Cart66 to PrestaShop Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from Cart66 to PrestaShop

As your e-commerce business evolves, replatforming to a more robust and flexible solution can be a strategic move. This guide provides a detailed, step-by-step walkthrough for migrating your online store from Cart66 to PrestaShop. PrestaShop offers an open-source, feature-rich environment, providing greater control and scalability for your growing business. While the process of switching platforms, or data transfer, might seem daunting, this guide will simplify each stage to ensure a smooth transition with minimal downtime and optimal data integrity.

We’ll cover everything from initial preparations to post-migration checks, leveraging a streamlined migration wizard to transfer all your vital e-commerce data—including products, customer data, orders, and more—efficiently.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before embarking on your Cart66 to PrestaShop migration, proper preparation is key to a successful data transfer. This section outlines the essential steps to ensure both your source (Cart66) and target (PrestaShop) stores are ready.

• Cart66 Store Preparation:
  • Data Backup: Always create a complete backup of your Cart66 store’s database and files. This is your safety net in case of any unforeseen issues during the migration process.
  • Review Current Data: Take stock of your existing products (including SKUs and variants), customer accounts, order history, and CMS pages. Clean up any redundant or outdated information.
  • Install Cart2Cart Cart66 Migration Module: For a bridge connection, you will need to install the required migration module for Cart66. This facilitates secure data extraction.
  • Access Credentials: Ensure you have full administrative access to your Cart66 store, including FTP access for uploading the connection bridge. For more details, consult The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.
• PrestaShop Store Preparation:
  • Install PrestaShop: Set up a fresh instance of PrestaShop on your chosen hosting environment. Ensure it is fully installed and accessible.
  • Choose Hosting: Select a reliable hosting provider that meets PrestaShop’s technical requirements to ensure optimal performance post-migration.
  • Install Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration Module: Like Cart66, PrestaShop requires a specific migration module for seamless integration.
  • Basic Configuration: Complete initial setup steps like currency, language, and time zone settings. Avoid adding any products or categories, as these will be migrated from Cart66. Learn more about preparing your target store at How to prepare Target store for migration?
  • FTP Access: Have FTP access ready for uploading the connection bridge to your PrestaShop root directory. Understand What is a root folder and where can I find it?

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

This section guides you through the process using the migration wizard, from connecting your stores to initiating the full data transfer.

Step 1: Initiate Your Migration

Begin by accessing the migration wizard. Here, you'll choose to start a do-it-yourself migration, which offers full control over the process. This initial step sets the stage for transferring your Cart66 store data to PrestaShop.

Step 2: Connect Your Cart66 Source Store

In this crucial step, you’ll configure your Cart66 store as the source. Select “Cart66” from the list of supported platforms. Given Cart66’s connection method, you will be required to upload a Connection Bridge. This typically involves downloading a “bridge2cart” zip file, extracting it, and uploading the “bridge2cart” folder to the root directory of your Cart66 installation via FTP. You will also need to provide your Cart66 Admin URL. The system will then validate the connection, ensuring secure API access for data extraction.

Step 3: Connect Your PrestaShop Target Store

Next, configure your PrestaShop store as the target. Select “PrestaShop” as your destination platform and enter its Admin URL. Similar to Cart66, PrestaShop also uses a bridge connection method. You will need to download the Connection Bridge, extract the “bridge2cart” folder, and upload it to your PrestaShop store’s root directory. Once uploaded, the system will verify the connection, allowing for seamless data import.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

Now, you’ll choose which specific data entities you wish to transfer from Cart66 to PrestaShop. The migration wizard provides a comprehensive checklist. You can opt to migrate “All entities” or selectively choose items such as:

• Products (including SKUs and variants, utilizing Cart66’s “Create Variants from Attributes” option)
• Product Categories
• Product Manufacturers
• Product Reviews
• Customers
• Orders
• Invoices
• Taxes
• Stores
• Coupons
• CMS Pages

Carefully review this list to ensure all critical customer data and product information are selected for transfer.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options and Data Mapping

This is where you fine-tune your migration to preserve vital aspects of your store, such as SEO rankings and user experience.

Additional Migration Options

You’ll find a range of additional options to customize your data transfer. Highly recommended options include:

• Clear Target Store Data: “Clear Target” to remove any demo data from your PrestaShop store before migration (Clear current data on Target store before migration option).
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensure product images embedded in descriptions are transferred.
• Preserve IDs: Keep original Product IDs, Category IDs, Customer IDs, and Order IDs (How Preserve IDs options can be used?).
• SEO URLs & 301 Redirects: Critical for maintaining link equity and preventing lost traffic, especially by creating 301 redirects for old Cart66 URLs to their new PrestaShop counterparts.
• Password Migration: Migrate customer passwords to ensure a seamless login experience for your existing customer base.
• Migrate Invoices: Transfer existing invoice records.

Data Mapping Setup

During this stage, you will map your Cart66 customer groups and order statuses to their corresponding equivalents in PrestaShop. This step ensures data consistency and proper categorization of your migrated records.

Step 6: Run Demo Migration & Full Migration

It's highly recommended to run a free Demo Migration first. This transfers a limited number of entities, allowing you to review the quality of the data transfer and identify any potential issues without committing to the full migration cost. After a successful demo and any necessary adjustments, you can proceed with the Full Migration.

During the full migration setup, you’ll see a final overview of selected entities and the total cost. You can also opt for a Migration Insurance Plan, which provides a set number of remigrations for a specified duration, offering peace of mind. Learn more about How Migration Insurance works?

Post-Migration Steps

Once your data has successfully transferred from Cart66 to PrestaShop, a few critical post-migration steps are necessary to ensure your new store is fully operational and optimized.

1. Thorough Testing: Navigate through your new PrestaShop store as both an administrator and a customer.
   • Product Pages: Verify product details, images, SKUs, variants, prices, and inventory levels.
   • Customer Accounts: Test login functionality for migrated customers and ensure their order history is accessible.
   • Checkout Process: Conduct test purchases to ensure payment gateways and shipping methods are working correctly.
   • Search & Navigation: Check site search functionality and category browsing.
   • CMS Pages: Review all migrated content pages for formatting and broken links.
2. Configure New Features: Take advantage of PrestaShop’s extensive features. Explore the PrestaShop Addons Marketplace for new modules and themes to enhance your store's functionality and user experience.
3. Update DNS Settings: If you are pointing your existing domain to the new PrestaShop store, update your DNS records to reflect the new hosting server’s IP address. Allow up to 48 hours for DNS propagation.
4. Implement & Verify 301 Redirects: If you did not activate 301 redirects during the migration, or if any URLs have changed, set up comprehensive 301 redirects. This is crucial for maintaining your SEO rankings and guiding visitors from old Cart66 URLs to their new PrestaShop counterparts.
5. SEO & Analytics Configuration: Set up Google Analytics and Google Search Console for your new PrestaShop store. Submit your new sitemap to search engines for re-indexing. Monitor for any crawl errors or changes in search engine visibility.
6. Remove Old Store: Once you are confident that your PrestaShop store is running perfectly and all data has been validated, you can consider deactivating or removing your old Cart66 store.
7. Ongoing Optimization: Consider services like Recent Data Migration Service for any new data that might have accumulated on your old store during the testing phase, or a Remigration Service if you need to rerun parts of the migration.

Migrating from Cart66 to PrestaShop is a significant undertaking, but with careful planning and execution, it can lead to a more powerful and scalable e-commerce presence. Should you require further assistance or custom solutions, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us for expert support.