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

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning Your E-commerce Store from Usablenet to PrestaShop

As the digital landscape evolves, many merchants find themselves needing to replatform their online stores to more robust or feature-rich solutions. If you're currently operating on Usablenet and contemplating a move to PrestaShop, this guide is designed to provide you with a clear, step-by-step roadmap for a successful e-commerce data migration.

While Usablenet has traditionally focused on mobile-first commerce solutions, PrestaShop offers an expansive open-source platform known for its flexibility, powerful features, and a vibrant community. This transition, when managed correctly, can significantly enhance your store's functionality, scalability, and overall user experience. We will walk you through the entire process, from essential preparations to post-migration checks, ensuring your products, customers, and order data are transferred with integrity.

Prerequisites for a Smooth Migration

Before you embark on your migration journey from Usablenet to PrestaShop, a few crucial preparatory steps will help ensure a seamless data transfer and minimize potential downtime:

• Data Backup: Always perform a complete backup of your existing Usablenet store's data. Since Usablenet is not directly supported by API or bridge connections for migration tools, your data will need to be exported, typically in CSV format. Similarly, if your PrestaShop store already contains any data, back it up before migration.
• Fresh PrestaShop Installation: Have a clean, new PrestaShop installation ready on your hosting environment. Ensure it meets all the system requirements for PrestaShop. You can find more information on how to prepare your target store here: How to prepare Target store for migration?
• Identify Data to Migrate: Determine which entities you need to move. Common data types include products (with SKUs, variants, images, descriptions), product categories, customer records, order history, manufacturers, taxes, coupons, and CMS pages.
• CSV Export from Usablenet: Plan to export all relevant data from your Usablenet store into CSV files. This will be your primary method for sourcing data for the migration to PrestaShop. You might find our CSV.File Data Migration service helpful for this step.
• PrestaShop Access Credentials: Ensure you have full administrative access to your new PrestaShop installation, including Admin URL, username, and password.
• PrestaShop Plugin Requirement: For connecting to PrestaShop as your target cart, the "Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module" will be required. This module facilitates the connection and data exchange between the migration tool and your PrestaShop store.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these steps to migrate your e-commerce store data from Usablenet to PrestaShop:

Step 1: Get Started with the Migration Wizard

Begin by accessing the migration wizard. This intuitive interface will guide you through the entire data transfer process.

Step 2: Set Up Your Source Store (Usablenet via CSV)

Since Usablenet does not typically offer direct API or bridge connections for third-party migration tools, your migration will be performed using CSV files. This approach leverages the flexibility of CSV imports to ensure comprehensive data transfer.

1. From the 'Source Cart Type' dropdown, select "CsvToCart".
2. Upload the CSV files containing your Usablenet data (products, customers, orders, etc.) to the migration tool. Ensure your CSV files are well-structured for accurate parsing. For detailed guidance on preparing your source data, you can refer to How to prepare Source store for migration?

Step 3: Configure Your Target Store (PrestaShop)

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

1. From the 'Target Cart Type' dropdown, choose "PrestaShop".
2. Enter your PrestaShop's Admin URL in the designated field.
3. Select your preferred connection method. The most common and recommended method is to upload a Connection Bridge. This involves downloading a bridge file, extracting the 'bridge2cart' folder, and uploading it to your PrestaShop store's root directory via FTP. Alternatively, you might be able to use your admin credentials for an automated bridge upload or install the "Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module" directly from the marketplace, as it is a required plugin for this migration type. For understanding the root folder, see What is a root folder and where can I find it?

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Transfer

This crucial step allows you to specify exactly which data elements you wish to transfer from your Usablenet CSV files to PrestaShop. You can choose to migrate:

• Products, Product Categories, Product Manufacturers, Product Reviews
• Customers, Orders, Invoices
• Taxes, Stores, Coupons
• CMS Pages, Blogs, Blog Posts

You can opt to migrate all available entities with a single click or select them individually for a more tailored transfer.

