Top 5 Reasons To Start Your Magento Go Migration

August 9, 2014 by Paul Byrne

eCommerce Technology
1 - The Holiday Season Is At The Doors
While there are still . days until Christmas, merchants are already preparing for the holiday season. During the holiday season, it is best to clear your plate so that you can focus on ensuring a smooth running business. Migrating from Magento Go or ProStores to Magento Community Edition, Magento Enterprise Edition, or BigCommerce requires quite a few decisions be made if you want to get the most out of your project. The last thing you want to do is make those decisions under the stress of the holiday rush.

After the holidays, you’ll have only 30 days to make the change, barely enough time to consider any changes or upgrades you want to make. If you are a ProStores user, you’ll barely have enough time to work through converting your catalog, especially if you are executing the project on your own. Getting help from companies like Razoyo whose Magento Certified Developers are experts in migrating will be very busy with their other clients facing the same deadline.

2 - You May Be Underestimating The Amount Of Effort
While Magento Go and Magento CE/EE have essentially the same catalog structure, there is a lot of work involved in getting your new store’s catalog prepared to receive and upload file, not to mention the images. If you are in ProStores, you’ll need to do a complete overhaul of your catalog no matter where you migrate to.

In addition to migrating your data, you’ll have to move all of your CMS pages, your design (why not upgrade to a snazzier theme?), all of your settings. CSS update paths will need to be changed; any javascript or, ProStores SSML, functionality will need to be updated; even your logo or other key assets may need to be updated for the move. Razoyo has tools that help us do these moves efficiently, but, waiting until the last month will almost certainly result in having to cut some corners.

BigCommerce has indicated they will move your data for free, but, you still have a lot of content to deal with other than customers and products.

3 - You Have A Lot Of Decisions To Make
Magento’s editions and BigCommerce both have a lot of functionality you did not have before. You should make sure you understand the platform you are moving to so that you can take advantage of advanced SEO or other features. If you are considering moving to Magento Community or Enterprise, you should also consider that you will need to identify partners to host and maintain your code. The list of decisions is long, give yourself time to consider all of the features and how you will take advantage of them.
4 - You Should Use This Opportunity To Upgrade Your Store
Since you will have to make at least some changes, why not take this as an opportunity to finally implement that redesign or add the functionality you’ve been wanting but couldn’t make happen on your current platform? Magento Community Edition offers thousands of extensions through the Magento Connect marketplace, many of them free.
5 - Developers Are Booking Dates Now
While there is still room in our year-end schedule for more migrations, those slots are being taken up quickly. If you think you need some help, your best bet is to contact us right away. Talk to our head merchant business consultant, Jason, or, drop us a line at service@razoyo.com.
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