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

Seamlessly Transition Your E-commerce Store from Squirrelcart to Volusion

Are you running an online store on Squirrelcart and considering a replatform to Volusion? The e-commerce landscape is constantly evolving, and upgrading your platform can unlock new features, improve scalability, and enhance the overall user experience for both you and your customers. Migrating your store’s valuable data, including products, customer records, and order history, can seem daunting, but with the right strategy and tools, it can be a smooth and efficient process. This comprehensive guide will walk you through every step of transitioning your e-commerce business from Squirrelcart to Volusion, ensuring data integrity and minimal downtime.

We’ll leverage an automated migration solution like Cart2Cart to simplify this complex data transfer, ensuring that all your essential entities, from product SKUs to customer reviews, are moved accurately. Prepare to empower your business with Volusion’s robust capabilities.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before initiating the migration process, a few essential preparations are necessary to ensure a seamless transition and safeguard your valuable data. Taking these steps will help you avoid common pitfalls and ensure that your new Volusion store is ready for launch.

• Backup Your Squirrelcart Store: This is a critical first step. Always create a complete backup of your Squirrelcart database and files. This acts as a safety net, allowing you to restore your store to its original state if any unforeseen issues arise during the migration.
• Prepare Your Volusion Store: Set up your new Volusion account. While the migration will transfer data, you’ll need to select a theme, configure basic store settings, and perhaps install any essential apps or integrations you plan to use post-migration. For more details on preparing your target store, refer to our guide on How to prepare Target store for migration?
• Gather Access Credentials: You will need administrative access credentials for both your Squirrelcart and Volusion stores. For Squirrelcart, this includes your admin login, password, and the store URL. For both platforms, the connection method typically involves a “Bridge only” method, which requires uploading a connection bridge file to your store’s root directory to establish secure API access. For Squirrelcart specifically, the “Cart2Cart Squirrelcart Migration module” is required, and for Volusion, the “Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module” is needed. Ensure you have the necessary FTP access to upload these modules. For a detailed understanding of credentials, read The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.
• Review Limitations & Notices: Be aware of any platform-specific limitations. For both Squirrelcart and Volusion, note that “Multi-store limitations for BigCommerce variants” and “SEO options excluded for blogs” are listed. Plan accordingly if these affect your current setup or future Volusion strategy.
• Clean Up Your Data (Optional but Recommended): Before migrating, consider decluttering your Squirrelcart store. Remove any old, unused products, inactive customer accounts, or outdated promotions. This ensures you only transfer relevant, high-quality data to your new Volusion platform. For more preparation tips, consult How to prepare Source store for migration?

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, let's dive into the step-by-step process of moving your store data from Squirrelcart to Volusion using an automated migration tool. This guide assumes you are using Cart2Cart for a streamlined transfer.

Step 1: Create a Cart2Cart Account

Your migration journey begins by creating an account on the Cart2Cart platform. This is a quick and straightforward process that provides access to the migration wizard.

You’ll start by either signing up or logging in to your existing account. Once in, you can choose to begin a new migration right away.

Step 2: Connect Your Source Store (Squirrelcart)

Next, you’ll connect your existing Squirrelcart store as the source. This involves providing your store's URL and the necessary access credentials.

• Select “Squirrelcart” from the dropdown list of source cart types.
• Enter your Squirrelcart store's URL in the designated field.
• Upload the Cart2Cart Connection Bridge to your Squirrelcart root directory. As Squirrelcart's connection method is “Bridge only” and requires the “Cart2Cart Squirrelcart Migration module,” the wizard will guide you through this process. You might need to provide specific connection fields like `adminLogin`, `adminPwd`, `adminUrl`, and `bridgeLocation`.

The system will then verify the connection. If successful, you can proceed to the next step. If there are issues, double-check your credentials and ensure the bridge file is correctly uploaded. This step may look similar to the example below, guiding you through connecting your existing platform.

Step 3: Connect Your Target Store (Volusion)

Now, you’ll configure your new Volusion store as the target for your migrated data.

• Select “Volusion” from the dropdown list of target cart types.
• Enter your Volusion store's URL in the provided field.
• Similar to the source store, you will need to upload the Cart2Cart Connection Bridge to your Volusion root directory. Volusion also uses a “Bridge only” connection method and requires the “Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module.”

Once the connection is verified, you’re ready to decide what data to move.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This crucial step allows you to specify exactly what data you want to transfer from Squirrelcart to Volusion. Both platforms support a comprehensive range of entities, ensuring a thorough transfer of your store's core components.

• You can choose to migrate “All entities” with a single click or select specific data types based on your needs.
• Supported entities include: Products, Product Categories, Product Manufacturers, Product Reviews, Customers, Orders, Invoices, Taxes, Stores, Coupons, and CMS Pages.

Carefully review this list and select all relevant data to ensure a complete and accurate transfer to your new Volusion store. This precise control over data entity selection ensures that only desired information is moved, maintaining data integrity.

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options

This step allows you to customize your migration further by selecting various additional options that enhance data transfer and preserve important aspects of your store.

