Migrating an enterprise brand’s online presence from one ecommerce technology to another is all about mitigating risk. Slow and steady, fix what is broken, don’t let anyone do anything radical, chasing the latest fads or pushing the envelope into anything black or even gray. Keep your IT department from inadvertently destroying your SEO rankings, customer experience and trusted checkout process.
For mid-market retailers, the goal is often this: let your competitors test out the newer, more cost-effective software. We’ll follow suit if it works –– and trust us, it does. Startups, mid-market brands and enterprise-level retailers are already saving hundreds of thousands of dollars on technology, spending those savings on marketing efforts and likely coming really close to out-competing you.
Midsize and enterprise retailers are already saving hundreds of thousands of dollars on technology.
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So, what are you waiting for? Likely, you’re resting between a rock and a hard place –– not sure how to migrate to the newer technologies without risking losing years of collected data or, worse, opening yourself up for a data breach vulnerability.
At Bigcommerce, we understand those concerns, which is why we’ve built out both an internal team as well as a global network of partners to specialize in the safe and reliable process of data migration. In the last three years, we have migrated more than 20,000 online stores from 50 different ecommerce technology platforms.
In working with so many brands, we’ve learned that every single online store is unique, and that as you’ve scaled, so has your data. To make sure you don’t lose a single data point, we implement a 3-step quality assurance process to ensure you’re 100% satisfied before launch. Our team processes a data migration within 5-10 business days. Industry average for a similar service is 4-8 weeks. Our goal is to transfer safely, swiftly and securely.
Every single online store is unique, and as you’ve scaled, so has your data.
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In all, Bigcommerce and our global team of partners provide a rare service within the ecommerce industry –– offering data migration in-house and as part of your replatforming package. In fact, we’re one of the only SaaS ecommerce platforms to offer it.
In the course of performing so many migrations, our team has spoken to a diverse group of business owners, walking them through the process of moving to a new platform. Below are the top five myths they’ve heard about data migration.
Data Migration Myth #1: We miss out on sales while you migrate our data.
Your store won’t go offline during the migration process. We do all the work on your new Bigcommerce store backend, then give you as much time as you need to customize your settings, test your site and train your team. When you’re ready, and only when you’re ready, you can launch your new ecommerce storefront — complete with updated data already uploaded into your backend. This allows you to continue business as usual from day one.
Launch a new site complete with data, allowing you to continue business as usual from day one.
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While all of this is happening, your original store stays live on your current platform. We don’t require that it come down, and Bigcommerce and our global network of partners actually advise against it. We understand that uptime is one of the most crucial factors to gaining and maintaining consumer trust, so all our work can happen with no downtime required.
Data Migration Myth #2: We’ll lose our design if we migrate.
Worrying about losing your beautiful, custom design? Don’t. Bigcommerce’s open template files allow you to bring custom design elements to your new store, and our design partners ensure that it happens seamlessly. Our partners have designed sites for the likes of Cetaphil, U.S. Patriot Tactical, Grady’s Cold Brew, DiBruno Bros, Chuck Levins and more.
The Chuck Levin’s homepage
Data Migration Myth #3: When we move the store to a new host, we’ll lose all our traffic.
It is true that moving to a new server, even when using the same domain name, can impact search engine rankings if done improperly. The good news, though, is that people move hosts all the time, and search engines like Google have best practices which mitigate the effects.
Businesses move hosts often and search engines have best practices to mitigate the SEO effects.
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We follow those best practices to minimize all controllable risk. We properly implement 301 redirects for each of your product and category pages. Our goal is to move your product data with the same search ranking foundation you had built on your previous platform. That way, our SEO-friendly platform can quickly drive your traffic to new heights.
4.Data Migration Myth #4: Migrating means we can clone our store exactly.
No, you cannot clone your store exactly. You can, however, migrate a majority of your existing data from your current ecommerce store to your new backend. In fact, we make sure that happens without opening you up to any potential issues or liabilities.
As for your store’s look and feel, you’re probably thinking about leaving your current platform because it’s lacking in some way, so why would you want to recreate those same shortfalls? The quicker you embrace the idea that it requires some change to improve your online business, the quicker you can benefit from migrating to a fully featured enterprise solution like Bigcommerce. We offer a wealth of next-level features that will ensure your transition is as painless — and profitable — as possible.
The quicker you embrace that success requires change, the faster you’ll scale.
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For instance, with dozens of integrated payment gateways, you’ll rarely need a payment option we don’t offer. Chances are that we have an integration with the payment gateway you are using right now, and you may even find new options like Square and PayPal powered by Braintree that you like more.
In all, Bigcommerce offers more than 250 one-click integrations with leading software providers like Survey Monkey, HubSpot, Alibaba and Salesforce. That makes it easy to integrate with the tools you already use, plus add new tools to stay on top of the latest industry trends.
Data Migration Myth #5: We have great engineers. We can do it ourselves.
Even if you’re a great developer, our experience has taught us that the first time you undertake an unfamiliar task like this, it rarely goes according to plan. Anybody who has tried to renovate their own house knows how steep the learning curve can be. Wouldn’t your time be better spent growing your business and serving your customers while delegating your migration to veteran engineers who can get it done quickly and correctly?
Wouldn’t your time be better spent growing your business and serving your customers?
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Your data isn’t something you want to risk, and we’ve heard our fair share of self-migration horror stories. When you’re talking about securing and improving your financial future, you can’t afford to let your ego get in the way. Instead, trust your migration to an industry-leading team with more than 20,000 successful migrations completed.
Migrating your online business to Bigcommerce isn’t difficult or frightening — with our team of experts to help you every step of the way, you’ll be up and running in no time.
The post Data Migration Myth Busting: Your 5 Worst Misconceptions Debunked by the Experts appeared first on The Bigcommerce Blog.
