The Optimizely to Shopify migration conversation almost always starts the same way. Someone on your ecommerce team pulls up what they need to change — a new customer group, an updated pricing rule, a redesigned catalog page — and realizes the estimate is four to six weeks of .NET development and $30,000 in consulting time. For a configuration change. Episerver was a serious enterprise commerce platform. Optimizely is a digital experimentation company that acquired it. B2B commerce is one product line inside a portfolio that now centers on A/B testing, personalization, and digital experience management. If your wholesale operation is running on Optimizely Configured Commerce or Commerce Connect, you are depending on a B2B commerce roadmap that is not this vendor's primary investment. Uncap migrates B2B manufacturers and distributors from Optimizely Commerce and Episerver to Shopify Plus, replacing a developer-dependent, enterprise-priced platform with a modern wholesale operation your team can actually manage. No .NET developers. No six-figure licensing. No waiting six weeks for a storefront change.
Why B2B Manufacturers Are Moving Off Optimizely Commerce
Optimizely's commerce story is complicated, and that complexity is part of the problem.
The platform most B2B manufacturers know as Optimizely Commerce was originally Episerver Commerce, a .NET-based commerce module built alongside Episerver's CMS. In 2020, Episerver acquired Optimizely, the A/B testing company, and rebranded the entire portfolio under the Optimizely name. Today, Optimizely sells two separate commerce products: Commerce Connect, the CMS-integrated module descended from Episerver Commerce, and Configured Commerce, a B2B-specific platform they acquired separately from Insite Commerce. Neither product shares the same architecture. Neither has the same customer base. Both require specialized developers to operate.
For a B2B manufacturer or distributor trying to run a wholesale ecommerce operation, this history is more than background noise. It means your platform's vendor has reorganized its identity, its product portfolio, and its go-to-market strategy multiple times since you made your commerce investment. The B2B commerce roadmap you bought into is now one product line inside a company whose brand, marketing, and executive attention center on digital experimentation, not wholesale.
Here is what B2B on Optimizely Configured Commerce or Commerce Connect actually looks like at operating scale: your ecommerce manager wants to add a reorder feature for your top 50 accounts, a button that pre-populates their last order for one-click resubmission. Your .NET developer estimates 80 hours to implement it. The developer queue is six weeks out. The feature ships in Q3. Three of those accounts are already reordering by emailing a CSV to your inside sales team. You need to add a new customer tier with custom pricing and a restricted catalog. In Shopify Plus, this is a configuration change. In Optimizely Configured Commerce, it is a development project with a full deployment cycle. Your Optimizely license renewal comes in. The licensing fee for your tier is $100,000 to $150,000 per year, before implementation services, before your developer retainer, before the Azure hosting bill. Your team wants to redesign the buyer portal to improve self-service adoption. The estimate from your Optimizely implementation partner: a 20-week engagement. You table it for next year.
None of this is the result of a bad platform decision when you made it. It is the predictable outcome of enterprise architecture that requires enterprise overhead to operate, inside a vendor that has reorganized twice since you went live.
The Real Cost of Running B2B Wholesale on Optimizely
The licensing cost alone positions Optimizely as one of the most expensive mid-market B2B commerce platforms in operation. Optimizely Configured Commerce licensing for a mid-market B2B deployment typically runs $100,000 to $150,000 per year. Enterprise implementations with high GMV, multi-site operations, and advanced B2B feature sets exceed $500,000 annually. Add Azure hosting infrastructure, your .NET developer retainer, Optimizely implementation partner costs, and annual support fees, and the total cost of ownership for a B2B manufacturer on Optimizely frequently exceeds $200,000 per year before a single development project.
Shopify Plus is $27,600 per year, with native B2B functionality that replaces most of what Optimizely requires custom development to build.
The cost differential is significant. But the licensing gap is not the most expensive part.
The .NET developer tax. Optimizely Commerce is built on ASP.NET Core, a Microsoft stack that requires specialized developers. .NET commerce developers with Optimizely certification are scarce and bill at $150 to $250 per hour. Every storefront change, a new checkout field, an updated pricing display, a revised customer account page, runs through your developer. Your ecommerce roadmap is capped by developer availability, not by what the platform can do. Features that Shopify Plus configures in an afternoon require development tickets in Optimizely.
Two products with separate architectures. Optimizely Commerce Connect and Configured Commerce are different platforms with different codebases, different developer communities, and different support structures. If you are on one and need capabilities from the other, there is no upgrade path. This fragmentation means Optimizely's commerce development resources are divided, and your implementation partners may specialize in one but not the other.
A vendor roadmap built for experimentation, not wholesale. Optimizely's primary market identity and primary product investment is digital experience optimization: A/B testing, personalization, content experimentation. B2B commerce features matter to Optimizely, but they are not driving the company's growth or roadmap investment. Features B2B buyers need, improved self-service, native payment term enforcement, real-time ERP sync, move at Optimizely's pace, which follows experimentation demand, not wholesale demand.
