01 · Go-live
Go-live is rehearsed, not guessed.
We don't freeze trading. The week before go-live should be quiet because the work has already been done — not because the site has been taken offline.
We rehearse go-live four times against real production data. Traffic moves in 5–10% steps over 48–72 hours behind a feature flag. Rollback is tested at every step. If the rollback fails its rehearsal, we don't ship.
The result is no launch-day surprises. The last four replatforms we ran went live with zero customer-visible downtime. Huws Gray — the most recent — went live on a Tuesday afternoon across 45,000 SKUs and eleven years of trade-account data. Proof is at §05.
4×
Go-live rehearsals
Minimum, per programme
0
Trading freezes
Since 2022
0h
Downtime
Last go-live, Huws Gray
5–10%
Traffic-shift step
Behind a feature flag
02 · Data
Most of the effort is data, not code.
Customers, orders, products and content all matter — and all carry years of edge cases the new platform has to honour from day one.
We start with a data audit in week one: every entity, every owner, every contradiction between systems. Migration runs in parallel against production for weeks before go-live. Validation is row-level — we don't sign off a migration on aggregate counts alone.
Programmes that deliver on time staff the data problem from month one. The ones that fail leave it until month seven.
03 · Integrations
Integrations move on their own timelines.
A typical replatform connects to between eight and twenty-four systems — ERP, OMS, WMS, PIM, payments, tax, search, marketing. Each has its own owner and its own appetite for change. Treating them as one go-live problem is how programmes overrun.
We map every integration in week one, agree the order of move, and stage them across the eight to twelve weeks around go-live. The new platform is in production for weeks before the last system migrates. The pattern is dull on purpose.
04 · Timeline
How long it actually takes.
Five to nine months from kickoff to go-live, timed by the expert who will run it — not by sales. The shape of the work is consistent across programmes; only the duration varies. Your ecommerce and trading teams sit with ours from week one.
4–6 wks
Discovery & audit
8–12 wks
Design & data model
10–14 wks
Build & integrate
6–8 wks
Go-live rehearsal
12 wks
Go-live + 90 days
Kickoff────────── typical 5–9 months ──────────Go-live + 90 days
We won't take a 12-week replatform brief. And we'll tell you early if the date you've been given isn't real. The first 90 days after go-live matter as much as the build — performance, conversion and trading rhythm all need watching while the new platform settles.
05 · Proof · Cited from §01–§04
Huws Gray — what this looks like when it ships.
Replatform · Builders' merchants · 2026
Replatform in seven months. Zero revenue lost at go-live.
Off a proprietary legacy platform onto Adobe Commerce. 45,000 SKUs, eleven years of trade-account history, four storefronts, and the integrations into the merchant network's ERP and warehouse systems — migrated without a trading freeze. Go-live ran on a Tuesday afternoon with traffic shifted in 5% steps behind a feature flag.
Cited at §01 (go-live), §02 (data), §04 (timeline).
+34%
Mobile conversion
90 days post go-live
£2.1m
Recovered revenue
Y1, vs previous baseline
0h
Downtime
At go-live
7mo
Discovery to live
Contract signature → go-live
06 · Platform
Platform decisions, made properly.
We choose the platform based on your requirements, not ours.
Not every platform fits every business. We'll tell you when it doesn't. Brief us without choosing a platform.
Replatformed in production
Adaptive Commerce° (by WithPraxis) · Adobe Commerce (Magento) · Shopify Plus · Salesforce · commercetools
BigCommerce · Centra · Hyvä Commerce · Akeneo PIM · Salsify · Informatica
Adobe Experience Cloud · Contentful · Algolia · Constructor.io · Mirakl Marketplace
BigCommerce · Centra · Hyvä Commerce · Akeneo PIM · Salsify · Informatica
Adobe Experience Cloud · Contentful · Algolia · Constructor.io · Mirakl Marketplace
Adobe credential
Adobe Solutions Partner Gold — Specialised in Commerce. Multiple certified architects on staff.
Next step
Replatform on the date we agree at kickoff. Without a trading freeze.
Send the brief. You'll get a written response from a senior expert — scope, risks and a timeline we'd stand behind.