Retailers shifting to Adobe Commerce often do so with ambitious goals: scalable infrastructure, personalized experiences, and enterprise-grade performance. However, Adobe Commerce migration mistakes can quickly turn that promise into frustration, delay, and budget overruns.
While Adobe Commerce (Magento 2’s enterprise edition) is one of the most powerful eCommerce platforms available, successful adoption requires far more than just a technical replatform. From data mapping to SEO preservation, seemingly minor oversights can lead to major operational and revenue issues post-migration.
In this guide, we’ll uncover the five most common Magento replatforming issues that retailers face and offer clear solutions based on real-world migration scenarios.
1. Underestimating the Complexity of Data Mapping
What goes wrong:
Many retailers assume that their existing data—products, customers, orders—can be “lifted and shifted” into Adobe Commerce with ease. But data structures vary widely between platforms. Poor planning in data mapping in Adobe Commerce often leads to duplicate entries, lost product relationships, and non-functional attributes.
Real-world impact:
In one documented case, a multi-brand retailer lost over 40% of its historical order data due to misaligned data formats during a rushed import.
How to avoid it:
Build a detailed data dictionary before migration begins.
Map product attributes and customer groups to Adobe Commerce’s data model in advance.
Use staging environments to test the data integrity before going live.
Prioritize critical business data (pricing tiers, promotions, inventory logic) in the mapping process.
2. Ignoring SEO During Migration Planning
What goes wrong:
One of the most devastating Adobe Commerce migration mistakes is overlooking search engine optimization. URLs change. Metadata is lost. Redirects are not applied. Without an SEO migration strategy, years of rankings can disappear overnight.
Real-world impact:
According to Moz, improper eCommerce migrations can cause traffic drops of 30–50%—often taking 6–12 months to recover.
How to avoid it:
Prepare a comprehensive SEO migration checklist that includes:
Mapping all old URLs to new equivalents
Migrating title tags, meta descriptions, and schema markup
Setting up 301 redirects and canonical tags properly
Testing page speed and mobile-friendliness post-launch
Benchmark organic rankings and traffic pre-migration, and monitor closely for the first 90 days after launch.
3. Poor Handling of Downtime and Deployment Risks
What goes wrong:
Retailers frequently underestimate the risk of extended downtime during replatforming. Adobe Commerce deployments, especially with complex integrations, can require hours—or even days—if not properly staged. Inadequate rollback planning further compounds the risk.
Real-world impact:
A leading fashion retailer reported a 72-hour outage during migration weekend, resulting in lost revenue and customer churn.
How to avoid it:
Implement blue-green deployment or similar strategies to ensure minimal downtime.
Schedule migration during historically low-traffic hours.
Prepare rollback scripts and failover plans for critical issues.
Simulate go-live conditions in a staging environment well in advance.
Tip: Never treat launch as a single-day event. Plan for a stabilization window of at least two weeks.
4. Failing to Align Business Logic and Custom Features
What goes wrong:
Retailers often rely on custom workflows or legacy functionality from their previous platform. When these are not carefully analyzed and translated into Adobe Commerce’s architecture, the store may launch with critical gaps.
Examples include:
Customer group pricing logic
Complex checkout flows
Custom inventory sync rules
3rd-party ERP or POS system integrations
How to avoid it:
Conduct functional requirement mapping early in the project.
Document all customizations, both frontend and backend, that must carry over.
Don’t force-fit old workflows. Instead, adapt them to Adobe Commerce’s modern architecture where possible.
Use Adobe’s API and event-driven system to handle integrations efficiently.
5. No Clear Post-Migration Support Plan
What goes wrong:
Launching on Adobe Commerce is not the finish line—it’s the starting point. Many retailers fail to plan for post-launch support, leaving critical bugs unresolved, performance unmonitored, and team training incomplete.
Real-world impact:
One brand lost customer trust after failing to detect a persistent checkout error for 12 days due to a lack of QA and monitoring protocols.
How to avoid it:
Partner with an experienced Adobe Commerce Development Company that provides structured post-migration support.
Establish a 30- 60- 90-day roadmap for optimisation.
Train internal teams on the Adobe backend, custom modules, and order management workflows.
Monitor server logs, conversion rates, and error tracking in real time for the first few weeks.
Bonus: How to Know You’re Migration-Ready
Before you start your transition, ask yourself:
Have we documented all custom functionality?
Do we understand how Adobe Commerce handles our data types?
Have we assessed how SEO, marketing automation, and 3rd-party apps will behave?
Do we have internal or external dev capacity for post-launch maintenance?
If the answer to any of these is “not yet,” pause the migration plan. A rushed move leads to the very Adobe Commerce transition issues that can cost both time and trust.
FAQ: Adobe Commerce Migration Mistakes
Q: What’s the biggest risk of a failed Magento upgrade or migration?
A: The biggest risks are data loss, SEO de-indexing, customer experience issues, and prolonged downtime. These can impact both revenue and brand perception.
Q: Can you migrate from Magento 1 or another platform to Adobe Commerce without downtime?
A: Yes, with the right deployment strategy and staging environment, migration can occur with minimal to no customer-facing downtime.
Q: How long does a typical Adobe Commerce migration take?
A: Depending on complexity, a full migration—including planning, development, testing, and deployment—can take 8 to 20 weeks.
Q: How do I protect SEO during the migration process?
A: Start with a complete URL mapping and metadata export. Set up 301 redirects and monitor indexing closely for the first 90 days post-launch.
Q: What should be on an e-commerce migration checklist?
A: Data mapping, SEO migration plan, environment setup, QA testing, staging deployment, redirect setup, and post-launch monitoring.
Final Thoughts
Adobe Commerce opens the door to enterprise-grade flexibility and growth. But that door should be opened carefully. Avoiding these common Adobe Commerce migration mistakes can save your brand months of recovery, tens of thousands in lost revenue, and countless hours of rework.
By focusing on smart preparation—especially around data, SEO, downtime risks, and business logic—you'll be able to unlock the full power of Adobe Commerce with confidence.
