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

Seamlessly Transitioning Your E-commerce Store from WebJaguar to Volusion

Embarking on an e-commerce platform migration can be a significant step towards enhancing your online store's capabilities, scalability, and overall user experience. This detailed guide is designed to walk you through the process of moving your existing store data from WebJaguar to the robust Volusion platform. While WebJaguar offers certain functionalities, Volusion provides a powerful suite of tools for growing businesses, making it an attractive target for many merchants seeking a platform upgrade.

Given that WebJaguar is not directly supported by automated migration tools in the same way as some other platforms, this guide will focus on leveraging a CSV-based data transfer method for your WebJaguar data, ensuring a comprehensive and accurate move of your essential e-commerce assets to Volusion. Our goal is to ensure your data transfer is smooth, efficient, and preserves your valuable SEO rankings and customer relationships.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before initiating the data transfer, careful preparation of both your source WebJaguar store and your target Volusion store is crucial for a seamless transition and to maintain data integrity. Adhering to these prerequisites will significantly minimize potential issues and downtime.

• For Your WebJaguar (Source) Store:
  • Admin Access: Ensure you have full administrative access to your WebJaguar store to export all necessary data.
  • Data Export Capability: WebJaguar data will need to be exported into CSV (Comma Separated Values) files. This includes critical entities such as products (with their SKUs and variants), product categories, customer data, orders, reviews, manufacturers, taxes, coupons, and CMS pages. Verify that your WebJaguar platform allows for comprehensive data export in a structured format. For more details on preparing your source store, refer to our guide on preparing your source store for migration.
  • Data Review: Take this opportunity to clean up any outdated or redundant data in your WebJaguar store before export.
  • Backup Your Data: Always create a full backup of your WebJaguar store's database and files before beginning any data export.
• For Your Volusion (Target) Store:
  • Active Volusion Account: You need a live Volusion store or a development store set up and ready to receive data.
  • Admin Access: Ensure you have full administrative access to your Volusion store.
  • Install Connection Bridge: Volusion requires a connection bridge to facilitate data transfer. You will need to upload a generated bridge file to the root directory of your Volusion store via FTP. This bridge allows the migration tool to securely connect and transfer data. If you're unsure about the root folder, consult our FAQ on finding your root folder.
  • Install Migration Module: The Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module is required for this process. Ensure it is installed on your Volusion store.
  • Review Target Store: Consider if you want to use the 'Clear Target' option, which removes all existing data from your Volusion store before migration. This is often recommended for fresh installations to avoid duplicate data.
  • Backup Your Volusion Store: Even if it's a new store, it's good practice to back it up before importing new data. For more details on preparing your target store, refer to our guide on preparing your target store for migration.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

This section outlines the step-by-step process of transferring your WebJaguar data to Volusion using a specialized migration wizard.

Step 1: Initiate Your Migration

Begin by accessing the migration wizard. If you don't have an account, you'll need to create one. Once logged in, you'll typically be presented with options to start a new migration.

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

Since WebJaguar is not directly integrated, you will select the 'CSV File to Cart' option as your source platform. This allows you to upload the data you exported from WebJaguar.

• From the dropdown menu, select 'CsvToCart' as your Source Cart.
• Follow the prompts to upload the CSV files containing your products, categories, customers, orders, reviews, and other entities that you exported from your WebJaguar store.

Step 3: Set Up Your Volusion (Target) Store

Now, configure the destination for your e-commerce data.

• Select 'Volusion' from the list of Target Carts.
• Enter the full URL of your Volusion store in the designated field.
• You will be prompted to upload the connection bridge file to your Volusion store's root directory via FTP and ensure the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module is installed. This module is essential for establishing a secure connection and enabling data transfer.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Transfer

This crucial step allows you to choose exactly which types of data you wish to transfer from your WebJaguar CSV files to your new Volusion store. You can opt to migrate all available data or select specific entities.

