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

Seamlessly Migrate Your E-commerce Store from Arastta to Magento

As the e-commerce landscape evolves, businesses often find themselves needing to replatform to a more robust and scalable solution. If you’re currently running on Arastta and looking to transition to the powerful, feature-rich Magento platform, this comprehensive guide is designed for you. While Arastta offered a foundation for online stores, migrating to Magento can unlock advanced functionalities, improved performance, and greater flexibility for future growth.

Since Arastta is not directly supported by standard API connection methods, this migration will involve exporting your data from Arastta into CSV files and then importing those files into the migration wizard, with Magento serving as your target store. This method ensures that your valuable product information, customer data, order history, and other crucial entities are securely transferred. We’ll walk you through each step, from initial preparation to post-migration verification, ensuring a smooth and successful transition of your digital storefront.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before embarking on your migration journey, it's crucial to lay the groundwork to prevent potential hiccups and ensure data integrity. Proper preparation will save you time and effort in the long run.

• Backup Your Stores: Always create full backups of both your existing Arastta store and your new Magento installation. This is your safety net in case anything unexpected occurs during the data transfer process.
• Prepare Your Magento Store: Have a fresh Magento installation ready. Ensure it meets all Magento's system requirements, including appropriate hosting, server configurations, and a stable internet connection.
• Export Arastta Data to CSV Files: Since direct API connection to Arastta is not available, you will need to export your Arastta store data into well-structured CSV files. Key entities to export include:
  • Products (with variants, descriptions, images, SKUs)
  • Product Categories
  • Product Manufacturers
  • Customer Accounts and details
  • Order Records
  • Product Reviews
  • Invoices
  • Taxes
  • Store information (if applicable)
  • Coupons
  • CMS Pages
  • Blogs and Blog Posts (note: Magento does not natively support blog entities, so these may require a separate solution or extension on Magento)

  Ensure your CSV files are clean and accurately reflect your store's data. For more assistance, consider our CSV.File Data Migration service.

• FTP/SFTP Access: You'll need FTP or SFTP access to your Magento store's root directory to upload the Connection Bridge file. If you're unsure about this, consult our guide on finding your root folder.
• Review Magento Plugin Requirements: If you plan to migrate customer passwords, you will need to install a specific Magento module for password migration. Additionally, a reviews table check might be required to ensure smooth transfer of product reviews.
• Consider Downtime: While the migration wizard minimizes downtime, plan for a brief period where your store might be less accessible or in maintenance mode, especially during the final data transfer.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these detailed steps to execute your Arastta to Magento migration using a dedicated migration wizard:

Step 1: Initiate Your Migration

Begin by creating an account or logging into your migration service provider's platform. This is where you'll manage your entire data transfer process.

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

Configure the source store from which your data will be extracted.

1. From the list of supported platforms, select 'CSV File to Cart' as your source cart.
2. Upload the prepared CSV files containing your Arastta store's data. The wizard will prompt you to specify the type of data each file contains (products, customers, orders, etc.).
3. Review the uploaded files to ensure all necessary data entities are recognized. You can refer to our guide on preparing your source store for additional tips.

Step 3: Configure Your Target Store (Magento)

Now, connect to your new Magento store where your data will be transferred.

1. Select 'Magento' as your target cart.
2. Enter the full URL of your Magento store.
3. Download the Connection Bridge file provided by the migration wizard.
4. Unzip this file and upload the entire bridge2cart folder to the root directory of your Magento installation via FTP/SFTP. This bridge acts as a secure communication channel between your Magento store and the migration tool. Ensure it's correctly placed for a successful connection. For security, refer to Is it safe to provide your company with my access details?

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This critical step allows you to choose exactly which types of data you want to move from your Arastta CSV files to Magento.

You can choose to migrate all available entities or hand-pick specific ones, such as:

• Products: Including SKUs, descriptions, images, product variants, and attributes.
• Product Categories & Manufacturers: Maintaining the hierarchical structure.
• Customers: Transferring accounts, addresses, and customer groups.
• Orders: Migrating order history, statuses, and associated customer details.
• Product Reviews: Ensuring valuable social proof is retained.
• Coupons, CMS Pages, and Invoices: For a complete store replica.

