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

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from MakeShop to PrestaShop

Embarking on an e-commerce platform migration can feel like a daunting task, but with the right guidance, moving your store from MakeShop to PrestaShop can be a smooth and rewarding transition. PrestaShop, an open-source, feature-rich platform, offers unparalleled flexibility, extensive customization options, and robust control over your online store, making it an excellent choice for merchants looking to scale and optimize their operations.

This expert guide will walk you through the entire process of replatforming your MakeShop store to PrestaShop, covering essential prerequisites, a step-by-step migration wizard tutorial, and critical post-migration tasks. We’ll ensure your valuable data—including products, customer records, and order history—is transferred accurately and securely, maintaining data integrity and minimizing downtime.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before you begin the data transfer process, thorough preparation is key to ensuring a seamless move from MakeShop to PrestaShop. Addressing these prerequisites will prevent potential hurdles and set the stage for a successful replatforming.

For Your MakeShop (Source) Store:

• Data Export Access: Since MakeShop does not offer direct API integration for automated data transfer, you will need full administrative access to your MakeShop account to export your store’s data into CSV files. This includes products, categories, customer information, orders, and any other relevant entities. Consider consolidating and cleaning your data before export to simplify the migration.
• Comprehensive Data Export: Ensure you export all critical entities such as: Products (including SKUs, variants, descriptions, images), Product Categories, Customers, Orders, and any other relevant information like Coupons, CMS Pages, and Taxes.
• Data Backup: Always create a complete backup of your MakeShop store data before initiating any migration process.

For more details on preparing your source store, read our guide: How to prepare Source store for migration?

For Your PrestaShop (Target) Store:

• Fresh PrestaShop Installation: Have a new, clean installation of PrestaShop ready on your hosting environment. Ensure it meets all PrestaShop system requirements.
• Full Admin Access: You'll need the admin URL, username, and password for your PrestaShop backend.
• FTP/SFTP Access: Access to your PrestaShop store's root directory via FTP or SFTP will be required for uploading the Connection Bridge, a small file that facilitates secure communication between your old and new stores.
• Plugin Requirement: PrestaShop requires the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module to be installed for connection. This module helps establish the secure bridge for data transfer.
• Adequate Hosting: Ensure your PrestaShop hosting plan can handle your store’s size and anticipated traffic.

For additional information on target store readiness, refer to: How to prepare Target store for migration?

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these detailed steps to migrate your MakeShop data to PrestaShop using a specialized migration wizard.

Step 1: Initiate Your Migration

Begin by navigating to the migration wizard. Here, you'll select your source and target platforms.

Step 2: Connect Your MakeShop (Source) Store

As MakeShop requires a data export, select "CSV File to Cart" as your Source Cart. You will then upload the CSV files containing your MakeShop data. This method ensures all your valuable customer data, product details, order history, and other entities are properly captured for the transfer.

Step 3: Set Up Your PrestaShop (Target) Store

Next, choose "PrestaShop" as your Target Cart. You will then be prompted to provide your PrestaShop Admin URL. To establish a secure connection, you will need to upload a Connection Bridge. This typically involves downloading a small zip file, extracting the bridge2cart folder, and uploading it to the root directory of your PrestaShop installation via FTP/SFTP. Alternatively, some tools may offer an automated upload if you provide admin credentials, or direct installation of the required Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This crucial step allows you to choose which specific data types, or entities, you want to transfer from MakeShop to PrestaShop. You can select all available entities or meticulously pick only those relevant to your new store. Supported entities for this migration include:

• Products: Including SKUs, images, descriptions, attributes, and variants.
• Product Categories: Maintaining hierarchy.
• Product Manufacturers: Associated with your products.
• Product Reviews: Preserving social proof.
• Customers: Customer accounts and associated data.
• Orders: Complete order history, statuses, and details.
• Invoices: Financial records.
• Taxes: Tax rules and rates.
• Stores: If applicable for multi-store setups.
• Coupons: Discount codes and promotions.
• CMS Pages: Static content like About Us, Contact Us.
• Blogs & Blog Posts: If your MakeShop store had blogging functionality.

