How to Sequence ERP Modernization in Commerce Without Sacrificing Growth

A legacy enterprise resource planning system (ERP) can be a serious source of pain for commerce brands in today’s market. Years of customizations compound technical debt and make even small changes time-consuming, expensive, and risky. 

But upgrading an ERP is one of the biggest and most consequential decisions a technology leader can make. ERP modernizations are expensive, can span multiple years, and often reshape operating models long after they go live. 

And most replatforms don’t go well at all. Gartner reports that more than 70% of ERP implementations fail to fully meet their original business goals, and as many as 25% fail catastrophically, leading to major business disruptions. This guide explores when it makes sense to upgrade ERP and how a platform strategy can reduce dependency on ERP release cycles while protecting revenue.

Understanding ERP modernization in ecommerce

For commerce brands, ERP modernization means upgrading or migrating from a legacy ERP to a modern, cloud-based platform. 

Common ERP vendors include SAP, Oracle, Workday, and NetSuite, though whether a system is considered legacy or modern depends on the specific product and deployment model. For example, a modernization project could involve moving from SAP ECC (legacy) to SAP S/4HANA Cloud (modern).

 In practice, ERP modernization projects are frequently long, complex, and difficult to get right. They include major changes, such as:

• Migrating from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud
• Upgrading to current product versions
• Reimplementing core modules such as finance, human resources, or supply chain
• Migrating and cleansing large volumes of historical data
• Rebuilding integrations with other enterprise systems

An ERP holds some of the most sensitive and business-critical data in the organization. Financials, inventory, supplier relationships, customer accounts, contracts, and fulfillment logic often live there. That concentration of data is what makes an ERP a critical system of record, and also what makes change so risky.

Given the scope, cost, and organizational impact of projects like this, it is easy to see why ERP modernization is hard to get right. A rushed decision to modernize can lock teams into years of complexity, limited flexibility, and delayed returns.

Common issues with legacy ERPs in commerce

Enterprise resource planning systems are some of the oldest and most business-critical software platforms in use today. Many large businesses selected their ERP many years ago, when customer expectations, channels, and operating models looked very different. Older platforms did not account for modern variables such as omnichannel selling, self-serve B2B purchasing, and AI-augmented workflows.

Over time, some businesses can come to treat their ERP as fixed infrastructure rather than an active business driver. Gartner reports that 75% of ERP strategies are not strongly aligned with overall business strategy. McKinsey has found that only 20% of companies capture more than half of the projected benefits from their ERP investments.

For commerce brands, these legacy monoliths create more challenges the longer they are in place. The business evolves, but the tech holds everything back. Legacy ERPs can slow pricing changes, complicate promotions, limit product flexibility, and make it harder to launch new channels or serve B2B customers effectively. Teams spend time working around constraints instead of building toward growth goals.

On the surface, these challenges clearly point towards ERP modernization as the solution. But in reality, ERP is only one part of the commerce ecosystem. Modernizing it can help, but on its own it rarely resolves the speed, experience, and revenue pressures commerce teams are facing.

The challenges of ERP modernization

ERP modernization is never straightforward. For commerce organizations that need to move quickly, these programs introduce significant challenges:

• Slow timelines
  Enterprise ERP modernization initiatives commonly run 18 to 24 months or longer. During that time, teams can absorb significant cost and disruption while the market continues to move. Competitors aren’t pressing pause so you can catch up; they’re launching new channels, entering new regions, and improving customer experience long before your ERP upgrades are complete.
• Significant cost exposure
  The cost of ERP modernization is high: platform licensing, implementation services, customization, integration work, and training. On top of that, there are ongoing maintenance and upgrade costs, diverted IT capacity, and the opportunity cost of delayed growth initiatives. These programs tie up capital and people at the same time the business is under pressure to deliver results.
• High stakes and elevated risk
  ERP systems sit at the center of order management, inventory, and fulfillment. Failed cutovers can interrupt revenue. Long programs strain IT, finance, and operations teams, and scope creep is common as stakeholders add requirements midstream. Over time, change fatigue sets in and executive sponsorship erodes.

