When your eCommerce platform struggles to keep pace with customer demands or stifles innovation, it can feel like a full-scale replatform is your only option. But replatforming often means high costs, extended timelines, and significant business risks. Thankfully, there’s another way forward: the Strangler Fig Pattern. This approach allows you to modernize incrementally, delivering quick wins without the upheaval of an all-or-nothing transformation.
Incremental Modernization: The Strangler Fig Pattern lets you modernize your eCommerce platform piece by piece, avoiding risky, large-scale replatforms.
Targeted Improvements: Focus on high-impact areas like checkout or returns to deliver quick, measurable results.
Lower Costs, Lower Risks: Tackle critical pain points without disrupting your entire system.
Future-Ready Flexibility: Build a scalable foundation for long-term growth while solving immediate challenges.
Nature offers a compelling metaphor for gradual change in the form of the strangler fig. This tropical plant begins as a small seedling, gradually wrapping around its host tree while developing its own robust structure. Over time, the host tree fades, and the fig thrives independently.
In software, the Strangler Fig Pattern works the same way. Instead of replacing an entire legacy system in one go, you target specific functions—like checkout, returns, or cart—and replace them piece by piece. New, modern components take over gradually, eventually “strangling” the outdated system until it’s fully replaced.
This method lets businesses sidestep the risks of a "big bang" migration, ensuring continuity and faster results along the way.
Modernizing your platform one step at a time offers several advantages that resonate with businesses looking to grow without compromising stability:
Faster Results: You don’t have to wait years for an overhaul. Improvements can be deployed function by function, delivering value quickly.
Lower Costs and Risks: Invest in fixing critical pain points first, rather than committing to a massive upfront cost.
Business Continuity: Since changes are isolated, disruptions to daily operations are minimal.
Scalability: Each incremental improvement lays the groundwork for future upgrades, paving the way for a fully modernized system when you’re ready.
Think of it as renovating a house while still living in it. You’d tackle the leaky roof or the outdated kitchen first, focusing on what matters most while keeping the rest of the home functional.
Implementing the Strangler Fig Pattern is straightforward but requires a clear strategy. Here’s how you can start:
Pinpoint the Pain Point Identify a specific area of your platform causing the most friction. Is your checkout too slow? Is your returns process cumbersome? Begin where the impact of modernization will be most noticeable.
Introduce a Redirection Layer Create a middleware or API gateway to redirect requests for the targeted function. This allows you to introduce new logic without disrupting the rest of the system.
Develop and Test the New Component Build a modern replacement for the selected function, ensuring it integrates seamlessly with existing processes. Test rigorously in parallel with the old system.
Decommission the Legacy Function Once the new component is stable and performing well, phase out the old code. This step-by-step process reduces the risk of downtime or errors.
Repeat these steps for other high-impact areas, moving gradually toward a fully modernized platform.
To understand the power of this approach, consider a typical eCommerce scenario:
Checkout Modernization: A retailer facing cart abandonment due to slow load times replaces their legacy checkout system with a modern, API-driven microservice. Traffic is redirected to the new service incrementally, ensuring stability. Once the new system proves reliable, the old checkout function is retired.
Automating Returns: A wholesaler streamlines their returns process using an orchestration tool that integrates inventory management, customer notifications, and refund workflows—without disrupting other parts of their platform.
These examples highlight how small, targeted changes can lead to significant improvements in performance, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
If the idea of replatforming feels overwhelming, start small. Assess your current eCommerce system and ask:
Where are customers or operations most affected by inefficiency?
Which functions, if modernized, would deliver the greatest immediate value?
Once you’ve identified a starting point, plan your first “strangler fig” step. By addressing urgent pain points incrementally, you’ll not only ease immediate challenges but also build a solid foundation for future growth.
The Strangler Fig Pattern offers a pragmatic, low-risk alternative to traditional replatforming. By modernizing one function at a time, you can improve agility, reduce costs, and achieve measurable results without disrupting your business.
Whether you’re addressing a sluggish checkout, automating complex workflows, or simply preparing for the future, incremental modernization is a path worth exploring. With this approach, your eCommerce platform evolves alongside your business, ensuring you’re always ready to meet new challenges and opportunities head-on.