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

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from Wish to PrestaShop

Steering an e-commerce business requires a platform that offers robust control, extensive customization, and scalability. Many merchants on Wish find themselves limited by its marketplace structure, seeking the independence and rich features of a self-hosted solution like PrestaShop. Replatforming from Wish to PrestaShop can unlock significant growth potential, enhance your user experience, and provide unparalleled flexibility in managing your online store.

This guide offers a detailed, step-by-step walkthrough for migrating your entire store from Wish to PrestaShop. Given Wish's marketplace nature, the migration process will involve exporting your data into CSV files and then importing it into your new PrestaShop store. We'll cover everything from initial preparation to the final post-migration checks, ensuring a smooth and successful data transfer.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before embarking on your migration journey from Wish to PrestaShop, it's crucial to lay the groundwork properly. Thorough preparation minimizes potential downtime, safeguards your valuable data integrity, and sets the stage for a seamless transition.

• For Your Wish Store (Source):
  As Wish is a marketplace, direct API access for migration tools is typically unavailable. You'll need to export all your vital store data into CSV (Comma Separated Values) files. This includes:
  • Products: Export all product details, including SKUs, descriptions, images, prices, variants, categories, and manufacturers. Ensure images are also accessible, either via URLs in your CSV or as separate files.
  • Customers: Gather customer information such as names, email addresses, shipping addresses, and any customer group data.
  • Orders: Export complete order histories, including order IDs, product details, customer information, order statuses, and invoices.
  • Reviews, CMS Pages, Blogs: If Wish allows export of these, include them to maintain your content and social proof.

  Organize these CSV files clearly, as they will be the foundation of your migration. For more assistance with this, consider our CSV.File Data Migration service.

• For Your PrestaShop Store (Target):
  • Install PrestaShop: Set up a fresh, clean installation of PrestaShop on your chosen hosting environment. Ensure it meets all the system requirements for the version you intend to use.
  • Admin Access: Have full administrative access to your PrestaShop back office, including the admin URL, username, and password.
  • FTP/SFTP Access: Secure FTP or cPanel access to your PrestaShop installation's root directory will be necessary for uploading the connection bridge. For details, see What is a root folder and where can I find it?
  • Backup: If your PrestaShop installation already contains any data, perform a full backup of both your database and files. Although most migration tools offer to clear target data, a backup is always recommended.
  • Plugin Requirement: PrestaShop migrations often require the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module. This module facilitates the connection between your migration tool and your PrestaShop store.
• General Considerations:
  • Review Credentials: Ensure you have all necessary access details readily available. Read The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.
  • Downtime Planning: While migration tools minimize interruption, plan for a period of reduced activity or a soft launch to verify your new store.
  • Pre-Migration Audit: Conduct an audit of your Wish store to identify any data inconsistencies or outdated content that you might not want to carry over.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, you're ready to initiate the data transfer from Wish to PrestaShop. This section guides you through the process using a migration wizard.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by navigating to the migration service's website. You'll typically find an option to start a new migration.

Step 2: Source Store Setup (Wish via CSV)

Connecting your Wish store is the first major step in the wizard. Since Wish is a marketplace, you'll connect it as a CSV file source.

Select "CSVTOCART" or "CSV File to Cart" as your Source Cart type. You will then be prompted to upload your prepared CSV files containing your products, customers, orders, and other relevant data. Ensure your CSV files are well-formatted to guarantee accurate data parsing.

Step 3: Target Store Setup (PrestaShop)

Next, you'll configure your new PrestaShop store as the destination for your data. This involves establishing a secure connection to your PrestaShop installation.

Select "PrestaShop" from the list of target platforms. Enter your PrestaShop store's Admin URL. To establish the connection, you will need to upload a Connection Bridge. This typically involves:

1. Downloading the Connection Bridge file (usually a ZIP archive).
2. Extracting the bridge2cart folder from the archive.
3. Uploading this bridge2cart folder to the root directory of your PrestaShop installation via FTP/SFTP. This process helps facilitate the required "Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module" connection.

Step 4: Select Data Entities

This critical step allows you to specify exactly what data you wish to migrate from your Wish CSV files to PrestaShop. You can choose to transfer all available entities or select them individually.

