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

Seamlessly Migrate Your E-commerce Store from EasyStore to PrestaShop

Are you looking to enhance your online store's capabilities, gain greater control over your e-commerce operations, or scale your business more effectively? Transitioning from EasyStore to PrestaShop can be a strategic move, offering robust features, extensive customization options, and a powerful open-source platform. This comprehensive guide will walk you through every step of replatforming your store, ensuring a smooth and efficient data transfer with minimal downtime.

While EasyStore provides a user-friendly experience for beginners, PrestaShop offers unparalleled flexibility and advanced functionalities, making it a popular choice for growing businesses. This article details how to move your critical e-commerce data—including products, customers, and orders—from EasyStore to PrestaShop using a reliable migration process via CSV files, ensuring data integrity and continuity.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before initiating your store migration, a little preparation goes a long way in ensuring a seamless data transfer. Here’s what you need to have ready:

• For Your EasyStore (Source) Data: Since EasyStore is not directly supported by automated bridge connections, your migration will be handled by exporting data into CSV files. You will need to export all essential data, such as product details (including SKUs and variants), product categories, customer information, orders, and potentially reviews, into CSV format. Ensure your data is well-organized and complete, as the quality of your CSV files directly impacts the migration success. For more details on this method, refer to our CSV.File Data Migration guide.
• For Your PrestaShop (Target) Store:
  • A Fresh PrestaShop Installation: Ensure you have a new, clean installation of PrestaShop ready on your hosting environment. It's recommended to start with a fresh instance to avoid potential conflicts with existing data. You can find more information on preparing your target store in our FAQ: How to prepare Target store for migration?.
  • Admin Access: You’ll need full administrator credentials (admin URL, username, and password) for your PrestaShop store. These credentials are essential for establishing the connection and for installing the necessary migration module. For a deeper understanding of access requirements, consult The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.
  • FTP/cPanel Access: While not always strictly required for the automated connection bridge, having FTP or cPanel access to your PrestaShop root directory can be beneficial for troubleshooting or manual bridge uploads. Learn more about what a root folder is.
  • Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration Module: PrestaShop migrations require the installation of the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module. The migration wizard will guide you through this process, often allowing for automatic installation via your admin credentials or providing instructions for a manual upload of a connection bridge.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these steps to migrate your e-commerce store from EasyStore to PrestaShop efficiently:

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by navigating to the migration wizard. Here, you'll choose your migration path, whether it's a DIY approach or leveraging a guided service. This initial screen sets the stage for your entire replatforming journey.

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

In this crucial step, you'll configure your EasyStore as the source for the data transfer. Since EasyStore does not support a direct API connection for automated migration tools, you will select 'CSV File to Cart' as your source platform. You will then upload the CSV files containing your exported EasyStore data, including products, customers, and orders. Ensure all relevant information is captured in these files.

Step 3: Configure Your Target Store (PrestaShop)

Next, you will set up your PrestaShop store as the destination for your migrated data. Select 'PrestaShop' from the list of supported carts. You will then be prompted to provide your PrestaShop Admin URL. To establish a secure connection, you'll typically be given options, including uploading a connection bridge. This involves downloading a small bridge file, extracting it, and uploading the 'bridge2cart' folder to the root directory of your PrestaShop installation. This step also ensures the Cart2Cart Universal PrestaShop Migration module is properly installed, which is required for the migration.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This stage allows you to specify exactly which types of data you wish to migrate from EasyStore to PrestaShop. You can choose to transfer all available entities or select them individually. Common entities include:

• Products (including SKUs, variants, images, descriptions)
• Product Categories
• Customers (with associated addresses)
• Orders (with order statuses and details)
• Manufacturers
• Product Reviews
• Invoices
• Taxes
• CMS Pages
• Blogs and Blog Posts

Carefully review your selections to ensure all vital business data is included in the transfer.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options & Data Mapping

This critical step offers advanced settings to tailor your migration and map your data:

Additional Migration Options:

Choose from a range of additional options to optimize your data transfer. These often include:

• Preserve IDs: Keep original product, category, customer, and order IDs. This is highly recommended to maintain consistency and avoid issues with external integrations. For more information, see How Preserve IDs options can be used?
• Create 301 Redirects: Essential for maintaining your SEO rankings and link equity by automatically redirecting old EasyStore URLs to their new PrestaShop counterparts.
• Migrate Images in Product and Category Descriptions: Ensures all visual content is transferred correctly.
• Migrate Customer Passwords: Allows customers to log into their new PrestaShop accounts using their existing EasyStore credentials.
• Clear Current Data on Target Store: An option to remove any existing data from your PrestaShop store before migration, ensuring a clean slate. Read about the Clear current data on Target store before migration option.

Data Mapping:

Map specific data fields, such as customer groups and order statuses, from your EasyStore structure to their corresponding fields in PrestaShop. This ensures consistency and proper categorization of your data post-migration.

Step 6: Run a Free Demo Migration (Recommended)

Before committing to the full migration, it is highly recommended to perform a free demo migration. This allows you to transfer a limited number of entities (e.g., 10 products, 10 customers, 10 orders) to your PrestaShop store. The demo serves as a crucial opportunity to:

• Verify data integrity and accuracy.
• Check for any missing information or formatting issues.
• Familiarize yourself with the migration process.

Review the demo results thoroughly to identify any potential problems before the full data transfer.

Step 7: Initiate Full Migration

Once you are satisfied with the demo results, proceed with the full migration. At this stage, you'll review the final details, including the total cost and the option to add Migration Insurance Service for added peace of mind, offering remigrations in case of unforeseen issues. Confirm your choices and launch the full data transfer. The time taken will depend on the volume of your data.

Post-Migration Steps

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

• Thoroughly Review Migrated Data: Log into your PrestaShop admin panel and meticulously check all migrated products, categories, customer accounts, orders, and other entities. Verify descriptions, images, prices, and variant information.
• Configure Your New Store: Set up essential store configurations, including payment gateways, shipping methods, tax rules, and currency settings. Customize your PrestaShop theme to reflect your brand's identity and enhance the user experience. Consider installing any necessary extensions or plugins from the PrestaShop Addons Marketplace.
• Update DNS and SEO: Point your domain name to your new PrestaShop store. If you opted for 301 redirects during migration, verify they are working correctly to preserve your SEO rankings and link equity.
• Conduct Comprehensive Testing: Perform extensive tests on your new store. This includes testing the entire checkout process, product filtering, search functionality, customer account logins, and mobile responsiveness to ensure a smooth shopping experience for your customers.
• Go Live! Once you're confident that everything is functioning perfectly, it's time to officially launch your new PrestaShop store.
• Monitor and Update: Keep an eye on your store's performance and be prepared to address any new orders that might have been placed on your old store during the transition period with our Recent Data Migration Service.

Migrating from EasyStore to PrestaShop is a significant undertaking, but with careful planning and the right tools, it can be a smooth and rewarding process. If you encounter any challenges or require expert assistance, don't hesitate to Contact Us for support. Happy selling!