CartKeeper to Volusion Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from CartKeeper to Volusion

Embarking on an e-commerce platform migration can be a pivotal moment for your online business. Moving from CartKeeper to Volusion offers an opportunity to leverage a robust, feature-rich platform designed to scale with your growth. This authoritative guide will walk you through the essential steps, ensuring a smooth and successful data transfer, preserving your valuable customer data, product SKUs, and hard-earned SEO rankings.

Since CartKeeper does not have a direct API integration with migration tools, this guide will focus on a highly effective method: migrating your data from CartKeeper via CSV file export to your new Volusion store. This approach ensures maximum data integrity and control over your entire store's inventory, customer records, and order history.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before you begin the replatforming process, a few crucial preparations are necessary to ensure a seamless data transfer and minimize potential downtime.

For Your CartKeeper (Source) Store:

• Data Export: Systematically export all essential data from your CartKeeper store into CSV files. This includes:
  • Products (with variants, attributes, descriptions, images, SKUs)
  • Product Categories
  • Customer Information (names, addresses, order history, passwords if possible)
  • Orders (statuses, details, invoices)
  • Product Reviews
  • Manufacturers
  • Coupons
  • CMS Pages

  Ensure your CSV files are well-structured and accurate. For detailed guidance on preparing your data, consult our CSV.File Data Migration service. Additionally, learn more about how to prepare your Source store for migration.

• Full Backup: Always create a complete backup of your CartKeeper store's database and files. This is a critical safety measure, allowing you to restore your store if any unforeseen issues arise during the export process.
• Review Data: Before exporting, take time to review your existing data for any inconsistencies or outdated information. Clean data will lead to a cleaner migration.

For Your Volusion (Target) Store:

• New Volusion Account: Ensure you have an active Volusion account and a fresh, empty store ready to receive the migrated data. It’s ideal to start with a clean slate to avoid conflicts. Get more insights on how to prepare your Target store for migration.
• Volusion Bridge Module: Volusion migrations require the installation of a specific migration module (often referred to as a 'Bridge') to establish a secure connection. This bridge, usually a set of files, needs to be uploaded to the root directory of your Volusion store via FTP. This is a one-time requirement to allow the migration tool to access and import data directly into your new platform.
• Admin Access: Have full administrative credentials (admin login, admin password, admin URL) for your Volusion store readily available. For more details on necessary credentials, refer to The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.
• FTP Access: You'll need FTP credentials to upload the required Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module to your store's server.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, you are ready to initiate the data transfer. Follow these steps carefully to move your e-commerce data from CartKeeper (via CSV) to Volusion.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by accessing the migration wizard. This is your starting point for configuring the entire migration process.

Step 2: Connect Your CartKeeper (via CSV) Store

Since CartKeeper isn't directly listed, you'll select 'CSV File to Cart' as your Source Cart. Upload your prepared CSV files containing all your CartKeeper data (products, customers, orders, etc.). This acts as the bridge for your CartKeeper data.

Step 3: Connect Your Volusion Store

Next, select 'Volusion' as your Target Cart. Provide your Volusion store's URL. You will then be prompted to download the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module and upload it to the root folder of your Volusion store via FTP. This module facilitates the secure connection for data transfer.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

In this step, you will choose which data entities you wish to migrate from your CSV files into Volusion. The migration tool supports a comprehensive list, including:

• Products
• Product Categories
• Product Manufacturers
• Product Reviews
• Customers
• Orders
• Invoices
• Taxes
• Coupons
• CMS Pages

Please note that while your CartKeeper CSV may contain blog data, Volusion's platform capabilities mean that SEO options for blogs are typically excluded, and direct blog migration is not universally supported. Therefore, you may need to manually migrate blog content if applicable.

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options

Enhance your migration by selecting various additional options. These can significantly impact the outcome and user experience on your new Volusion store.

• Migrate Images in Description: Essential for preserving product and category imagery within descriptions.
• Clear Target: Opt to clear any existing data on your Volusion store before migration, ensuring a clean import. (Recommended for fresh stores).
• Preserve Product IDs, Orders IDs, Customers IDs: These options are crucial for maintaining consistency and avoiding broken links. Learn how Preserve IDs options can be used.
• SEO URLs & 301 SEO URLs / Create 301 SEO URLs: Critical for maintaining your search engine rankings and link equity. This creates redirects from your old CartKeeper URLs to the new Volusion ones.
• Migrate Invoices: Transfers your invoice data for financial record-keeping.
• Password Migration: Allows customers to log in with their existing credentials on the new Volusion store.
• Create Variants from Attributes: If your products have attributes, this helps create proper product variants in Volusion.
• Skip Custom Attributes: Useful if you only want to migrate standard product data.

Step 6: Data Mapping Setup

This critical step involves mapping customer groups and order statuses from your CartKeeper data to their corresponding fields in Volusion. Accurate mapping ensures that your customer segmentation and order workflow remain consistent.

Step 7: Run Demo Migration & Full Migration

Before committing to the full transfer, run a free demo migration. This moves a limited number of entities (e.g., 10 products, 10 customers, 10 orders) to your Volusion store, allowing you to review the data integrity and make any necessary adjustments.

Once satisfied with the demo, proceed with the full migration. Consider adding a Migration Insurance Plan, which provides the flexibility to re-migrate your data multiple times within a specified period. Understand how Migration Insurance works.

Post-Migration Steps

Completing the data transfer is a significant achievement, but the process doesn't end there. Thorough post-migration steps are essential for a fully functional and optimized Volusion store.

1. Review Migrated Data: Carefully check all migrated data in your Volusion store. Verify product details, images, categories, customer accounts, and order history. Ensure all SKUs and variants are correctly displayed.
2. Test Store Functionality: Conduct extensive testing of your new Volusion store.
   • Customer Accounts: Test login, registration, and order history access.
   • Shopping Cart & Checkout: Perform test purchases from product selection to payment gateway integration.
   • Search & Navigation: Ensure all navigation elements, search functions, and filters work correctly.
   • Forms: Test contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, and other interactive elements.
3. Update DNS Settings: Once you are confident that your Volusion store is fully operational, update your domain's DNS settings to point to your new Volusion store. This makes your new store live to the public.
4. Configure 301 Redirects: While the migration tool can create 301 redirects, double-check that all critical old URLs from CartKeeper are redirecting to their corresponding new Volusion pages. This is vital for preserving SEO rankings and providing a smooth user experience.
5. Integrate Third-Party Services: Reconnect or configure any third-party apps and services you use, such as payment gateways, shipping providers, analytics tools, marketing automation platforms, and review apps.
6. SEO Enhancements: Submit your new Volusion sitemap to search engines. Monitor your SEO performance closely in the weeks following the migration.
7. Consider Additional Services: If you need to migrate any new data or make further adjustments, explore services like Recent Data Migration Service or Cart2Cart Remigration Service. For custom requirements, our Migration Customization Service is available.

Migrating from CartKeeper to Volusion is a strategic move that can significantly enhance your e-commerce capabilities. By following this detailed guide, you can ensure a successful transition, setting your business up for future growth and success on your new Volusion platform. If you encounter any challenges or require expert assistance, please do not hesitate to Contact Us.