Cosnova dabei unterstützen, eine fundierte Shopify Plus Entscheidung zu treffen
Projektübersicht
Cosnova ist ein international bekanntes Kosmetikunternehmen, das hinter Marken wie essence und CATRICE steht. Das Unternehmen verfügte bereits über ein bestehendes Direct-to-Consumer-Commerce-Setup, wollte jedoch prüfen, ob ein anderer Plattformansatz die Komplexität reduzieren, die Betriebskosten senken und eine flexiblere Grundlage für die Zukunft schaffen könnte.
Especial unterstützte Cosnova in dieser Evaluierungsphase als Senior Shopify Plus Consulting Partner. Unsere Arbeit konzentrierte sich auf Machbarkeit, technische Validierung, Architekturberatung und Entscheidungsunterstützung. Wir halfen dem Team zu verstehen, welche Teile eines zukünftigen Setups nativ von Shopify Plus abgedeckt werden könnten, wo zusätzliche Entwicklungen oder Integrationen erforderlich wären und welche architektonischen Entscheidungen frühzeitig getroffen werden müssten.
cosnova GmbH
Shopify Plus Beratung & Plattformbewertung
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Machbarkeitsanalyse
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Architekturberatung
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Technisches Q&A
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Migrationsbewertung
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Entscheidungsunterstützung
7 Wochen
1 Senior Shopify Berater
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1 Lösungsarchitekt
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1 Technischer Projektleiter
Herausforderungen & Ziele
Cosnova prüfte, ob Shopify Plus die richtige Plattform für ihr zukünftiges Direct-to-Consumer-Commerce-Setup sein könnte. Das bestehende Setup war komplex und kostspielig im Betrieb geworden, daher wollte das Team verstehen, ob ein Shopify Plus-Ansatz die Abläufe vereinfachen und eine kostengünstigere Alternative bieten könnte.
Die Kernfrage war nicht nur, ob Shopify Plus genutzt werden könnte. Die eigentliche Frage war, wie Shopify Plus in Cosnovas Organisation, technische Landschaft und strategische Ziele passen würde.
Cosnova benötigte einen Partner, der die Plattform ehrlich bewerten, detaillierte Stakeholder-Fragen beantworten und die Kompromisse sichtbar machen konnte, bevor wichtige Implementierungsentscheidungen getroffen wurden.
Unser Ansatz
Unsere Rolle war es, Cosnova zu helfen zu verstehen, was eine Shopify Plus-Migration bedeuten würde, bevor Budget, Zeitplan und interne Ressourcen festgelegt wurden. Dies umfasste die Überprüfung von Anforderungen, die Beantwortung strukturierter Fragenkataloge, die Diskussion von Grenzfälle und die Unterstützung bei Architekturentscheidungen für das potenzielle zukünftige Setup.
Gemeinsam mit den Cosnova-Teams betrachteten wir Geschäftsanforderungen, erwartete Traffic- und Transaktionsvolumen, Integrationsbedürfnisse, funktionale Anforderungen, Sicherheitsthemen und Compliance-Überlegungen.
Anstatt um jeden Preis auf einen Launch zu drängen, konzentrierten wir uns auf eine klare Entscheidungsfindung. Wo Shopify Plus gut passte, erklärten wir warum. Wo kundenspezifische Logik, Integrationen oder zusätzliche Architekturplanung erforderlich wären, machten wir dies frühzeitig sichtbar.
Dies verschaffte Cosnova eine realistischere Sicht auf den Aufwand, die Möglichkeiten und die Einschränkungen einer möglichen Shopify Plus-Migration.
Assess whether Shopify Plus could support Cosnova’s DTC commerce requirements.
Review whether a different platform setup could reduce complexity and long-term operating costs.
Clarify whether a migration could be planned without major disruption to the business.
Create a structured view of what a potential migration would entail.
Roadmap - From platform question to strategic decision
Cosnova’s project started with an open strategic question: could Shopify Plus become a simpler, more cost-efficient foundation for the company’s future DTC commerce setup?
