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

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from ECshop to Volusion

As your e-commerce business grows, the need for a more robust, scalable, and feature-rich platform often becomes paramount. ECshop, while serving its purpose for many, may present limitations that necessitate a move to a more modern solution like Volusion. Volusion offers a comprehensive suite of tools, enhanced security, and a user-friendly interface designed to support growing online stores.

This guide provides a detailed, step-by-step walkthrough for merchants looking to migrate their store data from ECshop to Volusion. Since ECshop does not typically offer direct API access for seamless migration with tools like Cart2Cart, this process will primarily involve exporting your ECshop data into CSV files and then importing it into your new Volusion store using a specialized migration service. We'll cover everything from preparation to post-migration checks, ensuring a smooth and successful replatforming.

By following these instructions, you can efficiently transfer your valuable products, customer data, orders, and more, minimizing downtime and preserving critical SEO rankings and user experience.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before embarking on your migration journey from ECshop to Volusion, careful preparation of both your source and target stores is essential. This ensures data integrity, minimizes potential issues, and sets the stage for a smooth transition.

• For Your ECshop Store (Source):
  1. Data Export: Since direct API integration for ECshop is often unavailable for automated migration tools, you will need to export your ECshop store's data into CSV files. This includes essential entities like products (with SKUs and variants), product categories, customer records, order history, product reviews, and any relevant CMS pages. Ensure your CSV files are well-organized and accurately reflect your current store data. For more details on this method, consider our CSV.File Data Migration service.
  2. Data Review and Cleanup: Take this opportunity to clean up your data. Remove outdated products, redundant customer entries, or incomplete orders from your exported CSV files. Clean data will result in a more efficient and accurate migration to Volusion.
  3. Full Backup: Always perform a complete backup of your ECshop database and files before exporting any data. This is a critical safety measure, allowing you to restore your store if any unforeseen issues arise. Learn more about preparing your source store: How to prepare Source store for migration?
• For Your Volusion Store (Target):
  1. New Volusion Store Setup: Ensure you have an active and accessible Volusion store. This will be the destination for all your migrated data.
  2. FTP Access and Bridge Installation: Volusion migrations typically require a 'bridge' file for the migration tool to connect securely to your store's database. This bridge will need to be uploaded to your Volusion store's root directory via FTP. Your Volusion account must have FTP access enabled. The migration module, such as the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module, will facilitate this connection.
  3. Administrator Credentials: Have your Volusion administrator login, password, and the full store URL readily available. These are necessary for the migration tool to establish the 'Bridge only' connection. For guidance on credentials, refer to The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.
  4. Theme and Basic Configuration: While not strictly a prerequisite for data migration, consider setting up your basic Volusion theme and essential configurations post-migration. For more on preparing your target store, see: How to prepare Target store for migration?

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your ECshop data prepared and your Volusion store ready, you can now proceed with the migration using a specialized migration wizard. Here’s a detailed breakdown of each step:

Step 1: Initiate Your Migration

Begin by accessing your migration service provider's website. You'll typically find an option to start a new migration process.

Step 2: Connect Your Source ECshop Store

As ECshop requires a CSV-based migration, you will select the 'CSV File to Cart' option as your source platform. Upload the prepared CSV files containing your ECshop product, customer, and order data.

Step 3: Configure Your Target Volusion Store

Next, specify Volusion as your target e-commerce platform. Provide your Volusion store's URL, administrator login, and password. The migration tool will then prompt you to install a 'bridge' file, which is crucial for establishing the secure 'Bridge only' connection. This usually involves downloading the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module and uploading it to your Volusion store's root directory via FTP, as Volusion specifically requires plugin installation and FTP access for migrations.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Transfer

In this crucial step, you'll choose exactly what data you wish to transfer from your ECshop CSV files to your Volusion store. Common entities supported for migration include:

• Products
• Product Categories
• Product Manufacturers
• Product Reviews
• Customers
• Orders
• Invoices
• Taxes
• Stores
• Coupons
• CMS Pages

You can select all entities or pick and choose specific types of data based on your needs.