Step 5: Configure Data Mapping

Data mapping is vital for ensuring consistency between your old and new stores. In this step, you will match specific data fields from MakeShop (via your CSVs) to their corresponding fields in PrestaShop. This commonly involves:

• Customer Group Mapping: Aligning roles like 'Wholesale' or 'VIP' from MakeShop to PrestaShop customer groups.
• Order Status Mapping: Ensuring 'Pending,' 'Processing,' 'Shipped,' and 'Completed' statuses are correctly transferred.
• Custom Field Mapping: If you have unique fields in MakeShop, you'll map them to appropriate fields or create new ones in PrestaShop.

Step 6: Choose Additional Migration Options

Enhance your data transfer with a range of additional options designed to preserve critical information and optimize your new PrestaShop store. Consider these popular choices:

• Clear Target Store Data: This option clears any existing data on your PrestaShop store before migration, ensuring a fresh start.
• Preserve IDs: Options like Preserve Product IDs, Preserve Orders IDs, Preserve Customers IDs are crucial for maintaining external links and records.
• Password Migration: Securely migrate customer passwords, allowing customers to log in to the new store with their existing credentials.
• 301 SEO URLs: Automatically create 301 redirects for your old MakeShop URLs to their new PrestaShop counterparts. This is critical for preserving your SEO rankings and link equity.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensure product and category images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Create Variants from Attributes: If your products have attributes that should form variants, select this option.
• Multi-tax allowed: PrestaShop supports multi-tax configurations, so ensure your tax rules are correctly migrated.

Step 7: Perform a Free Demo Migration

Before committing to the full migration, run a demo migration. This typically transfers a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, and orders) to your PrestaShop store. It's an invaluable step to:

• Verify the connection between the stores.
• Check data mapping accuracy.
• Preview how your data will appear on PrestaShop.
• Identify and resolve any potential issues early.

Step 8: Launch Full Migration

Once you're satisfied with the demo results, proceed to the full data transfer. Review all your selections and consider adding Migration Insurance for peace of mind, offering remigration options if needed. Confirm the cost and initiate the migration. The process will run in the background, minimizing any disruption to your current MakeShop store.

Post-Migration Steps

Congratulations, your data has been moved to PrestaShop! However, the migration process isn't complete until you've performed these crucial post-migration tasks.

• Verify Data Integrity: Thoroughly check your PrestaShop store to ensure all migrated data—products, categories, customers, orders, images, and other content—is present and accurate. Pay close attention to product SKUs, prices, stock levels, and customer account details.
• Configure Store Settings: Set up essential store configurations unique to PrestaShop. This includes shipping methods, payment gateways, tax rules (if not fully migrated), currency settings, and general store information.
• Install Essential Modules & Themes: Explore the PrestaShop Addons Marketplace to install modules for SEO, security, marketing, analytics, and any other functionalities your business requires. Choose and customize a theme that aligns with your brand and offers a superior user experience.
• Test All Functionality: Conduct extensive testing of your new PrestaShop store. This includes:
  • Making test purchases (from product selection to checkout).
  • Testing customer registration and login.
  • Verifying search functionality and filters.
  • Checking contact forms and other interactive elements.
• Implement 301 Redirects: If you didn't use the automated 301 SEO URLs option during migration, it's critical to manually set up 301 redirects from your old MakeShop URLs to the corresponding new PrestaShop URLs. This preserves your SEO rankings, link equity, and ensures a seamless transition for existing customers and search engines.
• Update DNS Records: Once you are completely confident in your PrestaShop store, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new PrestaShop hosting. This will make your PrestaShop store live to the public.
• SEO Review: After going live, perform an SEO audit. Check meta titles, descriptions, canonical tags, and ensure Google Analytics and Search Console are correctly configured for your new domain.
• Remove Old Store: Once your PrestaShop store is fully operational and you've confirmed everything is working correctly, you can decommission your old MakeShop store.

By following this comprehensive guide, you can confidently navigate the process of replatforming your e-commerce business from MakeShop to the powerful and flexible PrestaShop platform. Should you require expert assistance at any stage, consider our Ultimate Data Migration Service or contact us for personalized support.