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

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from Ozcart to PrestaShop

Migrating your e-commerce store is a pivotal step towards enhancing its capabilities and reaching a wider audience. If you're currently operating on Ozcart and contemplating a move to PrestaShop, you're looking at a platform known for its robust features, flexibility, and scalability. This guide is designed to provide you with clear, actionable steps for a smooth and efficient data transfer from your Ozcart store to PrestaShop, ensuring data integrity and minimal downtime. Given that Ozcart data is typically accessed via file export, we'll focus on a CSV-based migration approach for your source data.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before embarking on your migration journey, it's crucial to prepare both your source (Ozcart) and target (PrestaShop) platforms. Proper preparation is key to a seamless transition.

For Your Ozcart (Source) Store:

• Admin Access: Ensure you have full administrative access to your Ozcart store to export all necessary data.
• Data Export: Prepare to export your essential store data, including products, product categories, manufacturers, reviews, customer details, orders, invoices, taxes, coupons, CMS pages, and blog posts, into CSV files.
• Data Cleanup: This is an excellent opportunity to review and clean up your existing data. Remove any outdated products, inactive customer accounts, or irrelevant information to ensure only valuable data is transferred.
• For more detailed preparation, refer to our guide on How to prepare Source store for migration?

For Your PrestaShop (Target) Store:

• Fresh Installation: It's highly recommended to start with a fresh PrestaShop installation. If you have existing data on your target store, you'll have the option to clear it during the migration process.
• Admin Access: You will need full administrator login details for your PrestaShop backend.
• FTP/cPanel Access: Secure FTP or cPanel access to your PrestaShop hosting environment is necessary for uploading the connection bridge or installing the required module.
• Plugin Requirement: PrestaShop migrations require the installation of the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module. Be prepared to install this through your PrestaShop admin area or via manual upload.
• For comprehensive setup details, see How to prepare Target store for migration?

General Preparation:

• Backup Everything: Always create a complete backup of both your Ozcart data and your PrestaShop store before initiating any migration.
• Inform Stakeholders: Plan your migration during low-traffic periods and communicate any potential downtime to your customers.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

This section outlines the process of transferring your store data using the migration wizard. Follow these steps carefully to ensure a smooth data transfer.

Step 1: Get Started

Begin your migration journey by navigating to the migration tool's wizard. This is where you'll initiate the setup for both your source and target stores.

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

Connecting your Ozcart store is the first major step. Since Ozcart is not directly integrated via API, the migration will be handled through CSV file uploads.

1. From the dropdown menu, select "CSV File to Cart" as your source platform.
2. Upload the CSV files you exported from your Ozcart store. These files should contain all the data you wish to migrate, such as products, categories, customers, and orders. For more details on this method, visit CSV.File Data Migration.

Step 3: Set Up Your Target Store (PrestaShop)

Next, you will configure your new PrestaShop store as the destination for your data.

1. Select "PrestaShop" from the list of target shopping carts.
2. Enter the full Admin URL of your PrestaShop store.
3. Choose your preferred connection method. The most secure and recommended option is to "Upload Connection bridge":
   • Download the Connection Bridge file.
   • Extract the downloaded ZIP file. You will find a folder named bridge2cart.
   • Upload this bridge2cart folder to the root directory of your PrestaShop installation via FTP or cPanel. The root directory is typically where your index.php or config/settings.inc.php files are located. For help locating it, see What is a root folder and where can I find it?

   Alternatively, you may select "Install Add-on from Marketplace" and follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module directly through your PrestaShop admin panel.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Transfer

This crucial step allows you to define exactly what data you want to move from Ozcart to PrestaShop. You can choose to migrate all entities or select specific ones.

You can migrate various data entities, including:

• Products (including SKUs, variants, and product images)
• Product Categories
• Product Manufacturers
• Product Reviews
• Customers (including customer data and passwords if selected)
• Orders (including order statuses and purchase history)
• Invoices
• Taxes
• Coupons
• CMS Pages
• Blogs and Blog Posts

Step 5: Configure Additional Options & Map Data

Customize your migration further with additional options and ensure your data is correctly mapped between the two platforms.

Additional Migration Options:

These options provide greater control over the data transfer process:

• Clear Target Store Data: Opt to delete all existing data on your PrestaShop store before the migration starts. Learn more about this option here: Clear current data on Target store before migration option.
• Preserve IDs: Choose to retain original Product IDs, Category IDs, Customer IDs, and Order IDs. This is beneficial for maintaining internal records and existing integrations. For more details, see How Preserve IDs options can be used?
• Migrate Customer Passwords: Securely transfer customer passwords to your new PrestaShop store, ensuring a smooth login experience for your customers.
• Create 301 Redirects: Essential for SEO, this option helps preserve your existing search engine rankings and link equity by automatically redirecting old Ozcart URLs to their new PrestaShop counterparts.
• Migrate Images in Product Descriptions: Ensure all product images embedded within descriptions are transferred correctly.

Data Mapping:

The system will guide you through mapping customer groups and order statuses from your Ozcart data to corresponding fields in PrestaShop. This ensures data consistency and integrity.

Step 6: Initiate the Full Migration or Demo

Before committing to a full data transfer, we highly recommend running a free demo migration. This allows you to review a limited set of migrated data on your PrestaShop store, ensuring everything appears as expected and identifying any potential issues.

Once satisfied with the demo results, you can proceed with the full migration. Consider adding a Migration Insurance Service, which offers additional remigrations if needed. For more information, check out How Migration Insurance works?

Post-Migration Steps

Completing the data transfer is a significant achievement, but a few crucial steps remain to ensure your new PrestaShop store is fully functional and optimized.

1. Verify Data Integrity: Thoroughly review your PrestaShop store. Check products, product categories, images, customer accounts, orders, and other migrated data to ensure accuracy and completeness.
2. Test All Functionality: Perform comprehensive tests of your store's core functions. This includes placing test orders, checking payment gateways, reviewing shipping options, testing search functionality, and submitting contact forms.
3. Configure SEO & Redirects: If you used the 301 redirect option, verify that old Ozcart URLs are correctly redirecting to their new PrestaShop counterparts to preserve your SEO rankings.
4. Update DNS Settings: Once you are confident that your PrestaShop store is fully operational, update your domain's DNS settings to point to your new PrestaShop hosting.
5. Install Essential Modules and Themes: Configure any necessary PrestaShop modules or extensions to enhance functionality, and customize your store's theme to reflect your brand identity.
6. Consider Recent Data Migration: If new orders or customer registrations occurred on your old Ozcart store during the migration period, consider using a Recent Data Migration Service to capture this new data.
7. Decommission Ozcart: Once you're fully confident in your PrestaShop store, you can safely decommission your old Ozcart platform.

Migrating from Ozcart to PrestaShop can transform your e-commerce capabilities. While this guide provides a detailed roadmap, remember that expert assistance is available. For complex scenarios or custom requirements, explore our Migration Customization Service or Contact Us for personalized support.