• Review the list of migratable entities, which typically include: Products, Product Categories, Products Manufacturers, Products Reviews, Customers, Orders, Invoices, Taxes, Stores, Coupons, CMS Pages, Blogs, and Blog Posts.
• Check the boxes next to the entities you wish to move. We recommend migrating all relevant data for a complete store transition.

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options and Data Mapping

This stage is vital for customizing your migration and ensuring data consistency. Here you can select additional options to optimize the data transfer and map your store's specific data fields.

Additional Options:

Enhance your data transfer with these recommended selections:

• Migrate Images in Description: Essential for transferring all product images embedded within your product descriptions.
• Preserve Product IDs, Preserve Category IDs, Preserve Orders IDs, Preserve Customers IDs: These options help maintain the original IDs, which can be beneficial for SEO and existing integrations. For more insights, refer to our guide on preserving IDs.
• Password Migration: Allows existing customer passwords to be migrated, improving user experience.
• SEO URLs / 301 SEO URLs: Critical for preserving your existing SEO rankings and link equity. This automatically creates redirects from your old WebJaguar URLs to the new Volusion URLs. This is especially important for maintaining traffic and avoiding broken links.
• Create Variants from Attributes: If your products have attributes that define different variants (e.g., size, color), this option will help correctly reconstruct them in Volusion.
• Clear Target: This Volusion-specific option is useful if you want to remove any existing demo data or previous content from your Volusion store before the migration. Learn more about clearing target store data.

Data Mapping:

Ensure that data from your WebJaguar CSV files correctly aligns with Volusion's structure.

• Customer Groups Mapping: Match your WebJaguar customer groups (e.g., 'Wholesale,' 'Retail') to their corresponding roles or groups in Volusion.
• Order Statuses Mapping: Align your WebJaguar order statuses (e.g., 'Pending,' 'Shipped') with the equivalent statuses in Volusion. This ensures continuity in your order management workflow.

Step 6: Run a Free Demo Migration

Before committing to the full migration, it's highly recommended to perform a demo. This transfers a limited number of entities (e.g., a few products, customers, and orders) to your Volusion store, allowing you to preview the results without any cost.

• Review the demo migration results in your Volusion store to ensure everything transferred correctly and appears as expected.
• Check product details, image rendering, customer accounts, and order history.

Step 7: Execute the Full Migration

Once you are satisfied with the demo results, you can proceed with the full data transfer. This will move all selected entities from your WebJaguar CSV files to your Volusion store.

• Initiate the full migration process. The duration will depend on the volume of data being transferred.
• Consider adding a Migration Insurance Plan. This valuable service offers a set number of re-migrations for a specific duration, providing peace of mind in case any adjustments are needed post-migration. You can also learn more about how Migration Insurance works.

Post-Migration Steps

Completing the data transfer is a major milestone, but a few crucial steps remain to ensure your new Volusion store is fully operational and optimized.

• Thorough Testing: Conduct extensive testing of your new Volusion store. This includes checking all product pages, categories, internal and external links, images, checkout process, customer login, order placement, and existing customer accounts. Ensure all data entities, including SKUs and variants, are correctly displayed.
• SEO Verification: Verify that all 301 redirects are working correctly to preserve your SEO rankings and link equity. Update any internal links that might still point to your old WebJaguar store. Submit new XML sitemaps to search engines.
• Design and Customization: Customize your Volusion theme, integrate any necessary apps or plugins, and set up your payment gateways and shipping options. Fine-tune your store's appearance and functionality to provide an optimal user experience.
• Update DNS Settings: Once you are confident that your Volusion store is fully functional, update your domain's DNS settings to point to your new Volusion store. Plan this step to minimize downtime for your customers.
• Notify Customers: Inform your customers about the migration to the new platform, especially if they need to reset passwords or notice any changes.
• Monitor Performance: After going live, continuously monitor your Volusion store's performance, traffic, sales, and any error logs. This proactive approach helps identify and resolve any unforeseen issues quickly.