Performing an OpenCart to Shopify doesn’t have to be a technical nightmare. And no, you don’t have to hire specialized developers either.
For years now, merchants have increasingly leveraged the automatic Cart2Cart option when it comes to OpenCart to Shopify migration. And the results, according to the user reviews we’ve sampled on the web, have been impressive so far.
Online store owners across the globe continue to praise Cart2Cart for its efficacy in importing OpenCart to Shopify. They say that it’s capable of accurately migrating all the critical data elements without any technical difficulties. Plus, it manages to achieve all that at a fraction of what it would cost you to hire data migration specialists.
Now that’s interesting. But, how true is it? And how do you even use such a tool to perform an OpenCart to Shopify migration?
Well, we were pretty curious about the whole process too. And so, just like we’ve done with various shopping carts already, we had to conduct an OpenCart to Shopify migration using Cart2Cart to confirm the tool’s capabilities for ourselves.
Hence, you can think of this article as the ultimate OpenCart to Shopify migration guide. It explores all the valid methods of transferring data between the two ecommerce platforms, and then goes ahead and explains exactly how to migrate OpenCart to Shopify using Cart2Cart.
That said, let’s start off with the approaches you could take to import OpenCart to Shopify…
Your OpenCart To Shopify Migration Options
While OpenCart and Shopify are both ecommerce platforms, they tend to operate very differently.
OpenCart, as you’re probably aware by now, is a free open-source shopping cart platform, whereas Shopify happens to provide a full-stack closed source system. That means it combines its shopping cart platform with web hosting services, an in-house payment gateway, plus POS capabilities for businesses that might want to venture into in-store selling.
Now, with such varying system frameworks, it’s understandable why OpenCart to Shopify migration has always been a challenging procedure. It’s not as simple as, say moving your online store from one OpenCart hosting provider to another.
Then to make matters worse, Shopify’s default transfer tool doesn’t go beyond web domains. You can only use it to import your online store’s domain from its original registrar to Shopify’s system. Nothing more.
That leaves your eCommerce data with just three transfer options.
You could proceed with either:
- Manual OpenCart to Shopify Migration
- Assisted OpenCart to Shopify Migration
- Automated OpenCart to Shopify Migration
Manual OpenCart to Shopify Migration
In essence, this is more like the Quantum Mechanics of migrating from OpenCart to Shopify. You need advanced technical skills to conduct the whole process without any difficulties.
Wondering why?
Well, for starters, the process is not as straightforward as just copying data from OpenCart and subsequently pasting it to your Shopify store. Rather, you have to program the entities separately, and then configure even the website framework for everything to integrate seamlessly.
In short, therefore, the whole process is extremely intricate, and it could take you days to fully import OpenCart to Shopify.
On the bright side, though, at least it’s the cheapest OpenCart to Shopify migration option. You won’t be forced to pay third-parties at any point since you get to perform everything yourself.
It’s worth noting, however, that the risks are quite huge when it comes to manual OpenCart to Shopify migration. A slight error like omitting data or applying an incompatible theme could spoil everything, consequently forcing you to restart the transfer process over and over again. In some cases, businesses even end up losing important data.
So, to avoid that, you’re required to countercheck every single batch of data before and after you import OpenCart to Shopify.
Assisted OpenCart to Shopify Migration
The fact is, only a minority of merchants have what it takes to manually import OpenCart to Shopify. The rest are either too busy running their businesses or probably don’t possess the requisite data migration skills.
If that describes you, one of the alternative methods you might want to consider is assisted OpenCart to Shopify migration. And just as the name suggests, it entails seeking professional assistance from ecommerce migration specialists.
You essentially hire an agency to perform the whole data transfer process on your behalf. Then, in the end, the professionals are expected to hand you a fully-featured Shopify store, complete with all your original entities.
Don’t get too excited though, as there are several downsides to proceeding with assisted OpenCart to Shopify migration.
