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

Seamlessly Migrate Your E-commerce Store from Bagisto to PrestaShop

Embarking on an e-commerce platform migration can be a strategic move for growth, offering access to enhanced features, a larger community, and improved scalability. If you're currently running your store on Bagisto and considering a transition to PrestaShop, this comprehensive guide will walk you through the entire process. While Bagisto is a robust Laravel-based platform, moving to PrestaShop can unlock new opportunities for your online business, from a richer module ecosystem to extensive customization options.

This article details how to effectively transfer your valuable data – including products, customer information, orders, and more – from your Bagisto store via CSV files to a new PrestaShop instance. Our focus is on ensuring data integrity, minimizing downtime, and providing clear, actionable steps for a successful replatforming journey.

Prerequisites for a Smooth Migration

Before you initiate the data transfer, adequate preparation is key to ensuring a seamless transition and safeguarding your valuable e-commerce assets.

• Bagisto (Source) Store Preparation:
  1. Data Audit and Cleanup: Ensure all your product SKUs, customer records, and order histories are accurate and organized. Clean up any redundant or outdated information to avoid migrating unnecessary data.
  2. CSV Data Export: Since Bagisto does not have a direct API integration for automated migration tools, you will need to export all essential data (products, categories, customers, orders, etc.) into well-structured CSV files. Make sure to include all relevant fields for each entity, such as product names, descriptions, images, prices, variants, customer names, addresses, order statuses, and historical data. You can find more details on this approach with our CSV.File Data Migration service.
  3. Full Store Backup: Always perform a complete backup of your current Bagisto store files and database. This is a critical safety net in case any unforeseen issues arise during the export or migration process. For further guidance, refer to How to prepare Source store for migration?.
• PrestaShop (Target) Store Preparation:
  1. Install PrestaShop: Have a fresh installation of PrestaShop ready on your chosen hosting environment. Ensure it meets all the system requirements.
  2. Basic Configuration: Perform initial setup tasks, such as selecting your default language, currency, and geographical settings.
  3. Disable Caching & Modules: Temporarily disable any caching mechanisms and third-party modules or apps on your PrestaShop store. This prevents conflicts and ensures the migration tool has unobstructed access to your database.
  4. Install Cart2Cart Module: PrestaShop migrations typically require a dedicated module for connection. You'll need to install the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module. This is crucial for establishing a secure connection and enabling data transfer.
  5. Access Credentials: Ensure you have full administrative access to your PrestaShop backend, including FTP/cPanel access to your store's root directory and database credentials. Learn more about this in The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart. For further guidance, refer to How to prepare Target store for migration?.
• Migration Tool Account: Sign up for an account with a reliable migration service like Cart2Cart to utilize their migration wizard.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Get Started with the Migration Wizard

Begin your migration journey by navigating to the Cart2Cart website and selecting the option to start a new data transfer. You will be guided through a user-friendly wizard designed to simplify the replatforming process.

Step 2: Configure Your Source Bagisto (CSV) Store

In the migration wizard, you will first need to define your source platform. Since Bagisto is not directly integrated for automated migration, you will select "CsvToCart" as your source cart type.

You will then be prompted to upload the CSV files that you exported from your Bagisto store. Ensure you upload all relevant files for products, product categories, customers, orders, and any other entities you wish to move. While a Source Store URL is typically requested, for CSV migrations, a dummy URL may suffice if required by the tool. The system will then process these files, recognizing the structure of your Bagisto data for subsequent mapping.

Step 3: Connect Your PrestaShop Target Store

Next, specify your target platform. Select "PrestaShop" from the dropdown list. You will then be asked to provide your PrestaShop store's Admin URL.

To establish a secure connection between the migration tool and your new PrestaShop store, you'll need to choose a connection method. For PrestaShop, the recommended method is often to upload a Connection Bridge. This involves downloading a small zip file from the migration wizard, extracting the 'bridge2cart' folder, and uploading it to the root directory of your PrestaShop installation via FTP. This bridge acts as a secure data gateway, facilitating the transfer. The migration tool will then verify the connection, ensuring all prerequisites, including the required Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module, are in place.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Transfer

This crucial step allows you to define the scope of your data transfer. You will see a comprehensive list of data entities supported for migration. From your Bagisto CSV files, you can choose to migrate:

• Products (including SKUs, variants, attributes, images)
• Product Categories & Manufacturers
• Customer data (names, addresses, order history, passwords)
• Orders (statuses, details, invoices)
• Product Reviews & Ratings
• Taxes
• Coupons & Stores
• CMS Pages & Blog Posts

You have the flexibility to select "All entities" for a complete data transfer or cherry-pick specific items based on your strategic needs. This ensures only the relevant information is moved to your new PrestaShop store.