To answer that properly, we worked through the evaluation step by step. We reviewed the existing setup, assessed feasibility, answered technical and organizational questions and helped clarify the architecture that would be required for a potential Shopify Plus migration.
Feasibility Analysis: Understanding what Shopify Plus could really support
A platform migration should never start with assumptions. Before Cosnova could make a decision, the team needed to understand what Shopify Plus would support out of the box, where the platform would need to be extended and which requirements could create additional complexity.
We helped Cosnova evaluate the planned DTC setup from a Shopify Plus perspective. This included looking at commerce workflows, platform capabilities, technical constraints, integration needs and potential areas for custom development.
The goal was not to make Shopify Plus look like the answer to every question. The goal was to create a realistic picture of what a move to Shopify Plus would mean — technically, operationally and commercially.
Technical Q&A: Clear answers for complex stakeholder questions
A platform migration should never start with assumptions. Before Cosnova could make a decision, the team needed to understand what Shopify Plus would support out of the box, where the platform would need to be extended and which requirements could create additional complexity.
We helped Cosnova evaluate the planned DTC setup from a Shopify Plus perspective. This included looking at commerce workflows, platform capabilities, technical constraints, integration needs and potential areas for custom development.
The goal was not to make Shopify Plus look like the answer to every question. The goal was to create a realistic picture of what a move to Shopify Plus would mean — technically, operationally and commercially.
Architecture Consulting: Designing the right foundation before committing
Architecture decisions made early in a commerce project can shape the platform for years. That is why Cosnova needed clarity before moving into implementation.
We supported the team in evaluating architectural options for a potential Shopify Plus setup. This included questions around platform boundaries, custom logic, integrations, data flows and maintainability.
Our consulting helped Cosnova understand which decisions would be critical for a future migration and which areas would need deeper planning before implementation.
Migration Assessment: Planning a potential migration realistically
Based on the evaluation, we helped Cosnova understand what a possible migration path could look like. This included project phases, responsibilities, data migration, integration planning, testing, training and support for the initial phase.
The assessment looked at how product data, customer information and order history could be transferred safely, how existing systems would need to connect and how operational risks could be reduced during a potential transition.
Even though the migration was not carried out, this planning helped Cosnova understand the real effort, dependencies and organizational requirements behind a platform change.
Cost Assessment: Understanding implementation cost and total cost of ownership
A platform decision is never just about license fees. For Cosnova, it was important to understand the full commercial impact of a potential Shopify Plus migration — from the one-time cost of implementation to the long-term total cost of ownership.
We helped the team break down the expected investment across key areas: migration effort, technical setup, integrations, data transfer, custom development, testing, training and ongoing operations. This made it easier to compare the existing setup with a potential Shopify Plus approach in a realistic way, not only from a platform-cost perspective but also in terms of internal effort, maintenance and future scalability.
Outcome & outlook -
Technical clarity for a strategic commerce decision
The assessment confirmed that Shopify Plus would have been a viable and valuable replacement for Cosnova’s existing DTC commerce setup. It could have supported the core requirements while simplifying operations, reducing platform complexity and lowering costs.
A migration would also have required Cosnova to rethink some existing processes and streamline complex features of the previous setup. In many cases, this would have been a benefit rather than a limitation: several of those complexities created limited business value, while adding cost and operational effort.
From a platform perspective, Shopify Plus could have made the DTC channel leaner and more manageable. It would likely have helped reduce the burden of running the business and created a more cost-efficient technical foundation.
But the platform was only one part of the broader DTC business case. Even with a simpler and cheaper Shopify Plus setup, the remaining costs and challenges of operating the channel were too high. The migration would have improved the viability of DTC for Cosnova, but not enough to justify continuing the business.
Cosnova therefore made a clear strategic decision: Shopify Plus was validated as a strong replacement option, but the DTC channel was discontinued before the migration moved forward.
