Switching to a new eCommerce platform is a massive undertaking involving many stakeholders. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already checked different eCommerce platforms, done comparisons and trying to figure out the best for your needs.

BigCommerce is one of a kind eCommerce platform nowadays on the market, consistently showing up somewhere on top eCommerce platform lists. Not amazed that so many people start a store powered by BigCommerce or want their existing store to migrate to BigCommerce.

It is an excellent platform for many businesses. It helps Store owners to relive time from stressing over the status of their site and instead can give priority to what is best for their business. There’s so much more about BigCommerce that we haven’t mentioned…Like SSL certificates, an app store with tons of free apps, shipping integrations and options, and a lot more.

However, there are always a few things that people have unclear expectations about their prospective move after merely speaking to a sales rep.

Being a BigCommerce certified partner, we hear a lot of different scenarios, and many people think that BigCommerce will handle everything as per their needs. Indeed, the fact that BigCommerce has a “white glove service” for migrating data from specific platforms to a BigCommerce. However, chances are it may not apply to your business as this service is only available on BigCommerce’s “Enterprise” plan. That means one must sell a significant amount of product to qualify.

So, if you are in thought of migrating to BigCommerce but not sure how to proceed, here we have narrow down frequently asked question by our customer about migration to BigCommerce for your read.

Can I use my existing theme when migrating to BigCommerce? That's a great question! It is important to realize while deciding to switch eCommerce platforms is that your site design and functionality won't automatically migrate along with your data. If you already have a site and don't want to lose its current design and flow, when migrating to BigCommerce - It's certainly feasible. However, the website should be completely rebuilt or "customized" for the BigCommerce platform. So, if you were thinking to make an upgrade to your design, it is the time to do it. BigCommerce does have free templates to select from, but the majority of online business knows very well the importance of the site that has a unique feel.

Can I transfer my existing product catalog and customer data to Bigcommerce? It is obvious to feel apprehensive about changing platforms or figuring out how to get your store set up for the first time.

BigCommerce allows you to migrate your catalog data from most eCommerce platforms such as Magento, Shopify, Volusion, and others. However, the trick is in setting up the Bulk product import file correctly.

BigCommerce's easy import/export function allows you to transfer thousands of products at once without any significant manual efforts. And If you're Enterprise customer, BigCommerce will do it for you for free. Once the data is uploaded, there is a "Bulk Edit" feature to make our task even easier. You can make changes to lots of products all at once, instead of editing each individually. Great! Isn't it?

Now, What all information exactly I can migrate from my current store to BigCommerce?
Generally, you can migrate Products (product images, descriptions, and attributes or options), Categories, Customer Data (customer shipping addresses, customer billing addresses), Order History (orders, order statuses, order products), Also, you can migrate 301 SEO URLs of categories and products and category and product SEO URLs.

If you are setting up products manually for your new store, navigate to control panel, and start adding items one at a time. Once you finish adding the products, you can review all the entries and make the necessary changes (If any).

There is another way too for adding products, import them using a CSV file. It allows you to add multiple products at one time. It seems a convenient option, although not too easy for someone who has never managed an eCommerce website before.

Note: It's important to know that different platforms can provide different import options and pricing varies considering the number of products, customer, and orders.

Will I lose my SEO rankings if I switch over to BigCommerce? Search engine optimization is essential for any website. Choosing the right platform for your eCommerce store that has already inbuilt excellent SEO features is an essential thing now. BigCommerce has strong SEO features at no extra cost. You can utilize optimized URL structures, canonical tagging, dynamic sitemap, robot.txt access, better metadata access, and much more.

One of the features that we love that BigCommerce automatically creates redirects for any URLs you change on your store. Now, you don't need to do it manually or taking the risk of damaging your SEO ranking with unfound 404 pages while migrating your store. If you wish to import your 301 redirects from your old site, you can manage that too! Also, every product page and information page has various fields which allow you to edit your SEO details.

Moreover, BigCommerce performs very well on mobile devices, too, which is now a huge part of Google's algorithm.

Can I also sell on other sites, like Amazon, through my BigCommerce store? Yes! You can sell everywhere with BigCommerce multichannel integration. You can integrate your BigCommerce store with Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google Shopping. So, instead of updating each site independently, your BigCommerce store acts as the central hub to control all of your product information, like availability and pricing. Moreover, you can keep track of all those sales using ' BigCommerce's data reporting tools. Identify customer trends, track your 'store's performance, follow your conversion rates, and more – all from your dashboard!

We understand that moving eCommerce data to a new platform can be a challenging decision. There are so many things to consider and evaluate all pros and risks. You need to settle the issue and step out of your comfort zone to succeed in the long run.

Let us know what you’d like to see out of your online store, and we’ll let you know how we (and BigCommerce) can help. Our #1 goal is to drive conversions and increase sales on your site, and as far as we’re concerned, migrating to BigCommerce is a no-brainer move to do just that.