Migrate from Magento1 to Magento2 With Cart2Cart

Magento2 was released in the year 2015 and since then the people have been looking for ways to migrate from Magento1 to Magento2. Several eCommerce operators started doing the migration almost instantly whereas many decided to wait and watch. So much so that many of those vendors almost waited for five years to upgrade to Magento2. Now, the question arises as to why the online store operators chose to wait for so long in migrating from Magento1 to Magento2?

The main reason is that the people, especially beginners, who have already set up Magento1 know that it is a bulky process. Thus, they are scared of going through the same arduous process again while setting up Magento2 as it requires customizing the already running online store. So, an established and growing business would not want to get involved into a complicated process unnecessarily.

Second reason is the cost involved. Although Magento1 and Magento2 are free eCommerce platforms, migrating them from one platform to the other involves big money. This money includes the migration cost along with some probable losses due to the service outage issues at the time of migration from Magento1 to Magento2.

But the main reason for deferring this migration from Magento1 to Magento2 is that a majority of eCommerce owners think that both the Magento 1 and 2 are two adaptations of one thing. Thus, they take it as a horizontal change in a ladder which will not do much good to their business as a vertical change would.

All the above reasons and theories have been discarded, but they have led to the success of Magento1 for the past 5-6 years. But, the truth is that Magento1 is retiring now and whether you want it or not, the migration from Magento1 to Magento2 is inevitable.

This guide will now help you to swiftly migrate from Magento1 to Magento2. You will be guided through the three essential Magento migration options and the fundamental gains on this upgrade. You will be shown how you can use the Cart2Cart auto-migration tool for Migrating from Magento1 to Magento2.

Closure of Magento1

It is clear that Magento1 had a great innings for almost ten years, but like everything has an end , this is no exception. Magento1’s era ended when the company came up with its new version i.e. Magento2. This eCommerce platform came to life in 2015 and then started the retiring phase of Magento1 although not immediately. At the end of 2018, the company came out with an official statement stating that it will no longer support the older version Magento1 from June 1,2020. So, there is hardly anytime left when the company will stop supporting Magento1. But, don’t panic because it does not mean Magento1 won’t exist anymore, but only will not be supported by the company. Thus, after June 1,2020 Magento1 users will stop receiving modules, additional extensions, security patches, or fixes from the company. Once you stop getting security updates for your Magento1, your platform will become open and susceptible to numerous cyberattacks. There is no way you can now hang on with Magento1 more and have to upgrade to Magento2.

Before the final time comes, it is up to you how you want to do this migration depending on your business requirements and preferences. So, without wasting time, save your online store.

The first option is switching your online store wholly from the Magento platform to a new one. Then there will be no need for upgrading to Magento2. Several businesses take this option of moving to a third party eCommerce platforms like BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce, and many more. Every platform is different and has their own pros and cons.

But, only a certain set of businesses can opt for this option because several businesses have specific needs which only the Magento platform can cater to. These are the eCommerce businesses which know the importance of SEO friendly URLs, complete platform control, comprehensive code-based customization abilities, robust store management tools, etc. So, if you are one of those business owners then gear up for upgrading from Magento1 to Magento2.

Let us now look at the reasons for migrating from Magento1 to Magento2.

Why Do You Need to Migrate from Magento1 to Magento2?

Magento1 and Magento2 are built on the same framework but they are not the same. Magento2 is much superior to Magento1 in many ways. Let’s see how:

1. Performance and Adaptability

   Magento2 proffers enhanced capabilities in terms of performance and scalability. Thus, it ensures that all the web pages of your online store load faster and have a high response rate on Magento2 as compared to Magento1. This is because Magento2 supports a range of additional tools and technologies. It enhances the site caching via the HTTP accelerator tool and the Varnish Cache. On getting more traffic on your site, Magento2 is capable enough of handling resource scaling much better than Magento1.

2. User-friendly Interface of Admin

   All the users of Magento1 will agree to one thing that no matter how wonderful it’s tools worked, its interface is pretty confusing. It is not attractive and pretty. A person needs to have technical knowhow to configure tools to customize the website. Whereas, Magento2 is beautifully designed and has a second generation interface to make it look less technical. Even a non-technical user can swiftly move around the tool and have a good experience. It is neat with comprehensible functions and straightforward navigation.