Given these risks, competitive commerce brands need to evaluate every alternative carefully. That starts with shifting away from an ERP-centered mindset and viewing ERP as one component of a distributed technical foundation that supports growth.

Placing ERPs in the right context for commerce

For ecommerce brands, the commerce platform is one of the most foundational elements of the technology stack. It is the layer where ERPs, customer relationship management systems (CRMs), and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) come together to deliver buying experiences. This is also the part of the tech stack that must evolve fastest as customer expectations rise and businesses scale.

When ERP is positioned as one pillar of the commerce stack rather than the center of it, leaders gain more strategic options. Revenue systems can be modernized independently, while ERP transformation proceeds at a pace that prioritizes accuracy, stability, and minimal disruption. This separation reduces pressure on ERP programs and lowers the risk of tying growth initiatives to long implementation timelines.

One way to frame this division of responsibility is:

• ERPs, such as Oracle, serve as the financial backbone and operational system of record, including accounting, inventory valuation, and compliance. 
• A commerce platform like Shopify is the revenue engine responsible for customer experience, channel expansion, and rapid iteration.
• Customer experience platforms supporting marketing automation, service, and loyalty. A very common example in commerce is Salesforce.

In the diagram above, you can see how the unified back end of a platform like Shopify connects seamlessly to a CRM and ERP through APIs. This is how the ERP can become one foundational piece of a scalable, flexible, and robust commerce tech stack. Even if the ERP is older and a little more outdated, it can still serve as the financial and operational system of record while the core commerce and customer functions are managed by other systems.

Group Marcelle consolidates four systems into one commerce platform with a real-time ERP integration

Groupe Marcelle, a leading cosmetics manufacturer, operated four distinct brands, each running on a different commerce platform. Over time, this fragmented setup created a complex and aging technology stack. Maintenance costs increased, campaign launches slowed, and customers experienced inconsistent buying journeys across brands.

Operational strain was most visible during peak periods. Fulfillment delays and order cancellations became common due to inventory mismatches and limited visibility between systems. An external shipping provider extended delivery timelines and restricted promotional flexibility. Synchronization issues between the commerce platforms and the ERP system amplified these challenges, especially when demand spiked.

Rather than modernizing their ERP first, Groupe Marcelle focused on consolidating commerce. By migrating all four brands to Shopify, the company unified storefronts on a single platform with an integrated back end. ERP data was fully synchronized in real time, improving inventory accuracy and order reliability. Logistics operations were brought in-house through integrations such as Machool, reducing processing time and increasing delivery consistency.

The new architecture also made it easier to scale supporting capabilities. Groupe Marcelle added integrations for Klaviyo, Recharge, Rebuy, and Yotpo, creating a modern commerce stack with low technical overhead and faster execution.

The results were immediate. The business recorded 32% sales growth, a 26% increase in order volume, and a 6% lift in conversion rate.

"The new platform is a fundamental pillar of our growth in Canada and the United States," said Philippe Proulx, principal director of operational excellence at Groupe Marcelle. 

Choosing when and how to modernize an ERP and commerce platforms

When implementing major changes to your tech stack, your ability to reduce risk, accelerate time to value, and control cost often depends on sequence. Given the high risk and costs, it’s not always best to lead with ERP modernization. The right path depends on a clear assessment of business pressure and constraints. 

Ask yourself the following questions: 

• Is the most acute pressure coming from finance and compliance, or from revenue growth and customer experience?
• Can the organization absorb an 18 to 24 month ERP modernization program, or are results needed in the next six to nine months?
• Is the business prepared for a large cutover, or does it need incremental gains with limited exposure?
• Are leadership and the board more focused on cost control, or on unlocking new growth?

The answers can help you decide whether to tackle ERP or commerce modernization first. In many cases, prioritizing a commerce platform migration delivers faster impact while significantly reducing transformation risk.

Option 1: Prioritize ERP modernization first

There are situations in which a legacy ERP becomes an immediate business risk that must be addressed directly. In these cases, leading with ERP modernization can be the right decision. 

