StoresOnline to Shopify Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

Seamlessly Migrating Your E-commerce Store from StoresOnline to Shopify

Stepping into a new era of e-commerce means embracing platforms that offer greater flexibility, scalability, and a richer feature set. If you're running your online business on StoresOnline, you might be considering a move to a more modern and robust platform like Shopify. This transition, often called a replatforming or data transfer, can significantly enhance your store's capabilities, user experience, and growth potential.

Given that StoresOnline is an older platform, the most effective method for migrating your valuable data, such as products, customers, and orders, to a new system like Shopify involves a CSV file export. This guide will walk you through the entire process, ensuring a smooth and successful data transfer using a dedicated migration tool like Cart2Cart.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before initiating your migration, proper preparation is key to minimize downtime and ensure data integrity. Here’s what you need to have in place:

• For Your StoresOnline (Source) Store:

  Since StoresOnline does not support direct API connections with modern migration tools, you'll need to export your store data into CSV (Comma Separated Values) files. This includes:

  • Products: Ensure all product details like SKUs, names, descriptions, pricing, images, and variants are accurately exported.
  • Product Categories: Your store's organizational structure.
  • Customers: Customer information, including addresses.
  • Orders: Historical order data.
  • Reviews: If your StoresOnline store supports reviews, export these as well, although Shopify requires the AirReviews app for import.

  Organize your CSV files clearly. Clean data will make the import process much smoother. For more details on preparing your source store, read our guide: How to prepare Source store for migration?

• For Your Shopify (Target) Store:

  You'll need an active Shopify store account ready to receive your data. Consider the following:

  • Choose a Shopify Plan: Select a plan (Basic Shopify, Shopify, Advanced Shopify, Shopify Plus) that suits your business needs.
  • Install Cart2Cart Store Migration App: Shopify requires the installation of the Cart2Cart Store Migration App from the Shopify App Store for seamless integration.
  • Initial Setup: You might want to install a basic theme and configure essential settings like currency and time zone.
  • Disable Notifications: It's recommended to temporarily disable customer notifications on Shopify during the migration to prevent sending incomplete or test data.
  • Review Limitations: Be aware that Shopify's 'Pause and Build' plan blocks orders, and country restrictions might apply to order imports. Reviews require the AirReviews app.

  For a deeper dive into target store preparation, refer to: How to prepare Target store for migration?

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, let's walk through the migration process using the Cart2Cart wizard.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by navigating to the migration service platform. You'll typically find an intuitive interface to kickstart your data transfer.

Step 2: Connect Your StoresOnline Store (Source Setup)

In the migration wizard, you'll first specify your current e-commerce platform.

• Select 'CsvToCart' from the list of supported platforms. This option is used when your original platform, like StoresOnline, requires data to be imported via CSV files.
• Upload Your CSV Files: Follow the prompts to upload the CSV files you exported from StoresOnline (products, customers, orders, etc.). The wizard will guide you on the expected format.

Step 3: Connect Your Shopify Store (Target Setup)

Next, you'll connect your new Shopify store where your data will be transferred.

• Select 'Shopify' as your Target Cart.
• Enter Your Shopify Store URL.
• Choose Connection Method: The recommended method is to 'Install App from Marketplace'. Click the provided link to be redirected to the Shopify App Store, install the Cart2Cart Store Migration App, and then return to the wizard. Alternatively, you may choose to 'Provide API Access Credentials' if you prefer a manual setup, though the app provides a more streamlined process.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This crucial step allows you to choose exactly what data you want to move from StoresOnline to Shopify. You can select all available entities or pick specific ones.

• Common Entities Include: Products, Product Categories, Products_Reviews (requires AirReviews app on Shopify), Customers, Orders, CMS_Pages, Blogs, Blogs_Posts.
• Review Your Selection: Ensure you've selected all the essential data types necessary for your new Shopify store.

