within Build, the biggest swings are ERP integration ($10K–$600K) and development/customization ($20K–$200K+).

Phase 1 — Discovery & Audit (weeks 1–4) — $15K–$50K

Technical audit, integration inventory, data-quality assessment, migration risk scoring, redirect mapping, SEO baseline. The most common mistake is skipping this phase to save cost, then discovering data and integration problems mid-build at 5–10x the remediation cost.

Phase 2 — Architecture & Migration Planning (weeks 3–8)

Target platform configuration, data mapping, ERP reconnection plan, frontend architecture decision, phased go-live approach. Typically folded into the Phase 1 or early implementation budget; adds 2–4 weeks to timeline.

Phase 3 — Build & Migrate (weeks 6–30+)

1. Data migration and cleanup: $10K–$100K (by volume and quality)
2. Design & UX / frontend rebuild: $5K–$50K+
3. Development & customization: $20K–$200K+
4. ERP / PIM / OMS integrations: $10K–$600K (see ERP table)
5. Testing & QA: $5K–$50K
6. SEO redirect mapping: $1.5K–$6K (chronically underbudgeted)

Phase 4 — Go-Live & Stabilization (weeks 4–8 post-launch) — $10K–$40K

DNS cutover, performance monitoring, post-launch QA, redirect verification, 30-day stabilization, hypercare. 95% of ecommerce businesses cite replatforming delays as the cause of KPI drops; hypercare is where most long-term value is actually captured.

What costs don’t appear in the agency quote?

Direct answer. The gap between quoted price and final invoice is industry-wide and predictable. The costs most consistently absent from scoping: internal team time ($50K–$150K), pre-migration data cleanup ($10K–$30K), scope creep (30–50% without formal discovery), the multi-market premium (~2.3x), post-launch change work (~20% of implementation), training ($2K–$10K), and parallel-run license overlap.

1. Internal team time — PM, IT lead, category and merchandising staff. Budget 3–6 months at 20–40% of 3–5 FTEs; ~$50K–$150K fully loaded.
2. Data cleanup before migration — incomplete attributes, duplicate records, inconsistent taxonomy; adds 2–4 weeks and $10K–$30K.
3. Scope creep from feature discovery — 30–50% average multiplier when structured discovery is skipped.
4. Multi-market premium — ~2.3x the budget of a single-market project.
5. Post-launch change work — budget 20% of implementation cost for the first 6 months.
6. Training & change management — $2K–$10K; chronically underinvested, consistently blamed for low adoption.
7. Parallel-run license overlap — running old and new platforms for 4–12 weeks doubles license and hosting cost for that period.

What the research actually says. The most-quoted figure in this category — “83% of data-migration projects fail or exceed budget” — is attributed to Gartner across hundreds of pages but has no locatable primary report (it is just as often credited to Oracle). The better-sourced numbers tell a consistent story: 64% of data migrations overrun their budget and 54% overrun their timeline (Forbes, 2021); cost overruns average 30% and time overruns average 41% (Bloor Group); and only 31% of IT projects overall succeed on time, on budget, and on scope (Standish CHAOS). The planning takeaway is the same regardless of which figure you trust: add a 25–40% contingency to any migration quote and treat it as an expected allocation, not a cushion.

How long does an ecommerce replatform take?

Direct answer. A simple migration takes 6–12 weeks; a mid-market replatform takes 4–8 months; an enterprise migration with SAP/Oracle ERP and complex B2B takes 8–14 months and beyond. Budget at least 6 months of pre-launch preparation before the intended go-live date.

When does replatforming pay back?

Direct answer. 90% of successful migrations see revenue gains, and most $15K–$25K Shopify migrations break even within 8–14 months. The ROI threshold for choosing Adobe Commerce over Shopify Plus is roughly $5M GMV with complex B2B requirements; below that, Shopify Plus or BigCommerce typically deliver better ROI within 24 months even after migration cost.

1. Documented cases show 47% conversion lift and 87% faster page loads post-migration.
2. Shopify Plus TCO runs 29–35% lower than Adobe Commerce over three years for merchants without complex B2B; merchants report spending 60–70% less developer time on maintenance after switching.
3. 60–70% of the development budget on legacy platforms goes to maintenance, leaving only ~30% for growth features.
4. 98% of recent migrators are satisfied with their new platform (up from 92% in 2024).

What do ecommerce developers cost by region in 2026?