Remember that while Arastta CSVs might contain blog posts, Magento's native structure doesn't support them directly, so these would need a separate solution on your new platform.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options & Data Mapping

This stage allows for fine-tuning your migration to meet specific business needs and ensure data consistency.

Additional Migration Options

Enhance your data transfer with these valuable selections:

• Preserve Product IDs: Maintain your existing product identifiers, which is crucial for SEO rankings and external links. Similarly, you can Preserve Category IDs, Customer IDs, and Order IDs.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensure all product and category images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• SEO URLs & Create 301 SEO URLs: Essential for maintaining your existing SEO link equity. This option helps prevent broken links by automatically creating redirects from your old Arastta URLs to the new Magento ones.
• Password Migration: If you wish to migrate customer passwords, ensure the required Magento module is installed as specified in the prerequisites.
• Clear Target Store Data: Opt to clear all existing data on your Magento store before migration. This is generally recommended for fresh installations to avoid data conflicts.
• Create Variants from Attributes: If your Arastta products have attributes that define variations, this option will help create proper product variants in Magento.
• Migrate Store Config: Transfer essential store configuration settings.

Data Mapping Setup

Map your Arastta data fields to their corresponding Magento equivalents. This ensures that customer groups, order statuses, and other custom fields are correctly associated in your new store, maintaining data integrity and a seamless user experience.

• Customer Groups Mapping: Match Arastta customer roles to Magento customer groups.
• Order Statuses Mapping: Align Arastta order statuses (e.g., 'Pending,' 'Processing,' 'Completed') with Magento's workflow.

Step 6: Run a Free Demo Migration

Before committing to a full data transfer, execute a demo migration. This allows you to transfer a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, orders) to your Magento store for free. Use this opportunity to:

• Verify the accuracy of the transferred data.
• Check product details, pricing, images, and customer information.
• Ensure that the data mapping was successful.
• Familiarize yourself with the process.

If you encounter any issues, you can adjust your settings or contact support before proceeding.

Step 7: Launch Full Migration

Once you are satisfied with the demo results, you can proceed with the full migration. Review the summary of selected entities and the total cost. Consider adding a Migration Insurance Plan for additional security, allowing for remigrations if needed. You can learn more about how Migration Insurance works.

Click the 'Start Full Migration' button to initiate the complete data transfer. The time required will depend on the volume of your data.

Post-Migration Steps

Completing the data transfer is a significant milestone, but the process isn't over. These post-migration steps are crucial for ensuring your new Magento store is fully functional and optimized.

• Verify Data Accuracy: Thoroughly inspect your new Magento store. Check product listings (SKUs, pricing, images, descriptions, variants), customer accounts, order history, and reviews. Ensure that all data has been transferred accurately and completely.
• Reindex Magento Data: This is a critical step for Magento. After a major data import, you must reindex all Magento data (products, categories, prices, etc.) to ensure your store displays information correctly and performs optimally.
• Configure SEO and Redirects: Review your SEO settings. If you used the 301 SEO URLs option, verify that redirects are working as expected. Implement any additional SEO configurations specific to Magento to maintain or improve your search engine rankings and link equity.
• Install and Configure Theme & Extensions: Customize your Magento store's appearance by installing your chosen theme. Integrate necessary extensions for payment gateways, shipping, marketing, and any other specific functionalities your business requires.
• Extensive Functionality Testing: Perform comprehensive tests across all aspects of your store. This includes:
  • Testing the checkout process with various payment methods.
  • Creating new customer accounts and logging in.
  • Testing product search and filtering.
  • Submitting product reviews.
  • Verifying order processing and notifications.
• Update DNS Settings: Once you are completely satisfied with your new Magento store, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new Magento hosting. Plan this carefully to minimize downtime.
• Monitor Performance: After going live, continuously monitor your Magento store's performance, user experience, and error logs. Address any issues promptly.
• Consider Post-Migration Services: If you add new data to your old Arastta store after the initial migration, or if you need to transfer recently updated data, consider using services like Recent Data Migration or Remigration Service to keep your Magento store up-to-date.

By following this detailed guide, your transition from Arastta to Magento will be streamlined, securing your data and setting your e-commerce business up for sustained success on a powerful new platform.