Magento to WooCommerce Migration: Complete Guide

Whether you’ve used Magento for a while or are just starting out, you may be thinking about switching to a platform that’s more user-friendly and cost-effective.

This is the ideal moment to look into WooCommerce – the platform that drives nearly 40% of the world’s eCommerce. It offers versatile and accessible tools for business owners, and a plethora of other advantages, making it a wonderful solution for online retailers of any size. 

Note: Watch this short video to get a brief summary of the blog.

What should you consider before migrating from Magento to WooCommerce?

Small to medium-sized businesses may discover that switching from Magento to WooCommerce is a viable alternative if they’re seeking for a more reasonably priced, user-friendly, adaptable, and configurable e-commerce platform. 

Here are some factors that may make a business a good candidate for migrating from Magento to WooCommerce:

• Cost: WooCommerce is typically less expensive than Magento in terms of price, especially for smaller organizations. WooCommerce can be a more affordable option if a company is having trouble covering the costs of Magento. 

• Ease of use: Especially for non-technical users, WooCommerce is frequently regarded as simpler to use and more user-friendly than Magento. WooCommerce might be a better option for a company that finds Magento challenging to operate.

• Flexibility: WooCommerce provides a lot of versatility and can be customized to match unique business needs, but Magento is renowned for its scalability and flexibility. WooCommerce can be a suitable choice for a company looking for more freedom.

• Integration: WooCommerce makes it simpler to interact with other tools, thanks to its extensive integration options, which include plugins for social media handles to digital marketing tools. WooCommerce might be a better option for a company that has to link its e-commerce platform with other platforms, although Magento too is great at these.

• Size: WooCommerce frequently works better for small to medium-sized enterprises while Magento is typically better suited for larger businesses. WooCommerce can be a better option if a company is small to medium-sized and doesn’t require the extensive capabilities of Magento.

Read More: All about Magento to WooCommerce Migration

Who should migrate from Magento to WooCommerce? – 4 Points to ascertain if you need it

• Magento is great for people who have some technical background or are tech-savvy. People who would like to set up the products and shop with little to no technical knowledge can use Woocommerce to do so.

• The learning curve with WooCommerce is lesser than with Magento. If you don’t have an abundance of time at your disposal, WooCommerce is preferable to Magento.

• The cost of setup and maintenance of Magento can be saved with the WooCommerce platform. If your budgets are smaller, go with WooCommerce.

• Most customizations that need to be added can be achieved with existing add-ons for Woocommerce. People who require additional features with Magento might require complicated support. Your needs will define your means. 

Read More: WooCommerce vs Magento: A Comprehensive Comparison

Why There’s A Need To Shift? 

Both WooCommerce and Magento Open Source are designed for WordPress –  you may select from a variety of free and premium themes offered by WordPress or independent developers, and then customize everything using the WordPress Customizer, including menus, colors, and fonts. 

By adding and combining elements such as text, columns, photos, videos, buttons, items, categories, filters, and more, you can build and create pages that are as simple or complicated as your business requires. 

The key differentiator is that the WooCommerce documentation is comprehensive and developed especially for store owners, so you can set up and manage your store internally without writing too many codes. This is in addition to the extension library. It is completely flexible, but more importantly, it is readily available. In contrast, the documentation of Magento is primarily for developers and a layman will have a tough time comprehending it. 

How to migrate from Magento to WooCommerce?

If you’re using Magento Open Source or Commerce, the process is similar. You need a host, a quick WordPress installation tool, and WooCommerce for your new store. Then follow this five-step Getting Started Guide.

Also Read: How to Migrate to WooCommerce (From Any Platform)

WooCommerce can’t automatically duplicate the look of your website, but there are countless paid and free themes that let you create any type of store you want. For instance, the adaptable and user-friendly Storefront theme offers a number of child themes for specialized markets. The essential functionality of the parent theme is carried over into child themes, which offer distinct design aesthetics.  

To install a theme:

1. Choose one from the WooCommerce library or a reputable third-party vendor. 
2. In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance ? Themes.
3. Click the Add New button at the top of the page.
4. Click Upload Theme.
5. Select Choose File and upload the ZIP file from your theme provider.
6. You’ll see a success message after installation. Click Activate to enable your new theme.