Upgrade cycles that interrupt operations. Optimizely Commerce runs on Azure with a release cadence that requires coordinated deployment and testing. .NET customizations built for one version may not survive major platform updates. Manufacturers who have been on Episerver or Optimizely for five or more years have managed multiple upgrade cycles, each requiring developer testing, regression analysis, and a planned downtime window.
What an Optimizely to Shopify Plus Migration Stops and What It Starts
Shopify Plus stops the .NET developer dependency. Standard B2B configuration in Shopify Plus, company accounts, customer-specific pricing, gated catalogs, payment terms, purchase order support, quantity rules, requires no developer to set up or maintain. Your ecommerce team makes those changes through a UI. The features your Optimizely implementation partner quoted 20 weeks to build are configuration changes on Shopify Plus.
Shopify Plus stops the licensing spiral. At $2,300 per month, the annual platform cost is $27,600, regardless of your GMV, your catalog size, or your number of company accounts. The $100,000 to $150,000 you are paying Optimizely in licensing fees alone becomes capital available for growth, not platform maintenance.
Shopify Plus starts a commerce operation your team controls. Your marketing team updates the storefront. Your ecommerce manager adds customer groups. Your sales ops team adjusts pricing rules. Without filing a development ticket.
Your ERP connection stays intact. Whether you are running NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, or Epicor, Uncap builds a real-time integration to Shopify Plus as part of the migration. Orders, inventory, pricing, and customer account data sync continuously. You replace the platform and the cost structure. Your operations backbone does not move.
A migration tool exports your product catalog and imports it into Shopify. That is not a B2B wholesale migration. For an operation that has built customer pricing hierarchies, approval workflows, and ERP integration inside Optimizely Configured Commerce or Commerce Connect, that data transfer leaves the core of your operation unaddressed. Uncap audits every workflow in your Optimizely environment, pricing rules, customer account structures, ERP integration points, .NET custom modules, designs the Shopify Plus architecture that replaces them natively, builds the ERP connections, and executes a go-live strategy that keeps your buyers ordering without disruption.
We have done this for [CUSTOMER PROOF — request from brand team] B2B businesses. We know where migrations from .NET-based enterprise platforms create unexpected complexity and we build remediation into the project plan before work begins.
The migration is the foundation. What you run on top of it is the Revenue Engine.
Once your B2B operation is live on Shopify Plus, Uncap's Revenue Engine drives what comes next. Dealroom accelerates quote-to-cash through digital quoting and collaborative negotiation. Advanced Product Configurations manages complex pricing and product configuration without manual overhead. The Self-Serve Portal gives your B2B buyers a 24/7 ordering experience embedded inside your Shopify storefront. Advanced Quote Management takes you from quote to confirmed order without coordination friction. Smart Agents surface upsell, reorder, and margin recommendations automatically.
Migration gets you on the right foundation. The Revenue Engine is what makes it perform.
What We Build During Your Optimizely to Shopify Plus Migration
B2B Storefront Architecture on Shopify Plus
Your new Shopify Plus storefront replaces Optimizely's developer-dependent B2B layer with native wholesale functionality: gated storefronts, company accounts, customer-specific pricing, private catalogs, payment terms, purchase order support, and quantity rules. No .NET developer required for standard B2B configuration. No consulting engagement every time your operation changes.
ERP Integration with Real-Time Sync
We build a real-time, bidirectional integration between Shopify Plus and your ERP, including NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, or Epicor. Orders placed in Shopify appear immediately in your ERP's fulfillment queue. Inventory, pricing, and customer account data sync continuously from your ERP to Shopify. The batch sync or custom .NET integration your team has been maintaining is replaced with a clean, stable connection architecture.
Customer Pricing, Payment Terms, and Account Migration
Every customer-specific price, volume discount, net payment term, and credit limit from your Optimizely environment is mapped and rebuilt in Shopify Plus. Your buyers log in on launch day and find their pricing correct, their terms enforced, and their order history intact. Nothing is reset. Nothing requires manual reconfiguration post-launch.
Custom Module and .NET Workflow Replacement
We audit every custom .NET module and Optimizely-specific workflow in your environment. For each, we identify the Shopify Plus native equivalent, a suitable Shopify app, or a custom Shopify build where required. The custom code your developers have been maintaining through Optimizely's release cycles is replaced with a maintainable, upgrade-safe alternative.
Full Data Migration with URL Mapping
Every product, every customer account, every order history, and every URL migrates from Optimizely to Shopify Plus with complete integrity. We implement 301 redirects for your full URL structure before go-live so your organic search rankings carry through to launch without disruption.