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options & Map Data

This stage is vital for tailoring the migration to your specific business requirements and ensuring data consistency. You will encounter two main sections:

• Additional Options: These are powerful features that can significantly impact your data transfer. Consider selecting options such as:
  • "Clear Target": This option will remove all existing data from your PrestaShop store before migration. Use this with extreme caution if your PrestaShop store already contains live data. More details can be found in Clear current data on Target store before migration option.
  • "Preserve Product IDs", "Preserve Orders IDs", "Preserve Customers IDs": These options are highly recommended to maintain consistency, especially if you have existing integrations or external links relying on these IDs. Learn more in How Preserve IDs options can be used?.
  • "Migrate Images in Description": Ensures that any product or category images embedded within rich text descriptions are transferred.
  • "Password Migration": Allows customer passwords to be migrated securely to PrestaShop.
  • "Create 301 SEO URLs": This is critical for maintaining your SEO rankings and link equity. It automatically sets up redirects from your old Bagisto URLs to the new PrestaShop URLs, preventing broken links and preserving your search engine visibility.
  • Other PrestaShop-specific options like "Skip Custom Attributes" might also be available.

• Data Mapping: You will need to map corresponding fields between your Bagisto CSV data and PrestaShop's structure. This is particularly important for customer groups and order statuses to ensure that data like "Pending" or "Processing" statuses are correctly translated to PrestaShop's equivalents. Careful data mapping ensures complete data integrity and a consistent user experience on your new platform.

Step 6: Run a Demo Migration (Optional but Recommended)

Before committing to the full data transfer, we highly recommend performing a free demo migration. This transfers a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, and orders) to your PrestaShop store. The demo allows you to:

• Verify Data Accuracy: Check if products, images, customer details, and order information have transferred correctly.
• Assess Functionality: Test basic functionalities with the migrated data on PrestaShop.
• Identify Issues: Pinpoint and resolve any potential data mapping or display problems before the full-scale transfer.

This step provides invaluable insights and confidence for the upcoming full migration. Explore our Migration Preview Service for more.

Step 7: Initiate Full Data Transfer

Once you are satisfied with the demo results and have reviewed all your configurations and the migration cost estimate, you are ready for the full data transfer. You can also consider adding a Migration Insurance Service, which offers additional peace of mind and allows for subsequent remigrations if needed. Learn more in How Migration Insurance works?.

Click to initiate the full migration. The process will run on the migration service's servers, meaning your existing Bagisto store remains operational throughout the transfer, ensuring minimal downtime for your customers.

Post-Migration Steps

After your data has successfully moved to PrestaShop, a few critical post-migration tasks are necessary to ensure your new store is fully operational and optimized.

• Thorough Data Verification: Rigorously check all migrated data on your PrestaShop store.
  • Products: Confirm product names, descriptions, images, prices, SKUs, and all variants.
  • Customers: Verify customer accounts, login functionality, and access to past order history.
  • Orders: Ensure all order details, statuses, and associated invoices are correct.
  • Content: Review CMS pages, blog posts, and any SEO metadata for accuracy.
• PrestaShop Configuration & Customization:
  • Payment & Shipping: Set up and test all your preferred payment gateways and shipping methods.
  • Modules & Theme: Install any necessary modules from the PrestaShop Addons Marketplace and configure your chosen theme to match your brand identity.
  • SEO Settings: Configure PrestaShop's native SEO settings, including friendly URLs, sitemaps, and robots.txt to ensure continued search engine visibility.
• Test All Store Functionality: Conduct extensive testing of your new store's core functions:
  • Place test orders from start to finish.
  • Test customer account registration, login, and password reset processes.
  • Verify search functionality, product filters, and navigation.
• Implement 301 Redirects: While the migration tool offers an automated 301 redirect option, double-check that all old Bagisto URLs are correctly redirecting to their new PrestaShop counterparts. This is paramount for preserving your existing SEO rankings and link equity.
• Update Third-Party Integrations: Reconnect any external services you use, such as ERP systems, CRM platforms, marketing automation tools, and analytics (e.g., Google Analytics, Google Search Console) to your new PrestaShop store.
• Go Live: Once you are confident that everything is working perfectly, update your domain's DNS settings to point to your new PrestaShop store.
• Ongoing Monitoring: After launch, continuously monitor your website's performance, including page load speed, user experience, and SEO metrics, to quickly identify and address any post-launch issues.

Should you discover any new data on your Bagisto store that wasn't part of the initial transfer during the migration window, consider using our Recent Data Migration Service to ensure everything is up-to-date. For any complex scenarios or additional assistance, our team is ready to help; feel free to Contact Us.