Reference your theme’s support documentation for details about setting up and customizing options for your store.

Now, it’s time to transfer your material data at this point. There are a few secure methods for transferring eCommerce data from Magento to WooCommerce, but before you reach there, create a backup of all your Magento data before you begin the migrating procedure. This will guarantee that you have a copy of your data in case there are any problems with the migration. Numerous free and commercial data migration solutions are available to assist with the migration process. These technologies can assist in automating the procedure and lowering the possibility of mistakes.

The different approaches to migrating data from Magento to Woocommerce

A. Manual import/export

The process of manually moving website data is cost-free – although i t ain’t that simple. 

You need to individually export data pertaining to products, users, coupons, etc. from your existing Magento store and then import them to your new WooCommerce store. 

And if you have a large store with complex products then you have to be extra careful since you’ll be dealing with a larger database.

As when exporting databases to CSV files, the connection between data is sometimes lost. As a result, the entities may appear in the wrong places. Therefore, store owners should compare their CSV file formats of 2 platforms and make necessary changes before importing those into Magento.

But that’s not to say that the manual migration process is not feasible. Here is a step-by-step guide to that end. For the sake of simplicity, here we are dealing with the product data. 

You would need to repeat the same for other data points as well.

1. Export product data from Magento in the form of a CSV/Excel file. Read this guide for more information on properly exporting data, filters, as well as attributes from Magento.

2. Go to WooCommerce Products in your WordPress dashboard. 

3. Select Import from the menu at the page’s top. A built-in product CSV importer is visible there.

4. To import a CSV file, click Choose File and then choose the file. Then click Next.

5. The Column Mapping screen will appear, where WooCommerce will automatically try to match the column names in your Magento CSV file to the fields used for WooCommerce products. Use the dropdown menus to the right of each row to adjust some of these on your own if necessary.  

6. Select Run the Importer and wait for it to complete.

7. For the remainder of your CSV files, repeat these procedures.

Note: If you aren’t technically very adept, then problems might prop up during the course of the migration which may corrupt your data. Be very sure when you take a leap of faith and migrate on your own. In case you require help, seek the help of a developer or an expert. You can reach us.

B. Using a Paid Plugin/Tool

The second approach to migrate is using a migration tool. These softwares are calibrated for the process of store migration. The only downside is the cost factor and the limitation on customization that they bring in. Nevertheless, they are much simpler and easy to execute. We list down a few popular tools for Magento to WooCommerce migration here. 

Cart2Cart

You may migrate from Magento to WooCommerce in four steps using the Cart2Cart addon. Even a free trial migration is available to demonstrate exactly how the transfer will operate. And that too, without too much technical understanding. There will be no money lost due to the downtime of your existing store, and your Magento business can continue to operate in the background. 

Here is some of the data that can be migrated:

• Product information, including names, costs, specifications, weights, and variants

• Tax rates, categories, and names

• Names, emails, addresses, and passwords of customers

• Various product groups

• Date, status, price, quantity, promotions, and delivery information for an order.

• Discounts and promo codes

• Titles, dates, URLs, and descriptions of the pages 

The process is summed up in 4 simple steps:

To migrate from Magento to WooCommerce with Cart2Cart:

1. Sign in to your Cart2Cart account.

2. Add your source store i.e Magento and provide your current URL and API details. Once that is done, connect a target store i.e WooCommerce. You can install the required Connection Bridge, which links your two sites, on your WordPress site manually or automatically.

3. Choose the entities you want to migrate. Select the data types from the list and match them to WooCommerce fields.
4. Finally, launch your migration and wait until it gets finished.

LitExtension

The popular data migration software LitExtension allows switching from Magento to WooCommerce platforms. Data migration for items, clients, orders, categories, and other store entities is supported, and migration is automated. 

Here are the general steps to migrate eCommerce data from Magento to WooCommerce using LitExtension:

1. Sign up for a LitExtension account: Create a LitExtension account and log in to the dashboard.

2. Choose your source and target platforms: Select Magento as your source platform and WooCommerce as your target platform.

3. Provide access to your Magento store: Provide the necessary access credentials to your Magento store, including the store URL, admin login, and password.