• Migrate Images in Description: Essential for products and CMS pages.
• Clear Target: Use this option if you want to remove all existing data from your Volusion store before migration. Be cautious, as this action is irreversible. Learn more about the Clear current data on Target store before migration option.
• Preserve IDs: Options like “Preserve Product IDs,” “Preserve Orders IDs,” and “Preserve Customers IDs” are crucial for maintaining consistency, especially if you rely on these IDs for inventory management or external integrations. Find out How Preserve IDs options can be used?
• SEO URLs & 301 SEO URLs: Crucial for maintaining your search engine rankings and link equity. “Create 301 SEO URLs” automatically sets up redirects from your old Squirrelcart URLs to your new Volusion URLs.
• Password Migration: Allows customer passwords to be transferred, ensuring a seamless login experience for your existing customers.
• Create Variants from Attributes: If your Squirrelcart products use attributes (like size or color) that should become variants in Volusion, select this option.

Review the full list of “Source Options” and “Target Options” provided by the migration tool and select those that align with your business needs.

Step 6: Map Data Fields

Data mapping ensures that corresponding fields from your Squirrelcart store are correctly matched to their equivalents in Volusion. This step is critical for maintaining data consistency across platforms, especially for customer groups and order statuses.

• Customer Groups Mapping: Match customer roles (e.g., “Wholesale Customer” from Squirrelcart to a corresponding group in Volusion).
• Order Status Mapping: Align order statuses (e.g., “Processing” or “Completed” from Squirrelcart to their respective statuses in Volusion).

The wizard typically provides a user-friendly interface to perform this mapping with dropdown menus, ensuring that your customer segments and order workflows translate accurately.

Step 7: Run a Free Demo Migration

Before committing to a full migration, it is highly recommended to perform a free demo migration. This trial run transfers a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, orders) to your Volusion store.

• The demo allows you to verify the accuracy of the data transfer, check how products, customer data, and orders appear in Volusion, and confirm that all selected options (like image migration or SEO URLs) are working as expected.
• This is an excellent opportunity to identify and address any potential issues or adjustments needed before the complete transfer of your store’s data.

Step 8: Perform Full Migration

Once you are satisfied with the results of your demo migration, you can proceed with the full migration. This final step involves initiating the complete transfer of all your selected Squirrelcart data to Volusion.

• Review the final summary of your migration settings and the total cost.
• You may also consider adding a Migration Insurance Service, which offers additional remigrations within a specified period, providing peace of mind. Learn more about How Migration Insurance works?
• Click “Start Full Migration” to begin the process. The time it takes will depend on the volume of data being transferred.

The migration tool will handle the entire data transfer, keeping you updated on its progress.

Post-Migration Steps

Completing the data transfer is a significant achievement, but the migration journey isn't over yet. These essential post-migration steps will ensure your new Volusion store is fully functional, optimized, and ready for your customers.

• Thoroughly Review Migrated Data: Carefully check all migrated data in your Volusion store. Verify that products (including SKUs, variants, prices, images, and descriptions), customer accounts, order history, and CMS pages are accurate and complete. Ensure that product images in descriptions are correctly displayed if you chose that option.
• Test Store Functionality: Conduct extensive testing of your new Volusion store. This includes:
  • Placing Test Orders: Go through the entire checkout process, from adding items to the cart to payment confirmation.
  • Customer Account Functionality: Test customer registration, login, password recovery, and order history viewing.
  • Search and Filtering: Ensure products are easily discoverable through search and category filters.
  • Integrations: Verify any third-party apps or integrations (e.g., shipping, payment gateways, marketing tools) are working correctly.
• Configure SEO and Redirects:
• 301 Redirects: Even if you opted to “Create 301 SEO URLs” during migration, it's wise to double-check that all critical old Squirrelcart URLs redirect correctly to their new Volusion counterparts to preserve your SEO rankings and link equity.
• Update Sitemaps: Generate and submit new sitemaps to search engines (Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools).
• Check for Broken Links: Use SEO tools to scan your new site for any broken internal or external links.
• Update DNS and Point to New Store: Once you are confident that your Volusion store is fully functional and all checks are complete, update your Domain Name System (DNS) settings to point your domain to your new Volusion store. This officially makes your Volusion store live.
• Remove Old Squirrelcart Store (Optional): After a grace period and confirmation that your Volusion store is operating perfectly, you can consider decommissioning your old Squirrelcart store.
• Announce Your New Store: Inform your customers about your new and improved online store! Leverage email marketing, social media, and on-site announcements.
• Consider Recent Data Migration: If you received new orders or customer registrations on your Squirrelcart store during the migration period, consider using a Recent Data Migration Service to transfer this latest information to Volusion.

By following these steps, you can ensure a successful and smooth transition from Squirrelcart to Volusion, positioning your business for growth and enhanced performance in the competitive e-commerce landscape. Should you encounter any challenges or require assistance at any stage, don't hesitate to Contact Us for expert support.