Migrating from BigCommerce to Shopify is becoming increasingly popular as more and more businesses seek to make the switch. With Shopify providing an intuitive user interface, advanced features, and excellent customer support, it’s easy to see why many are making the jump.
But what does this migration actually involve? What are the steps needed for a successful transition? In this article, we’ll provide you with an overview of the process, as well as tips and tricks for a smooth transition
Ways to Migrate from BigCommerce to Shopify
When migrating from BigCommerce to Shopify, there are three main approaches to consider. Your chosen method will depend on your available time, budget, and technical skills. You must rely on the manual method outlined below if you cannot hire a professional or invest in an automated tool.
Hire Professional Help
If you want to migrate your store from BigCommerce to Shopify, hiring a web development agency or a professional is a hassle-free way. They will evaluate your technical needs, transfer your data, and set up your Shopify account. This option demands minimal effort from you, and the experts you hire will handle all technical glitches. But, it can be expensive depending on the size of your store and urgency of the project. If you’re looking for a reliable migration service provider, you can check out vtlabs.org. They offer professional services for Shopify migration.
Use a Migration Tool
If you’re looking for an alternative to hiring a professional for migrating your store from BigCommerce to Shopify, consider using automated tools such as Cart2Cart, LitExtension, or Matrixify App. These tools offer a hassle-free process and are often more cost-effective than hiring an expert. Cart2Cart, for example, handles the entire migration process and even offers an additional fee option to set up 301 redirects from BigCommerce to Shopify. However, keep in mind that while these tools are efficient, they may not be as customizable to your unique requirements compared to hiring a professional. So, it’s essential to evaluate your needs before deciding which option is best for your store migration.
Manual Migration
If you have the technical know-how or prefer to handle the migration yourself, manual migration is another option you can consider. This method requires a few hours of your time to download CSV files from BigCommerce and upload them to Shopify. The bulk of the time goes to reviewing the data after importing it to Shopify, ensuring that everything is in the correct format and placed in the correct location. Here are the steps you need to take for manual migration:
Step 1: Register for a Shopify account to migrate from BigCommerce to Shopify. Sign up for a Shopify account with a 14-day free trial. You’ll need to provide billing information to remove password protection from your store and start selling. Provide basic information about your store and industry, add a billing address, and specify if it’s a registered business. Using the assigned subdomain is recommended during the transition to prevent any issues with your BigCommerce store.
Step 2: Retrieve your data from BigCommerce To export your data from BigCommerce, follow these steps:
Product Data:
From your BigCommerce dashboard, go to Products > Export.
Select the Default Export Template and File Format options.
A dialog box will appear. Click on “Export my products to a CSV file,” and the file will download to your computer.
Return to the Export Template and File Format Options and select Bulk Edit. Click Continue.
Click on “Export My Products to a CSV file,” and another CSV file containing more product details and variant data will download.
Customer Data:
From your BigCommerce dashboard, navigate to Customers > Export.
Select the Default Export Template and File Format options.
A dialog box will appear. Click on “Export my customers to a CSV file,” and the file will download to your computer.
Note that customer passwords cannot be migrated due to encryption.
Order Data:
From your BigCommerce dashboard, go to Orders > Export.
Select the Default Export Template and File Format options.
A dialog box will appear. Click on “Export my orders to a CSV file,” and the file will download to your computer.
Step 3: Transfer BigCommerce Store Data to Shopify Store To import BigCommerce data to your Shopify store, download CSV files from BigCommerce and use the Store Importer app on your Shopify Admin panel to upload the files. Choose BigCommerce from the drop-down menu, add the exported files, then click Import. Select BigCommerce from the platform drop-down menu at the bottom of the page if needed.
Step 4: Check Imported Data for accuracy after importing your data to Shopify. Review it to ensure accuracy. Manually add any missing orders, customers, or products. Note that orders imported from other platforms are only for historical purposes and are set to archived status in Shopify.
Step 5: Add Data Manually or Re-import Data If any information is missing after the import, you can add it manually. Click “Start new import” to re-import data and update the existing import. If the previous import includes customer data, the customers are updated. If new import data contains products already in your Shopify store, the new import skips them. To manually add products or customers, go to the respective dashboard pages, click “Add,” enter the information, and save.
Step 6: Finalizing design elements, choose a free or paid theme from the Shopify Theme Marketplace. If you can’t find one you like, consider paying for a custom theme.
Step 7: Connect your domain. You can connect your domain by going to Settings > Domains in your Shopify admin panel and clicking “Connect Existing Domain.” Alternatively, transfer your domain to Shopify to manage it from within your Shopify admin. If you need to set up 301 redirects for old BigCommerce URLs, go to Online Store > Navigation and use URL Redirects or an app like Easy Redirects to save time.
Ready to migrate to Shopify?
If you’re looking for support to migrate your store from BigCommerce to Shopify, consider the option of hiring developers from VT Labs: https://www.vtlabs.org/shopify-development-services/migration, one of the leading Shopify development companies worldwide. This will ensure a smooth migration process with no loss of data or significant downtime while also preserving your hard-earned SEO. Get in touch with us today to explore how we can provide you with the necessary support.
