Arastta to Shopware Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from Arastta to Shopware

Replatforming your e-commerce store is a strategic decision that can unlock new growth opportunities and enhance your operational efficiency. If you're currently running on Arastta and considering a move to a more robust, scalable, and modern platform like Shopware, this guide is for you. Shopware offers advanced features, flexibility, and a thriving ecosystem, making it an excellent choice for businesses looking to elevate their online presence.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through every critical step of migrating your store data from Arastta to Shopware, ensuring a smooth and secure data transfer. We'll cover everything from essential prerequisites to post-migration best practices, leveraging the power of automated migration tools to make your transition seamless.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before you embark on your migration journey, proper preparation is key to a successful data transfer. Ensuring both your source (Arastta) and target (Shopware) stores are ready will minimize potential issues and downtime.

For Your Arastta Store (Source)

• Data Export: Since Arastta is not directly integrated into automated migration tools, you will need to export your store data into CSV files. Ensure you export all critical entities like products, categories, customers, and orders. Pay close attention to data formatting to facilitate a cleaner import. For more detailed information on preparing your source store, consult our guide on How to prepare Source store for migration?.
• Data Cleanup: This is an opportune moment to review and clean up your existing Arastta data. Remove outdated products, inactive customer accounts, or redundant information to ensure you're only transferring relevant data to your new Shopware store.
• Full Backup: Always perform a complete backup of your Arastta database and files before initiating any data export. This serves as a safety net in case any unforeseen issues arise during the process.

For Your Shopware Store (Target)

• Shopware Installation: Ensure you have a fresh installation of Shopware (versions 5.2.2 or 6.0.0 and above are supported) ready on your chosen hosting environment.
• Access Credentials: You'll need full administrative and FTP access to your Shopware installation. This includes your Shopware admin login details and FTP credentials to upload files. Understand The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart to streamline this step.
• Empty Store: For a clean migration, it's generally recommended that your target Shopware store is empty. If it contains any demo data or existing information, you might choose to use the "Clear Target" option during migration, which we will discuss later. For more insights on preparing your target, read How to prepare Target store for migration?.
• Connection Bridge: Although not a plugin in the traditional Shopware sense, the migration tool will require you to download and upload a "Connection Bridge" file to your Shopware root directory to establish a secure connection.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your prerequisites in place, let's walk through the migration process using an automated migration wizard, which simplifies the data transfer from your Arastta CSV files to Shopware.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by accessing the migration wizard. If you don't have an account, create one to get started.

On the initial screen, you'll see options to either start a full migration or try a free demo. Opting for the demo is highly recommended to understand the process and verify data integrity before committing to a full transfer.

Step 2: Configure Your Source Store (Arastta via CSV)

This is where you tell the migration tool about your current Arastta store data. Since Arastta is not directly supported, you'll use the CSV File option.

1. From the 'Source Cart' dropdown menu, select "CSV File".
2. You will then be prompted to upload the CSV files you exported from your Arastta store. Ensure these files are correctly formatted according to the migration tool's guidelines for successful parsing of your product SKUs, customer data, orders, and other entities. More details on CSV.File Data Migration can be found here.

Step 3: Set Up Your Target Store (Shopware)

Now, connect the migration wizard to your new Shopware store.

1. Select "Shopware" from the 'Target Cart' dropdown list.
2. Enter the full URL of your Shopware store.
3. The system will then prompt you to download a Connection Bridge file. This is a crucial step. Unpack the downloaded ZIP file and upload the `bridge2cart` folder to the root directory of your Shopware installation via FTP. If you're unsure what a root folder is, refer to What is a root folder and where can I find it?. This bridge allows the migration service to securely access your Shopware database for data transfer.
4. Once uploaded, click "Check Connection" to verify the link.

Step 4: Select Data Entities to Migrate

In this step, you choose exactly what data you want to transfer from your Arastta CSV files to Shopware.

You'll see a list of data entities such as Products, Reviews, Product Categories, Customers, Orders, Manufacturers, and CMS Pages. You can either check the "All entities" box to transfer everything or meticulously select specific items based on your business needs.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options & Data Mapping

This stage is vital for customizing your data transfer and ensuring data integrity and SEO rankings are preserved.