Direct answer. Certified Adobe Commerce / Magento rates in 2026 range from $150–$300+/hour in the US and Canada down to $25–$55/hour in India. Eastern Europe ($45–$85/hour) is the consensus value sweet spot for certified senior talent. The efficient structure blends Eastern European delivery with US/Western senior oversight on architecture and client-facing phases.

Why do replatforming projects fail?

Direct answer. Replatforming projects fail for predictable, preventable reasons. Across 40+ analyzed migrations, the seven structural failure modes are: skipped discovery, underscoped ERP integration, underestimated data migration, big-bang cutover, SEO redirect underinvestment, no parallel-run period, and inadequate post-launch capacity. Each maps to a budget overrun or a revenue loss at go-live.

1. Skipped or compressed discovery — problems surface mid-build; remediation costs 5–10x the discovery cost.
2. ERP integration underscoped — treated as a connector purchase rather than an engineering project; the largest single overrun driver.
3. Data migration underestimated — 83% of migrations exceed budget/timeline here; teams allocate 1–2 weeks for a 4–8 week exercise.
4. Single big-bang cutover — multi-region/brand big-bang launches carry a documented 2.3x overrun multiplier.
5. SEO redirect underinvestment — poor redirect execution produces documented 20–40% organic-traffic drops.
6. No parallel-run period — skipping it raises the rate of emergency rollbacks.
7. Inadequate post-launch capacity — without 2–4 weeks of hypercare, integration edge cases surface as support escalations and revenue loss.

Why this decision is increasingly high-stakes

Direct answer. The global B2B ecommerce market reaches $36 trillion in 2026, growing at a 14.5% CAGR, with 80% of B2B sales interactions occurring through digital channels. US B2B ecommerce site sales hit $2.297 trillion in 2024, up 10.5% year over year. Against that backdrop, the opportunity cost of a platform that blocks growth dwarfs the migration budget itself.

1. Global B2B ecommerce: $36 trillion in 2026 at 14.5% CAGR (International Trade Administration); a separate forecast puts the market at $47.54 trillion by 2030 (ResearchAndMarkets).
2. Digital channel shift: 80% of B2B sales interactions now happen through digital channels (International Trade Administration).
3. US B2B site sales: $2.297 trillion in 2024, up 10.5% year over year (Digital Commerce 360).
4. The legacy tax: brands on legacy platforms spend 60–70% of their development budget on maintenance, leaving only ~30% for growth. Replatforming reinstates the development capacity legacy platforms structurally consume.

Methodology & data sources

This index aggregates and cross-validates data across nine primary research approaches. Every headline figure is verified against a minimum of three independent sources; conflicts are noted explicitly.

1. Elogic Commerce delivery data — 500+ completed projects across Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, SFCC, and composable architectures.
2. Independent agency benchmarks — Netalico, Contracollective, Refact.co, Human After All, Domaine, Shero Commerce, Studio Ubique, IWD Agency, Conversion Design, Bemeir, Appwrk, Wearepresta.
3. Platform-published pricing — Shopify (published), BigCommerce (commercial tiers), Adobe Commerce (agency-aggregated; not published).
4. Third-party TCO analyses, industry research (Standish CHAOS, Panorama ERP), migration-detection data (31,946 inbound vs 10,271 outbound Shopify migrations), B2B market data (McKinsey, eMarketer, Gartner), and failure analysis (Branch8 APAC, 40+ projects).
5. Source-chain transparency. Where a widely-circulated figure has a weak or broken primary chain — most notably the “83% of data migrations fail” stat attributed inconsistently to Gartner and Oracle — we say so and substitute better-sourced numbers (Forbes 64%/54%, Bloor 30%/41%, Standish 31%). This is the differentiator: every headline number here is traceable.

Critical caveats. Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce Enterprise, SFCC, and commercetools license figures are agency-aggregated estimates — these vendors do not publish prices. All figures are 2026 USD. Ranges reflect genuinely different scopes: the gap between $50K and $500K for “the same” migration is real scope difference, not estimation variance.

How to cite this index

The Replatforming Cost Index is published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). You may republish the data, tables, and charts — including commercially — with attribution to Elogic Commerce and a link to this page.

Suggested citation

Elogic Commerce (2026). The Replatforming Cost Index 2026: What Ecommerce Migration Actually Costs. Retrieved from https://elogic.co/blog/replatforming-cost-index/