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

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from PrestaShop to Volusion

Migrating your e-commerce store is a strategic decision that can redefine your online business operations. If you're considering moving your shop from PrestaShop to Volusion, this guide will provide you with a clear, step-by-step roadmap to ensure a smooth and successful data transfer. Volusion offers a robust platform known for its comprehensive features and scalability, making it an attractive destination for merchants seeking to enhance their store's capabilities and user experience.

This article will walk you through the entire process, from essential pre-migration preparations to detailed instructions for performing the migration using an automated tool, and crucial post-migration checks. Our goal is to help you maintain data integrity, preserve your SEO rankings, and minimize downtime during this significant replatforming journey.

To begin your migration, you'll typically start at a portal like this:

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before initiating the migration process from PrestaShop to Volusion, careful preparation is key to avoiding potential issues and ensuring a smooth transition. Here's what you need to have in place:

• Access Credentials for Both Stores: You'll need full administrative access to both your PrestaShop (source) and Volusion (target) stores. This includes URLs, admin logins, and passwords. For more details on necessary credentials, refer to The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.
• PrestaShop Module Requirement: To establish a connection with your PrestaShop store, the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module is required. This module facilitates the secure transfer of your data.
• Volusion Module Requirement: Similarly, for your Volusion target store, the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module will be necessary to enable data import.
• FTP/SFTP Access: Both PrestaShop and Volusion utilize a 'Bridge only' connection method, which means you will need FTP access to upload a connection bridge file to the root directory of each store. Understanding what a root folder is and where to find it is essential for this step.
• Data Backup: Always perform a complete backup of your PrestaShop store's database and files. While migration tools prioritize data integrity, having your own backup provides an extra layer of security.
• Review Target Store Setup: Ensure your Volusion store is set up and accessible. You can review general preparation steps for your target store in our How to prepare Target store for migration? FAQ.
• Consider Data Limitations: Be aware that while PrestaShop supports entities like Blogs and Blogs_Posts, Volusion's supported entities for migration typically do not include blogs. This means blog content may not be transferable directly and might require a manual approach.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

Once your preparations are complete, you can begin the migration using an automated tool. Follow these steps to transfer your e-commerce data from PrestaShop to Volusion.

Step 1: Account Registration

Begin by registering an account on the migration service platform. This is usually a quick process requiring an email and password.

Step 2: Connect Your Source PrestaShop Store

This is where you tell the migration tool about your existing PrestaShop store.

1. Select PrestaShop: From the list of available e-commerce platforms, choose PrestaShop as your Source Cart.
2. Enter Store URL: Provide the complete URL of your PrestaShop store.
3. Establish Connection: Since PrestaShop uses a 'Bridge only' connection, you'll need to install the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module. The tool will often provide options, such as automatically uploading the bridge via admin credentials, installing an add-on from the marketplace, or manually uploading the 'bridge2cart' folder via FTP to your store's root directory. The most straightforward approach is often providing admin credentials for an automated upload.

Step 3: Connect Your Target Volusion Store

Next, you'll configure your new Volusion store as the destination for your data.

1. Select Volusion: Choose Volusion as your Target Cart.
2. Enter Store URL: Input the URL of your Volusion store.
3. Establish Connection: Similar to PrestaShop, Volusion also uses a 'Bridge only' connection. You will need to ensure the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module is installed or the connection bridge is uploaded to your Volusion store's root folder.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

At this stage, you'll specify which data entities you want to move from PrestaShop to Volusion. The migration tool typically presents a checklist of common e-commerce data types.

• Supported Entities: From PrestaShop, you can migrate Products, Product Categories, Manufacturers, Product Reviews, Customers, Orders, Invoices, Taxes, Stores, Coupons, and CMS Pages.
• Volusion Compatibility: Volusion supports the migration of Products, Product Categories, Manufacturers, Product Reviews, Customers, Orders, Invoices, Taxes, Stores, and CMS Pages. Note the absence of blog-related entities in Volusion for direct migration.
• Choose Your Data: You can select the 'All entities' checkbox for a comprehensive transfer or individually pick specific items like SKUs, customer data, and order history based on your requirements.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options and Data Mapping

This crucial step allows you to customize the migration to fit your specific needs and ensure data consistency.

