Business Case LI-COR + Onset · Commerce Replatform

Seven strategic pillars. One enabling platform.

Most replatform conversations start with technology. This one starts with strategy — the seven growth pillars shaping where LI-COR and Onset are headed, and how the right commerce platform activates every one of them.

ForKristin & the leadership team
FromPlum Tree Group
PreparedMay 2026

Replatform as a strategic act — not a technical one.

A commerce replatform isn't a project that lives inside IT. It's the foundation underneath every growth ambition a company holds. Get it right, and every other strategic move — new customer acquisition, channel expansion, international, AI — gets faster, cheaper, and more measurable.

The question in front of LI-COR and Onset isn't "do we need a new commerce platform?" — it's "which platform decision best supports the seven pillars driving the business?"

That's the question this case answers.

Operational improvement. We are a small team and just really figuring out what that looks like to be able to adapt quickly to differing business needs and testing things and figuring out what works. Emily, May 27 scoping call
The Seven Strategic Pillars

Every growth ambition is connected to commerce.

Seven pillars frame where LI-COR and Onset are headed. For each one, a modern commerce platform isn't just helpful — it's the foundation that makes the pillar achievable. Here's how the replatform activates each.

1
Pillar · Retention

Customer & account growth.

The cheapest revenue is from the customer you already have. Repeat orders, second purchases, expanded basket size, and lifetime spend on existing accounts — the lowest-hanging fruit on the growth tree.

Replatforming activates this through
  • Modern My Account experience with order history, reorder, and saved carts
  • Native subscription handling for data plans & renewals
  • Lifecycle triggers (e.g. “your battery is 6 months old”) without custom dev
  • Native cross-sell, bundles, and accessory attach on PDPs and cart
2
Pillar · Acquisition

New customer acquisition.

Every net-new customer initiative — PPC, paid social, organic, AEO — ends at a product page or a checkout. A modern storefront converts more of the visitors marketing is already paying to bring in.

Replatforming activates this through
  • Faster pages, cleaner checkout, transparent shipping — measurable CR lift
  • Modern PDPs with media, reviews, comparisons — native, not custom
  • B2B features (shared lists, quotes, customer-specific catalogs) on first-class footing
  • GTM and analytics finally working — paid campaigns become tunable
3
Pillar · Distribution

Channel expansion.

Meet customers where they spend their time. Marketplaces, scientific distributors, B2B portals, partner ecosystems — channel reach scales the brand without scaling acquisition cost.

Replatforming activates this through
  • Native Feedonomics integration for catalog syndication to every major channel
  • API-first architecture — partners and marketplaces connect cleanly
  • Easier data extraction for partner integrations and reporting
  • Multi-storefront ready for marketplace-specific or partner-specific experiences
4
Pillar · Leverage

Operational excellence & leverage.

A leaner team is being asked to do more. Technology has to work for the team — not against it. Today's stack creates a dev ticket for every change; tomorrow's enables marketing and ecommerce to self-serve.

Replatforming activates this through
  • 116 of 171 Wishlist tickets are work a modern platform shrinks, eliminates, or self-services
  • Native features replace dozens of custom modules — less to maintain
  • One platform instead of two — no more Drupal ↔ iShop sync
  • Reduced concentration risk — capability distributes across the team
5
Pillar · Intelligence

AI-forward by default.

More with less means AI as a co-pilot across operations and commerce. The platform should make AI integration native, not a custom project, so the team can adopt new capabilities as fast as they emerge.

Replatforming activates this through
  • Native MCP server (BigCommerce) — AI applications integrate without custom plumbing
  • Modern, well-documented APIs that AI agents can reason over and call directly
  • App ecosystem with AI-native solutions for merchandising, content, support, and ops
  • Foundation for AI-assisted catalog enrichment, customer service, and personalization
6
Pillar · Geography

International growth.

Direct international demand is under-served today. A modern platform can localize the experience for direct buyers and complement the existing distributor strategy — without re-architecting for every new region.

Replatforming activates this through
  • Native Zonos integration for international checkout and duties handling
  • Multi-currency, multi-language, and regional storefront capability out of the box
  • Integrations with tax, carrier, and localization tools through the BigCommerce app store
  • Multi-storefront architecture supports regional or partner-led international experiences
7
Pillar · Long Horizon (5–10 years)

Becoming a data & intelligence partner — not just a hardware company.