Step 5: Configure Data Mapping

Data mapping ensures that your StoresOnline data fields correctly align with Shopify's structure. The migration wizard will present options to match:

• Customer Groups: Map customer roles from StoresOnline to Shopify.
• Order Statuses: Align historical order statuses (e.g., 'Pending,' 'Processing,' 'Completed') to their Shopify equivalents.
• Product Attributes: If applicable, map specific product attributes to Shopify variants or metafields.

Step 6: Choose Additional Migration Options

Enhance your data transfer with various advanced options. These can significantly impact SEO rankings, data organization, and overall user experience post-migration.

• Clear Target: Opt to 'Clear Target' if you want to remove any existing demo data from your Shopify store before the migration.
• Preserve Order IDs: This is highly recommended to maintain your historical order numbering and data integrity. Learn more about How Preserve IDs options can be used?
• SEO URLs & 301 SEO URLs: Crucial for maintaining your search engine optimization. These options help preserve link equity and prevent broken links by creating redirects from your old StoresOnline URLs to the new Shopify URLs.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensure product and category images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Migrate All Categories: Essential for transferring your full product catalog structure.
• Migrate Groups to Tags: An option to convert customer groups or product groups from your source store into Shopify tags.
• Concat Short Description: Combines short descriptions with main descriptions if preferred.

Step 7: Perform Demo Migration (Recommended)

Before committing to a full migration, run a free demo migration. This transfers a limited number of entities (e.g., 10 products, 10 customers, 10 orders) to your Shopify store, allowing you to:

• Verify data integrity and formatting.
• Check how products, customers, and orders appear on Shopify.
• Identify and resolve any potential mapping issues before the full transfer.

Step 8: Launch Full Migration

Once you're satisfied with the demo results, proceed to the full data transfer. Review all your selected entities and additional options one last time.

• Migration Insurance: Consider adding a Migration Insurance Service, which allows you to perform additional remigrations within a specified period, offering peace of mind. Learn more about How Migration Insurance works?
• Initiate Transfer: Click the button to start the full migration. The process can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, depending on the volume of your data.

Post-Migration Steps

After your data has successfully moved to Shopify, there are several critical steps to finalize your new store and ensure everything runs smoothly.

• 1. Verify Data Integrity: Conduct a thorough check of your Shopify store. Ensure that all products (SKUs, variants, images, descriptions), customer accounts, order histories, and CMS pages have been transferred accurately and display correctly.
• 2. Configure Shopify Settings:
  • Payment Gateways: Set up your preferred payment processors (e.g., Shopify Payments, PayPal, Stripe).
  • Shipping & Taxes: Configure your shipping zones, rates, and tax settings to comply with your business model and regional regulations.
  • Domain & DNS: Point your existing domain name to your new Shopify store. This is crucial for maintaining your branding and online presence.
  • Essential Apps: Install any necessary Shopify apps for marketing, analytics, customer support, or additional features not covered by the migration (e.g., the AirReviews app for product reviews if not already handled).
  • Notifications: Re-enable customer notifications that you might have paused during the migration.
• 3. SEO Optimization & Redirects:
  • 301 Redirects: If you didn't use the 'Create 301 SEO URLs' option during migration, or if specific URLs have changed, set up 301 redirects to ensure old links point to new pages. This preserves your SEO rankings and link equity.
  • Google Search Console: Update your sitemap in Google Search Console and monitor for any crawl errors.
  • Internal Links: Check and update any hardcoded internal links within your store's content.
• 4. Thorough Testing: Perform extensive testing of your new store.
  • Test the entire checkout process from product selection to payment completion.
  • Verify customer account creation and login functionality.
  • Check all forms, search functions, and navigation elements.
• 5. Go Live: Once you're confident that everything is working perfectly, officially launch your new Shopify store! Announce your move to customers and celebrate your upgraded platform.

Migrating from StoresOnline to Shopify is a significant undertaking, but with careful planning and execution, it can lead to substantial improvements for your e-commerce business. If you encounter any challenges or require expert assistance, don't hesitate to Contact Us or consult our Frequently Asked Questions for support.