Additional Migration Options

Review and select from various advanced options that enhance your migration:

• Preserve IDs: Options like "Preserve Product IDs," "Preserve Orders IDs," and "Preserve Customers IDs" can maintain the original identification numbers for your data, which is vital for historical records and external integrations. Learn more about How Preserve IDs options can be used?.
• SEO URLs & 301 Redirects: Selecting "SEO URLs" and "Create 301 SEO URLs" is highly recommended to preserve your search engine rankings and link equity by automatically redirecting old PrestaShop URLs to their new Volusion counterparts.
• Password Migration: Choose "Password Migration" to transfer customer passwords, enabling a seamless login experience for your existing customers on the new platform.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensure product images embedded in descriptions are transferred correctly to enrich your product listings on Volusion.
• Clear Target Store Data: The "Clear Target" option allows you to clear current data on the Target store before migration, which is useful if you have test data in your Volusion store that you want to remove before importing live data.
• Multi-Tax Allowed: Both platforms support multi-tax functionality, so this can be a consideration if your tax structure is complex.

Data Mapping

Map your PrestaShop customer groups and order statuses to their corresponding equivalents in Volusion. This ensures that customer roles and order lifecycles are correctly recognized and transferred, maintaining data integrity and a consistent user experience.

Step 6: Run Demo Migration and Full Migration

Before committing to a full data transfer, it's highly advisable to perform a demo migration.

• Demo Migration: This free step allows you to migrate a limited number of entities (e.g., a few products, customers, and orders) to your Volusion store. It's an excellent opportunity to preview the results, verify data accuracy, and confirm that the migration settings are correctly configured.
• Full Migration: Once satisfied with the demo results, proceed with the full migration. This will transfer all selected data from your PrestaShop store to Volusion. Consider adding Migration Insurance Service for peace of mind, which offers the ability to remigrate data if needed. You can learn more about How Migration Insurance works?.

Post-Migration Steps

The migration doesn't end when the data transfer is complete. Several crucial steps ensure your new Volusion store is fully operational and optimized.

• Thorough Data Review: Log in to your Volusion admin panel and meticulously check all migrated data. Verify products (SKUs, variants, images, descriptions), customer accounts, orders, categories, and CMS pages. Ensure all quantities, prices, and relationships are correct.
• Test Store Functionality: Perform comprehensive testing of your Volusion store. Place test orders, check checkout processes, ensure payment gateways are working, test search functionality, and verify customer account logins.
• Update DNS Settings: If you're using the same domain name, update your DNS records to point to your new Volusion store. This typically involves changing nameservers or A records with your domain registrar. Plan this step to minimize downtime for your live store.
• Implement 301 Redirects: If not fully handled by the migration tool's 301 SEO URLs option, manually set up any remaining critical 301 redirects to ensure old PrestaShop URLs correctly point to their new Volusion counterparts. This is vital for maintaining your SEO rankings and link equity.
• Update Internal Links: Scan your new Volusion store for any broken internal links that might still point to old PrestaShop URLs. Update them to reflect the new Volusion structure.
• Install Essential Apps/Plugins: Install and configure any necessary apps or plugins from the Volusion App Store that replicate functionalities you had on PrestaShop or add new desired features (e.g., marketing tools, analytics, shipping integrations).
• Notify Customers: Inform your existing customer base about the migration and the new platform. Reassure them that their account data is secure and guide them on how to access their new accounts (if password migration was not used).
• Monitor Performance: Keep a close eye on your store's performance, traffic, and sales data in the weeks following the migration. Utilize analytics tools to identify and address any unexpected drops or issues.
• Consider Recent Data Migration Service: If your PrestaShop store remained active for a period after the initial migration, you might have accumulated new orders or customers. A Recent Data Migration service can transfer these incremental updates to your Volusion store without affecting previously migrated data.

By following this comprehensive guide, you can confidently navigate the replatforming process from PrestaShop to Volusion, ensuring a successful transition and setting your e-commerce business up for future growth on its new platform.