Storeden to Volusion Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

Seamlessly Migrating Your E-commerce Store from Storeden to Volusion

Embarking on an e-commerce platform migration can be a significant undertaking, yet it offers unparalleled opportunities for growth, enhanced functionality, and a superior user experience. This comprehensive guide is designed to help you navigate the process of moving your online store from Storeden to Volusion, ensuring a smooth and successful transition. We'll cover everything from initial preparations to the final post-migration checks, focusing on best practices to preserve your valuable data, maintain SEO rankings, and minimize downtime.

Volusion, known for its robust feature set and comprehensive e-commerce tools, offers a compelling new home for your digital storefront. By carefully following the steps outlined in this guide, you can confidently replatform your business and unlock new potential for your online success.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before initiating any data transfer, thorough preparation of both your source (Storeden) and target (Volusion) stores is crucial. This proactive approach helps to prevent common migration pitfalls and ensures data integrity throughout the process.

Preparing Your Storeden (Source) Store

• Data Backup: Always perform a complete backup of your Storeden store's database and files. This serves as a safety net in case any unforeseen issues arise during the data transfer.
• API Access: Storeden migrations are typically conducted via API. You will need to obtain specific API credentials for your Storeden store. These include your clientId, clientSecret, refreshToken, storeId, adminEmail, and adminPwd. Ensure these are readily available and accurate.
• Install Cart2Cart Storeden Migration App: To facilitate the API connection, you will need to install the dedicated Cart2Cart Storeden Migration App on your source platform. This app acts as a bridge, allowing the migration service to securely access your data within Storeden, respecting any API rate limits.
• HTTPS Requirement: Verify that your Storeden store is operating over HTTPS, as this is often a requirement for secure API communication.
• For more detailed preparation tips, refer to our guide on How to prepare Source store for migration?

Preparing Your Volusion (Target) Store

• New Volusion Installation: Ensure you have a fresh installation of your Volusion store. It's generally recommended to start with a clean slate to avoid conflicts with existing data.
• Install Cart2Cart Volusion Migration Module: Volusion migrations utilize a connection bridge. You will need to install the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module. This typically involves uploading a set of files to your Volusion store's root directory via FTP. Familiarity with FTP access is beneficial here.
• Admin Credentials: Have your Volusion admin login (adminLogin, adminPwd) and the store URL (adminUrl, url) ready.
• Basic Configuration: While not strictly necessary before migration, it’s a good idea to set up basic store settings like currency, time zone, and general preferences in Volusion.
• Consider Clearing Target Data: If you've been experimenting with your new Volusion store, you might consider using the "Clear Target Store Data" option during migration to ensure a completely fresh import. Learn more about this option here: Clear current data on Target store before migration option.
• For more detailed preparation tips, refer to our guide on How to prepare Target store for migration?

Remember, providing your access details to a reputable migration service is secure. Read more about this here: Is it safe to provide your company with my access details?

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, you are ready to initiate the data transfer process. We'll use a widely adopted migration wizard approach for this step-by-step walkthrough.

Step 1: Get Started with the Migration Wizard

Your journey begins by logging into your chosen migration service dashboard. If you're new, you'll typically start by creating an account.

Once logged in, look for an option to "Start New Migration" or "Launch Migration Wizard" to begin configuring your data transfer.

Step 2: Connect Your Storeden (Source) Store

The first crucial step is to connect your existing Storeden store. You will need to specify Storeden as your source platform and provide the necessary API credentials.

While the visual above shows a general source store setup, for Storeden, you will select "Storeden" from the dropdown list of available platforms. Then, you'll input the required API connection details: clientId, clientSecret, refreshToken, storeId, adminEmail, and adminPwd. Ensure the Cart2Cart Storeden Migration App is already installed on your Storeden platform to enable this API connection. After entering the details, proceed to verify the connection.

Step 3: Connect Your Volusion (Target) Store

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

Select "Volusion" as your target shopping cart from the dropdown menu. Then, enter the full URL of your Volusion store. To establish the connection, you will need to install the Cart2Cart Volusion Migration module on your Volusion server. This module acts as a bridge, allowing secure communication and data transfer. Follow the on-screen instructions to download and upload the bridge files via FTP to your Volusion root directory. Once uploaded, provide your Volusion admin credentials for verification.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This step allows you to choose which specific types of data (entities) you wish to transfer from Storeden to Volusion.