Go-Live Without Revenue Disruption
Your Optimizely storefront continues taking orders throughout the entire migration. We run both environments in parallel until your Shopify Plus store is fully tested and validated. Your cutover is a coordinated event your team controls, not a hard switch that puts revenue at risk.
Why B2B Manufacturers Choose Uncap for Their Optimizely to Shopify Migration
Uncap has been building wholesale and distribution commerce on Shopify since 2013. Platinum Shopify Partner. [CUSTOMER PROOF — request from brand team] B2B stores built. Optimizely Commerce and Episerver migrations with full ERP integration continuity are a core capability. This is the only work we do.
[CUSTOMER PROOF — request from brand team]
Clients reduce total technology costs by 30 percent or more. Moving off Optimizely's enterprise licensing and .NET developer-dependency model to Shopify Plus flat pricing typically eliminates 30 to 50 percent of total technology overhead within the first year. Most migrations pay for themselves within 12 months through licensing cost reduction alone, before counting developer retainer savings.
We have seen every enterprise B2B commerce configuration that exists. We understand .NET-based commerce architectures, Optimizely's data model for B2B pricing and customer hierarchies, and how to map Episerver Commerce's content-commerce integration to Shopify's native capabilities. You will not spend the first month of the engagement explaining your platform to us.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Optimizely to Shopify migration?
An Optimizely to Shopify migration is the process of moving a B2B ecommerce storefront from Optimizely Commerce (either Commerce Connect or Configured Commerce, formerly known as Episerver Commerce) to Shopify or Shopify Plus, including products, customer accounts, order history, URL structure, pricing configurations, and ERP integrations. For B2B manufacturers and distributors, migration also involves replacing Optimizely's .NET-based B2B workflows with Shopify Plus's native wholesale infrastructure and rebuilding ERP connections with a real-time, stable integration architecture.
What is the difference between Optimizely Commerce Connect and Configured Commerce?
Optimizely Commerce Connect and Configured Commerce are two separate products with different architectures and different target buyers. Commerce Connect is the commerce module built into Optimizely's CMS platform, descended from Episerver Commerce, designed for content-driven ecommerce where CMS and commerce are tightly integrated. Configured Commerce (formerly Insite Commerce and B2B Commerce Cloud) is a standalone B2B-specific platform built for manufacturers and distributors with complex pricing, customer hierarchies, and ERP-driven operations. Optimizely acquired both through separate acquisitions, and they share a brand name but not a codebase.
How much does an Optimizely to Shopify Plus migration cost?
An Optimizely to Shopify Plus migration is scoped based on the complexity of your Optimizely environment, the number of .NET custom modules, your B2B pricing and customer account structure, ERP integration requirements, and catalog size. Talk to our team and we will provide a fixed-scope, fixed-price engagement after reviewing your environment.
How long does an Optimizely to Shopify Plus migration take?
A standard migration from Optimizely Commerce to Shopify Plus takes 10 to 18 weeks from kickoff to go-live, depending on the complexity of your Optimizely environment, the number of custom .NET modules, ERP integration requirements, and catalog size. Heavily customized Configured Commerce deployments or dual Commerce Connect and CMS environments may require additional scoping. Talk to our team and we will estimate the timeline after reviewing your environment.
Will my Optimizely store stay live during the migration?
Yes. Your Optimizely storefront continues taking orders throughout the entire migration. We build and test your Shopify Plus environment in parallel until it is fully validated. The cutover is coordinated to minimize disruption to your operations and your buyers.
Is Shopify Plus better than Optimizely Configured Commerce for B2B?
Shopify Plus is a better operational fit than Optimizely Configured Commerce for most B2B manufacturers and distributors at mid-market scale for three reasons: native B2B functionality that requires no .NET developer to configure or maintain, a flat pricing model that does not scale with GMV or catalog complexity, and a commerce roadmap built specifically around B2B wholesale use cases. Optimizely Configured Commerce provides deep B2B capabilities but requires specialized developer resources to operate and a licensing investment that is significantly higher than Shopify Plus at comparable operational scale.
What happens to my content management setup when I migrate from Optimizely to Shopify?
If your current setup uses Optimizely's CMS alongside Commerce Connect, Uncap assesses both the commerce layer and the content architecture during the migration scope. For most B2B manufacturers, Shopify Plus's native storefront and content capabilities handle standard product and catalog content without a separate CMS. For operations with complex editorial workflows, Shopify integrates cleanly with headless CMS platforms. The migration is scoped to preserve your content architecture where it adds value and simplify it where it adds overhead.
Ready to End Your Optimizely Licensing Cycle?
Every year on Optimizely is another six-figure licensing renewal, another .NET developer retainer, and another roadmap quarter where B2B commerce is not your vendor's primary investment.
Talk to our team. We will audit your Optimizely environment, document every custom module and ERP integration, and give you a fixed-scope plan with timeline and cost.