3. Enhanced Security

   Magento2’s security features are the most talked about and have given a run for their life to other such platforms. Magento2’s top priority has always been security and providing superb tools and features to curb infiltration of the system, cyberattacks, and enhance data loss recovery. Magento2 makes use of SHA-255 hashing algorithms to keep the system passwords safe and secured. You can also boost that by adding the 2-factor authentication extension.

   Magento2 also comes with an exclusive Admin account URL, which makes it very hard for the probable attackers and malignant bots to easily determine or guess the address to your login page. Magento2 is also well-designed to cover the susceptibilities emerging due to system development.

4. Effortless and Smooth Checkout System

   Magento2 supports a very smooth and swift checkout system and helps in selling the products faster. For example, during checkout the shoppers will not be required to fill out registration forms because Magento2 will recognize your visitors as guests and will enable them to navigate through easily till the checkout page without any interference.

   Moreover, the checkout tool of Magento2 is very flexible because it comes with a vast range of third-party integrations for third-party apps. Thus, it provides more payment options at the checkout page to ease the payment process for the visitor. You can also make your personal payment modules by integrating the Magento2 system with any merchant solution for checkout.

   Magento2 proffers an enhanced customer experience and high performance thus boosting the conversion rates of your website.

How to Migrate from Magento1 to Magento2?

You should be aware that there is no specialized tool or app available which can migrate your Magento1 platform to Magento2. There are no third party sources which have developed the technique of transferring all the data from one platform to the other, in one click.

But, there are other tools which can help you do this without any technical knowledge. To achieve this, let us first have a look at the three basic approaches you can take to upgrade from Magento1 to Magento2.

1. Manual Migration

   The conventional method of transferring data from one website platform to the other is the manual method, which is very painful and arduous. It is also very technical which involves importing data from the old platform and pasting it to the destination platform. It is not a simple process of simply and pasting, instead it involves too much coding and complicated web development adjustments. It is also required to have deep knowledge of both the platform’s main structure and the source code. This implies there are huge chances of making destructive errors during the process. Thus, only skilled and technically proficient programmers can perform this task which can go up to days. It requires taking a lot of precautions to prevent compromising the business and make counter checks on the stuff and rectify any errors that come by.

2. Assisted Migration

   The assisted migration is the most expensive of the three migrations options. The reason is that it will consist of hiring skilled and efficient professionals to carry out this task for you. And usually, the professionals follow the traditional migration method, i.e. the manual method. They also take a lot of time in migrating the data from the source platform by reprogramming and coding everything as per the target platform. So, the main hurdle in this method is that you will need to hire a team of specialists which can cost you a bomb. Moreover, there is a high risk of making adverse errors during the migration.

3. Automated Migration

   The automated migration from Magento1 to Magento2 is very beneficial. Rather than manually transferring data, you can automatically do the migration from Magento1 to Magento2. You can make use of a specialised migration tool which will do the major chunk of your work without involving human inputs. It is also an accurate method and is somewhat closer to one-click migration tool, if not completely. Cart2Cart is an app which only needs some simple tweaks that are non-technical a few minutes before the migration of Magento1to Magento2 begins.

Moreover, the cost involved in taking advantage of the Cart2Cart Magento1 to Magento2 data migration extension is considerably lower than hiring some experts to do the same. It is also a shorter route as it takes less time to migrate the whole online store from Magento1 to 2.

After seeing the above options, it is evident that Automated Migration from Magento1 to Magento2 is the ideal method that you can opt for before June 2020 starts. Cart2Cart tool is the preferred and recommended tool to carry out this crucial task of migration.

Why to Prefer Cart2Cart for Migrating from Magento1 to Magento2?

Cart2Cart is a globally recognized and renowned solution that not only handles Magento migrations but also promotes automated migrations over a vast range of shopping cart platforms. Its whole purpose is to streamline the complete eCommerce migration process by reducing human intervention and letting the online store owners move all their store data without having any technical or coding expertise.

