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E-commerce Replatforms: Setting Expectations, Cutting Scope, and Launching - Josh Johnston
Josh Johnston has replatformed more than once. He's survived the executive pressure, the scope creep, the SI promises that don't hold, and the promotions engine that no out-of-the-box platform can actually handle. Now, as Senior Director of Online Experience at Trail Appliances — a 50-year-old appliance retailer operating across two branches in Western Canada — he's just completed what he calls the smoothest replatform of his career. Full composable rebuild. Twelve months. Under budget.
But the replatform is just the backdrop.
What Josh really came to talk about is the evolution of the e-commerce leadership role itself — why directors who stay in their lane are becoming obsolete, how to weaponize customer data in executive forums, and what it actually takes to get a CFO to fund something they don't understand yet.
We also get into Trail's AI-powered live chat widget that drove a 4x conversion lift, Josh's vision for how LLMs will reconstruct personalized storefronts in the next 36 months, and why composable architecture isn't just a tech decision — it's how you stay ready for what's coming.
If you're a Director of E-Commerce who's been asked to do more with less, report to people who don't understand your world, or justify investment in things that won't pay back for six months — this one's for you.
Want any help Personalizing Every Customer Touchpoint?
Check out https://Mobile1st.com
Interested in talking to Justin or getting on the show, find him on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinaronstein/
Key Topics:
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By Justin AronsteinJosh Johnston has replatformed more than once. He's survived the executive pressure, the scope creep, the SI promises that don't hold, and the promotions engine that no out-of-the-box platform can actually handle. Now, as Senior Director of Online Experience at Trail Appliances — a 50-year-old appliance retailer operating across two branches in Western Canada — he's just completed what he calls the smoothest replatform of his career. Full composable rebuild. Twelve months. Under budget.
But the replatform is just the backdrop.
What Josh really came to talk about is the evolution of the e-commerce leadership role itself — why directors who stay in their lane are becoming obsolete, how to weaponize customer data in executive forums, and what it actually takes to get a CFO to fund something they don't understand yet.
We also get into Trail's AI-powered live chat widget that drove a 4x conversion lift, Josh's vision for how LLMs will reconstruct personalized storefronts in the next 36 months, and why composable architecture isn't just a tech decision — it's how you stay ready for what's coming.
If you're a Director of E-Commerce who's been asked to do more with less, report to people who don't understand your world, or justify investment in things that won't pay back for six months — this one's for you.
Want any help Personalizing Every Customer Touchpoint?
Check out https://Mobile1st.com
Interested in talking to Justin or getting on the show, find him on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinaronstein/
Key Topics: