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

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from IXXO to PrestaShop

Making the strategic decision to migrate your e-commerce platform is a significant step towards enhancing your online store's capabilities and user experience. If you're currently running on IXXO and considering a move, PrestaShop offers a robust, open-source solution renowned for its flexibility, powerful features, and extensive community support. This guide will walk you through the entire process of migrating your valuable store data from IXXO to PrestaShop, focusing on a meticulous, step-by-step approach using CSV file export for your IXXO data.

A successful platform switch, or replatforming, ensures that your product catalog, customer records, order history, and other critical e-commerce entities are transferred accurately and efficiently, maintaining data integrity and minimizing downtime. Let's dive into how you can achieve a seamless transition.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before initiating any data transfer, thorough preparation is paramount to ensure a smooth and successful migration. Here’s what you need to have in place for both your IXXO source store and your new PrestaShop target store.

For Your IXXO (Source) Store:

• Data Backup: Always perform a full backup of your entire IXXO store data and database. This is a crucial safety net in case any unforeseen issues arise during the export process.
• Data Clean-up: Take this opportunity to clean up any outdated products, unused customer accounts, or irrelevant data from your IXXO store. A leaner dataset will result in a faster and cleaner migration.
• CSV Export Capability: As IXXO is not directly supported by automated migration tools in the same way as other platforms, the migration will rely on exporting your IXXO data into well-structured CSV files. Ensure you have the functionality or a method to export all necessary entities such as products, categories, customers, orders, reviews, and manufacturers. Pay special attention to including unique identifiers (like SKUs), product variants, and image URLs.
• Access to IXXO Admin: You'll need full administrative access to your IXXO platform to perform the data export.

For Your PrestaShop (Target) Store:

• Fresh PrestaShop Installation: We highly recommend starting with a clean, new installation of PrestaShop on your chosen hosting environment. This ensures there are no conflicting data or configurations from previous setups.
• Basic Store Setup: Perform basic configurations like currency, language, and time zone. You can explore themes and design elements later, but the foundation should be in place.
• Hosting Environment: Ensure your hosting meets PrestaShop's requirements and can handle the data import efficiently.
• Install Migration Module: PrestaShop requires the installation of the "Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module" to facilitate data import via the Connection Bridge method. This module acts as the conduit for receiving your data.
• Administrative Access: You will need full administrative access to your PrestaShop backend (admin URL, login credentials).
• Read our guide on preparing your target store for migration for more detailed steps.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, you're ready to begin the data transfer process. This guide outlines the steps using a migration wizard, leveraging your exported IXXO CSV files.

Step 1: Export Data from IXXO to CSV

Your IXXO store's data will serve as the source for your PrestaShop migration. This step involves carefully extracting all relevant information into CSV (Comma Separated Values) files.

1. Access IXXO Admin Panel: Log into your IXXO store's administrative interface.
2. Locate Export Functionality: Navigate to the sections responsible for data management. Look for options like 'Export Products,' 'Export Customers,' 'Export Orders,' etc.
3. Export Key Entities: Systematically export all essential entities. This typically includes:
   • Products (including SKUs, descriptions, pricing, inventory levels, attributes, variants, and crucially, image URLs).
   • Product Categories and Manufacturers.
   • Customer Data (names, emails, addresses, customer groups).
   • Order History (order statuses, product details, customer information associated with orders).
   • Product Reviews.
   • CMS Pages and Blog Posts (if applicable).
4. Organize and Review CSVs: Save your exported CSV files in a clearly organized manner. It’s vital to open and review these files to ensure the data is complete and correctly formatted. Clean data leads to a clean migration. For more on this, refer to our CSV File Data Migration service.

Step 2: Source Store Setup (Migration Wizard)

The first step in the migration wizard is to define your source platform, which in this case will be the 'CSV File to Cart' option given your IXXO data export.

1. Start the Migration Wizard: Access the migration tool and choose to start a new migration.
2. Select Source Cart: From the list of available source platforms, select "CSV File to Cart".
3. Upload CSV Files: You will be prompted to upload the CSV files you exported from your IXXO store. Upload all relevant files for products, customers, orders, categories, etc.

Step 3: Target Store Setup (Migration Wizard)

Next, you’ll configure your PrestaShop store as the destination for your data.

1. Select Target Cart: Choose "PrestaShop" from the list of target platforms.
2. Provide PrestaShop Admin URL: Enter the full administrative URL of your PrestaShop store.
3. Connect via Connection Bridge: For PrestaShop, the connection method is primarily via a Bridge. You will typically be instructed to:
   • Download the Connection Bridge: The migration wizard will provide a downloadable zip file containing the Connection Bridge.
   • Upload Bridge2Cart Folder: Extract the contents of the zip file. You'll find a folder named 'bridge2cart'. Upload this entire folder to the root directory of your PrestaShop installation using an FTP/SFTP client. Ensure it's in the same directory as your PrestaShop's `index.php` file. For more information on this, check our FAQ on root folders.
   • Verify Connection: Once uploaded, the wizard will verify the connection to your PrestaShop store, confirming that the necessary access credentials are established via the bridge.

Step 4: Select Data Entities

This critical step allows you to choose exactly which types of data you want to transfer from your IXXO CSVs to your new PrestaShop store.