The migration tool supports a wide range of data entities, including:

• Products (SKUs, variants, images)
• Product Categories
• Product Manufacturers
• Product Reviews
• Customers
• Orders (with full history and invoices)
• Taxes
• Stores
• Coupons
• CMS Pages
• Blogs & Blog Posts

Carefully review the list and select all the data relevant to your new PrestaShop store to ensure a complete and accurate transfer.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options & Data Mapping

This stage is crucial for fine-tuning your migration and ensuring data consistency between platforms.

Additional Migration Options

You'll encounter various checkboxes for additional migration settings. These options significantly impact your new store's functionality and SEO rankings.

• Migrate Images in Description: Transfers product images embedded within descriptions.
• Clear Target: Clears all current data from your PrestaShop store before migration. This is often recommended for fresh installations.
• Preserve Product IDs, Preserve Orders IDs, Preserve Customers IDs: Preserving original IDs can be beneficial for historical data referencing and external system integrations.
• SEO URLs / 301 SEO URLs / Create 301 SEO URLs: Crucial for maintaining SEO rankings and preventing broken links. This option ensures that old Wish URLs redirect to their corresponding new PrestaShop URLs, preserving link equity.
• Password Migration: Migrates customer passwords, allowing existing customers to log in without resetting.
• Migrate Invoices: Transfers invoice data along with orders.

Select the options that align with your business needs and future store management.

Data Mapping Setup

The mapping step ensures that your Wish data fields correctly align with PrestaShop's structure. You'll typically need to map:

• Customer Groups: Match customer roles from Wish (if applicable from CSV) to PrestaShop's customer groups.
• Order Statuses: Map the various order statuses (e.g., "Pending," "Processing," "Shipped") from your Wish CSV to the corresponding statuses in PrestaShop.

Accurate mapping is vital for maintaining data integrity and consistent reporting.

Step 6: Run Demo Migration & Full Migration

Before committing to the full data transfer, it's highly recommended to perform a free demo migration.

• Demo Migration: This process migrates a limited number of entities (e.g., a few products, customers, and orders) to your PrestaShop store. It allows you to review the transferred data, check its accuracy, and ensure everything looks as expected. This step is crucial for identifying and resolving any potential issues before the full transfer.
• Full Migration: Once you're satisfied with the demo results, proceed to the full migration. Review the total cost of the migration, which is based on the number and type of entities you're moving. You may also be offered a Migration Insurance Plan, which provides options for re-migrating your data if unforeseen issues arise or if you need to perform additional transfers later. For more information, see How Migration Insurance works? Complete the payment as per How can I pay for your service? and launch your full data transfer.

Post-Migration Steps

The migration doesn't end when the data transfer is complete. A few crucial post-migration steps are necessary to ensure your new PrestaShop store is fully operational and optimized.

• Verify Data Integrity: Systematically check all migrated data. Review product listings (SKUs, variants, images), customer accounts, order histories, categories, and other content like CMS pages and blog posts (note PrestaShop's SEO options are excluded for blogs). Ensure all information is accurate and displayed correctly.
• Configure Your New Store: Set up essential PrestaShop functionalities, including:
  • Payment gateways (e.g., PayPal, Stripe)
  • Shipping methods and carriers
  • Tax settings for different regions
  • Email templates and notifications
  • Staff accounts and permissions
• Install Theme and Extensions: Customize the look and feel of your store by installing a PrestaShop theme. Add any necessary modules or extensions for advanced features, such as SEO tools, marketing automation, or customer support.
• Update DNS and Test Store: Once you're confident in your new PrestaShop store, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new PrestaShop installation. Before going live, conduct thorough testing of every aspect of your store: browsing products, adding to cart, checkout process, account creation, and contact forms.
• SEO Considerations:
  • Verify that your 301 redirects are working correctly to preserve your SEO rankings and link equity.
  • Submit your new PrestaShop sitemap to Google Search Console.
  • Monitor for any crawl errors or indexing issues.
• Remove Your Old Wish Store: Once your PrestaShop store is fully functional and traffic has successfully redirected, you can consider decommissioning your Wish store.
• Address New Orders: If there's a gap between your migration and your new store going live, you might have received new orders on Wish. Consider utilizing a Recent Data Migration Service to transfer any new data that appeared after your initial migration.

By following these steps, you can confidently transition your e-commerce business from Wish to the powerful and flexible PrestaShop platform. If you encounter any challenges or require expert assistance, our team is always ready to help. Feel free to Contact Us for support tailored to your migration needs.