Additional Migration Options

You'll be presented with a range of checkboxes. Consider these popular options:

• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures product and category images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Clear Target Store Data: If your Shopware store has any pre-existing data, selecting this option will wipe it clean before migration, ensuring a fresh start.
• Preserve Customers IDs / Preserve Orders IDs / Preserve Product IDs: These options help maintain original IDs for your entities. Note that for Shopware versions 6+, there might be ID preservation limitations.
• Create 301 Redirects: Highly recommended to preserve your SEO rankings and link equity by automatically redirecting old Arastta URLs to their new Shopware equivalents.
• Migrate Customer Passwords: This option allows for the transfer of customer passwords, improving user experience. Its availability depends on the source CSV file structure.

Data Mapping

Data mapping ensures that specific fields and statuses from your Arastta store correctly align with their counterparts in Shopware. This is crucial for consistent customer experience and order management.

• Customer Groups Mapping: Match customer roles (e.g., 'Wholesale', 'Retail') from your Arastta data to the appropriate customer groups in Shopware.
• Order Status Mapping: Align your Arastta order statuses (e.g., 'Pending', 'Processing', 'Completed') with the corresponding statuses available in Shopware.

Step 6: Run Demo Migration & Full Migration

You're almost there! This final step involves reviewing your selections and initiating the data transfer.

Demo Migration

Start with a Free Demo Migration. This will transfer a limited number of entities (e.g., 10 products, 10 customers, 10 orders) from your Arastta CSV files to your Shopware store. This crucial step allows you to inspect the migrated data, check for any inconsistencies, and ensure the process works as expected before committing to the full replatforming. It's a vital part of ensuring data integrity.

Full Migration

Once you're satisfied with the demo results:

1. Review the comprehensive list of all selected data entities, their counts, and the total estimated cost for the full migration.
2. Consider adding a Migration Insurance Plan. This service offers a set number of remigrations for a specified duration, providing peace of mind. Learn more about How Migration Insurance works?.
3. Click "Start Full Migration." The process will run in the cloud, meaning your stores will remain fully operational during the data transfer, ensuring zero downtime.

For more comprehensive support, consider our Basic, Extended, Premium, or Ultimate Data Migration Service packages.

Post-Migration Steps

The migration doesn't end when the data transfer is complete. These crucial post-migration steps will ensure your new Shopware store is fully functional, optimized, and ready for your customers.

• Thorough Data Review: Log into your Shopware admin panel and meticulously review all migrated data. Check product listings (SKUs, variants, descriptions, images), customer accounts, order histories, categories, manufacturers, and reviews. Ensure all metadata is correctly displayed.
• Install & Configure Essential Plugins: Shopware offers a rich App Store. Install and configure vital extensions for payment gateways, shipping providers, marketing tools, SEO, and any other specific functionalities your business requires.
• Theme and Design Setup: Customize your Shopware theme to reflect your brand identity and ensure an optimal user experience across all devices.
• Payment and Shipping Configuration: Set up your preferred payment methods and shipping zones/rates within Shopware. Note that Shopware supports multi-tax settings, so configure these accurately.
• SEO Configuration: Implement your 301 redirects (if not handled by the migration tool) and configure Shopware's built-in SEO features, including meta titles, descriptions, and sitemaps, to maintain and improve your search engine visibility.
• Test All Store Functions: Perform comprehensive tests. Create new customer accounts, place test orders, go through the entire checkout process, test search functionality, contact forms, and any custom features.
• Update DNS Settings: Once fully satisfied with your new Shopware store, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new Shopware hosting.
• Inform Your Customers: Announce the launch of your new and improved store to your customers.
• Ongoing Monitoring: Continuously monitor your Shopware store's performance, user feedback, and analytics to identify and address any potential issues.

Should any new orders or customer registrations occur on your old Arastta store during the DNS propagation period, consider using the Recent Data Migration Service to transfer only the latest changes. If you encounter any issues or need to refine your data, the Cart2Cart Remigration Service is available to help you re-transfer data as needed.

Migrating from Arastta to Shopware is a significant undertaking, but with careful planning and the right tools, you can ensure a smooth and successful transition that positions your e-commerce business for future growth and success.