Basekit to BigCommerce Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from Basekit to BigCommerce

Replatforming your e-commerce store is a strategic decision that can significantly impact your business's future. If you're currently operating on Basekit and looking to elevate your online presence with a more robust, scalable, and feature-rich platform, migrating to BigCommerce is an excellent choice. BigCommerce offers advanced capabilities for product management, marketing, analytics, and an extensive app marketplace, providing a powerful foundation for growth.

This guide will walk you through the entire process of moving your store data from Basekit to BigCommerce. Given that Basekit does not offer a direct API for seamless data transfer, our migration strategy will leverage CSV file exports from Basekit, followed by an efficient import into BigCommerce. We will ensure a smooth data transfer, preserving your essential store information and minimizing downtime.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before embarking on your migration journey, it's crucial to prepare both your current Basekit store and your new BigCommerce environment. Proper preparation ensures data integrity and a more efficient transition.

1. Preparing Your Basekit (Source) Store: Exporting Data via CSV

Since Basekit does not provide a direct API for data extraction, the migration process will rely on exporting your store's data into CSV (Comma Separated Values) files. This method allows us to gather all necessary information before importing it into BigCommerce.

• Data Export: Identify and export all crucial data entities from your Basekit store. This typically includes:
  • Products: SKUs, product names, descriptions, images, prices, weight, inventory levels, attributes, and variants. Ensure all product images are accessible via URLs or exported separately.
  • Categories: Your product category structure and hierarchy.
  • Customers: Customer names, email addresses, billing and shipping addresses. For security reasons, customer passwords typically cannot be directly migrated and will need to be reset by users post-migration.
  • Orders: Order IDs, dates, customer information, ordered products, quantities, prices, shipping details, and order statuses.
  • Blogs & CMS Pages: Any blog posts, articles, or static content pages you wish to transfer.
  • Coupons: Existing coupon codes, their values, and conditions.
• Data Cleanup: This is an opportune moment to audit and clean your existing data. Remove outdated products, duplicate customer entries, or irrelevant information. Clean data leads to a cleaner, more efficient new store.
• Backup: Always perform a complete backup of your Basekit store before initiating any data export or migration process.

For more detailed guidance on preparing your source store, refer to our How to prepare Source store for migration? FAQ.

2. Preparing Your BigCommerce (Target) Store: Setting Up for Import

BigCommerce is an API-first platform, meaning data transfer is handled securely and efficiently via its API. To enable this, you will need to set up API access credentials.

• Create Your BigCommerce Store: If you haven't already, sign up for a BigCommerce account and set up your basic store.
• Generate API Credentials: BigCommerce requires specific API credentials for external tools to connect and interact with your store. You will need:
  • Client ID (Username)
  • Access Token (API Token)
  • API Path

  These can be generated within your BigCommerce admin panel by creating a custom API account. Navigate to Settings > API Accounts and create a new Stencil-CLI Token (if using a Stencil theme) or a new API account, ensuring you grant the necessary scopes (permissions) for Products, Customers, Orders, Categories, etc., to be read and written.

  Note: BigCommerce requires HTTPS for all API connections and enforces API rate limits, which are managed automatically by robust migration tools.

• Custom App Development Notice: BigCommerce's API-only connection often implies the need for a custom app or a migration service that can handle custom app development and required API scopes. Our service abstracts this complexity for you.
• Theme and Basic Configuration: While not strictly a prerequisite for data import, consider selecting a BigCommerce theme and configuring essential settings like currency, time zone, and basic shipping/tax zones.

For a deeper dive into target store preparation, consult our How to prepare Target store for migration? and The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart articles.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your data prepared and your BigCommerce store ready, you can now proceed with the migration using a specialized migration service. This guide outlines the steps within such a wizard.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

The initial step is to access the migration wizard. Here, you'll be prompted to begin the process, choose your service type, or estimate costs.

Step 2: Connect Your Source Store (Basekit via CSV)

Since Basekit isn't directly supported by a connector, you'll select 'CSV.File' as your source cart. This option is designed to facilitate migrations from platforms that primarily allow data export through CSV files.

1. From the dropdown, select CSV File to Cart as your Source Cart.
2. Upload the CSV files you exported from your Basekit store for products, customers, orders, categories, and other entities. The system will guide you through mapping these files.

For more details on this method, visit our CSV.File Data Migration service page.

Step 3: Configure Your Target Store (BigCommerce)

Next, you will specify BigCommerce as your target platform and provide the necessary API credentials.

1. Select BigCommerce from the Target Cart dropdown list.
2. Enter your BigCommerce store's URL.
3. Input the Client ID (Username), Access Token (API Token), and API Path you generated in your BigCommerce admin panel. These credentials enable the migration service to access and transfer data to your new store securely.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Transfer

This crucial step allows you to choose exactly which types of data you want to move from your Basekit CSV files to BigCommerce. You can opt to migrate all available data or select specific entities.