But an ERP-first approach only makes sense when the following conditions are true:

• There is compliance or regulatory exposure, such as system end of life or unresolved security vulnerabilities
• Finance, accounting, or human resources limitations are actively blocking core business operations
• A post-merger consolidation requires unified financial reporting and controls
• The business has sufficient runway, often 24 months or more, along with budget and sustained executive sponsorship

In this scenario, the modernization path typically includes:

• Full ERP reimplementation or migration to a cloud-based ERP
• Parallel run strategies to protect business continuity during transition
• Significant investment in change management and training
• Gradual reintegration of commerce and adjacent systems once the new ERP is stable
  

ERP modernization at this scale is a high-stakes undertaking, and can delay other needed transformations. Unless the need is acute and urgent, it’s often not best to tie up technical resources, but instead consider a sequence that delivers business results faster.

Option 2: Modernize the commerce platform first, then the ERP

For many commerce brands, leading with commerce modernization delivers greater and faster business impact, and leaves room for ERP change to happen later and when there is less pressure for immediate gains. This path makes sense when growth is constrained by legacy technology and accumulated technical debt, not by core financial or compliance failures.

Signals that commerce should move first include:

• Revenue growth is the primary strategic objective
• The current buying experience is costing deals to more agile competitors
• The business needs to launch new channels, markets, or business models quickly
• The organization cannot wait 18 to 24 months to see measurable impact
• The existing ERP is functional for core finance and operations, even if outdated

In practice, this approach makes it easier to show progress early. Platforms such as Shopify can support accelerated migrations without forcing ERP change up front. The sequence looks like this:

• Modernize the customer-facing commerce platform first, often in three to nine months
• Build stable integrations between the new commerce platform and the existing ERP
• Allow ERP to continue handling financial records and inventory while commerce evolves
• Capture revenue gains, improve customer experience, and launch new channels, then continue iterating with a composable model

Once commerce is modernized, teams can reassess the ERP roadmap with more clarity. In some cases, full ERP replacement may no longer be urgent, or even needed. A “clean core” approach becomes possible, in which heavy customization is removed and the ERP retains only essential financial and operational responsibilities. More innovation shifts to the commerce layer, where composable architectures support faster delivery and lower risk.

The benefits can be significant for commerce brands. New, improved buying experiences can deliver immediate revenue and experience improvements. Risk is lower because financial systems remain untouched. Change management becomes simplified, because transformation is concentrated in customer-facing teams rather than across the entire business.

How Skullcandy modernized their commerce platform in 90 days

Skullcandy launched their modernization efforts carrying years of accumulated technical debt. Their legacy commerce stack was heavily customized, difficult to maintain, and increasingly fragile. Integrations to ERP, third-party logistics, and shipping systems required constant attention, and peak-season reliability was becoming a real concern.

“We were at a crossroads with our old platform where we had to decide: do we want to continue investing in development there, or free up resources for product and marketing?,” said Brian Garofalow, CEO of Skullcandy.

Rather than reworking ERP or rebuilding custom integrations, the team focused on replacing the commerce layer first. Skullcandy set an aggressive 90-day timeline and selected Shopify for its out-of-the-box capabilities and integration readiness. Within the first month, end-to-end test orders were already flowing cleanly from Shopify into NetSuite, preserving their existing ERP as the system of record while commerce modernized around it.

After a smooth launch, the team quickly expanded into new international markets, including Canada, the EU, and the UK. Standardized templates and shared processes replaced market-by-market rebuilds, reducing dependency on ERP changes for expansion.

The results were immediate. Skullcandy reduced technical complexity, saved millions in implementation costs, and cut months from delivery timelines. Product launches that once took a full day could be completed in under an hour across global sites. Following launch, the brand delivered their strongest holiday performance to date, with 45% year-over-year revenue growth.

By modernizing commerce first and keeping ERP stable, Skullcandy accelerated growth without taking on unnecessary transformation risk.

