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

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from Taobao to PrestaShop

For merchants seeking greater control, enhanced customization options, and expanded global reach, moving from the Taobao ecosystem to a self-hosted platform like PrestaShop is a strategic business decision. Taobao, while powerful in its native market, often presents limitations in terms of internationalization, design flexibility, and direct customer data ownership. PrestaShop, an open-source e-commerce solution, offers robust features, extensive customization through themes and modules, and full control over your store's operation and data.

Given Taobao's typically closed API environment for comprehensive data export, the most reliable and efficient method for this replatforming journey involves extracting your store's crucial data into CSV files. This detailed guide will walk you through the entire process of migrating your products, customer data, orders, and more from Taobao to PrestaShop using a specialized migration service, ensuring a smooth and secure data transfer.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before you embark on your e-commerce platform migration, it's essential to prepare both your current Taobao store and your new PrestaShop environment. Proper preparation minimizes potential downtime and ensures data integrity throughout the transition.

• For Your Taobao (Source) Store:
  • Data Export: Since Taobao is not directly supported by standard migration tools via API, you must export all essential store data from Taobao into CSV files. This includes, but is not limited to, products (with SKUs, variants, images, descriptions), product categories, customer data, order history, product reviews, and any CMS pages or blog posts you wish to transfer. Ensure your exported data is clean and well-organized, as this will be the foundation for your CSV File Data Migration. For more detailed preparation steps, refer to our guide on How to prepare Source store for migration?.
  • Data Review: Take this opportunity to review your Taobao data. Identify any outdated products, inactive customer accounts, or unnecessary information that doesn't need to be migrated, simplifying your new PrestaShop store.
• For Your PrestaShop (Target) Store:
  • PrestaShop Installation: Ensure you have a fresh installation of PrestaShop (supported versions range from 0.9.0 to 1.6.1.0) on a reliable web hosting server. The installation should be complete and accessible.
  • Basic Configuration: Perform basic initial setup steps such as choosing a theme, configuring language and currency settings, and testing the basic functionality of your new store.
  • FTP Access: You will need full FTP access to your PrestaShop store's root directory to upload the Connection Bridge, which facilitates the secure data transfer. For more information on what a root folder is, see What is a root folder and where can I find it?.
  • Plugin Requirement: The migration service requires the installation of the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module on your PrestaShop store. This module establishes a secure connection for the data transfer.
  • Performance Considerations: Ensure your hosting environment has sufficient resources to handle the migration process. For more on preparing your target store, consult How to prepare Target store for migration?.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

Migrating your store's valuable data involves a series of clear steps. Follow this guide to successfully transition your e-commerce operations from Taobao to PrestaShop.

Step 1: Initiate Your Migration

Begin by accessing your chosen migration service's wizard. This is the starting point for setting up your data transfer. You'll typically find an option to 'Start Your Migration' or similar call to action on the platform's homepage.

Step 2: Configure Your Taobao (CSV) Source Store

As Taobao does not offer direct API connections for comprehensive data export, your migration will be handled via CSV files. Select 'CSV File to Cart' as your source platform in the migration wizard.

• Choose Source Platform: From the dropdown menu, select 'CSV File to Cart'.
• Upload CSV Files: Proceed to upload the CSV files you exported from your Taobao store. These files should contain your products (including SKUs, variants, prices, images, and descriptions), product categories, customer data, orders, manufacturers, product reviews, CMS pages, and any other relevant entities. The migration service will process this data for transfer.

Step 3: Set Up Your PrestaShop Target Store

Now, it's time to connect your new PrestaShop store to the migration wizard. This step requires accurate information and proper installation of the connection module to facilitate the data transfer.

• Select Target Platform: Choose 'PrestaShop' from the list of target shopping carts.
• Enter Admin URL: Provide the full Admin URL of your PrestaShop store.
• Establish Connection: You have a few options to connect your PrestaShop store. The most common method involves using the Connection Bridge, which is the required connection method for PrestaShop:
  • Upload Connection Bridge: Download the Connection Bridge file provided by the migration service. Extract the contents, and then upload the entire bridge2cart folder to the root directory of your PrestaShop installation via FTP. This bridge acts as a secure gateway for data transfer. Alternatively, you might be prompted to install the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module, which serves the same purpose of establishing a secure connection.

For more insights into securing your connection details, refer to The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Transfer

This critical step allows you to define precisely what data you wish to transfer from your Taobao CSV files to your new PrestaShop store. The migration tool supports a comprehensive range of entities, ensuring a complete replatforming.

• Choose Entities: You can opt to migrate all available entities or select them individually based on your specific needs. Commonly selected entities include:
  • Products: This covers product names, descriptions, images, SKUs, prices, quantities, attributes (for variants), and related metadata.
  • Product Categories: The hierarchical structure of your store's categories.
  • Customers: Customer accounts, including basic customer data, addresses, and optionally, passwords for a seamless user experience.
  • Orders: Complete order history, including order statuses, product details, customer information, and shipping data.
  • Product Reviews: User-generated content associated with your products.
  • Manufacturers: Information about brands and manufacturers.
  • Invoices: Your billing records.
  • CMS Pages & Blog Posts: Static content and articles.
  • Coupons: Discount codes and promotions.

