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

Migrating from AmeriCommerce to Volusion: A Comprehensive How-To Guide

Embarking on an e-commerce platform migration is a significant step for any online business, promising enhanced features, improved performance, and a better user experience. If you’re currently running your store on AmeriCommerce and are considering a transition to Volusion, this guide will walk you through the entire process, ensuring a smooth and successful data transfer.

While AmeriCommerce offers robust capabilities, moving to Volusion can unlock new opportunities with its specific set of tools and functionalities designed for scaling e-commerce operations. This article will detail how to perform a seamless store switch, transferring critical data like products, customer records, and order history.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before initiating your migration from AmeriCommerce to Volusion, it’s crucial to prepare both your source and target stores. Proper preparation minimizes potential issues and ensures data integrity throughout the transition.

For Your AmeriCommerce (Source) Store:

• Data Export: Since AmeriCommerce is not directly supported by automated migration tools in the same way as other platforms, your migration will involve exporting your data into CSV (Comma Separated Values) files. This means you will need to export all essential data entities such as products (including SKUs, variants, descriptions, images), categories, customers, orders, reviews, and CMS pages from your AmeriCommerce store into a structured CSV format. Ensure your CSV files are clean, well-organized, and accurately reflect your current store data. For more details on this method, see our CSV.File Data Migration service.
• Data Review: Carefully review your exported CSV files for accuracy and completeness. This is your chance to clean up any old, unused, or duplicate data before the transfer.
• Backup Your Data: Always perform a full backup of your AmeriCommerce store data before any migration attempt. This provides a safety net in case any unexpected issues arise.

For more general guidance on preparing your source store, you can refer to our FAQ: How to prepare Source store for migration?.

For Your Volusion (Target) Store:

• Set Up Your Volusion Store: Ensure you have a new Volusion store set up and ready to receive data. This includes selecting your desired theme and configuring basic store settings.
• FTP Access and Plugin: Volusion migrations typically require a connection bridge. You will need FTP (File Transfer Protocol) access to your Volusion store to upload a connector file (often referred to as a “bridge”). This bridge allows the migration tool to securely communicate with your Volusion database. Specifically, the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module is required for a successful connection. You will need to upload this plugin to your Volusion root folder. If you're unsure what a root folder is, check our guide on What is a root folder and where can I find it?.
• Admin Access: Have full administrative access credentials for your Volusion store readily available.

For more insights into preparing your target store, visit our FAQ: How to prepare Target store for migration?. For information on securing your credentials, read The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, you're ready to initiate the data transfer. We'll outline the process using a migration wizard, a common method for replatforming e-commerce stores.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by accessing your migration service dashboard. You'll typically find an option to start a new migration or calculate the cost.

Choose the option to start a do-it-yourself migration with the wizard.

Step 2: Source Store Setup (AmeriCommerce via CSV Files)

In this step, you will specify your current platform. Since AmeriCommerce data is being migrated via CSV files, select "CSV File to Cart" as your Source Shopping Cart.

You will then be prompted to upload your prepared CSV files containing your AmeriCommerce store data. Ensure all necessary files are included for a comprehensive data transfer.

Step 3: Target Store Setup (Volusion)

Next, configure your target platform. Select "Volusion" from the dropdown list of available shopping carts. Provide the full URL of your new Volusion store.

As per Volusion's connection requirements, you will need to upload the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module (the connection bridge) to your Volusion store's root folder via FTP. The migration wizard will guide you on how to provide the bridge location to establish a secure connection.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This critical step allows you to choose exactly which data you want to transfer from your AmeriCommerce CSV files to your Volusion store. You can migrate a wide range of entities, including:

• Products (SKUs, variants, descriptions, images, prices)
• Product Categories
• Product Manufacturers
• Product Reviews
• Customers
• Orders
• Invoices
• Taxes
• Stores
• Coupons
• CMS Pages

You can either select "All entities" for a complete transfer or manually pick specific items based on your needs.

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options

To further customize your migration, select from a range of additional options. These settings can significantly impact the outcome of your store transition.

Common and highly recommended options include:

• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures that product images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Clear Target: This option will remove any existing data on your Volusion store before the migration, ensuring a clean import. Learn more about Clear current data on Target store before migration option.
• Preserve Product IDs, Orders IDs, Customers IDs: Keeping original IDs can be crucial for internal tracking and integration with third-party systems. See How Preserve IDs options can be used?.
• SEO URLs / 301 SEO URLs: Crucial for maintaining your search engine rankings and link equity by automatically creating redirects from your old AmeriCommerce URLs to the new Volusion ones. This helps prevent broken links and a drop in organic traffic.
• Password Migration: Allows customers to log into their new Volusion accounts with their existing AmeriCommerce passwords, enhancing user experience.
• Create Variants from Attributes: Ensures product variants are correctly mapped and created on Volusion.

Step 6: Data Mapping

In this step, you will map your AmeriCommerce data fields to their corresponding fields in Volusion. This ensures that customer groups, order statuses, and any custom fields are correctly aligned between platforms, maintaining data consistency.

Carefully review and adjust the mapping to ensure all data translates accurately to the Volusion structure.

Step 7: Run a Free Demo Migration

Before committing to a full migration, it's highly recommended to perform a free demo migration. This transfers a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, orders) to your Volusion store. The demo allows you to:

• Verify the connection between platforms.
• Check the accuracy of data transfer and mapping.
• Identify and resolve any potential issues before the full transfer.

Review the demo results on your Volusion store to ensure everything looks as expected.

Step 8: Perform Full Migration

Once you are satisfied with the demo results, proceed with the full data transfer. This will migrate all selected entities from your AmeriCommerce CSV files to your Volusion store. You will typically be presented with final costs and options, including choosing a Migration Insurance Plan.

Migration Insurance can provide peace of mind, offering options for remigrations if further adjustments are needed. Learn more about How Migration Insurance works?.

Post-Migration Steps

Completing the data transfer is a major milestone, but a few crucial steps remain to ensure your new Volusion store is fully operational and optimized.

• Review and Verify Data: Thoroughly check your Volusion store. Verify product listings (SKUs, images, descriptions, variants), customer accounts, order history, and categories. Ensure all data entities are present and accurate.
• Configure Store Settings: Set up essential store configurations like shipping zones and rates, payment gateways, tax settings, and currency.
• Install Essential Apps/Plugins: Explore the Volusion App Store for any necessary integrations or functionalities that were part of your AmeriCommerce setup (e.g., marketing tools, analytics, customer support).
• Set Up SEO Redirects: If you didn't utilize the 301 SEO URLs option during migration, implement manual 301 redirects for any old AmeriCommerce URLs that didn't automatically transfer. This is critical for preserving your SEO rankings and link equity.
• Update DNS Settings: Point your domain name to your new Volusion store. This is the final step to make your new store live to the public.
• Conduct Extensive Testing: Before officially launching, perform comprehensive tests. Check the entire purchasing process from adding items to the cart to checkout, user account functionalities, search capabilities, and mobile responsiveness.
• Launch Your New Volusion Store: Once everything is verified and tested, make your new Volusion store live. Monitor your site closely for a few days after launch to catch any unforeseen issues.
• Consider Recent Data Migration: If new orders or customer registrations occurred on your AmeriCommerce store during the migration process, consider using a Recent Data Migration Service to transfer this new data to Volusion.

By following these steps, your transition from AmeriCommerce to Volusion can be a smooth and efficient process, setting your e-commerce business up for continued success on its new platform.