1. Review Available Entities: The wizard will display a list of all migratable entities based on the data you provided in your CSVs. These include: Products, Product Categories, Product Manufacturers, Product Reviews, Customers, Orders, Invoices, Taxes, Stores, Coupons, CMS Pages, and Blogs/Blog Posts.
2. Choose Data for Migration: You can select the "All entities" checkbox to transfer everything, or manually pick specific items based on your needs. For most full migrations, transferring all relevant entities is recommended to ensure a complete and functional store on PrestaShop.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options & Data Mapping

Refine your migration with advanced options and ensure data consistency through mapping.

Additional Migration Options:

Customize your data transfer by selecting from a range of additional features. These can significantly impact the outcome of your migration, from SEO preservation to password migration:

• Preserve IDs: Options like "Preserve Product IDs," "Preserve Category IDs," "Preserve Orders IDs," and "Preserve Customers IDs" allow you to maintain original identifiers from your IXXO store in PrestaShop. This is often recommended for consistency and integration with external systems. Learn more about how Preserve IDs options can be used.
• Create 301 SEO URLs: This crucial option helps maintain your existing SEO rankings by automatically creating 301 redirects from your old IXXO product and category URLs to their new PrestaShop counterparts. This preserves link equity and prevents broken links.
• Password Migration: If available in your CSV data, this option allows you to transfer customer passwords, enabling a smoother login experience for your existing customers on the new platform.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures that product images embedded within product descriptions are also transferred to PrestaShop.
• Clear Target Store Data: The "Clear Target" option allows you to remove any existing data in your PrestaShop store before the migration, ensuring a clean slate for your incoming IXXO data. Understand what this option means.
• Migrate Invoices: Transfer existing invoice records associated with your orders.

Data Mapping:

Data mapping ensures that specific data points from your IXXO store are correctly aligned with their corresponding fields in PrestaShop. This is particularly important for:

• Customer Group Mapping: Match your existing IXXO customer groups (e.g., "Wholesale," "Retail") to appropriate customer groups in PrestaShop.
• Order Status Mapping: Align your IXXO order statuses (e.g., "Pending," "Shipped," "Delivered") with the predefined or custom order statuses in PrestaShop. This maintains clarity in your order fulfillment process.

Step 6: Perform Demo Migration

Before committing to a full data transfer, it is highly recommended to conduct a free demo migration.

• Purpose: A demo migration transfers a limited number of entities (e.g., a few products, customers, and orders) to your PrestaShop store.
• Benefits: This allows you to:
  • Verify the accuracy of the data transfer.
  • Identify any potential issues or discrepancies early on.
  • Understand how your data (like SKUs and product variants) appears in the new PrestaShop structure.
  • Get an estimate of the full migration duration.

Step 7: Launch Full Migration

Once you are satisfied with the demo migration results, you can proceed with the full data transfer.

1. Review Summary: The wizard will present a final summary of your selected entities and additional options, along with the total cost.
2. Consider Migration Insurance: For added peace of mind, you might consider adding a Migration Insurance Service, which allows for multiple remigrations within a specified period. Learn how Migration Insurance works.
3. Initiate Full Transfer: Confirm your selections and launch the full migration. Your IXXO data will now be completely transferred to your PrestaShop store. During this process, your stores remain operational, minimizing potential downtime.

Post-Migration Steps

A successful data transfer is a major milestone, but the journey to a fully functional PrestaShop store isn't quite over. These post-migration tasks are crucial for optimizing your new platform and ensuring a seamless user experience.

• Thorough Data Verification: Systematically review your PrestaShop store to ensure all data entities – products, categories, customer accounts, orders, images, and reviews – have been transferred accurately. Check product SKUs, prices, descriptions, stock levels, and ensure all customer data is intact.
• Configure SEO Settings: If you used the 301 redirects option, verify that these redirects are working correctly. Manually check important product and category pages from your old IXXO store to ensure they redirect to their new PrestaShop counterparts, preserving your SEO rankings and link equity.
• Install Essential Modules and Themes: PrestaShop's strength lies in its modularity. Install and configure any necessary modules for payment gateways, shipping methods, marketing, SEO optimization, or advanced analytics. Customize your chosen theme to match your brand identity and desired user interface.
• Set Up Payment and Shipping: Reconfigure all your preferred payment gateways (e.g., PayPal, Stripe) and shipping carriers in PrestaShop. Conduct test transactions to confirm everything is working as expected.
• Test Store Functionality: Perform comprehensive testing of all critical store functionalities. This includes customer registration, login, product search, adding to cart, checkout process, and order placement.
• Update DNS and Go Live: Once you are completely satisfied with your PrestaShop store, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new PrestaShop hosting. This will make your PrestaShop store live to the public.
• Notify Customers: Inform your customers about your new store, highlighting any new features or improvements. Provide clear instructions for account access, especially if passwords were not migrated or require a reset.
• Consider Recent Data Migration: If there was a period between your IXXO data export and your PrestaShop go-live during which new orders or customers were added to your IXXO store, consider a Recent Data Migration Service to bring over only the newest data.

Migrating from IXXO to PrestaShop, while involving a CSV export, is a manageable process with the right strategy. By following these steps, you can confidently transition your e-commerce business to a more flexible and powerful platform. For any further assistance or advanced customization needs, feel free to Contact Us or refer to our extensive Frequently Asked Questions.