Cart2Cart proffers a wonderful instinctive migration wizard which guides you through the complete process. It has a Magento1 to Magento2 Data migration extension to support the upgrades. It is also easily available on the valid Magento Extension Marketplace.

This tool is easy to acquire as it is cost-effective too. You can easily procure and install it on your Magento eCommerce platform. Then you can create your account and go ahead with customizing the migration options, all free of cost. Isn’t this great?

Before you begin, you can also go through a free demo which will show how your data will get transferred between the two platforms. It does this demonstration by transferring a few of your online store’s entities from the old platform to the target platform. It showcases its proficiency in the demo ahead of the real migration process to make you feel comfortable and aware of the whole migration process. If you are convinced, just go ahead with the full migration.

Another great thing about Cart2Cart is that is has a very adjustable pricing schedule, which means you will pay depending on the exact number of entities you wish to transfer. When you start the full migration after paying the amount, Cart2Cart will get into action and in a couple of hours the data transfer process will take place. All this while, your online store will be operational without any interferences. Thus, Cart2Cart does not create a downtime of even one second for your precious business. It also lets you go ahead with processing transactions on the site while at the background the data is being copied and transferred.

Eventually, you should be able to move – CMS pages, crucial eCommerce website entities, additional stores, reviews, coupons, manufacturers, categories, orders, customers, products, categories, etc. The important data on Magento2 should be a mirror image of the data on Magento1.

How to Use Cart2Cart for Conducting Migration from Magento1 to Magento2

1. Set Up the default Magento2 eCommerce Platform

   The first step is to roll out the default Magento2 eCommerce platform on an adaptable web server. After purchasing a good Magento hosting package, you can easily set up a Magento2 store. It can be done with a one-click installer very easily. The Cart2Cart Magento1 to 2 Data Migration Extension works ideally with the default Magento template, barring the extras. The target store must not reflect your source store’s attributes after the migration. Do not do customizations beyond this to avoid errors.

2. Set Up the Cart2Cart Magento1 to Magento2 Data Migration Extension

   While customizing you can add Cart2Cart Magento1 to Magento2 data migration extension to the store. For this, straightaway go to the Magento Marketplace and look for Cart2Cart M2 Upgrade and then after installing the extension for free, launch this when you wish to go ahead with the migration process.

3. Create an account on Cart2Cart

   Before beginning with the migration process, you first need to register an account with Cart2Cart with the help of an extension on the Cart2Cart website. You will find some options where you can either sign up in the traditional way by giving your personal details, etc. or by just logging in to the system with your Google or Facebook account details.

4. Set up the Connection Bridge by Entering Magento1 Source Cart Details

   After creating the account when you access it and launch the Magento upgrade wizard of Cart2Cart it will show the target and source cart set up window. Here, you will need to enter the details of each store and thereafter configure their respective connection bridges.

   The section of source cart comes first wherein you can designate your source details by selecting “Magento” as the source cart. Then you can type the URL of the source store on the consecutive field. After this you can set up a connection bridge on the source cart which will eventually become the key link for transferring data between both the platforms.

   To create a bridge, click on the “Download Bridge” button and it will send the bridge straight to your local storage in a .zip file. Do not unzip the file and paste the contents directly on Magento1 store’s root folder via the FTP client. Thus, the connection bridge is formed on your source cart. You can check its connection by clicking on the “Check Connection” button.

5. Enter the Magento2 Target Cart Details to create the Connection Bridge

   After performing the above step, Cart2Cart will ask you to do the same for the Magento2 target store. Go to the “Target Setup Area” and you will get a list of Target cart options where you will click on Magento. Then, enter the URL of the Magento2 site on the field “Target Store URL”. Thereafter, download the target cart’s connection bridge like you did for the source cart. Unzip its contents on your local storage and paste all the data on the root folder of Magento2 store with the help of FTP panel. Use the “Check Connection” button to validate the target cart connection.

6. Select the Store Entities you wish to Transfer

   Now the source and target cart bridges are done and running, the next step is to define the attributes you wish to migrate from your Magento1 to Magento2 store. Cart2Cart provides the option of clicking on the checkboxes, for every entity.

