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

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning Your E-commerce Store from Kajabi to Volusion

Embarking on an e-commerce platform migration can feel like a daunting task, but with the right guidance, it’s a strategic move that can unlock new growth opportunities for your business. This comprehensive guide is designed for merchants looking to transition their online store from Kajabi to Volusion. While Kajabi excels in course delivery and content, Volusion offers a robust, dedicated e-commerce platform with extensive features for product management, sales, and scalability.

Since Kajabi doesn't offer a direct API for third-party migrations, this guide will walk you through a proven method utilizing CSV file exports for your Kajabi data and seamlessly importing it into your new Volusion store. We'll leverage an expert migration solution to ensure data integrity and a smooth replatforming experience.

Prerequisites for a Seamless Migration

Before initiating the data transfer, some preparation steps are crucial to ensure a successful transition and minimize potential downtime. Addressing these prerequisites will streamline your migration process significantly.

Preparing Your Kajabi (Source) Store

• Data Export Strategy: As Kajabi does not support direct API connections for automated migrations, you will need to export your essential e-commerce data into CSV files. This typically includes:
  • Products: Product names, descriptions, SKUs, pricing, images, categories, and any variants.
  • Customers: Customer names, email addresses, billing, and shipping information.
  • Orders: Order IDs, purchase dates, product details, customer information, and order statuses.
  • CMS Pages & Blog Posts: Export static content if you wish to migrate it to Volusion.

  Thoroughly review Kajabi’s export functionalities to ensure you capture all relevant data. For more details on preparing your source store, consult our guide on source store preparation.

• Data Cleanup: Use this opportunity to clean up your Kajabi data. Remove any outdated products, inactive customer accounts, or irrelevant information to ensure only valuable data is transferred to Volusion.

Preparing Your Volusion (Target) Store

• New Volusion Store Setup: Ensure your new Volusion store is set up and accessible. You should have administrative access to its backend.
• Install Cart2Cart Volusion Migration Module: Volusion requires a specific migration module to facilitate the data import. You will need to install the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module on your Volusion store. This module establishes the 'bridge' connection necessary for data transfer.
• FTP/SFTP Access: Volusion's bridge connection methods often rely on FTP access for file transfer. Ensure you have the necessary FTP credentials (hostname, username, password) and understand your store's root directory. Need help with access credentials? Check out The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials and What is a root folder and where can I find it?.
• Administrative Access: Have your Volusion admin login URL, username, and password readily available.
• Review Volusion Capabilities: Familiarize yourself with Volusion's features, especially concerning product attributes, categories, and order statuses, to ensure a smooth mapping process later. For general target store preparation, see our FAQ on target store preparation.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, let's proceed with the actual data transfer from Kajabi (via CSV) to Volusion using an automated migration tool. The process is designed to be user-friendly, guiding you through each stage.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by navigating to the migration tool's interface. Here, you'll choose to start a new migration process.

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

In this crucial step, you'll specify Kajabi as your source, leveraging the CSV file import method. Select 'CSV File to Cart' from the dropdown list. You will then be prompted to upload your prepared CSV files containing your Kajabi store data.

Ensure all your exported CSVs (products, customers, orders, etc.) are uploaded correctly. For more information on CSV migrations, visit our CSV Data Migration Service page.

Step 3: Connect Your Target Store (Volusion)

Next, specify Volusion as your target platform. Select 'Volusion' from the dropdown menu and enter your new Volusion store's URL. You will then be guided to install the Cart2Cart bridge, typically by uploading a small file via FTP to your Volusion store's root directory, and providing your Volusion admin credentials.

The bridge acts as a secure conduit, allowing the migration tool to connect with your Volusion store and import the data.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Transfer

Now, you'll choose exactly which data entities you wish to migrate from your Kajabi CSVs to Volusion. The tool supports the transfer of various data types, including:

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

You can select 'All entities' for a comprehensive transfer or pick specific items based on your needs.

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options

This step allows you to fine-tune your migration with a range of additional options, enhancing data integrity and preserving your SEO efforts:

• Migrate Images in Description: Essential for transferring product images embedded within descriptions.
• Clear Target: If selected, this option will erase all existing data in your Volusion store before the migration, ensuring a clean start. More details can be found in our FAQ on clearing target store data.
• Preserve Product IDs, Orders IDs, Customers IDs: Highly recommended for maintaining data consistency and simplifying post-migration tasks. Learn more about how Preserve IDs options work.
• SEO URLs / 301 SEO URLs: Crucial for maintaining your search engine rankings and link equity. This option creates 301 redirects from your old Kajabi URLs to your new Volusion URLs, preventing broken links.
• Password Migration: Allows transferring customer passwords securely.

Step 6: Map Data Fields

To ensure consistency, you will need to map customer groups and order statuses from your Kajabi data to their corresponding equivalents in Volusion. This ensures that customer roles and order lifecycles are correctly recognized in your new store.

Step 7: Perform Demo and Full Migration

It's highly recommended to run a Free Demo Migration first. This allows you to transfer a limited number of entities (e.g., 10 products, 10 customers, 10 orders) to your Volusion store, giving you a preview of the migration quality and allowing you to check for any issues without affecting your live data. Once you are satisfied with the demo results, you can proceed with the Full Migration.

During this stage, you may also consider a Migration Insurance Plan, which offers additional remigrations within a specified period, providing extra peace of mind. Learn more about how Migration Insurance works.

Post-Migration Steps: Ensuring a Flawless Launch

Completing the data transfer is a significant achievement, but the process doesn't end there. These post-migration steps are vital for ensuring your new Volusion store is fully functional and optimized.

1. Data Verification: Thoroughly review your new Volusion store to ensure all migrated data (products, customers, orders, images) is accurate and complete. Check product details, pricing, customer accounts, and order histories.
2. Test Store Functionality: Perform comprehensive tests of all critical store functionalities:
   • Product browsing and search: Ensure filters and search work as expected.
   • Adding to cart: Verify items can be added and removed.
   • Checkout process: Conduct test purchases with various payment methods.
   • Customer accounts: Test login, order history, and address management.
   • Contact forms and customer service channels.
3. Update DNS Settings: Once satisfied, update your domain's DNS settings to point to your new Volusion store. This will direct your visitors to the new platform. Plan this during low-traffic periods to minimize impact.
4. Configure 301 Redirects: While the migration tool can handle basic 301 redirects, review and manually configure any complex or custom redirects that might be needed to preserve your SEO rankings and link equity.
5. Install Essential Apps/Plugins: Set up any necessary Volusion apps, integrations, or plugins for marketing, analytics, shipping, payment gateways, and customer support.
6. Review SEO Settings: Optimize product titles, descriptions, and meta tags for search engines within Volusion. Note that Volusion has limitations regarding SEO options for blogs.
7. Communicate with Customers: Inform your customers about the store transition, highlighting any new features or improvements.
8. Consider Recent Data Migration: If you continued to receive orders or customer updates on Kajabi during the migration, consider using a Recent Data Migration Service to transfer any new data since your initial migration.

Migrating from Kajabi to Volusion offers a powerful opportunity to enhance your e-commerce capabilities. By following this detailed guide, you can ensure a smooth, secure, and successful transition, setting your business up for future growth on the Volusion platform. Should you encounter any challenges or require expert assistance, don't hesitate to contact us.