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

Seamlessly Transition Your E-commerce Store: Saleor to PrestaShop Migration

Replatforming your e-commerce store is a strategic decision that can redefine your online presence and operational efficiency. If you're currently leveraging Saleor's headless architecture but are considering a move to the feature-rich, open-source environment of PrestaShop, this comprehensive guide is for you. PrestaShop offers a robust ecosystem, extensive customization options, and a vibrant community, making it an attractive destination for merchants seeking a balance of control and functionality.

This article will walk you through the entire data transfer process, from initial prerequisites to essential post-migration steps, ensuring your product data, customer information, orders, and other critical entities transition smoothly, securely, and with minimal downtime. Our goal is to empower you to achieve a successful migration, preserving data integrity and maintaining your SEO rankings.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before initiating the transition of your valuable store data from Saleor to PrestaShop, a few essential preparations are necessary. Adhering to these steps will help streamline the process and mitigate potential issues:

• Access to Both Stores: You'll need administrative access to your existing Saleor instance to export data and full admin credentials for your new PrestaShop store. For Saleor, this typically involves using its API or admin interface to export your data.
• Data Backup: Always perform a complete backup of your Saleor store's data before starting any migration. This is a critical safeguard for your business continuity.
• Fresh PrestaShop Installation: For the cleanest possible transition, it's highly recommended to start with a fresh installation of PrestaShop. This ensures there are no conflicting data or configurations from a previous setup. Learn more about how to prepare your target store.
• Install PrestaShop Migration Module: PrestaShop requires a dedicated migration module to facilitate the connection and data transfer. The Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module is required for this process.
• Review Supported Entities: Understand which data entities can be transferred. For Saleor (via CSV) and PrestaShop, this typically includes products, product categories, customers, orders, reviews, manufacturers, taxes, coupons, CMS pages, and blog posts.

By taking these preparatory steps, you lay a solid foundation for a seamless and efficient replatforming experience.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

Migrating your store's data involves a series of guided steps designed to ensure accuracy and completeness. Follow this detailed walkthrough to transition your Saleor data to PrestaShop.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin your migration journey by navigating to the migration wizard. Here, you'll select the option to start a new migration.

Step 2: Connect Your Source Saleor Store (via CSV)

Since Saleor is a headless e-commerce platform and may not have a direct, automated connector in all migration tools, the recommended method for transferring data will be via CSV file export. This approach ensures you maintain full control over your data during the export phase.

1. Export Data from Saleor: Utilize Saleor's admin interface or API to export your critical store data (products, customers, orders, etc.) into CSV files. Ensure that all necessary fields, such as product SKUs, variants, prices, customer details, and order information, are included.
2. Select 'CSV File to Cart' as your Source: In the migration wizard, choose 'CSV File to Cart' as your source shopping cart. This option is designed to handle migrations from platforms like Saleor that require manual data export.
3. Upload Your CSV Files: Follow the prompts to upload the CSV files you exported from Saleor. The wizard will guide you on the expected format for each data entity.

Step 3: Set Up Your Target PrestaShop Store

Next, you'll configure the connection to your new PrestaShop store, which will serve as the destination for your Saleor data.

1. Select PrestaShop: From the list of supported carts, choose 'PrestaShop' as your target platform.
2. Provide Admin URL: Enter the administrative URL of your PrestaShop store.
3. Choose Connection Method: As the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module is required, select the option to 'Install Add-on from Marketplace' or a similar method that involves installing the necessary module in your PrestaShop admin area. This plugin facilitates secure and efficient data exchange between the migration service and your PrestaShop store.

Step 4: Select Data Entities

This crucial step allows you to define precisely which types of data you want to transfer from your Saleor CSV files to PrestaShop. You can choose to migrate all available entities or select specific ones based on your needs.

• Supported Entities for PrestaShop: Products, Products_Categories, Products_Manufacturers, Products_Reviews, Customers, Orders, Invoices, Taxes, Stores, Coupons, CMS_Pages, Blogs, Blogs_Posts.

Step 5: Configure Data Mapping

Data mapping is vital for ensuring consistency and accuracy in your new PrestaShop store. This step allows you to align customer groups and order statuses from your Saleor data to their corresponding equivalents in PrestaShop.

Step 6: Choose Additional Migration Options

Enhance your migration with a range of optional features. These settings provide greater control over the data transfer process and can significantly impact the final state of your PrestaShop store.

• Clear Target Store Data: The 'Clear current data on Target store before migration' option allows you to erase existing data in your PrestaShop store, ensuring a clean import.
• Preserve IDs: Options like 'Preserve Product IDs', 'Preserve Orders IDs', and 'Preserve Customers IDs' help maintain the original identifiers, which can be useful for historical data and integrations. Find out how Preserve IDs options can be used.
• SEO URLs and 301 Redirects: Crucially, select 'Create 301 SEO URLs' to preserve your search engine rankings and link equity. This automatically sets up redirects from your old Saleor URLs to the new PrestaShop URLs.
• Password Migration: Opt for 'Password Migration' to transfer customer login credentials securely, enhancing the user experience post-migration.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensure product images embedded in descriptions are also transferred.

Step 7: Launch Your Migration

With all settings configured, you can now initiate the data transfer. It's highly recommended to perform a free demo migration first. This allows you to preview a limited set of data in your PrestaShop store and verify that everything is transferring as expected before committing to the full migration. Once satisfied, proceed with the full migration.

Consider adding Migration Insurance Service for peace of mind, offering multiple remigrations within a specified period. Learn more about how Migration Insurance works.

Post-Migration Steps

Successfully completing the data transfer is a major milestone, but the journey doesn't end there. Thorough post-migration actions are crucial for ensuring your new PrestaShop store is fully functional, optimized, and ready for your customers.

• Comprehensive Testing: Meticulously test all aspects of your new PrestaShop store. Verify product data (SKUs, images, variants), customer accounts, order history, checkout process, payment gateways, and shipping options. Place test orders to ensure full functionality.
• SEO Configuration: Confirm that all 301 redirects are working correctly to preserve your search engine rankings. Update your sitemap and submit it to search engines.
• Theme and Design Integration: Install and configure your chosen PrestaShop theme. Ensure it's responsive, visually appealing, and provides an excellent user experience.
• Install and Configure Modules: Install any essential PrestaShop modules for functionality not covered by the core platform, such as advanced SEO tools, marketing integrations, or analytics.
• Update DNS Settings: Once you're confident in your new PrestaShop store, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new hosting. Be mindful of potential downtime during this transition.
• Notify Customers: Inform your customers about the new platform and any changes they might experience.
• Monitor Performance: Keep a close eye on your new store's performance, load times, and error logs.
• Address New Data: If new orders or customer registrations occurred on your old Saleor store during the migration window, consider utilizing a Recent Data Migration Service to transfer this fresh data to PrestaShop.

By diligently executing these post-migration steps, you can ensure a seamless transition for your customers and position your PrestaShop store for continued success.