You should, for instance, expect to incur costs in the form of professional fees, which, in most cases, stretch into hundreds or thousands of dollars. So, while enterprises can comfortably afford the service, it can be a very costly affair for small businesses.
Another problem here is the time it takes to import OpenCart to Shopify. Although the agencies involved typically divide the tasks between multiple professionals, a single project could still take days to complete.
Automated OpenCart to Shopify Migration
If the manual data transfer process is not your type of thing, and you don’t have the luxury of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars hiring a professional agency, then automated OpenCart to Shopify migration would be the best route to take.
Well, you can think of it as the best of both worlds.
Just like the manual migration method, it gives you the power of control, but without the accompanying technical complexities. That means you can conveniently import OpenCart to Shopify without any programming knowledge or experience.
The trick here is to adopt a specialized tool like Cart2Cart and have it perform the whole data transfer process on your behalf. You just need to link it with the respective cart directories and the system will automatically handle the rest.
Cart2Cart is not the only tool though. There are several other options on the web that are capable of performing a fully automated OpenCart to Shopify migration.
It’s worth noting, however, that from the numerous tests we’ve conducted in the recent past, Cart2Cart has proven over and over again to be one of the most reliable all-rounded tools on the market.
And since we usually leave no stone unturned, here’s a detailed breakdown of all the benefits you should expect from Cart2Cart when it comes to OpenCart to Shopify migration.
Why Use Cart2Cart To Import OpenCart To Shopify?
Extensive Ecommerce Migration Experience
If you’ve read our comprehensive review of Cart2Cart, then you’re aware that it’s not a one-trick pony. Rather, Cart2Cart is a fully-fledged migration solution that specifically focuses on ecommerce platforms. And by that, I mean various types of digital shopping carts- not just OpenCart and Shopify.
In essence, Cart2Cart has facilitated automated data transfer between the platforms for over a decade now. In fact, by the beginning of 2019, the tool had performed a combined total of over 150,000 ecommerce site migrations involving a wide range of shopping carts.
Well, to be precise, the number of shopping carts that Cart2Cart currently supports stretches beyond 86 and counting. The company has managed to secure partnerships with all the major brands you can think of- from WooCommerce, PrestaShop, BigCommerce, 3dcart, osCommerce, and Magento, to the likes of Etsy, Weebly, Zen Cart, Wix, and even Yahoo Store.
Consequently, you can comfortably migrate your online store to tens of other ecommerce platforms without touching a line of code. And while you’re it, Cart2Cart’s extensive experience in ecommerce migration should you that extra confidence.
Easy to Use
And speaking of not touching a line of code, Cart2Cart is exactly that. You don’t need any technical skills to import OpenCart to Shopify. Rather, you can rely on the tool to transfer all the core store entities with minimal human input and supervision.
As a matter of fact, the only input required here is specifying your OpenCart and Shopify stores’ details. Cart2Cart comes in the form of an intuitive migration wizard, which will prompt you to enter your source and target stores’ URLs, before giving you the chance to pick the specific data entities you’d like to migrate.
In the end, the wizard will principally take you through 3 configuration stages- target and source cart details, entity selection, plus the free demo migration- before proceeding with the full OpenCart to Shopify migration.
All in all, therefore, this whole procedure is just a matter of mouse clicks and voila!
Flexibility
While the end-goal here is the same for all site owners, the OpenCart to Shopify migration procedure involves multiple variables, which often tend to vary extensively from one online store to another.
Your ecommerce site, for instance, might be seeking to transfer thousands of products along with their respective categories from OpenCart to Shopify, while another could be performing the same migration process with only hundreds of items.
Well, Cart2Cart seemingly took this into account while designing its system provisions. And as a result, it now allows you to specify exactly what you’d want to transfer, how you’d like to transfer it, plus the supplementary add-ons you’d want to accompany the whole package.
More specifically, users get to pick the precise store entities they’d like to migrate, as well as throw in extras like migration insurance at an additional cost. You could also choose between different ecommerce platform versions.