Option 3: Parallel modernization 

In some cases, mature organizations have the capacity to modernize both commerce and ERP at the same time. This approach requires a heroic effort that includes significant capital, disciplined execution, and strong organizational alignment. It only makes sense when limitations in both systems are severe enough to justify the complexity of the move.

Parallel modernization is most viable when the following conditions are in place:

• Deep IT capacity supported by mature program and portfolio management
• Acute pain in both ERP and commerce that cannot be deferred
• Separate teams with clear ownership for each workstream and no resource contention
• Strong, sustained executive sponsorship across technology, finance, and the business
  

Execution discipline becomes critical. Timelines are interdependent, and missed milestones in one program can stall the other. This approach requires up-front planning, clear governance, and explicit alignment on future-state architecture. Integration strategy must be defined early so both programs march in lockstep towards the same end state.

Even under the best conditions, this approach can have serious drawbacks. Organizational strain is higher. Integration complexity increases as both systems change simultaneously. Change fatigue spreads across teams. The likelihood of failure rises because each transformation carries its own risk. Unless the organization has a dedicated transformation office and a proven track record executing large programs in parallel, this path is usually the highest-risk option.

How to sequence modernization to protect revenue 

Regardless of the path you choose, revenue protection has to remain the priority. Digital transformation is difficult to execute well, and both ERP and commerce platforms are foundational components of the tech stack. Each touches revenue in different but critical ways. 

For brands carrying technical debt and rising operating costs, sequencing matters. Most successful modernization efforts follow three phases designed to protect revenue while change is underway.

Phase 1: Stabilize, standardize, and plan

McKinsey has found that the difference between successful and failed modernization efforts often comes down to the activity level across the full transformation lifecycle. Teams that prepare thoroughly and take more consistent actions see better outcomes. That makes this first phase the most important.

During this phase, leaders should focus on clarity and alignment before implementation begins:

• Audit the current state of the ERP and commerce platform.
• Document existing architecture and integration points.
• Identify data silos, fragile integrations, and manual workarounds.
• Map differences in data models between commerce and ERP, including product, customer, and order data.
• Plan change management early with internal teams and customers that will be affected.
• Define clear business outcomes so technology decisions support goals, not the reverse.
• Identify which technology improvements will have the greatest near-term impact on revenue and prioritize those first.

Careful, conscientious planning in this phase protects revenue by preventing cost overruns, reducing rework, and keeping modernization aligned to growth objectives. It also limits risk during migration. Data-quality issues compound quickly if they are not understood up front, and poorly mapped integrations can introduce downstream failures.

This step is often rushed when legacy systems are creating real business pain. But success comes from taking the time to assess where you are, where you want to go, and what it takes to get there, often in detail. In Phase 1, taking baseline measurements while assessing systems gives you the ability to measure progress and outcomes once new systems are live.

Phase 2: Modernize revenue-facing systems 

Commerce platforms sit closer to revenue than ERP systems. They directly shape how customers discover products, evaluate offers, and complete purchases. For most brands, improvements here deliver faster and more visible impact, which is why commerce modernization should come first.

In this phase, the focus shifts to the commerce platform itself. Migrating to a modern platform such as Shopify allows teams to unlock revenue gains without destabilizing core financial systems. Independent research has shown that brands moving from legacy platforms to Shopify see an average 15% increase in revenue and a 15% lift in checkout conversion.

The work in this phase typically includes:

• Replatforming core commerce capabilities, including storefronts, checkout, customer accounts, and B2B functionality
• Building stable, API-first integrations back to the existing ERP
• Launching a minimum viable platform only after each core function has been thoroughly tested
• Continuing to add features and enhancements after cutover to improve performance and experience

When this phase is done well, brands stand to gain a lot. Time to value is short, often three to nine months. Customer experience and conversion can improve quickly; revenue can grow while the ERP remains stable. Most importantly, teams gain the ability to iterate and innovate faster after launch, rather than waiting for a multi-year back-end transformation to finish.