4. Provide access to your WooCommerce store: Provide the necessary access credentials to your WooCommerce store, including the store URL, admin login, and password.

5. Select the data you want to migrate: Choose the data you want to migrate, including products, customers, orders, and other entities.

6. Customize the migration: You can customize your migration by selecting additional options, such as preserving order IDs, migrating product images, and more.

7. Perform a demo migration: Before the actual migration, LitExtension allows you to perform a demo migration to see how the migration will look like.

8. Perform the actual migration: Once you’re satisfied with the demo migration, you can perform the actual migration.

9. Check the migration results: After the migration is complete, check your WooCommerce store to ensure that all data has been migrated correctly.

10. Switch your DNS: Once you’re satisfied with the migration, you can switch your DNS to point to your WooCommerce store. 

FG Magento to WooCommerce

You can transfer data from Magento to WooCommerce with the free plugin FG Magento to WooCommerce. It allows for the movement of customers, orders, orders, categories, and other store entities. 

Here are the general steps to migrate eCommerce data from Magento to WooCommerce using FG Magento to WooCommerce plugin:

1. Install and activate the FG Magento to WooCommerce plugin: Install and activate the FG Magento to WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress website.

2. Create a backup of your Magento store: Before proceeding with the migration process, it’s important to create a backup of your Magento store to ensure that you have a copy of your data in case of any issues.

3. Configure the migration settings: Navigate to the FG Magento to WooCommerce settings page and configure the migration settings, including the Magento store URL, API details, and migration options.

4. Connect to your Magento store: Connect the plugin to your Magento store by entering the necessary access credentials, including the Magento store URL, admin login, and password.

5. Select the data you want to migrate: Choose the data you want to migrate, including products, categories, customers, orders, and other entities. 

6. Customize the migration: You can customize your migration by selecting additional options, such as preserving order IDs, migrating product images, and more.

7. Perform the migration: Once you’ve configured the migration settings and selected the data you want to migrate, you can perform the migration.

8. Check the migration results: After the migration is complete, check your WooCommerce store to ensure that all data has been migrated correctly.

9. Switch your DNS: Once you’re satisfied with the migration, you can switch your DNS to point to your WooCommerce store. 

Note: To find out more about migration tools, check out this article.

C. Migrate Using WooCommerce Partner Or Agency

A WooCommerce partner or agency can help you with the entire migration process, from assessing your current website to selecting the right hosting solution and setting up the WooCommerce platform. They can also help you customize your WooCommerce store to meet your unique needs, integrate your existing systems and processes, and optimize your site for performance and user experience.

When selecting a WooCommerce partner or agency, make sure to choose one with experience in WooCommerce migration, as well as a strong portfolio of successful projects. Look for agencies that have positive reviews and testimonials from past clients, and make sure to ask about their pricing, timelines, and communication processes.

Ultimately, working with a WooCommerce partner or agency can save you time, minimize downtime during the migration process, and help ensure that your new WooCommerce store is set up for success.

Being in the WooCommerce space for 10 years, our Platinum WooCommerce Experts know exactly how to ensure a fail-safe migration to WooCommerce. Having worked on 300+ projects, we live and breathe WooCommerce and meet you right where you need us.

Should you opt to partner with experts? 

Any type of eCommerce store that needs to migrate from Magento to WooCommerce might benefit from professional migration services. However, larger and more complicated stores, as well as stores with specialized functionality or intricate data structures, benefit the most from expert migration services.

For instance, if your store has a lot of customers, items, and orders, a professional migration service can ensure that all the data is transferred accurately and without losing any information. 

Additionally, a professional migration service can offer the knowledge and experience required to ensure a seamless and successful migration if your shop has bespoke features or integrations that need to be migrated. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, switching from Magento to WooCommerce might be difficult, but it’s frequently important to stay up with the shifting demands of your company and the eCommerce sector.

While it might be a challenging process, it can also be a wise investment in the long-term profitability of your online store. 

Careful planning and execution may help guarantee a seamless and successful relocation, regardless of whether you opt to employ a DIY migration tool or a professional migration service.  

So, I hope this article was helpful, and I’ll see you in the next one!

If you want to discuss your project, you can reach out to our WooCommerce Migration experts today.

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