• The system will display a checklist of entities such as: Products, Product Categories, Product Manufacturers, Product Attributes, Product Attribute Options, Customers, Orders, Coupons, Blog Posts, and CMS Pages.
• Select the checkboxes corresponding to the data you wish to migrate. Ensure all critical business data is included.

Step 5: Map Data and Configure Additional Options

This stage fine-tune how your data is transferred and handles special migration requirements.

Data Mapping: The wizard will prompt you to map specific data fields. This includes:

• Customer Groups: Match customer roles from your Basekit CSV (if applicable) to BigCommerce customer groups.
• Order Statuses: Align the various order statuses (e.g., 'Pending,' 'Processing,' 'Completed') from your source data to their BigCommerce equivalents.
• Product Attributes: Map custom product attributes to ensure they display correctly in BigCommerce.

Additional Migration Options: Enhance your data transfer with a range of customizable options:

• Preserve IDs: Select options like Preserve Product IDs, Preserve Category IDs, Preserve Customer IDs, and Preserve Order IDs to maintain the original identifiers of your data entities, which is crucial for historical records and external integrations.
• Create 301 SEO URLs: This vital option creates automatic redirects from your old Basekit URLs to the new BigCommerce URLs, preserving your SEO rankings and link equity.
• Clear Target Store Data: The Clear Target Store Data Before Migration option allows you to erase any existing data in your BigCommerce store before the migration, ensuring a clean slate.
• Create Variants from Attributes: Essential for products with options like size or color, this ensures that your product attributes are correctly translated into BigCommerce variants.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures any images embedded within product or CMS page descriptions are also transferred.
• Password Migration: If technically feasible and secure, this option attempts to migrate customer passwords. However, for enhanced security, customers often need to reset passwords post-migration.

Step 6: Run Demo Migration & Full Migration

Before committing to the full migration, it's highly recommended to perform a demo migration.

1. Demo Migration: A demo migration transfers a limited set of your data (e.g., a few products, customers, and orders) to your BigCommerce store. Use this opportunity to:
   • Verify data accuracy and integrity.
   • Check that product images, SKUs, and variants are displayed correctly.
   • Ensure customer information and order history are intact.
   • Review category structures and CMS pages.

   This step helps identify and resolve any potential issues before the complete data transfer.

2. Full Migration: Once you are satisfied with the demo results, proceed with the full migration. This will transfer all selected data from your Basekit CSV files to your BigCommerce store.
3. Migration Insurance: Consider adding a Migration Insurance Plan. This service provides a set number of free remigrations within a specific period, offering peace of mind in case you need to re-transfer data or make adjustments. Learn more about How Migration Insurance works?.

Post-Migration Steps

Successfully migrating your data is a significant milestone, but the journey doesn't end there. Several crucial post-migration steps are essential to ensure your new BigCommerce store is fully optimized and ready for business.

• Thorough Data Verification: Even after a demo and full migration, perform a comprehensive audit of your new BigCommerce store.
  • Products: Check product descriptions, images, SKUs, variants, prices, and inventory levels.
  • Customer Accounts: Verify that customer data, including addresses, is correct. Encourage customers to reset passwords for security.
  • Order History: Confirm that historical orders and their statuses are accurately reflected.
  • CMS Pages & Blog Posts: Review all content for formatting and broken links.
  • Redirects: Test your 301 redirects to ensure old Basekit URLs correctly lead to their new BigCommerce counterparts, maintaining SEO value.
• Configure Store Settings: Set up essential BigCommerce functionalities:
  • Shipping: Configure shipping zones, methods, and rates.
  • Taxes: Implement your tax settings according to your business location and legal requirements.
  • Payment Gateways: Integrate your preferred payment processors (e.g., Stripe, PayPal, Square).
  • Email Notifications: Customize order confirmation and other customer email templates.
• Install Apps and Integrations: Explore the BigCommerce App Marketplace to replace any specific functionalities from Basekit or enhance your store with new features. This could include marketing automation, accounting integrations, or customer service tools.
• Design and User Experience (UX): Customize your BigCommerce theme to align with your brand identity and optimize for an intuitive user experience. Ensure your storefront is responsive across all devices.
• SEO Review and Optimization: Beyond 301 redirects, perform a full SEO audit. Update your sitemap, submit it to search engines, and monitor your Google Search Console for any crawl errors or changes in SEO rankings. Optimize product and category metadata.
• Marketing & Promotions: Re-establish your marketing campaigns, connect your email marketing service, and update any social media links to your new store. Configure any existing coupons or promotions.
• Go Live and Monitor: Once everything is thoroughly checked and configured, update your DNS settings to point to your new BigCommerce store. Closely monitor your store's performance, traffic, and sales for any initial issues. Gather customer feedback to continuously improve.

By diligently following these post-migration steps, you can ensure a successful and seamless transition from Basekit to BigCommerce, positioning your business for sustained growth and enhanced online capabilities. Should you encounter any challenges, remember that our support team is available via Contact Us.