How SANJO integrated their ERP and commerce platform for greater efficiency and revenue growth

SANJO, a heritage footwear brand, faced growing constraints as their business expanded. Their challenge was not the ERP itself, but how tightly the ecommerce platform was coupled to it. The existing platform struggled to integrate with ERP systems, making it difficult to scale operations or support international growth.

“The old platform was a major challenge. We wanted to expand internationally and needed an intuitive solution. Managing the store was complex, adding new features was a nightmare, and technical support was lacking,” said Sofia Camarinha, head of marketing and ecommerce at SANJO.

Rather than leading with an ERP transformation, SANJO prioritized modernizing their commerce platform. After migrating to Shopify, the team unified operations while maintaining ERP as the system of record. 

The new setup allowed SANJO to localize content, pricing, and taxes without managing multiple storefronts. Automation tools reduced internal manual work, and tighter ERP integration enabled real-time inventory synchronization between online and physical stores. Logistics time dropped by 50%.

“With Shopify's B2B solution, we created an exclusive catalog for customers, set differentiated pricing, and applied automatic discounts for our partners. Plus, ERP integration optimized order processing, making our B2B channel much more efficient,” said Sofia.

The result was measurable growth. SANJO saw a 10% increase in B2B sales, alongside improved operational efficiency and faster international expansion. By investing in a scalable, integration-ready commerce platform, SANJO reduced complexity, modernized their operating model, and created space to evolve their ERP without slowing growth.

Phase 3: Simplify the ERP core

After a successful Phase 2, a modern commerce platform integrated cleanly with ERP is handling product experience, pricing logic, promotions, and customer-facing workflows. That shift removes pressure from the ERP and creates the opportunity to simplify what the ERP is responsible for.

At this stage, leaders can focus on clarifying roles across the stack and reducing unnecessary complexity in the core system:

• Evaluate which capabilities still need to live in ERP and which are better handled in the commerce platform.
• Narrow ERP responsibility to financial and operational fundamentals such as general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, financial reporting, and compliance.
• Reduce customizations in ERP by moving business logic to the commerce layer, where composable architectures and mature app ecosystems support change with lower risk.

When the ERP is simplified, technical teams have a lot less to worry about going forward. Ongoing maintenance becomes easier and less expensive. By this phase, a clean ERP core can remove the need for modernization altogether. For many businesses, this approach preserves stability, protects revenue, and avoids the cost and disruption of a large-scale ERP modernization program.

Key ERP and commerce modernization KPIs to track

The value of modernization shows up in business performance, not deployment dates. Establishing baseline metrics before implementation and tracking outcomes after launch is essential to understanding return on investment (ROI) and guiding future transformation decisions. Consider these key performance indicators (KPIs):

Time to value

These metrics show how quickly modernization translates into measurable business impact:

• Time to first business value, not just technical go live
• Revenue impact in the first six months after launch
• New capabilities enabled, such as additional channels, markets, or business models

Total cost of ownership (TCO)

Measuring the total cost of ownership should include looking at the full financial picture, including opportunity cost and operational improvements. Comparing legacy platforms to modern systems provides a clearer view of long-term impact:

• Implementation cost compared to budget
• Ongoing maintenance and operating costs
• Cost per transaction or cost per order
• Technical overhead associated with modern platforms versus legacy systems

Employee and customer change adoption

Modernization affects how teams work and how customers engage. These metrics help identify adoption gaps and areas that require further investment:

• End-user adoption across business and operational teams
• Customer adoption of new features and experiences
• Time to competency for internal teams
• Employee satisfaction with new tools and workflows
• IT capacity shifted from maintenance to innovation
• Customer experience measures such as net promoter score (NPS) and customer satisfaction (CSAT)

Business impact

At the highest level, modernization should measurably improve core business metrics:

• Revenue growth attributable to platform and ERP changes
• Operational efficiency, including order-processing time and inventory turnover
• Innovation velocity, measured by speed to launch new features, channels, or markets
  

Tracking these indicators keeps modernization grounded in outcomes that matter to the business, not just the technology roadmap.

