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Move your store to a new agency, with your access, code and data in your name.
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Switching eCommerce Agency
A new agency without a lost quarter
We’re an Adobe Commerce, Magento and Shopify agency for brands doing £2m or more online, and a fair number of our clients came to us from another agency. If you’d rather talk about it away from your desk, we’re right next to Piccadilly station in Manchester.
You’ve probably been thinking about it for a while. The tickets take longer than they used to, and the plan you were promised hasn’t appeared. But moving feels risky. You’re not sure who holds the logins, and nobody wants to be the person who broke the store mid-trade.
So we plan the handover before you give notice and get everything into your name. The first month goes on finding out exactly what we’ve inherited.
Most moves start with an NNP Workshop, which gives you a ranked list of what to fix and an outside view of whether moving is the right call at all.
What happens to your store when you switch?
Nothing your customers would notice. The store carries on trading under your current agency until the handover’s done. We don’t touch the live site until we’ve got a full working copy.
| When | What happens | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| Before you give notice | We check who owns your domain, hosting, store, code and data | You and us |
| During your notice period | Access moves across, and your old agency writes up what they know | Both agencies, with our list |
| Week one with us | We take a backup, set up deployments and confirm we can release safely | Us |
| First month | We review the code and every extension or app, and sort anything urgent | Us |
| First fortnightly call | You get a roadmap of what’s a risk, what’s costing you orders and what comes first | Us, with your team |
Our guide on changing eCommerce agency has the full ownership checklist, and it’s worth working through even if you decide to stay.
What do we need from your old agency?
We send a list before the handover, so nothing gets held up. It changes by platform.
On Magento and Adobe Commerce:
- Admin access, and the accounts for every paid extension
- Hosting, SSH and database access, and how deployments currently work
- The code repository, with its full history if there is one
- Extension licences, transferred into your company’s name
On Shopify and Shopify Plus:
- Store ownership, with you as owner and agencies as collaborators
- Access to the theme code, and any custom apps built for you
- A list of installed apps, and who pays for each one
On either:
- Domain, DNS and CDN accounts
- Payment gateway, GA4, Google Tag Manager and Search Console access
- A written note of every integration and how it connects
What if they won’t hand things over?
Most handovers are perfectly civil, and most agencies do this properly. If something does get held back, we’ll tell you what it’s costing you and how to get round it. If a Magento store’s code isn’t in a repository, for example, we take it from the live server and put it in one you own.
Your contract decides who owns what, so read it before you give notice. If it’s unclear, ask your solicitor. We’ll tell you what we’d need to carry on either way.
What moving got Reliant
Reliant knew their market well enough to win on experience. But their old agency was also their ERP provider, and every feature they paid for went out to that provider’s other clients, their competitors included. They left and kept the ERP. We rebuilt on Magento 2 with Hyvä, and they now own the site outright.
Conversion went up 78%, customers spent 17% more per order and annual turnover went up 141%. Within months they were hiring a merchandiser and an SEO manager to keep up.
Increase in Annual Turnover
Increase in Average Order Value
Increase in Conversion Rate
When should you stay where you are?
More often than you’d think. If the real problem is a brief nobody wrote down, or a budget that only covers maintenance, a new agency will hit the same wall a few months later. Say that to your current one first. We’d tell you the same in a Workshop.
Timing matters too. Don’t move in the run-up to peak. For most retailers, January to the end of summer is the safest window. Made up your mind in October? Do the ownership checks now and move once peak’s over.
What’s different once you’re with us?
You get the same team every month, a call every fortnight and a full CRO audit every three months. The plan for each quarter comes from that audit. You’ll know the time and cost of a task before we start it. Your code, accounts and data stay in your name, which makes leaving us easy too.
If you’re on Magento, our Magento support page has the SLA and how retainers work. For Shopify and anything else, see eCommerce maintenance and support.
What our clients say
"What impressed us most was how quickly Actuate identified the root cause. Within the first call they'd spotted the metadata issue that had been tanking our traffic. Everything that followed has been just as sharp."
I like working with Actuate because they care about what they do, they clarify the detail to get the job done right. They have worked incredibly hard with our complex needs and have been on hand for help and advice every step along the way...
Without Actuate's help and support, our original website wouldn’t have succeeded. Time was of the essence, and Actuate stepped in to deliver a swift turnaround. The new site has performed exceptionally well ever since. We continue to grow thanks to Actuate. ❤️ Thanks guys!”
Their team leverages their expertise to provide sound opinions and advice to guide the project in the right direction.
I worked with Actuate on the redevelopment of the Pickett London website. Their team is an excellent asset for any company or team, it was a pleasure to work with them - easy to communicate with, easy to reach and always willing to help.
Working with Actuate is a pleasure — they are really trying to help, they listen and offer solutions to solve the problems. Thanks for all your help so far.
We've worked with Actuate for several years and the results have been consistent. Conversion rate up 113%, AOV up, bounce rate down. They know our business inside out, and it shows.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Ask my questionUsually a few weeks, often matching your notice period. A store with lots of integrations or custom code can take longer. The first month with us then goes on reviewing what we’ve inherited and building your roadmap.
No. The store keeps trading on its current hosting whilst access moves across, and we don’t make changes to the live site until we’ve got a working copy and a safe way of releasing.
Usually not. We’d take over what you’ve got and improve it. If a rebuild is the right answer we’ll say so and show you why, and that’s a separate decision you can make later.
Yes. We take over Magento 2, Adobe Commerce, Shopify and Shopify Plus stores.
Then the separation needs planning properly, and it’s still doable. Reliant’s old agency was also their ERP provider. They kept the ERP, left the agency, and we worked directly with the ERP supplier on a new integration.
Up to you. You can check who owns your accounts without giving a reason, and it’s sensible housekeeping either way.
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