The most strategic pillar, and the longest horizon. In the next decade, LI-COR and HOBO Cloud are the foundation for a different kind of business — one that's a partner to customer research, projects, and outcomes, not just a hardware vendor. That means recurring subscription revenue at higher margins, product insights that feed back into innovation, and a customer relationship that compounds over time.

Replatforming activates this through
  • Modern APIs and event streams — the foundation any data product needs
  • Native subscription & recurring billing for software, services, and data plans
  • Unified customer profile across hardware purchases and Cloud / Connect subscriptions
  • Clean handoff between commerce and Cloud / Connect — today's biggest UX gap, gone
  • Foundation to attach analytics, intelligence, and AI-driven insights to every customer relationship
  • Acquisition-ready architecture — absorb additional brands without re-platforming each time
Two Paths · Same Destination

Two platform paths — one clear recommendation.

Each option puts both brands onto a modern commerce engine. The choice is really about Drupal. Option A keeps Drupal as the content layer and pairs it with a modern commerce platform (BigCommerce, Shopify, or similar) in place of iShop — a lower entry cost when LI-COR's internal Drupal capability carries part of the load, higher cost if Plum Tree owns it end to end. Option B — our recommendation — consolidates both brands onto BigCommerce Enterprise Foundation with its native CMS: one platform, one team to train, the simplest path to scale.

Option A

Drupal + a modern commerce platform.

Preserve Drupal for content; a modern commerce engine for the storefront.

Keep Drupal as the system of record for resources, technical content, and brand pages. A modern commerce platform (BigCommerce, Shopify, or similar) replaces iShop and powers cart, checkout, accounts, and B2B. The two systems integrate via APIs. Scope range is intentionally wide — the lower end assumes LI-COR's internal Drupal capability handles the Drupal-side work; the upper end has Plum Tree owning a Drupal redesign or rebuild as well.

Pros
  • Preserves years of Drupal content investment
  • Lower entry cost available when LI-COR drives the Drupal-side work
  • Plays to existing internal Drupal expertise
Cons
  • Two systems to maintain — doesn't reduce the “keep two things in sync” problem
  • At the low end: stuck with legacy Drupal UX — limited room to improve the experience
  • At the high end: cost rises quickly as Plum Tree owns more Drupal scope
  • Continued dependency on Drupal expertise — least reduction in concentration risk
Indicative Range
$65K – $125K
4–8 months · scope depends on Drupal-side ownership
Recommended Option B

BigCommerce Enterprise Foundation — one platform, native CMS.

Commerce, content, and B2B in one platform. The simplest path to scale.

BigCommerce running both brands on a single platform via native multi-storefront. Content, commerce, B2B, and account management in one system, with BigCommerce's built-in CMS handling pages, blog, and resources. Drupal and iShop retired in full. Fastest to launch, lowest ongoing burden.

Pros
  • One system to run, one team to train, one place to ship from
  • Fastest time to launch — lowest integration overhead
  • Native CMS is solid and user-friendly for the marketing team
  • Native multi-storefront supports both brands today and future acquisitions
  • Lowest ongoing maintenance cost and largest reduction in concentration risk
Cons
  • Less front-end flexibility than a fully headless stack
  • Native CMS lacks true content staging workflows — may or may not matter
  • Content team adapts to platform-native CMS conventions
Indicative Range
$80K – $90K
4–5 months · simplest path, fastest launch
The Math · ROI Calculator

Run your own numbers.

The defaults are illustrative. Drop in your actual traffic, conversion, and AOV — plus what you're paying for the current stack today — to see what the total annual value looks like for LI-COR and Onset specifically. Cost savings are bankable on day one; revenue lift compounds as targets are met.

Inputs · Your Numbers

Revenue Levers

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Current Annual Infrastructure

Drop in actual numbers from current invoices. Defaults are illustrative.

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New Annual Infrastructure

Modeled for BigCommerce Enterprise B2B. Tighten with your team during Phase 02.

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Project Investment

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Outputs · The Case

Total Annual Value
$0
Revenue lift plus infrastructure savings combined.
Revenue Lift
Current Annual Revenue
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Today's run-rate
New Annual Revenue
$0
With the targets applied
Infrastructure Savings Bankable Day 1
Current Annual Stack
$0
Drupal + iShop + contractor + other
Annual Savings
$0
Doesn't require revenue execution
Payback
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Year-1 Net
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3-Year ROI
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Total annual value combines projected revenue lift with annual infrastructure savings (current stack cost minus new stack cost). Math is intentionally simple — gross revenue lift, no margin or ramp adjustment. Numbers illustrate directional value, not committed forecasts.