You can migrate a wide array of data, including:

• Products: Including SKUs, variants, images, descriptions, and pricing.
• Product Categories: Maintaining your store's structure.
• Products Reviews: Preserving valuable social proof.
• Customers: Transferring customer accounts and associated data.
• Orders: Moving historical purchase data.
• CMS Pages: Essential for informational content.
• Coupons: For promotions.
• Blogs Posts: If you have a blog on Storeden.

Simply check the boxes next to the entities you wish to migrate. You can select all entities or pick them individually based on your needs.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options & Data Mapping

This critical step refines your migration by allowing you to select specific migration preferences and map data fields to ensure consistency.

Additional Migration Options

Here, you can choose from various additional options to customize your data transfer:

• Clear Target Store Data: Removes existing data from your Volusion store before migration. Recommended for fresh installations.
• Preserve IDs: Options like "Preserve Product IDs", "Preserve Order IDs", and "Preserve Customer IDs" help maintain existing references, which can be crucial for inventory management and order fulfillment. Read more on how Preserve IDs options can be used.
• SEO URLs & 301 Redirects: Migrate your existing SEO URLs and create 301 redirects to preserve your SEO rankings and link equity. This is vital to avoid broken links and maintain search engine visibility.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures product and category images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Password Migration: Allows you to transfer customer passwords, providing a seamless login experience for your existing customers (if supported by both platforms and your chosen service).
• Migrate Invoices: For comprehensive financial record transfer.

Data Mapping Setup

The data mapping interface ensures that customer groups, order statuses, and other attributes from your Storeden store are correctly matched to their corresponding fields in Volusion. This step is crucial for maintaining data integrity and consistency. Carefully review and adjust the mappings as needed to ensure all information is categorized correctly in your new store.

Step 6: Run a Demo Migration and Initiate Full Migration

Before committing to the full data transfer, it's highly recommended to perform a demo migration.

• Demo Migration: This free trial migrates a limited number of entities (e.g., 10 products, 10 customers, 10 orders) to your Volusion store. Use this opportunity to thoroughly review the transferred data, check product details, customer accounts, and order history, and ensure everything appears as expected. It helps you identify and resolve potential issues before the main migration.
• Full Migration: Once you are satisfied with the demo results, you can proceed with the full migration. This will transfer all selected data from Storeden to Volusion.

During this final step, you might also consider adding a Migration Insurance Plan. This service typically offers a set number of remigrations within a specific period, providing peace of mind and flexibility if you need to rerun your migration for any reason. Understand how Migration Insurance works.

Post-Migration Steps

The migration isn't truly complete until you've performed a series of essential post-migration checks and optimizations. These steps ensure your new Volusion store is fully functional, optimized, and ready for your customers.

• Thorough Functionality Testing:
  • Products: Verify all products, SKUs, variants, images, descriptions, and pricing have transferred correctly. Test adding products to the cart and checkout.
  • Customers: Log in as various migrated customers to check account details, order history, and password functionality.
  • Orders: Review migrated orders for accuracy, including statuses, items, and customer information.
  • Payments & Shipping: Configure and test all payment gateways and shipping methods in Volusion.
  • Navigation & Links: Click through your entire site to ensure all internal links work, and menus are functional.
• SEO Verification:
  • 301 Redirects: Crucially, confirm that all your 301 redirects are working as expected. Use a redirect checker tool to confirm that old Storeden URLs correctly point to their new Volusion counterparts, preserving your link equity.
  • Google Search Console: Update your site's address in Google Search Console and submit your new sitemap. Monitor for any crawling errors.
  • Google Analytics: Ensure your Google Analytics (or other tracking) is correctly installed and collecting data on your Volusion store.
• Design & Theme Customization:
  • Finalize your Volusion theme and customize it to match your brand identity. Ensure responsiveness across all devices.
• Update DNS Records:
  • Once you are confident that your Volusion store is fully operational and tested, update your DNS records to point your domain name to your new Volusion store. This is the moment your new store goes live.
• Remove Old Store:
  • After your Volusion store is live and stable, you can safely decommission your old Storeden store. However, keep backups for an extended period.
• Monitor and Optimize:
  • Keep a close eye on your new store's performance, user experience, and any error logs. Continuously optimize based on customer feedback and analytics data. Consider a Recent Data Migration Service to catch any new orders or customers that might have come in on your old store during the DNS propagation period.

Migrating from Storeden to Volusion is a strategic move that can significantly benefit your e-commerce business. By meticulously following these steps and leveraging the tools available, you can achieve a smooth and successful replatforming with minimal disruption. Should you encounter any challenges or require expert assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.