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

Seamlessly Transition Your E-commerce Store: ECshop to PrestaShop Migration Guide

Replatforming an e-commerce store can seem daunting, but it's a strategic move for growth and enhanced functionality. If you're looking to move your store from ECshop to the robust and feature-rich PrestaShop platform, this detailed guide will walk you through every essential step. PrestaShop offers a powerful open-source solution, renowned for its flexibility, extensive module ecosystem, and vibrant community, making it an excellent choice for merchants seeking greater control and scalability for their online business.

Since ECshop does not typically offer a direct API for automated migrations, this guide outlines a data transfer process using CSV files as the primary method for extracting your valuable store data. This approach ensures data integrity and a smooth transition of your products, customer records, orders, and other crucial information to your new PrestaShop store.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before embarking on your ECshop to PrestaShop migration journey, ensuring you have all the necessary components and preparations in place is crucial. This proactive approach minimizes potential issues and streamlines the entire data transfer process.

• A Running PrestaShop Store: Ensure you have a fresh installation of PrestaShop ready. While not strictly required to be fully configured, having the basic setup in place will facilitate the migration process.
• Admin Access to PrestaShop: You'll need full administrator credentials (admin URL, username, and password) for your new PrestaShop store to allow the migration tool to establish a connection. You can learn more about securing your access details in our guide: The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.
• FTP/cPanel Access for PrestaShop: Depending on your chosen connection method (e.g., uploading a Connection Bridge), you may need FTP or cPanel access to your PrestaShop hosting environment to upload files to the store's root directory. Understand more about the root folder here: What is a root folder and where can I find it?
• ECshop Data Export: Prepare your ECshop data for export into CSV files. This typically includes products (with SKUs, variants, descriptions), product categories, customer records, orders, and potentially reviews or CMS pages. Ensure your data is as clean and organized as possible to prevent issues during import. More details on CSV migrations can be found here: CSV.File Data Migration.
• Cart2Cart PrestaShop Migration Module: PrestaShop requires a specific module for the connection bridge. The Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module will need to be installed on your PrestaShop target store to facilitate the data exchange.
• Backup Your Stores: Although migrations are designed to be safe, it is always recommended to create full backups of both your ECshop data (before export) and your PrestaShop installation (before migration begins).
• Review Our FAQs: For general preparation tips, consult our guides: How to prepare Source store for migration? and How to prepare Target store for migration?

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

This section outlines the process of migrating your ECshop data to PrestaShop using a specialized migration tool. Follow these steps carefully to ensure a successful data transfer.

Step 1: Initiate Your Migration

Begin by navigating to the migration wizard. Here, you'll be presented with options to start your transfer.

Click on the option to start a new migration to proceed.

Step 2: Set Up Your Source Store (ECshop via CSV)

Since ECshop requires a CSV-based approach, you will configure the source connection to accept your exported files.

1. Select 'CSV File to Cart' as your Source Cart: From the dropdown list of available shopping carts, choose 'CSV File to Cart'.
2. Upload Your CSV Files: The system will prompt you to upload the CSV files containing your ECshop data. Ensure all relevant entities like products, categories, customers, and orders are included in your export.

This step establishes the connection to your ECshop data, preparing it for the move to PrestaShop.

Step 3: Configure Your Target Store (PrestaShop)

Next, you'll set up your new PrestaShop store as the destination for your data.

1. Select 'PrestaShop' as your Target Cart: Choose PrestaShop from the list of target platforms.
2. Provide PrestaShop Admin URL: Enter the administrative URL of your PrestaShop store.
3. Choose Connection Method: Select the 'Upload Connection bridge' option. This method requires downloading a `bridge2cart.zip` file, extracting its contents, and uploading the `bridge2cart` folder to the root directory of your PrestaShop installation via FTP or cPanel. Alternatively, you might be prompted to install the 'Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module' directly from the PrestaShop marketplace or provide admin credentials for an automated upload.