   You can easily migrate entities like:

   • Coupons – This includes Name, status, description, coupon date, coupon code, uses per coupon, customer groups, type discount, uses per customer, and discount amount.

   • CMS Pages – This includes meta keywords, content headings, status, description, created date, URLs, and titles.

   • Orders – It includes Customer name, billing address, email, invoice, shipment, credit memo, tax price, order ID, order date, order status, total price, order comments, order products, quantity, product price, discount price, and subtotal.

   • Taxes – It includes Tax rules, tax rates, and tax class.

   • Customers – It comprises Customer ID, customer group, first name, last name, gender, email, newsletter, date of birth, created date, passwords, billing address, and shipping address.

   • Reviews – It includes Created date, user name, status, description, rate, summary, product, type, and title.

   • Shipping – It includes Shipping address, telephone, transactions, and fax.

   • Product Categories – It includes thumbnail image, image, URL, description, name, status, meta description, meta title, and meta keywords.

   • Products – It comprises of Quantity, manage stock, stock availability, backorder, thumbnail image, base image, variants, additional images, custom options, product tags, cross-sells, up-sells, URL, weight, related products, meta keywords, meta title, meta description, special price, price, group price, MSRP, tier price, SKU, product name, full description, short description, manufacturer, status, tax class, sort order in category, and country of manufacturer.

   • Manufacturers – Image and Name.

   You can either choose all of them by selecting the “Select All” checkbox else you can pick only those entities that you intend to transfer.

7. Data Migration Customization

   It is evident that Cart2Cart is an adaptive tool which allows you to customize your data migration process dynamically, to each small detail. You can see the “Additional Options” section which shows the entity selection options. To personalize the data migration from Magento 1 to 2, you can select the preferences from the options. It also gives you the option of retaining the IDs of your customers on the target store.

   Apart from this it also gives the options of protecting the product SEO URLs, categories, product variants, customer’s passwords, original order IDs on target store, clearing current data on target store before migration, and much more. All these options are exceptional but some come for free and some are charged. For example, the cost of maintaining your original customer IDs on new Magento2 will cost additional $49 and importing products SEO URLs and categories will cost you additional $59. So, it is advised to prioritize the stuff you intend to migrate.

8. Carry Out a Free Demo Migration

   Cart2Cart has made an impressive mark among the users and one may feel it unnecessary to go ahead with the demo step. But, it is suggested to carry out a free demo to have a look at the insights of how your target store will finally look like. With this step, you can access how your store entities are mapped, how is the frontend interface and the backend capabilities, etc.

   This process may take around 30 minutes of your time and later Cart2Cart will import only some of your selected entities.

9. Go Ahead with the Full Migration from Magento1 to Magento2

   Once the demo turned out well, there is nothing to hold you back. You can go ahead with the complete migration process of Magento1 to Magento2. Cart2Cart will do your billing before going ahead with the process. It will ask you to pay for the data transfer and for additional migrating options. As mentioned earlier, the pricing rates of Cart2Cart are reasonable as it is calculated depending on the number of entities you want to transfer.

   On paying the amount, the full migration process will begin. The whole process will take place in the background and will also maintain your Magento1 source in perfect order. Thus, you will not experience any downtime during the migration. It will not need any inputs from your side during the process for a few hours and eventually all the data will get transferred from Magento1 and mapped to Magento2.

   You can close the window and manage your source store simultaneously or even track the progress of migration from your Cart2Cart account. Once done, Cart2Cart will notify the same via email.

   In the worst case, if a problem occurs you can consult the tech experts support team at any time as they are available 24/7.

Conclusion

This article has described the whole migration process of Magento1 to Magento2 in detail. Once the migration is done, you must check the Magento2 target store by reviewing its attributes, functionalities, and layout with every detail. You can run some shopping tests or do some transactions to confirm successful migration.

Do not forget to celebrate after the whole process is successfully completed, after all it’s not that easy. But, Cart2Cart has made it pretty simple for you to swiftly migrate from Magento1 to Magento2 without hampering your business and facing any downtime.