Then when it comes to the service cost, Cart2Cart typically charges users based on the amount of data they intend to transfer. The higher the volume of store entities you’ll be migrating from OpenCart to Shopify, the more you should expect to pay.
The final pricing, however, won’t be as high as hiring an agency of developers. Cart2Cart has always charged much less for OpenCart to Shopify migration since the whole process is intelligently automated.
Free Demo Migration
Not everything here comes at a price. And as it turns out, the freebies start rolling in right off the bat.
You see, Cart2Cart is a free shopping cart migration tool that won’t cost you even a dime to install.
And the same applies to the account creation procedure too, as signing up with Cart2Cart is completely free of charge. No card details or any form of commitment is required. Simply signup and proceed to set up your OpenCart to Shopify migration.
The generosity doesn’t stop there though. Cart2Cart further allows its users to create and customize their OpenCart to Shopify migration instances without paying anything. What’s more, you even get to perform a free demo migration while you’re at it.
And what does that mean?
Well, a free demo migration is almost identical to the actual OpenCart to Shopify migration. Cart2Cart essentially transfers your data from the OpenCart source store to the Shopify target store, as a demonstration of what’s to come.
The only difference between this and a full OpenCart to Shopify migration is the volume of imported entities. A free demo migration gives you a sneak preview of what you should expect in the long run by transferring and then deploying only a limited number of store entities. Just enough to give you all the assurance you might need beforehand.
It’s only after completing a free demo migration and reviewing the outcome that Cart2Cart brings up the issue of payment.
Zero Downtime
While web service downtime is now a pretty common and somewhat understandable phenomenon when it comes to site migrations, it just so happens that Cart2Cart approaches things differently.
Basically, it manages to import OpenCart to Shopify without interfering with your web service. The system is engineered to handle all the data transfer tasks in the background while keeping your ecommerce site online.
And yes, in case you’re wondering, every single component of your website is kept online. That means your entire online store should be fully functional, allowing you to run your business and even process transactions amidst the OpenCart to Shopify migration procedure.,
This, of course, saves you from all the potential losses that businesses stand to incur while they import OpenCart to Shopify.
Responsive Customer Support
Cart2Cart has proven over and over again to be a flexible, reliable, and user-friendly migration tool. It’s the type of solution where you just hit a couple of clicks on an intuitive wizard and your OpenCart to Shopify migration will be underway.
Quite commendable, I must say. But although you wouldn’t expect difficulties with such a simple and straightforward system, there’s no denying that problems can still occur from time to time.
You could, for instance, trigger data errors by relying on a poorly-configured target cart. Or rather, your hosting provider might experience technical difficulties and take its servers offline before the data transfer process is complete.
Now, because of these and many other potential problems, Cart2Cart comes with a team of customer support agents who are accessible 24/7 via email, phone, and live chat.
I’ve interacted with them a couple of times now, and I’ve found the entire team to be sufficiently knowledgeable and very responsive. You can expect all the queries and issues you raise throughout your OpenCart to Shopify migration to be addressed promptly.
And with that said, let’s now explore how to migrate Opencart to Shopify using Cart2Cart…
How To Migrate OpenCart To Shopify Using Cart2Cart (Tutorial)
Premigration Step: Set Up Your Shopify Target Store
Now that you already have an OpenCart-based source store, you should create a corresponding site on Shopify, which will eventually serve as the target store. This, in other words, is where you’ll migrate your OpenCart store data and, subsequently, set up a new home for your business.
That said, the process of setting up a Shopify store is as easy as signing up with Shopify, picking the appropriate pricing package, and then creating a new site with Shopify’s dashboard tools.
Speaking of which, Shopify comes with a pretty neat website builder, plus a set of elegant pre-built store themes. You won’t need any technical skills here as the whole customization process is admirably straightforward. Just select any layout elements and then tweak them using Shopify’s WYSIWYG visual editor.
