EC-CUBE to Volusion Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from EC-CUBE to Volusion

For many online merchants, the decision to replatform an e-commerce store is driven by the desire for enhanced features, improved scalability, or a more streamlined user experience. If you’re currently running your store on EC-CUBE and considering a move to Volusion, you’re looking to transition from a highly customizable, open-source platform to a robust, all-in-one hosted solution known for its comprehensive features and ease of management. While the migration process can seem daunting, with the right strategy and tools, you can ensure a smooth data transfer, preserving your valuable customer data, product listings, and SEO rankings.

This expert guide will walk you through every step of migrating your store data from EC-CUBE to Volusion, leveraging a reliable migration service to minimize downtime and maintain data integrity. We’ll cover the essential prerequisites, a detailed step-by-step migration process, and crucial post-migration tasks to ensure your new Volusion store is fully optimized and ready for business.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before initiating your EC-CUBE to Volusion store migration, thorough preparation is key. Addressing these points will lay a solid foundation for a successful and efficient data transfer.

• Backup Your EC-CUBE Data: Always create a complete backup of your current EC-CUBE store’s database and files. This serves as a safety net in case any unforeseen issues arise during the data transfer process.
• Prepare EC-CUBE Data for Export (CSV Files): Since EC-CUBE is not directly supported by a standard bridge connection in many migration tools, the most effective method for data transfer is often through CSV files. You will need to export your products, product categories, customer data, orders, and other relevant entities into well-structured CSV files. Ensure your data is clean and organized to facilitate accurate mapping later. For detailed assistance, consider our CSV.File Data Migration service.
• Set Up Your Volusion Store: Establish your new Volusion store environment. This includes choosing your plan, configuring basic store settings, and ensuring it's ready to receive incoming data. You don't need to manually populate it with products or customers, as the migration process will handle that. Find more information on how to prepare your target store for migration.
• Install the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration Module (Bridge): Volusion migrations often require a connection bridge to facilitate secure data exchange. For Volusion, this means installing the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module, which acts as a bridge. This module needs to be uploaded to your Volusion store's root folder via FTP. Access credentials will be required for this step. Refer to The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for more details on secure connection. Understanding what a root folder is will be helpful here.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, follow these steps to initiate and manage your EC-CUBE to Volusion data migration.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by accessing the migration wizard. You’ll be presented with options to start a do-it-yourself migration, request assistance, or calculate costs.

Step 2: Connect Your Source EC-CUBE Store (via CSV)

In this step, you will specify EC-CUBE as your source platform, which will be handled via CSV file import. Select 'CSV File to Cart' from the dropdown menu and proceed to upload the CSV files containing your EC-CUBE store's data (products, customers, orders, etc.).

Step 3: Connect Your Target Volusion Store

Now, select 'Volusion' as your Target Cart from the dropdown menu. You will need to provide your Volusion store's URL. The migration tool will then verify the connection, often by checking for the installed Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module (bridge) on your server.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This critical step allows you to choose exactly what data you want to move from EC-CUBE to Volusion. You can migrate a wide range of entities, including:

• Products (including SKUs, variants, images, descriptions)
• Product Categories
• Customers (including customer data, addresses)
• Orders (with order statuses, details, and invoices)
• Product Reviews
• Manufacturers
• Taxes
• Coupons
• CMS Pages

You can select all entities or pick them individually based on your specific requirements.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options & Data Mapping

This stage offers powerful customization for your data transfer:

• Additional Migration Options: Enhance your migration by selecting options like:
  • Preserve Product IDs, Orders IDs, and Customers IDs: Maintain existing identifiers for seamless post-migration operations. Learn more about how Preserve IDs options can be used.
  • Create 301 SEO URLs: Crucial for maintaining your search engine rankings and link equity by automatically redirecting old EC-CUBE URLs to new Volusion ones.
  • Migrate Images in Description: Ensure all product and category images embedded within descriptions are transferred correctly.
  • Password Migration: Allow customers to log in with their existing passwords on the new Volusion store.
  • Clear Target Store Data: (Recommended for a clean slate) If you want to start fresh, this option will remove any existing data from your Volusion store before the migration. Read about clearing target store data.

• Data Mapping: Match customer groups and order statuses from your EC-CUBE store to their corresponding fields in Volusion. This ensures that your customer segments and order workflows remain consistent.

Note: Volusion has multi-store considerations for variants and SEO options might be excluded for blogs, so plan accordingly for these specific data types.

Step 6: Run a Free Demo Migration

Before committing to a full migration, conduct a free demo migration. This allows you to transfer a limited number of entities (e.g., 10 products, 10 customers, 10 orders) to your Volusion store in a short period. It’s an excellent way to check data accuracy, review the process, and ensure everything functions as expected. If you require a more extensive preview, consider our Migration Preview Service.

Step 7: Initiate Full Migration

Once you are satisfied with the demo results, proceed with the full migration. Review the comprehensive list of all selected data entities, their counts, and the total migration cost. You can also select a Migration Insurance Plan to safeguard against unforeseen issues and allow for remigrations if needed. Upon confirmation, the full data transfer will begin.

Post-Migration Steps

Completing the data transfer is a significant milestone, but several crucial steps remain to fully launch your new Volusion store.

• Thoroughly Test Your New Volusion Store: This is paramount. Navigate through your new Volusion store as a customer and administrator.
• Product Functionality: Check product pages, verify SKUs, variants, prices, images, and descriptions. Add products to the cart and test the checkout process.
• Customer Accounts: Log in with migrated customer accounts (if passwords were migrated) and verify order history.
• Order Processing: Ensure orders are displayed correctly and can be managed from the admin panel.
• Payments & Shipping: Test all payment gateways and shipping methods.
• Internal Links: Click through various internal links to ensure they direct to the correct pages.
• Configure 301 Redirects: Even if you opted for automatic 301 redirects during migration, it's wise to review and manually set up any additional redirects for pages that might have changed URLs, especially for blog posts where SEO options might have been excluded during migration. This is vital for preserving your SEO rankings and link equity.
• Update DNS Settings: Once you are confident that your Volusion store is fully functional and ready, update your domain's DNS settings to point to your new Volusion store. This will direct live traffic to your new platform.
• Review and Update Design/Themes: Volusion offers a range of themes and design options. Customize your store's appearance to reflect your brand and provide an optimal user experience.
• Set Up New Functionality: Take advantage of Volusion’s built-in features, app store integrations, and marketing tools. Configure new apps, payment gateways, and shipping options.
• Inform Your Customers: Consider sending out a notification to your customers about your new and improved store.

Migrating from EC-CUBE to Volusion represents a significant opportunity to modernize your e-commerce operations. By meticulously following these steps and leveraging expert tools, you can ensure a smooth, secure, and successful transition, positioning your business for future growth and enhanced online presence. If you require further assistance or wish to explore more comprehensive migration packages, please don't hesitate to contact us.