How to transfer your store from Shoper to Prestashop - 6 steps

My previous article described when to transfer platforms from Shoper to Prestashop. Today I’ll show you how to do it. You will learn how to move your e-commerce to Prestashop safely. 

Transfer to Prestashop or Magento?

There are many solutions on the market, but most Shoper users wonder if they should move their e-commerce to Prestashop or Magento.

At the stage of market verification and problem identification, this decision is an important decision to make. Regarding the aforementioned open-source software, these are two different solutions – those with a few thousand products. It is also possible to use Prestashop in larger stores with our optimization solutions however, this must be analyzed individually by an experienced specialist.

Magento is an “enterprise” class solution suitable for large stores with huge product catalogs, an extensive customer base, and server clustering for very high performance. It is associated with a high cost of implementation and maintaining the store. On average, 2-3 times more expensive than Prestashop. In PrestaShop, the annual cost of maintaining a good-quality server is $200 per average. Magento on the other hand, can cost $200 or more per month.

What to remember when moving from Shoper?

1. The right hosting (server)

The SAAS platform is paid for on a monthly or annual basis and it just works. Therefore, when switching to a different platform, you need to start by buying a server for your store. You can decide on a server by yourself or with the help of an implementation consultant. This may also turn out to be the person who will help you move your store and select an optimal solution for it. There are offers on the market typically tailored to PrestaShop which will probably be the best beginning solution for you.

A higher-end solution is a dedicated server. You manage it yourself or with the help of administrators. This gives you more options and greater efficiency but will cost more. You have to consider whether your store is already developed enough to use a higher-class solution. Remember that there is no need to go over the top.

2. The store template design

You already had the visual layer of the store on Shoper. You either used a ready-made template or prepared a graphic that programmers implemented into the store. Unfortunately, these graphics cannot be simply transferred to your new platform.

Therefore, consider if you want to:

• get a premium graphic design,
• refresh the visual layer to stand out from the competition,
• improve the visual appearance of the store,
• improve ergonomics,
• increase the loading speed of the store.

Maybe you prefer to use a ready-made solution and template? You can buy one for $50-100. Some templates are already very well optimized for browser loading speed and Google evaluates them well. In our opinion, they require graphic refinement and improvement of the mobile version, but this is still a more economical solution than implementing your graphic design from scratch.
To summarize, you can either create your own graphics or choose to implement a ready-made template.

3. Prestashop functionality

You are used to the functionality provided by the SAAS platform. Now you have to ask yourself if a new platform (for example PrestaShop) gives you the appropriate functional resource in its base form. Can it be enhanced by purchasing additional modules? Do you want to outsource the preparation of functionalities to programmers? Or maybe what you get in PrestaShop is enough for you?

Note that there will always be something you can opt-out of as well. Something that was available on the SAAS platform may not necessarily work in a new place. Business requirements are changing and not everything is still needed.

4. Transferring data from Shoper

You have customer, product, and order databases. How can this data be transferred to a new platform? You can export the customer and product databases from your current platform and import them into PrestaShop. This shouldn’t be a big challenge and any implementation company should be able to handle it.

Transferring the orders may be a harder task. This doesn’t mean it’s not possible but first, take some time to think if you really need the old order history.

5. A copy of the SEO data

Perform a full SEO audit of your store in order to later recreate this data on the new store. This will prevent you from losing the positions you already earned in search engines. You should make a complete backup of all necessary SEO data which includes metadata, h1 headings, URLs, the site map, etc. The Screaming Frog tool will be helpful. If you are inexperienced, it is definitely worth asking a SEO or  e-commerce agency for help.

6. Informing clients about moving the store

Respect your customers and let them know about upcoming changes. Let them know that you are changing the platform for them and be sure to invite them to the new store. It is not always possible to keep the passwords of users that used to work in the old store and in most cases, you will have to generate new ones. It’s a good idea to send e-mails to your customers and invite them to generate a new password or generate password reset links and send them via e-mail.

Conducting a server will also be a nice gesture towards the customers. You can ask them questions like:

• what they like about the store,
• are there any missing functions,
• what seems redundant,
• if they’d change anything.

You’ll get great ready-made tips on customer expectations which will make your work easier. You will also earn extra points in their eyes for the desire to improve the quality of their shopping experience.
A giveaway is another great way to gain customer loyalty. You can encourage them to take part in the competition by offering a guaranteed prize in the form of discount codes. Do you think a customer will rather shop in a random store than in a store he helped create? Use Facebook and Google Ads re-marketing campaigns to promote the giveaway.

Summary – how to move your store to Prestashop

Remember these steps when moving your store to a new platform. You’re doing it to make changes for the better, to have better organization, appearance, and sales results. The better the preparation, the greater the results.

Of course, if you are seriously thinking about implementing your project on Prestashop, be sure to take advantage of our free consultation.