The verdict in three sentences
Staying on Magento 1, unpatched since June 2020, exposes a London wholesaler to known vulnerabilities, PHP incompatibilities and costly dependence on whoever still maintains the site. Four paths exist in 2026: Adobe Commerce (GBP 70,000 to 175,000), Shopify Plus B2B (GBP 35,000 to 80,000 plus about USD 2,300 a month), BigCommerce B2B Edition (GBP 35,000 to 85,000) and custom headless (GBP 50,000 to 120,000), over 4 to 8 months. The choice depends less on technology than on three constraints: the complexity of your B2B rules, your ERP integration and keeping your search rankings and customer accounts intact.
Why Magento 1 gets more expensive every year
Oliver, e-commerce manager at a catering equipment wholesaler in Park Royal, pays about GBP 2,200 a month to an agency that bills every fix separately. The site runs on PHP 7.2 with community patches, two payment modules are no longer updated, and the last PCI DSS scan flagged four failures.
Concrete risks of Magento 1 in 2026:
- Exploited vulnerabilities: Magecart-style attacks on old versions remain active, with card theft and potential ICO fines under UK GDPR.
- Fragile hosting: fewer hosts accept end-of-life PHP versions.
- Scarce skills: Magento 1 developers charge GBP 550 to 800 a day in London.
- Blocked roadmap: no clean way to add a new payment method or a modern ERP API.
The options compared
| Criterion | Adobe Commerce | Shopify Plus B2B | BigCommerce B2B Edition | Custom headless |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project cost (2026 ballpark) | GBP 70,000 to 175,000 | GBP 35,000 to 80,000 | GBP 35,000 to 85,000 | GBP 50,000 to 120,000 |
| Recurring cost | Revenue-based licence, often GBP 22,000 to 52,000 a year | about USD 2,300 a month plus apps | GBP 15,000 to 40,000 a year | Hosting and maintenance |
| Native B2B features | Very rich: company accounts, quotes, shared catalogues | Good: catalogues, payment terms, companies | Strong: quotes, buyer portal, price lists | Exactly what you need |
| Data migration | Closest to Magento 1 | Import tools, URL changes | Import tools, URL changes | Dedicated scripts |
| Timeline | 6 to 8 months | 4 to 5 months | 4 to 6 months | 5 to 7 months |
| Lock-in | Adobe ecosystem and certified partners | Platform and third-party apps | Platform and B2B add-on | Your code, your hosting |
| Best fit | GBP 25 M+ online revenue, complex rules | Simple catalogue, speed first | Mid-size B2B with quotes | Specific business rules, ERP-centric |
A fifth path exists for tight budgets: Magento Open Source 2 or Mage-OS, licence-free, at GBP 40,000 to 90,000 for migration. It keeps Magento logic but requires sustained technical upkeep.
What must be preserved during migration
| Item | Risk if forgotten | Action |
|---|---|---|
| URLs and 301 redirects | 20 to 50% loss of organic traffic | Full redirect map, tested on 100% of indexed URLs |
| Customer accounts and passwords | Customers locked out | Migrate hashes or guided reset |
| Order history | Customer service blind | Import at least the last 3 years |
| B2B price terms | Wrong prices, disputes | Pull from the ERP rather than Magento |
| Product data and attributes | Thin product pages | Attribute-by-attribute mapping |
| Payment data | PCI non-compliance | No card data migrated, new tokens |
SEO preservation starts at discovery: a wholesaler getting 35% of new accounts from organic search cannot afford three months of decline.
Mini case study
Oliver's company does GBP 8 million of online revenue with 2,600 trade accounts. He compares two three-year scenarios.
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- Stay on Magento 1: maintenance GBP 26,000 a year, ad hoc fixes GBP 13,000 a year, breach risk estimated at 10% a year with a GBP 130,000 incident cost, so GBP 13,000 annualised risk. Total: GBP 156,000 over 3 years, with zero improvements.
- Migrate to custom headless: project GBP 82,000, hosting and maintenance GBP 16,000 a year. Total: GBP 130,000 over 3 years, with a maintainable site.
- Expected conversion gain after rebuilding journeys: +0.3 points on GBP 8 M, about GBP 240,000 extra revenue a year at constant traffic.
Even before conversion gains, migrating costs less than staying. The question is no longer if, but when.
FAQ
Can we migrate in stages?
Yes, with a headless approach: the new front end can replace the catalogue first, then checkout, while Magento 1 stays as back office for 3 to 6 months. It lowers risk but adds 10 to 15% to the budget.
How long does SEO take to stabilise?
With a clean redirect plan, most sites recover 95% of organic traffic within 4 to 8 weeks.
Is Shopify Plus right for a wholesaler?
Yes for under 20,000 SKUs and standard pricing. Beyond 5 discount tiers per customer, third-party apps multiply and recurring cost rises by USD 500 to 1,500 a month.
Should we change ERP at the same time?
Rarely: running two migrations in parallel doubles the risk. Migrate the site first, the ERP later, unless end of support is imminent.
What happens to the current agency?
They can handle transition maintenance for 2 to 3 months during cutover. Secure access and code ownership at contract signature.
Let's scope your project. An audit of your current Magento, your B2B rules and your ERP shows the right path and timeline. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.