aMember Pro to Volusion Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from aMember Pro to Volusion

Embarking on an e-commerce platform migration can feel like a daunting task, but with the right guidance and tools, your journey from aMember Pro to Volusion can be smooth and successful. This comprehensive guide is designed to help you navigate every step of the replatforming process, ensuring your valuable data – from customer information to product details – is securely transferred to your new Volusion store.

While aMember Pro excels as a membership and subscription management system, many merchants seek dedicated e-commerce functionalities and greater scalability offered by platforms like Volusion. This transition opens up new opportunities for enhanced selling features, improved storefront management, and a robust e-commerce ecosystem.

Since aMember Pro is primarily a membership platform and not directly supported as a native shopping cart for automated migrations, we will utilize a CSV file export approach to transfer your data. This method allows you to export your aMember Pro data into structured CSV files, which can then be imported into the migration tool to facilitate the move to Volusion.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before you begin the data transfer, careful preparation is key to a successful transition. Ensuring both your source (aMember Pro) and target (Volusion) stores are ready will prevent common pitfalls and streamline the process.

• aMember Pro (Source Store) Preparation:
  As aMember Pro data will be migrated via CSV, your primary task involves exporting your existing data. Focus on extracting customer records, orders (if handled by aMember Pro), and any associated product or subscription data into well-structured CSV files. Take this opportunity to clean up any redundant or outdated information to ensure only relevant data is moved. For detailed guidance, consult our resource on How to prepare Source store for migration?.
• Volusion (Target Store) Setup:
  You will need a fresh Volusion store already set up. This involves registering your account, choosing a basic theme, and performing initial configurations such as currency settings, shipping zones, and payment gateway integration. A crucial step for Volusion is the installation of the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module. This plugin is required for our migration tool to establish a proper connection and facilitate data transfer via a bridge. For more information on preparing your new store, read our guide on How to prepare Target store for migration?.
• Access Credentials:
  You will need full administrative access to your Volusion store. This includes your admin login, password, store URL, and FTP access to upload the necessary bridge files. For a comprehensive overview of required credentials, see The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.
• Data Backup:
  Always perform a complete backup of your aMember Pro database and files before initiating any migration. While the process is designed to be safe, a backup provides an essential safety net.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, let's walk through the step-by-step process of migrating your aMember Pro data to Volusion using an automated migration wizard. The process typically starts by accessing the migration tool's interface:

Step 1: Set Up Your Source Store (aMember Pro via CSV)

Connecting your aMember Pro data is the initial critical step. In the migration wizard, select "CSV File to Cart" as your Source Cart. This option allows you to upload the CSV files you exported from aMember Pro containing your products, customer information, orders, and other relevant entities.

Since aMember Pro isn't a direct platform connection, the migration will proceed via file uploads. Ensure your CSV files are formatted correctly to allow for accurate data parsing. This method leverages the CSV.File Data Migration service, which is ideal for platforms requiring manual data export.

Step 2: Connect to Your Target Volusion Store

Next, you'll specify Volusion as your Target Cart. Provide the full URL of your new Volusion store. The connection method for Volusion is "Bridge only," which requires the installation of the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module and FTP access. This module acts as a secure conduit for data transfer between the migration tool and your Volusion database. You'll typically need to upload a "bridge" file to your Volusion store's root directory via FTP. Understanding What is a root folder and where can I find it? will be helpful here.

Step 3: Choose Data Entities for Transfer

This step allows you to precisely select which types of data you wish to move from your aMember Pro CSV files to your Volusion store. The migration tool typically supports entities like Products, Product Categories, Customers, Orders, and more. You can choose to migrate all available data or pick specific entities based on your business needs. This flexibility ensures that only the relevant information is transferred, maintaining data integrity.

• Supported Entities for Volusion (from CsvToCart): Products, Products_Categories, Products_Manufacturers, Products_Reviews, Customers, Orders, Invoices, Taxes, Stores, Coupons, CMS_Pages.

Step 4: Configure Additional Options & Data Mapping

This crucial step allows you to fine-tune your migration settings and ensure data consistency between platforms.

Additional Migration Options

You'll find various checkboxes for advanced settings that can significantly impact the outcome of your data transfer:

• Preserve Product IDs, Preserve Orders IDs, Preserve Customers IDs: These options are highly recommended to maintain consistency and prevent broken links or references in your new store. Learn more about How Preserve IDs options can be used?.
• Create 301 SEO URLs: Essential for maintaining your search engine rankings and preventing '404 not found' errors by automatically redirecting old URLs to new ones.
• Password Migration: Allows existing customer passwords to be migrated securely.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures product images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Clear Target: This option will delete all existing data on your Volusion store before migration. Use with caution, especially if your Volusion store already contains important data. For details, see Clear current data on Target store before migration option.

Data Mapping

Data mapping ensures that your aMember Pro data fields correspond correctly to Volusion's structure. This is particularly important for customer groups and order statuses. The wizard will present you with dropdown menus to match source fields (from your CSV) to target fields (in Volusion), ensuring data like customer roles and order states are transferred correctly, preserving data integrity and user experience.

Step 5: Run a Free Demo Migration (Optional but Recommended)

Before committing to a full migration, performing a free demo migration is highly recommended. This allows you to transfer a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, orders) to your Volusion store. It's an invaluable opportunity to:

• Preview the migration results and verify data accuracy.
• Check how product variants, customer data, and order details appear in Volusion.
• Identify and resolve any potential issues before the full data transfer.

Step 6: Perform Full Data Migration

Once you are satisfied with the demo results, you can proceed with the full data migration. Review all your selected entities and chosen additional options one last time. You may also consider adding Migration Insurance Service, which offers remigrations for a specified period, providing peace of mind during complex transitions. For more details on how it works, see How Migration Insurance works?.

Initiate the full migration, and the tool will transfer all your selected data to your new Volusion store. Depending on the volume of your data, this process can take some time. You will be notified upon completion.

Post-Migration Steps

A successful data transfer is a major milestone, but your work isn't quite done. Several critical post-migration tasks will ensure your new Volusion store is fully operational and optimized.

• Thorough Data Review: Begin by meticulously checking all migrated data. Verify that product SKUs, prices, images, descriptions, customer accounts, order histories, and other essential details are accurate and complete on your Volusion store.
• Configure Storefront & Functionality: Customize your Volusion theme to match your brand identity. Set up your payment gateways, shipping methods, and tax rules. Integrate any third-party apps or plugins necessary for your business operations.
• Test All Store Functions: Perform comprehensive tests. Place a few test orders, process returns, create customer accounts, and test all forms and interactive elements to ensure everything functions as expected for a seamless user experience.
• Update DNS & Implement Redirects: Point your domain name to your new Volusion store. If you used the "Create 301 SEO URLs" option, verify that the redirects are working correctly to preserve link equity and prevent SEO rankings from dropping.
• SEO & Analytics Configuration: Update your Google Search Console with your new sitemap and monitor for any crawl errors. Reconfigure Google Analytics and any other tracking tools to monitor traffic and sales on your new Volusion platform. Note: While core product and category SEO is handled, be aware that Volusion has certain limitations regarding SEO options for blogs. If your aMember Pro setup included blog content or extensive multi-store configurations, a manual review of blog SEO and specific variant setups might be necessary on Volusion.
• Inform Your Customers: Announce the launch of your new and improved Volusion store to your customer base.