It’s worth noting, however, that heavy edits at this stage might not be necessary at all. And as a matter of fact, you’re advised to avoid extensive customizations as they might interfere with Cart2Cart’s data mapping.
Hence, the best option here would be leaving your Shopify store in its default state. You’ll get the chance to customize everything in detail after you import OpenCart to Shopify.
Step 1: Install Cart2Cart and Create Your User Account
With the Shopify store up and running, you can proceed to set up the Cart2Cart account that you’ll be using for your OpenCart to Shopify migration.
Now, when it comes to that, it turns out there are two approaches you could apply.
Cart2Cart, for starters, allows you to work directly from your Shopify dashboard. You just need to install its migration module from the Shopify App Store and you’ll be good to go.
In essence, the Shopify Cart2Cart store migration app comes in the form of a lightweight tool that embeds seamlessly with the ecommerce platform. You should be able to access it from the Shopify dashboard, from where you can proceed to create your user account.
That said, the alternative approach would be initiating the whole process directly from Cart2Cart’s main site. Simply go to shopping-cart-migration.com and sign up by picking OpenCart as your source cart and Shopify as the target cart, and then hit “Start Free Demo Now”.
Now, whichever registration route you choose to take, you’ll notice that Cart2Cart gives you the privilege of signing up with either your personal details or social accounts. Google and Facebook happen to be the only choices here, but I guess they should be more than enough.
Step 2: Launch The Migration Wizard, Enter Your Source Cart Details, and Configure The Source Cart’s Connection Bridge
After you’ve gained access to the Cart2Cart system through your account, you can go ahead and get right on the OpenCart to Shopify migration. Simply go straight to the “Create Migration” tab on the dashboard and launch Cart2Cart’s migration wizard.
The first stage on this setup window is all about the source cart. Cart2Cart essentially requires you to direct it towards your OpenCart store, as well as establish a valid connection with the corresponding data directory.
Now, the first field here reads “Source Cart”. This is where you specify the particular shopping cart platform that you’ll be transferring your store data from.
Nonetheless, OpenCart should be the default selection. But, if it’s not, you can conveniently pick it from the dropdown list of options.
Then next is the “Source Store URL” field, where you’re expected to type in the domain link to your OpenCart site.
And with that sorted out, the subsequent section entails setting up a connection bridge within your OpenCart store directory. This will ultimately serve as the main data exchange point as you import OpenCart to Shopify.
Now, the connection bridge itself is created by downloading the bridge zip file through the download button provided, unzipping the contents to your local PC, and then uploading them to your OpenCart root folder through its primary file manager.
Once you’re done, you can confirm if the connection bridge is working fine by clicking on the “Check Connection” button.
Step 3: Enter Your Shopify Cart Details and Install The Cart2Cart Extension
Just like you’ve done with the source cart, this stage prompts you to specify your target cart details, and then set up a valid connection.
So, start off by picking Shopify as the target cart. You’ll then notice the subsequent steps are not exactly the same as OpenCart’s.
You won’t, for instance, be required to download and create a connection bridge on the target cart. Instead, the system will have you installing Shopify’s Cart2Cart migration extension directly to your Shopify admin control panel.
As a result, Cart2Cart automatically establishes a valid connection with your Shopify target cart.
Step 4: Select All The Store Entities You’d Like To Transfer
The data transfer process between OpenCart and Shopify does not follow a random pattern. Rather, Cart2Cart groups everything in their original entities and then proceeds to map the data elements onto the target store.
The goal here is to preserve all your core data elements, as well as maintain the original data framework.
Now, as one of the most flexible OpenCart to Shopify migration tools, Cart2Cart gives you the benefit of choosing the specific data entities you’d like to transfer, ahead of the full migration procedure.
As far as products are concerned, for instance, Cart2Cart is capable of directly transferring each item’s Name, SKU, Full Description, Images in Description, Status, Manufacturer, Price, Special Price, URL, Meta Title, Meta Description, Weight, Product Tags, UPC, Variants (Attributes, Price, Special Price), Base Image, Additional Images, Quantity, and Manage Stock.
