Data backup · Ecommerce
Backup policies for ecommerce stores.
Protect orders, products, and customer data with versioned backups and fast restores.
What to back up (and why it hurts when you don’t).
- Database (orders, customers): hourly or better—losing a day of orders means missing payroll and refunds.
- Product images and assets: keep versions so you can roll back bad uploads.
- Theme/templates and configuration: capture code + settings so a bad deploy doesn’t kill checkout.
- Inventory sync logs: reconcile stock after a restore; avoid double-shipping or canceled orders.
Recovery best practices
- Stage restores before production cutover.
- Retention matched to order history needs.
- Alerts on backup failures and slow jobs.
Fear factors: what you really risk.
Cloud-based doesn’t mean “safe.” Losing data for even a few hours costs more than storage ever will.
- Missed payroll because a day of orders vanished; cashflow hits immediately.
- Lost shipping labels and fulfillment queues; carriers still charge, customers still expect delivery.
- Inventory drift after sync failures: oversells, angry customers, and returns overhead.
- Checkout misconfigurations after “minor” changes—no backups means no fast rollback.
Stay ahead
Proof, not hope
- Frequent increments even on SaaS platforms; export data routinely.
- Test restores quarterly; document how long it takes to get back online.
- Keep a rollback plan for theme/config changes to avoid downtime.
- Alerting on backup failures and slow jobs—don’t discover it during an incident.
RPO, RTO, and audit-ready archives.
Set clear recovery targets and keep the history you need for finance, tax, and compliance.
- RPO: how much data loss you tolerate—often measured in minutes for orders.
- RTO: how fast you must restore checkout and fulfillment.
- Archiving: monthly/quarterly snapshots for audits, chargebacks, and disputes.
- Ownership: who triggers restores, who validates, and who signs off.
Targets that hold
Audit friendly
- Document RPO/RTO per system (orders, products, content, settings).
- Keep offsite copies plus fast local copies for quick restores.
- Retain logs of changes to inventory, pricing, and discounts for reconciliation.
- Store periodic exports for tax/audit windows—even if your platform is “cloud-based.”