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

Seamlessly Migrate Your E-commerce Store from Shoper to BigCommerce

Are you considering a powerful upgrade for your online store? Moving from Shoper to BigCommerce can unlock a world of enhanced features, superior scalability, and a more robust platform to grow your e-commerce business. This comprehensive guide will walk you through every step of replatforming your store, ensuring a smooth transition of your valuable data, from products and customer information to order history and more. We’ll detail how to effectively transfer your Shoper data via CSV files and seamlessly integrate it into your new BigCommerce environment.

BigCommerce offers an advanced, API-driven architecture that empowers merchants with extensive customization options, powerful marketing tools, and a secure infrastructure. This transition, while significant, is entirely manageable with the right strategy and tools, minimizing downtime and preserving your critical SEO rankings and link equity. By following these instructions, you'll be well on your way to leveraging BigCommerce's full potential.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before you embark on your data transfer journey, ensure both your source Shoper store and your target BigCommerce platform are adequately prepared. This foresight will help maintain data integrity and streamline the entire process.

• For Your Shoper Store (Source): As Shoper is not directly supported via API for automated migration, your data will need to be exported into CSV (Comma Separated Values) files. This method, often referred to as CSV.File Data Migration, requires you to manually export your data. You'll need to export key entities such as:
  • Products (including SKUs, variants, descriptions, images)
  • Product Categories and Manufacturers
  • Customer data
  • Order history
  • Coupons
  • Blog posts and CMS pages

  Ensure your CSV files are well-structured and clean. For more general guidance on preparing your source store, refer to our How to prepare Source store for migration? FAQ.

• For Your BigCommerce Store (Target): You'll need an active BigCommerce store. This can be a new setup or an existing one. Critical steps include:
  • Set up your BigCommerce store: Ensure you have a BigCommerce account, even if it's a trial, ready to receive data.
  • Generate API Credentials: BigCommerce relies on API access for data import. You will need a Client ID, Access Token, and API Path. These are generated within your BigCommerce admin panel by navigating to Settings > API Accounts. Create a new API account, give it a descriptive name, and select the necessary OAuth scopes (permissions) for each data entity you plan to migrate (e.g., Products, Customers, Orders). Make sure to grant read/write access to all relevant entities.
  • HTTPS Requirement: BigCommerce strictly requires HTTPS for all API connections to ensure secure data transfer.

  For more details on obtaining API credentials, consult The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart. To prepare your target store effectively, you might also find our guide on How to prepare Target store for migration? helpful.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, let's dive into the step-by-step process of migrating your Shoper data to BigCommerce.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by accessing your migration tool. This is typically the initial screen where you choose to start a new migration process.

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

In the migration wizard, you'll configure your source store. Since Shoper is not a direct API integration, you will select the 'CSV File to Cart' option.

• Select 'CSV File to Cart' as your Source Cart.
• Upload your CSV files: You will be prompted to upload the CSV files containing your exported Shoper data for various entities. Ensure all necessary files (for products, categories, customers, orders, etc.) are uploaded correctly. The migration tool supports data transfer for products, product categories, manufacturers, reviews, customers, orders, invoices, taxes, stores, coupons, CMS pages, and blog posts.

Step 3: Connect Your Target Store (BigCommerce)

Next, you'll connect your new BigCommerce store, which will serve as the destination for your transferred data.

• Select 'BigCommerce' from the dropdown list of target carts.
• Enter your BigCommerce Store URL.
• Input your API Credentials: Provide the Client ID, Access Token, and API Path that you generated earlier in your BigCommerce admin panel. This information authenticates the connection and allows the migration tool to access and write data to your store.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This crucial step allows you to define exactly which data entities you wish to move from your Shoper CSV files to BigCommerce. You can choose to migrate all available data or pick specific types.

• Review the list of available entities, which typically include products (with their SKUs, variants, and images), product categories, customers, orders, coupons, and CMS pages.
• You can select 'All entities' or individually check the boxes for the data you want to transfer.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options and Data Mapping

This stage fine-tunes your migration, allowing for custom settings and ensuring data consistency between platforms.

Additional Migration Options

You'll encounter various checkboxes to customize your migration. Consider the following:

• Clear current data on Target store before migration: This option will remove any existing data from your BigCommerce store before the migration starts. Learn more about this setting here.
• Preserve IDs: Options like 'Preserve Product IDs', 'Preserve Category IDs', 'Preserve Customer IDs', and 'Preserve Order IDs' are vital for maintaining consistency, especially for historical data and external integrations. Understand their use cases here.
• Create 301 SEO URLs: Highly recommended for maintaining your current SEO rankings and link equity by automatically setting up redirects from your old Shoper URLs to the new BigCommerce URLs.
• Create Variants from Attributes: Essential for products with options like size or color, ensuring they are correctly structured as variants in BigCommerce.

Data Mapping

The data mapping step allows you to match customer groups, order statuses, and product attributes from your Shoper data to their equivalents in BigCommerce, ensuring logical organization post-migration.

• Customer Groups Mapping: Associate your Shoper customer groups (e.g., wholesale, retail) with BigCommerce's customer groups or tags.
• Order Status Mapping: Match order statuses (e.g., 'Pending', 'Processing', 'Completed') from Shoper to the corresponding statuses in BigCommerce.
• Product Attributes Mapping: If needed, map custom product attributes to ensure products are displayed correctly.

Step 6: Run Demo and Full Migration

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

• Demo Migration: This transfers a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, orders) for free. Use this to verify data accuracy, ensure proper mapping, and confirm that all settings are correct before initiating the full transfer.
• Full Migration: Once you're satisfied with the demo results, proceed with the full migration. This process transfers all selected data. You'll also have the option to add a Migration Insurance Service, which allows for Cart2Cart Remigration Service if needed. For more information, see How Migration Insurance works?

The system will provide an estimate of the total migration cost and allow you to select an insurance plan. Confirm these details to begin the complete data transfer.

Post-Migration Steps

The migration doesn't end when the data transfer is complete. These crucial post-migration steps ensure your new BigCommerce store is fully operational and optimized.

1. Thorough Data Verification: Rigorously check all migrated data on your BigCommerce store. Verify product listings, images, SKUs, variants, customer accounts, order histories, and CMS pages to ensure everything transferred accurately and maintains data integrity.
2. Configure Store Settings: Set up essential BigCommerce functionalities such as payment gateways, shipping methods, tax settings, and any specific app integrations from the BigCommerce App Marketplace.
3. Design and Theme Customization: Tailor your BigCommerce store's design to match your brand identity and enhance the user experience. Explore the BigCommerce Theme Store and customize your chosen theme.
4. Implement 301 Redirects: If you didn't set up 301 redirects during the migration, it's critical to do so now. This ensures that old Shoper URLs seamlessly redirect to their new BigCommerce counterparts, preserving your SEO rankings and preventing broken links.
5. Update DNS Settings: Once you're confident your BigCommerce store is ready, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new BigCommerce store. This makes your new store live to the public.
6. SEO Audit and Monitoring: Conduct a comprehensive SEO audit. Check for any crawl errors, broken links, or indexing issues. Update your Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts with your new BigCommerce store's URL to monitor traffic and performance.
7. Testing: Perform extensive testing of your BigCommerce store, including placing test orders, checking customer account functionalities, and verifying all checkout processes work smoothly.

Transitioning from Shoper to BigCommerce is a strategic move that can significantly benefit your e-commerce operations. By meticulously following these steps, you can achieve a successful and efficient migration, paving the way for sustained growth and an enhanced online presence. If you encounter any challenges or require assistance, do not hesitate to Contact Us for expert support.