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options

This section allows you to fine-tune your migration with various optional features to ensure data integrity and preserve valuable SEO elements. Popular options include:

• Preserve Product IDs, Category IDs, Customer IDs, and Order IDs: This option helps maintain consistency and prevents issues with existing integrations or external systems. Learn more about How Preserve IDs options can be used?
• Create Variants from Attributes: If your products have attributes like size or color, this ensures they are correctly migrated as product variants in Volusion.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures all product images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Password Migration: Allows customer passwords to be migrated securely.
• SEO URLs & Create 301 SEO URLs: Crucial for maintaining your search engine rankings and link equity. This option helps create new 301 redirects from your old ECshop URLs to your new Volusion URLs, preventing broken links.
• Clear Target Store Data: This option will remove any existing data in your Volusion store before migration. It's often recommended for fresh store setups. Understand Clear current data on Target store before migration option.

Step 6: Map Data

The data mapping step ensures that specific fields and statuses from your ECshop data are correctly aligned with their equivalents in Volusion. You'll typically map customer groups (e.g., 'Wholesale' to 'Customer Group A') and order statuses (e.g., 'Processing' to 'Awaiting Fulfillment') to ensure consistency in your new store.

Step 7: Run a Free Demo Migration

Before committing to a full transfer, it's highly recommended to perform a free demo migration. This migrates a limited number of entities (e.g., a few products, customers, and orders) to your Volusion store. This allows you to inspect the migrated data, check for accuracy, and ensure all settings are correctly configured without impacting your entire store. Review the results thoroughly.

Step 8: Perform Full Migration

Once you are satisfied with the demo results, proceed with the full data transfer. The migration tool will then begin moving all your selected ECshop data to your Volusion store. During this process, you may consider a Migration Insurance Service for added peace of mind, offering options for remigrations if needed. More details are available in How Migration Insurance works?

Post-Migration Steps

Migrating your store is a significant undertaking, and the work doesn't end once the data transfer is complete. These crucial post-migration steps will ensure your new Volusion store is fully operational and optimized for success:

1. Thorough Data Verification: Rigorously check all migrated data in your Volusion store. Verify product details (SKUs, pricing, images, descriptions, variants), category structures, customer accounts (including password functionality), and order history. Place a few test orders to ensure the checkout process, payment gateways, and shipping calculations work correctly.
2. SEO and Redirects: Confirm that all 301 redirects from your old ECshop URLs to the new Volusion URLs are functioning correctly. This is vital for maintaining your search engine rankings and link equity. Use tools like Google Search Console to identify and fix any broken links or crawling errors.
3. Storefront Design and User Experience: Customize your Volusion theme to align with your brand identity. Ensure the user experience (UX) is intuitive, and your store is responsive across all devices. Test navigation, search functionality, and product filters.
4. Configure Essential Settings: Reconfigure your payment gateways, shipping methods, tax settings, and any third-party app integrations that were not part of the data migration.
5. Update DNS Settings: Once you are confident that your Volusion store is fully functional and ready for traffic, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new Volusion store. Plan this step to minimize potential downtime.
6. Remove Your Old ECshop Store: After successfully launching and thoroughly testing your Volusion store, and confirming your domain points to it, you can safely decommission your old ECshop store. However, retain backups of your ECshop data for an extended period for historical reference.
7. Consider Post-Migration Services: If you receive new orders or customer data on ECshop after your initial migration, consider a Recent Data Migration Service to transfer only the latest updates. For more complex migration needs or specific customizations, our Migration Customization Service can assist.

Migrating from ECshop to Volusion can be a transformative step for your online business. By following this comprehensive guide, you can ensure a successful and efficient transition, setting your store up for future growth on its new platform.