Planning for a Data Migration

A data migration is a transfer of information and data from one system to another. You may wonder why would I want to switch systems or platforms in eCommerce. I’m satisfied with where I am and how my store is performing. Do I really need to do this?

Sometimes we get so caught up in the metrics of performance that we don’t look at how those numbers are achieved. Just because you are successful doesn’t mean you can’t find room for improvement.

The main reason eCommerce businesses make the decision to migrate data is because they feel that they have outgrown the capacity and capabilities of their current platform. They feel there is something more out there and that greater success lies beyond the horizon. It is why people move from platforms like Yahoo and WordPress and branch out to BigCommerce and Shopify.

If this feels like something you have considered, it may be time to take the plunge and go after something bigger and better and get onto a platform that can handle the capacity. If you are going to go through a data migration process, there are a few things you need to plan for before you start. Today, we will review these steps.

Define Goals

Before you make a change such as a data migration and go to a new platform, you should know and understand your goals for your eCommerce store and what problem you are trying to solve. Every move you make with your store needs to have a reason, and if you don’t look at the fine details and requirements behind the migration, you may end up solving the wrong problem. What you need to do is write down all the business requirements and review them with the people most important to the business. Defining your goals and what success is for you will help you complete a migration properly.

Know Your Inventory

A data migration can get complicated if you have a lot of products and inventory, but if you can take stock on your products, you can make it much easier. Identifying your inventory can help you better see the areas where your current platform may be coming up short and where you want to see improvements in the new platform. This gives you a list of requirements for the new platform to have and helps you take the next step in your migration.

Profile Your Data

Data migration doesn’t suddenly turn existing data in bad shape into an improved state. By profiling your data, you can get an understanding of your data and see if there are blank values, duplicated data or patterns that are where they are expected to be. Having an understanding of your data will help you identify what kind of cleaning up you need to do before you migrate.

Find a Team That Can Help

Data migration projects involve a lot of details from Schema matching to data mapping and testing to make sure everything moves safely to your new platform. With the right team in place, you can get guidance on these steps to make sure all of your bases are covered. Then you can perform tests and launch your migration to get your website over to a new platform.

With 1Digital Agency, you get a team that can assist you in choosing the best platform for your business and help you construct a plan to move the most important data and migrate your files, products, customer data and much more. Make your move with confidence when you have a reliable team backing you up every step of the way.

Making the decision to migrate data can have a lot of great effects on your store from building speed to creating a better user experience for your customers. It can set you up for greater success in ranking on search engines and building a better website overall that keeps customers engaged and interested in your business. 

If the time has come for you to break out of the boundaries of a small eCommerce experience and take things to another level on a higher platform like BigCommerce or Shopify, a migration is right for you so you can continue to sell the products that have helped you get this far. 

Take the next step and do so with a team that knows how to make the transition of a data migration a smooth one and puts your success at the forefront. Choose 1Digital Agency to be your team behind a data migration.