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

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from HighWire to Volusion

Replatforming an e-commerce store is a strategic move that can unlock new growth opportunities and enhance operational efficiency. If you're considering migrating your existing HighWire store to Volusion, you're on the path to a robust, feature-rich platform. This guide will walk you through the entire process, ensuring a smooth, secure, and complete data transfer, preserving your valuable customer data, product information, and SEO rankings.

Given that direct API integration for HighWire migrations might not be readily available through automated tools, this guide outlines a proven method utilizing CSV file exports from HighWire, followed by an efficient import into your new Volusion store. This approach ensures all your essential store entities, from products to customer records, are meticulously moved.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before embarking on your migration journey, ensuring both your source (HighWire) and target (Volusion) stores are adequately prepared is crucial. Proper preparation minimizes potential downtime and safeguards data integrity.

• HighWire Store Preparation:
  Since HighWire is not directly supported by our automated migration tool, you will need to export all your store data into CSV files. This includes critical entities such as products (with SKUs and variants), product categories, manufacturers, customer data, orders, reviews, invoices, taxes, coupons, CMS pages, and potentially blog posts. Ensure your CSV exports are comprehensive and well-organized. For detailed guidance on preparing your source store, refer to our FAQ on source store preparation.
• Volusion Store Preparation:
  1. Set up your Volusion Store: Ensure you have a new Volusion store established and ready to receive data.
  2. Admin Access: You will need full administrative login credentials (adminLogin, adminPwd) to your Volusion store.
  3. FTP Access: FTP (File Transfer Protocol) access is required to upload the necessary bridge connector file to your Volusion store's root directory. The bridge facilitates a secure connection for data transfer. For more information on access credentials, read The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.
  4. Install Cart2Cart Module: Volusion migrations require the installation of the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module. This plugin is essential for the bridge connection and successful data transfer.
  5. Backup Your Data: Although migration tools are designed for safety, it's always prudent to create a full backup of any existing data on your Volusion store before initiating the transfer.
  For more information on setting up your target store, please visit our FAQ on target store preparation.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

The migration process is streamlined through a user-friendly wizard. Follow these steps carefully to ensure a successful data transfer from HighWire (via CSV) to Volusion.

Step 1: Get Started

Begin your migration by navigating to the migration wizard. Here, you'll initiate the automated data transfer process.

Step 2: Configure Your Source Store (HighWire via CSV)

Since HighWire data will be provided via CSV files, select "CSV File to Cart" as your source platform. You will then upload the exported CSV files containing your HighWire store's data. This method allows you to transfer a comprehensive range of entities, including Products, Categories, Manufacturers, Reviews, Customers, Orders, Invoices, Taxes, Stores, Coupons, CMS Pages, and even Blog Posts.

Step 3: Set Up Your Target Store (Volusion)

Next, you'll define your new Volusion store as the migration target. Select "Volusion" from the list of supported platforms. Provide your Volusion store's URL and administrative credentials. An essential part of this step is installing the Cart2Cart bridge file via FTP to your Volusion store's root folder. This bridge creates a secure and direct connection between the migration tool and your Volusion database.

Step 4: Select Data Entities

This stage allows you to choose exactly which data types you wish to migrate from your HighWire CSV files to Volusion. You can select "All entities" or individually pick items such as Products, Product Categories, Manufacturers, Product Reviews, Customers, Orders, Invoices, Taxes, Stores, Coupons, and CMS Pages. Please note that while your HighWire CSV might contain blog posts, Volusion's data structure has specific limitations, for instance, SEO options are excluded for blogs during migration.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options & Map Data

This critical step allows for further customization and ensures data consistency between your old and new stores.

Additional Migration Options

You'll be presented with a range of advanced options to tailor your data transfer. Highly recommended options include:

• Clear Target Store Data: Opt to clear current data on your target Volusion store before migration to avoid duplicates or conflicts.
• Preserve IDs: Maintain original Product IDs, Orders IDs, and Customers IDs to ensure consistency in your records and for third-party integrations. Learn more about how Preserve IDs options can be used.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensure product images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Password Migration: Migrate customer passwords to ensure a seamless login experience for your existing customers.
• SEO URLs & 301 Redirects: Preserve your SEO rankings by migrating existing SEO URLs and automatically creating 301 redirects for any changed URLs. This helps maintain link equity.

Data Mapping Setup

During data mapping, you'll match customer groups and order statuses from your HighWire (CSV) data to their corresponding fields in Volusion. This ensures that your customer segments and order workflows are correctly replicated on the new platform.

Step 6: Launch Full Migration

After configuring all options and reviewing your settings, you can initiate a free demo migration to preview a small subset of your data. Once satisfied, proceed with the full data transfer. You'll also have the option to select a Migration Insurance Plan, which provides additional remigrations within a specified period, offering peace of mind. For details on how Migration Insurance works, refer to our FAQ.

Post-Migration Steps

Once your data has been successfully transferred to Volusion, a few crucial post-migration tasks remain to ensure your new store is fully operational and optimized:

• Thorough Testing: Conduct extensive testing of your new Volusion store. Verify that all products, categories, customer accounts, orders, and pricing are displayed correctly. Test the checkout process, payment gateways, and shipping options.
• Update URLs and Internal Links: Ensure all internal links within your store content point to the correct new Volusion URLs. This is vital for user experience and SEO.
• SEO Verification: Confirm that all 301 redirects are functioning as intended to preserve your SEO rankings and link equity. Monitor your site's performance in search engines to quickly address any issues.
• Design and Layout Check: Review your store's design, theme, and responsiveness across various devices. Make any necessary adjustments to ensure a consistent and appealing user experience.
• Configure Payment and Shipping: Reconfigure and test all payment methods and shipping carriers to ensure they are set up correctly and functioning properly.
• Install Essential Apps/Plugins: Integrate any necessary Volusion apps or plugins that enhance your store's functionality, such as marketing tools, inventory management, or customer service integrations.
• Launch and Announce: Once everything is thoroughly tested and verified, make your new Volusion store live. Consider announcing the transition to your customers.
• Consider Recent Data Migration: If new orders or customer data appeared on your HighWire store during or after the main migration, consider using the Recent Data Migration Service to transfer this latest information.

By following this detailed guide, your move from HighWire to Volusion will be a successful strategic transition, setting your e-commerce business up for future growth and efficiency. Should you require any assistance or have further questions, our Frequently Asked Questions page and Contact Us page are available to help.