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options and Data Mapping

To further customize your data transfer, you'll encounter a range of additional options and the opportunity to map your data fields.

Additional Options:

Enhance your migration with powerful features:

• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures product images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Clear Target: This option clears all existing data in your PrestaShop store before the migration begins, ensuring a clean slate.
• Preserve Product IDs, Preserve Orders IDs, Preserve Customers IDs: Maintain the original IDs from your Usablenet data in PrestaShop, which can be crucial for inventory management or external integrations.
• SEO URLs & Create 301 SEO URLs: Helps preserve your SEO rankings by migrating your current SEO-friendly URLs and automatically creating 301 redirects to avoid broken links. Note: SEO options are typically excluded for blogs due to platform limitations.
• Migrate Invoices: Transfers existing invoice records.
• Password Migration: Securely transfers customer passwords to your new PrestaShop store.
• Skip Custom Attributes: Allows you to bypass migration of attributes that may not be compatible or needed in PrestaShop.

Data Mapping:

This step ensures that disparate data fields from your Usablenet CSVs are correctly associated with their corresponding fields in PrestaShop. You will typically map:

• Customer Groups: Match customer roles (e.g., "Retail Customer" from Usablenet to "Customer" in PrestaShop).
• Order Statuses: Align order states (e.g., "Processing" from Usablenet to "In Progress" in PrestaShop).

Step 6: Run Demo Migration & Initiate Full Migration

Run a Free Demo Migration:

Before committing to a full data transfer, it's highly recommended to perform a free demo migration. This allows you to transfer a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, and orders) to your PrestaShop store. Review the results thoroughly to ensure data integrity and proper display of information. This is your chance to identify and resolve any potential issues before the complete migration.

Start Full Migration:

Once you are satisfied with the demo results, you can proceed with the full migration. This will transfer all selected data from your Usablenet CSVs to your PrestaShop store. You might also consider our Migration Insurance Service for added peace of mind, allowing for multiple re-migrations within a specific period.

Post-Migration Steps

After your data has successfully been transferred to PrestaShop, a few critical steps remain to ensure your new store is fully operational and optimized:

• Thorough Data Review: Log into your PrestaShop admin panel and meticulously check all migrated data. Verify product details, images, categories, customer accounts, order histories, and other entities to ensure everything is in place and accurate.
• Configure PrestaShop Settings:
• Install & Configure Theme: Personalize your store's appearance.
• Set Up Payment Gateways: Integrate your preferred payment methods.
• Configure Shipping Options: Define shipping zones, carriers, and rates.
• Adjust Tax Settings: Ensure tax rules are correctly applied for different regions.
• Install Essential Modules/Plugins: Explore the PrestaShop Addons Marketplace for functionalities like SEO optimization, marketing tools, and security enhancements.
• Test All Store Functionality: Perform comprehensive tests of all critical features:
• Checkout Process: Ensure customers can smoothly place orders.
• User Accounts: Verify login, registration, and account management.
• Search Functionality: Check that products are easily discoverable.
• Contact Forms: Test submission and delivery of messages.
• Set Up 301 Redirects: If you opted not to create 301 redirects during migration, or if any URLs changed, manually configure them to preserve your SEO rankings and link equity. This prevents visitors from encountering 404 errors.
• Update DNS Records: Once you are confident that your new PrestaShop store is fully functional, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new PrestaShop hosting.
• Announce Your New Store: Inform your customers about your new and improved online shopping experience.
• Ongoing SEO Monitoring: Keep a close eye on your search engine rankings and site traffic after the transition. Tools like Google Search Console can help identify and address any crawl errors or indexing issues.
• Consider Ongoing Services: If you operate both stores concurrently for a period, consider our Recent Data Migration Service to periodically transfer new data. For any complex needs or additional assistance, our team offers a Migration Customization Service.

Migrating from Usablenet to PrestaShop is a significant undertaking, but with careful planning and execution, it can lead to a powerful upgrade for your e-commerce business. Should you encounter any challenges or require expert assistance, please do not hesitate to Contact Us.