Then when it comes to your store orders, Cart2Cart’s OpenCart to Shopify migration facilitates: Order ID , Order Date , Order Status, Order Products (Name, SKU), Product Price, Quantity, SubTotal Price, Discount Price, Tax Price, Shipping Price, Total Price, Order Comments, Customer Name, Email, Billing Address (First Name, Last Name, Company, Address 1, Address 2, Country, State, City, Zip Code, Telephone), Shipping Address (First Name, Last Name, Company, Address 1, Address 2, Country, State, City, Zip Code, Telephone).
The corresponding customer details, on the other hand, are captured and transferred in the form of: First Name, Last Name, Email, Customer Group, Newsletter, Billing Address (First Name, Last Name, Company, Address 1, Address 2, Country, State, City, Zip Code, Telephone), Shipping Address ( First Name, Last Name, Company, Address 1, Address 2, Country, State, City, Zip Code, Telephone ).
Cart2Cart also allows you to migrate your manufacturer’s name, as well as product category entities like Name, Description, Status, Image, URL, Meta Title, and Meta Description.
Then finally, reviews are transferred along with their respective Created Date, Rate, User Name, Comment, and Product, while coupons follow the Name, Coupon Code, Type Discount, and Discount Amount.
Step 5: Customize Your Data Transfer With Additional Options
While the entity selection is all about the particular data elements you seek to import from OpenCart to Shopify, the Additional Options allow you to dictate how you’d want to conduct the migration process. That means you can think of it as customizing your OpenCart to Shopify migration.
And how deep does Cart2Cart actually go?
Well, if you’re on a tight budget, you could choose to have the system “Clear current data on Target Store before Migration”. The reason being, this happens to be the only free customization option.
Cart2Cart then offers the rest as premium add-on options at varying pricing rates, ranging from $29 to $59.
To “Change products quantity to 100 on Target Store”, for example, you have to pay an extra $29, while “Migrating images from products descriptions, categories descriptions and blog posts descriptions” stretches to $49, along with “Preserve order IDs on Target Store.”
The costliest options, on the other hand, include “Migrate categories and products SEO URLs”, “ Create 301 redirects on your target store after migration”, and “Migrate Source Store categories into Shopify Automated Collection”. Each of them will cost you $59.
So, all in all, the choice is yours depending on how you want your Opencart to Shopify migration, as well as the accompanying service budget.
Step 6: Perform a Free Demo Migration, Review The Outcome, and Proceed With The Full Migration
By now, you’re probably getting excited about finally migrating your online store from OpenCart to Shopify.
You’ve configured both the source and target carts, selected the entities you intend to migrate, and maybe even topped them off with a few customizations from the additional system options. Everything now seems ready to roll as you draw towards the actual migration process.
Well, if you’re in a hurry, you could go ahead and perform the full OpenCart to Shopify migration straightaway. Simply skip the free demo migration stage, pay for the data transfer service, and then have the system kickstart the full migration. That’s all it takes.
However, that’s not exactly the best approach here. Although Cart2Cart allows you to skip the free demo migration, starting the full procedure right away is not always a good idea. Rather, online merchants are advised to capitalize on the free demo migration before committing further.
Why?
Well, the free demo migration is a great way to review the expected outcome ahead of the full migration. It’s only after confirming that everything is in order should you proceed with the full migration.
And when it comes to that, you might want to purchase Cart2Cart’s migration insurance at the final billing stage. It’ll grant you discounted remigration instances in case things fail to go as planned.
Final Words
With everything configured accordingly, a full OpenCart to Shopify migration should only take a couple of hours if you’re dealing with a standard-sized online store.
Then when the whole process is done, Cart2Cart will send you an email notification, after which you should thoroughly review your new Shopify ecommerce site. You can even perform test orders and maybe process a few payments to assess how everything works.
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