What to Watch · Risks & Mitigations

Four risks — none of them surprises.

Every replatform carries known risk patterns. The four below are specific to LI-COR and Onset, and each has a clear mitigation plan built into the recommended sequence.

Risk · High

ERP integration with Infor SyteLine.

The biggest historical lift. Whatever platform we choose, the integration with SyteLine for orders, customers, products, and inventory is the critical path. Folio3's prior SOW excluded this entirely — a major reason their number looked deceptively low.

Mitigation

Dedicated technical discovery up front, with the SyteLine integration approach locked before build begins. A POC option is available to validate the connection before major investment.

Risk · Medium

Configurator experience (RX2100 & build-a-system).

The compatibility logic across station modules is real customization. It's not unique to LI-COR or Onset — we've delivered configurators many times — but it is the most distinctive piece of work in scope, and the place where requirements need to be tight.

Mitigation

Configurator scoped as its own workstream with sample flows validated against current product matrices before build. Doogma (sister company in the Plum Tree ecosystem) brings deep configurator expertise if needed.

Risk · Medium

Site search relevance and discoverability.

Current search is a known gap — multiple Jira tickets, raised in prior workshops. Modern platforms have substantially better native search, but tuning relevance for instrumentation taxonomy is where the work shows.

Mitigation

Site search is a recommended POC target. A focused proof of value in 1–2 weeks demonstrates capability and de-risks the larger investment before it's made.

Risk · Medium

SEO equity through the URL transition.

Whether or not onsetcomp.com migrates to hobodataloggers.com, every URL change carries short-term SEO risk — potential temporary traffic dip in the first 60–90 days. Long-term, a cleaner URL strategy is a meaningful upside.

Mitigation

Comprehensive 301 redirect plan, Search Console handoff strategy, and pre/post benchmarking. GTM enablement in Phase 0 is what makes any of this measurable.

Sequencing · The Roadmap

Start with proof. Earn the bigger commitment.

Four phases. The first is intentionally small — a POC sprint that mitigates the named risks before significant investment is made. Each subsequent phase is a go / no-go decision the leadership team controls.

Phase 01
POC & Proof of Value
  • De-risk a named concern
  • Validate platform choice
  • Demonstrable artifact
  • Credit toward full scope
Est. ~5–10% of project value — a small upfront investment for the first 1–2 weeks, credited toward the full engagement if you proceed.
Phase 02
Discovery & Design
  • SyteLine integration design
  • GTM & analytics baseline
  • Brand-template design system
  • Scope and SOW locked
Phase 03
Build
  • Platform & both storefronts
  • Configurator workstream
  • SyteLine integration
  • Content migration · Drupal sunset
Phase 04
Launch
  • Final QA & UAT
  • Phased go-live (Onset, then LI-COR)
  • Cutover & monitoring
  • Team training & enablement
Phase 05
Optimize
  • Conversion testing & tuning
  • Phase 3 Digital optimization
  • 30 / 60 / 90 day reviews
  • Continuous improvement roadmap
Timeline · Relative Duration Launch in ~Day 90–120
POC
Discovery & Design
Build
Launch
Optimize
Day 0 Day 90–120 · Launch + 30–60 days optimization
What's Next

From here to a signed scope.

Three steps. Each one small enough to commit to. Together they get from this conversation to a launched platform that activates every one of the seven pillars.

  1. 01
    Working session to align on direction 30 minutes with Emily and John to react to this case, confirm the recommended path (Option B), and identify the right POC target.
  2. 02
    Phase 01 — the POC sprint 1 to 2 weeks. Concrete proof of value. Real artifacts. Output ready to share with Kristin and the broader leadership team. Investment is credited toward the full engagement.
  3. 03
    Phase 02 — discovery, scope lock, signed SOW 3 to 5 weeks. SyteLine integration design, measurement foundation, final scope, signed agreement. Build kicks off from there.
Ready for review

A full Statement of Work has already been prepared. It details the complete scope, the five-phase plan, investment, and terms for the recommended path. View the full SOW provided alongside this document (linked or sent via email) for the line-by-line detail behind everything summarized here.

Appendix A · Scope Summary

What's in scope, in plain language.