Once the connection is successfully established, the system will validate it and allow you to proceed.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This crucial step allows you to define exactly which types of data you wish to transfer from your ECshop CSVs to PrestaShop. You have fine-grained control over the scope of your migration.

• Choose Specific Entities: You can select individual data types such as products, product categories, customers, orders, product reviews, manufacturers, invoices, taxes, coupons, CMS pages, or blog posts.
• Migrate All Entities: For a complete store replatform, simply check the 'Select All' box to transfer all supported data.

The migration tool supports a comprehensive list of entities, ensuring that vital aspects of your store, from product SKUs and variants to customer purchase history, are transferred.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options and Data Mapping

This stage allows for customization of your migration and ensures that data fields are correctly aligned between your source and target stores.

Additional Migration Options

Enhance your data transfer with various optional features:

• Clear Target Store Data: Opt to clear current data on your PrestaShop store before the migration begins. This is useful for fresh installations.
• Preserve IDs: Select options to preserve Product IDs, Orders IDs, and Customers IDs. This is highly recommended for maintaining data integrity and compatibility with existing external systems.
• SEO URLs & 301 Redirects: Enable the creation of SEO-friendly URLs and 301 redirects to maintain your search engine rankings and link equity post-migration. This is vital for preventing broken links and preserving your online visibility.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensure that images embedded within product descriptions or CMS pages are also transferred.
• Password Migration: Migrate customer passwords to ensure a seamless login experience for your existing customer base on the new PrestaShop store.
• Create Variants from Attributes: Leverage this option to correctly generate product variants from your ECshop attribute data.

Data Mapping Setup

Ensure consistency by mapping corresponding data fields:

• Customer Groups Mapping: Match customer groups from your ECshop data (e.g., 'Registered Customer') to their equivalents in PrestaShop.
• Order Status Mapping: Align the various order statuses (e.g., 'Pending', 'Processing', 'Completed') from your source to the appropriate PrestaShop order statuses.

Note that PrestaShop has certain limitations and notices, such as SEO options being excluded for blogs.

Step 6: Run Demo Migration and Full Migration

Before committing to a full data transfer, run a free demo migration. This allows you to inspect a limited set of migrated data and ensure everything is transferring as expected.

1. Run Demo Migration: Execute the demo to transfer a small subset of your data.
2. Review Demo Results: Carefully examine products, customers, and orders in your PrestaShop store to verify data accuracy and integrity.
3. Start Full Migration: If satisfied with the demo, proceed with the full migration. This will transfer all selected data entities according to your configurations.

Consider purchasing Migration Insurance Service, which offers additional remigrations for a specified period, providing peace of mind in case any adjustments are needed post-migration. Learn more about how Migration Insurance works.

Post-Migration Steps

Once your data has been successfully moved to PrestaShop, a few critical steps remain to ensure your new store is fully operational and optimized.

1. Thorough Data Review: Spend time meticulously checking your PrestaShop store. Verify that all product details (images, descriptions, SKUs, variants), customer accounts, order histories, and other migrated content are accurate and displayed correctly.
2. Configure Storefront & Functionality: Customize your PrestaShop theme, install and configure essential modules (e.g., payment gateways, shipping methods, marketing tools), and ensure all features are working as intended.
3. Update DNS and Test Everything: Once confident, update your domain's DNS settings to point to your new PrestaShop store. Conduct extensive testing of the entire user journey, from browsing products to checkout, account creation, and order placement.
4. SEO Verification: Double-check that all 301 redirects are functioning correctly to preserve your hard-earned SEO rankings. Submit your new sitemap to search engines.
5. Go Live: Announce your new and improved PrestaShop store to your customers!
6. Consider Recent Data Migration: If you continue to receive orders on your ECshop store during the migration period, consider using a Recent Data Migration Service to transfer any new data that appeared after your main migration.

Migrating from ECshop to PrestaShop is a significant upgrade, offering enhanced features and greater control over your e-commerce operations. By following this comprehensive guide, you can achieve a smooth and successful transition, setting the stage for future growth.