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options

To tailor the migration to your exact requirements and ensure optimal performance, select from a range of additional options that enhance data transfer and SEO integrity.

• Preserve IDs: This crucial option allows you to Preserve Product IDs, Order IDs, and Customer IDs from your Taobao data. Maintaining original IDs is highly recommended for data integrity, compatibility with third-party systems, and historical record-keeping. Learn more about How Preserve IDs options can be used?.
• Create 301 Redirects: Essential for SEO, this option automatically creates 301 redirects from your old Taobao URLs to the new PrestaShop URLs. This preserves your hard-earned link equity and prevents drops in SEO rankings and traffic, crucial for maintaining your online presence.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures that all product images embedded within product or category descriptions are successfully transferred to PrestaShop.
• Migrate Customer Passwords: This feature allows your existing Taobao customers to log into their new PrestaShop accounts using their current passwords, providing a smooth transition and enhanced user experience.
• Clear Target Store Data: If you are running a test migration or want to start fresh, this option will remove all existing data from your PrestaShop store before the migration begins. Read more about Clear current data on Target store before migration option.
• SEO URLs: Preserve the SEO-friendly URL structures you had in your Taobao data, contributing to better search engine visibility.

Step 6: Map Your Data Fields

Data mapping is vital for ensuring that your information is correctly categorized and displayed in your new PrestaShop store. This step involves aligning different fields between your source and target platforms for consistency.

• Customer Groups Mapping: Match customer roles or groups from your Taobao data to the corresponding customer groups in PrestaShop. This ensures proper classification of your customer base.
• Order Status Mapping: Align the various order statuses from your Taobao orders (e.g., 'Pending payment', 'Processing', 'Shipped') to the equivalent statuses in PrestaShop. This maintains the logical flow of your order management system post-migration.

Step 7: Run a Free Demo Migration (Optional but Recommended)

Before initiating the full data transfer, it is highly recommended to perform a free demo migration. This allows you to transfer a limited subset of your data (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, and orders) to your PrestaShop store.

A demo provides invaluable insights: you can preview how your data will look on the new platform, verify that the data integrity is maintained, check if images, SKUs, and variants are correctly transferred, and confirm that all mapping and additional options are configured to your satisfaction. This step is crucial for identifying and resolving any potential issues before the main migration.

Step 8: Initiate Full Migration

Once you are completely satisfied with the results of your demo migration, you can proceed with the full data transfer. Review the summary of your selected entities and the total migration cost.

• Final Review: Double-check all configurations, selected entities, and additional options.
• Migration Insurance: Consider adding a Migration Insurance Service. This service provides a set number of remigrations within a specified period, offering peace of mind and flexibility should you need to re-run the process due to unforeseen circumstances. Learn more about How Migration Insurance works?.
• Launch Migration: With everything confirmed, launch the full migration. The system will handle the automated transfer of all your selected data from your Taobao CSV files to your PrestaShop store.

Post-Migration Steps

Completing the data transfer is a significant achievement, but the journey doesn't end there. Several crucial post-migration steps are necessary to ensure your new PrestaShop store is fully functional, optimized, and ready for your customers.

• Verify Data Integrity: This is paramount. Thoroughly inspect your new PrestaShop store to confirm that all products, product images, categories, customer accounts, order histories, and other transferred data are accurate and complete. Pay close attention to SKUs, variant details, prices, and descriptions, and ensure no data was corrupted during the transfer.
• Configure SEO Redirects: Even if you used the 301 redirects option during migration, it's wise to manually verify or implement any remaining critical 301 redirects for old Taobao URLs to their new PrestaShop counterparts. This preserves your search engine rankings and link equity, preventing broken links and maintaining a positive user experience for users and search engines alike.
• Set Up Payment & Shipping Gateways: Configure and rigorously test all your desired payment methods (e.g., PayPal, credit card processors) and shipping options within PrestaShop. Ensure they are fully integrated and functioning correctly for a seamless checkout process.
• Update DNS Records: Once you are confident that your PrestaShop store is fully operational and verified, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new PrestaShop hosting server. Be mindful of DNS propagation times, which can take up to 48 hours.
• Extensive Store Testing: Conduct comprehensive testing of your entire PrestaShop storefront. This includes the end-to-end checkout process, customer account functionalities (registration, login, order history), search filters, product filters, contact forms, and mobile responsiveness across various devices.
• Monitor SEO Performance: Post-migration, closely monitor your website's search engine rankings and traffic using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Address any sudden drops or indexing issues immediately to safeguard your online visibility.
• Consider Recent Data Migration: If your Taobao store remained active and accumulated new orders or customer data during the migration period, consider utilizing a Recent Data Migration Service to transfer this latest information to your PrestaShop store, ensuring no sales or customer details are lost.
• Remove Taobao Store (Optional): Once you are absolutely confident in your PrestaShop store's performance and stability, and all data has been successfully transferred and verified, you may choose to decommission your old Taobao presence.