A summary of what this project covers, drawn from the May 27, 2026 discovery call with Emily, Nathan, and John. A full Statement of Work has now been prepared and is available for review — this plain-language summary is the working understanding behind it, with final scope confirmed during Phase 02.

Project Overview

Migrate licor.com and onsetcomp.com onto a single BigCommerce platform via native multi-storefront.

  • Two distinct customer-facing sites sharing one platform's infrastructure, content models, and back-office
  • Drupal and iShop retired in full at launch
  • Architecture designed to absorb future brand acquisitions without re-platforming
  • Plum Tree leads platform, integrations, and brand-storefront delivery; LI-COR provides product, content, and stakeholder access
01

Design & experience

  • Approach: “partial lift and shift” — targeted improvements during migration, not a full redesign
  • Two brand storefronts (LI-COR + Onset) preserved as distinct customer experiences
  • Shared component library underneath; brand-specific theming and content on top
  • Targeted UX upgrades on PDPs, checkout, and account experience
  • Modern mobile-first responsive treatment across both brands
02

Third-party integrations

  • Infor SyteLine (ERP) — orders, customers, products, inventory; the critical-path integration
  • Zonos — international checkout (continued, with cleaner integration)
  • Salesforce + Pardot — CRM, web forms, marketing automation, chat (preserved)
  • Google Analytics & GTM — implementation and enablement (currently a gap)
  • Transactional emails moved from iShop to native BigCommerce
  • LI-COR Cloud / HOBO Connect — commerce-to-cloud handoff improved (cloud apps stay separate)
03

Feature customization

  • Build-a-System configurator (RX2100 and related) — retained with targeted UX improvement
  • Subscription / data plan attach for cell-enabled stations
  • Modern native faceted site search replaces today's known gap
  • Account experience: order history, saved cart, reorder, account marketing
  • Native B2B Edition: customer terms, POs, customer-specific pricing
  • Advanced B2B (account hierarchy, custom catalogs) treated as nice-to-have, not in scope today
04

Fulfillment

  • Standard UPS / FedEx / USPS carriers — no exotic shipping rules
  • International model preserved: distributors for partner-served regions; Zonos + Bourne warehouse for direct international
  • Backorder acceptance — current policy retained
  • No on-site inventory visibility — current policy retained
  • Shipping cost transparency improved earlier in the checkout flow
05

Data migration

  • Products — catalog, SKUs, content, images, variants, configurator data
  • Content — pages, blog, technical resources, downloads
  • Customer accounts — profiles, addresses, saved carts
  • Order history — lightweight approach (iframe or basic display), pending Kristin's confirmation
  • Subscription data lives in LI-COR Cloud / HOBO Connect — out of scope for migration
06

SEO equity migration

  • Comprehensive 301 redirect plan from current URL structure to new
  • Search Console handoff, validation, and post-launch monitoring
  • Pre/post benchmarking enabled by GTM + analytics implementation
  • Potential URL transition (onsetcomp.com → hobodataloggers.com) — analysis required, decision pending
  • Short-term traffic dip mitigation; long-term upside from cleaner URL structure
Targeted Improvements

Specific user-facing wins we'll capture in the migration.

  • Modernized My Account — order history, one-click reorder, saved carts, profile management
  • Automated shipment tracking — surfaced in My Account and transactional emails
  • Build-a-System configurator UX — cleaner flow, better visuals, faster compatibility selection
  • Refreshed PDPs — modern layout, richer media (incl. video), clearer specs and compatibility
  • Native cross-sell & product comparison — “Customers Also Bought,” related products, side-by-side compare
  • Modern faceted site search — better relevance, filters, search-as-you-type
  • Cleaner checkout flow — shipping cost visible earlier, fewer steps, mobile-first
  • Open, modern API access — well-documented endpoints for partners and internal tools
  • AI-native foundation — MCP server, AI-ready APIs, AI-first apps in the ecosystem
  • One-click app ecosystem — BigCommerce app store covers common needs without custom dev
  • Faster page performance & mobile-first experience — modern speed, strong Core Web Vitals
Not in this engagement. Mobile app strategy, LI-COR Cloud / HOBO Connect re-architecture, distributor-side international fulfillment, ground-up brand redesign, and marketplace channel expansion are recognized as adjacent opportunities but treated as out of scope here. They are surfaced for sequencing and can be scoped separately after launch.