ROI Revolution has reported e-commerce growth levels originally projected for 2025, with an increased need for reliable platforms coming along with this demand. There is often a struggle to find or keep the right platform, which is one of the costs of this increased demand.
Yalantis.com and similar developers give website owners an increased range of choices for the platforms that they use. One of the most time-consuming processes online store owners once had to deal with, migration, has been made easier in recent years.
One of the types of migrations that many users consider challenging at a first glance is switching from BigCommerce to WooCommerce, which uses a WordPress foundation. Although no migration is completely hassle-free, having access to options that eliminate many of the difficulties associated with the process helps alleviate some of the more frustrating problems.
The specified type of content migration is known as the “human approach” given its involvement of one individual or a group of them for copying and pasting a website’s information from different platforms and manually submitting various associated images or solutions, and refreshing navigational links.
Benefits:
- Manual migration helps consider the content over the whole procedure. As it is possible to find each piece of content on a new website, you can double-check whether its appearance is suitable for you or not.
- Placement of every piece of content on the website’s information architecture (IA) allows ensuring the correct position of links and navigational menu.
- Manual migration allows rewriting or reworking a website’s data while importing the information into the new platform.
- It benefits with new abilities or functionality that a fine-tuned website will incorporate over the migrated content.
- Manual migration offers effective practice for content editors, for whom the migration procedure is an option to familiarize themselves with the latest website’s functionality.
BigCommerce To WooCommerce Migration Complications
Many site owners have discovered that migrating from BigCommerce to WooCommerce is a little more complicated in some ways than originally thought. However, there are valid reasons to consider a change like this, including reasons that will have a lasting impact on your business.
Businesses of all stripes have used BigCommerce because, in addition to offering a fully-featured shopping cart, this solution can also serve as a complete e-commerce platform. Despite offering an extensive range of features, there are reasons that businesses have switched.
Deciding to switch e-commerce platforms is not a decision that business owners ought to make lightly. However, there are often practical and financial reasons that site owners need to consider migrating to a different platform.
One of the reasons that many ultimately decide to move their online store to a different interface is because of the significant disadvantages involved with existing online store software.
The Disadvantages of BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a reliable platform, however, there are disadvantages that may lead you to a different solution for your e-commerce needs. Some of these concerns include limited preview options, fewer customization options, requiring more technical knowledge, and a limited range of pricing plans.
One concern that some users have expressed is not being able to preview their items before they go live on their site. When products show as being available before the site is ready for orders, customers are likely to get frustrated and decline to order from you when given the opportunity.
The theme editor that BigCommece uses does not require coding experience. However, the range of customization options is limited without having more advanced skills.
A common drawback with BigCommerce that many mention is that people with better technical skills have an easier time setting this platform up. Users with limited or average technical skills may need to rely more on professionals.
Georgia McIntyre highlights how money is an issue with many businesses failing because they run out of funding. Business owners with limited cash flow may find BigCommerce’s range of plans, the most expensive of which is almost $300 monthly, lacking for their overall flexibility.
A company that is growth and expansion-focused will need to consider making a change from BigCommerce. A platform that is free from BigCommerce’s worst weaknesses while offering many of its best advantages that you will want to consider is WooCommerce.
How WooCommerce Comes into Play
One of the most significant advantages that WooCommerce offers, as a platform is that it is free. The only costs that you will have to think about are the costs of hosting a WordPress site, which you will need for WooCommerce installation, and any costs that you might have to pay for a professional to handle migration and setup.
WooCommerce offers a broad range of features, including those common to most e-commerce sites such as product rating, flexible product categories, and blogging. The platform does not limit the number of products that you can add.
Business owners using WooCommerce can think about making the switch to a new platform in days, instead of months. When there is a need to add new features, you will find it easier to add these features with minimal hassle.
The range of themes available through WooCommerce is broad, including free and paid options. Making changes if you decide to use a different theme is easy, with the change going seamlessly in most cases.
WooCommerce also offers hundreds of official extensions that you can use for all aspects of managing your business. These plug-ins have been designed to work effortlessly with this platform to help you get the most value from using them.
Migrating Your BigCommerce Data to WooCommerce: Is It Easy?
There are different ways you can migrate your BigCommerce store to WooCommerce, depending on your level of comfort with technology. Manual and assisted migration are the most popular methods used.
Manual migration usually works the best for users who have development experience. Without the right background, a site owner attempting manual migration without the right skills can face a lot of problems.
Assisted migration, where you hire an agency or professional developer, is the most popular option for those without a technical background. The cost for this option varies, depending on the amount of data being moved and the expertise level of the professional.
Although an instant, automated transfer between the two platforms is not possible, there is a third option that makes this possibility closer to reality. Read on to learn more about a method that many website owners prefer as the alternative to manual and assisted migration.
An Easier BigCommerce to WooCommerce Migration Process
A manual migration will allow you to transfer all your solutions from BigCommerce into a spreadsheet, copying them and making them compatible with WooCommerce. The following step is to import these items simultaneously. Moving the orders and clients requires similar activities. Below you can find links to the official procedure.
- Exporting Products from BigCommerce
- Importing Products in WooCommerce
- Export Shopify orders to a CSV file
- Import Orders in WooCommerce
- Exporting Customers in BigCommerce
- Import Customers in WooCommerce
Cart2Cart is a plug-in that makes transferring your online store easier. Your customer lists, order history, and products can transfer easily using a solution such as this.
To start the process, your destination site needs a WordPress installation with WooCommerce. Consider backing up any BigCommerce data that you don’t want to be lost first.
Get your Cart2Cart account set up, and make sure you import the BigCommerce store information that you need to have transferred. Make sure you set the new WooCommerce store as the destination so that the data migrates to where it is supposed to be.
The exact amount of time required for a successful migration may vary, with factors including how much information your original site contains. An accuracy checks before you finalize the migration is helpful.
Final Thoughts
When you think about the number of tools that you can use, the decision to transfer your e-commerce store won’t be as difficult. One of the best things about the number of solutions available is that you can select an option that works on your terms.
Making use of automated data migration will help you save money and get your new site operational in less time. Your setup process will be efficient and smooth when you make the right decisions.