The future of ERP in commerce: From central monolith to ecosystem pillar

For commerce brands today, the more relevant question is whether ERP should still sit at the center of the technology strategy. Commerce platforms have matured to the point where businesses no longer need to force every workflow, rule, and experience through ERP. Instead, ERP can be simplified to focus on what it does best, while other platforms carry the weight of growth and change.

From ERP-centric to platform-led

The traditional model positioned ERP as the hub, with every system tightly coupled around it. That structure made sense when ERP was the only system capable of handling scale and complexity. Today, a more resilient model has emerged.

In a modern platform ecosystem, best-of-breed systems are connected through APIs. The commerce platform owns customer experience, revenue execution, channels, and experimentation. Customer experience platforms support marketing, service, and loyalty. ERP remains responsible for financial record keeping, compliance, and operational integrity. This shift reduces bottlenecks and allows each system to operate at its natural pace.

The value of a clean ERP core

A clean core approach keeps ERP standardized and lightly customized. Complexity moves out of the ERP and into platforms designed for change, such as commerce and customer experience systems. This makes ERP easier to maintain, easier to upgrade, and less risky to evolve over time.

Just as important, innovation cycles are no longer constrained by ERP release schedules. Teams can launch new capabilities without waiting for a multi-year back-end program to complete.

Composable commerce as ERP’s partner

Modern commerce platforms are not designed to replace ERP; they are designed to integrate with it. API-first architectures support real-time data exchange while keeping responsibilities clearly separated. Composable and headless approaches allow brands to build differentiated customer experiences without compromising back-end stability.

In this model, ERP remains the financial and operational backbone. Commerce becomes the system of engagement and revenue execution.

A modern enterprise should not undertake modernizing ERP as an end in itself. Instead, brands should build a platform ecosystem where ERP, commerce, and customer experience each play a defined and complementary role, aligned to growth, resilience, and long-term flexibility.

DARCHE improves inventory management and customer experience with ERP integrations

DARCHE, an outdoor equipment supplier with a strong B2B focus, was constrained by disconnected systems. Changes to their legacy online store required external developers and days of effort. At the same time, weak integration between the commerce platform and the ERP system limited inventory visibility and made stock management difficult.

Rather than reworking their ERP, DARCHE focused on modernizing their commerce layer. After migrating to Shopify, the team integrated ERP data to enable real-time inventory visibility across online and offline channels. Stock accuracy improved, manual checks were reduced, and inventory management became more predictable.

The new setup also transformed the B2B buying experience. Buyers could see available stock before placing orders, and wholesale customers gained access to self-service capabilities such as company profiles, custom catalogs, and personalized pricing.

The impact was immediate. DARCHE recorded a 200% increase in B2B sales and a 59% lift in annual web traffic shortly after launch.

“Shopify has completely changed the way we do business. Now, retailers feel comfortable placing orders online via the Shopify B2B function. This provides them with an easier, more seamless sales experience, and helps build trust with our brand,” said Finn Christensen, digital marketing coordinator at DARCHE.

Let Shopify become your ERP’s innovation partner

Outdated systems and legacy monoliths are driving teams to take action to stop the bleeding. And modernization is unavoidable today: McKinsey reports that nearly 90% of organizations are engaged in some form of digital transformation. 

But when it comes to ERP modernization, teams should pause before forging ahead. It pays to carefully consider strategy and sequencing before taking on an all-or-nothing multi-year gamble with a critical system of record. 

The future enterprise commerce stack no longer revolves around an ERP monolith. It is a platform ecosystem where each system plays a defined role. Commerce platforms drive growth, customer experience, and speed. ERP provides financial integrity and operational control.

ERP modernization should be sequenced, not centered. Lead with commerce, where revenue and customer experience live. Use Shopify to decouple growth from ERP timelines. Then modernize ERP from a position of stability, evidence, and reduced scope.

Enterprise ERP programs fail when they are treated as the primary transformation vehicle. Shopify allows teams to separate value delivery from system replacement, so modernization can follow business results, not precede them.