Why & How To Perform A Simple OpenCart To Magento 2 Migration?
At some point, you realize that the platform you have chosen limits you in the development of your online business.
And, that allows you to migrate from OpenCart to Magento 2.
Magento and OpenCart are direct competitors in the niche of creating online stores. They offer functionality for sales management out of the box but give different user experiences.
The recent statistics reveal that there are almost 137,266 websites that have Magento 2 customers. The stats say that Magento 2 has 2,238 live websites and approximately, 25,750 websites in the United States.
It becomes critical to know the best eCommerce platform that lets you have a thriving online store experience. Our mentioned statistics are revealing that Magento 2 holds the most satisfying user experience. Hence, you can migrate your existing OpenCart eCommerce store to a new Magento 2 online store. We assure you about the tremendous results.
However, it is also essential to know how both of these platforms vary so that you can lock your decision wisely. Here, in this article, we are revealing how OpenCart and Magento 2 platform differentiate and how you can migrate your existing store to Magento 2.
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Reasons for OpenCart to Magento 2 Migration: OpenCart Vs Magento 2
1. For Whom is it Suitable?
Magento
Magento is a CMS for building large stores, very flexible, and with access to source code. It scales well with extensions and manual file editing capabilities. By default, the engine is oriented towards the Western market. This is manifested in the standard functionality and the list of extensions in the official catalog.
OpenCart
OpenCart is a good option for starting a medium-sized store with a hundred or two or a couple of thousand products. This engine is also expandable with add-ons, but at the start, it looks a little more finished. It takes less money to build a store on OpenCart because it has many free plugins.
You can implement large projects on this engine as well. But in this case, you can have the budget for the premium extensions. Also, you can get support from specialists as well.
2. Easy to install CMS
Magento
Magento is a widespread CMS, so on most hosting it can be found in the list of engines available for quick installation. This usually means that during installation, a database is automatically created, which is tied to the website. You just have to change the credentials for entering the administrative panel so that they do not match the login and password from the hosting.
Magento installs just like any other open-source CMS. After installation, you will receive a ready-to-use system that needs to be configured to meet your needs.
OpenCart
OpenCart also does not pose complex tasks in terms of installation. Most likely, you will find this CMS in the list of quick install applications in your hosting control panel. During the installation, you only need to specify the domain for which the site will be available. The installation wizard will create the database and link it to the project on its own. The manual installation of OpenCart follows the same scheme as used by other open-source CMS – for example, WordPress or Magento.
3. Product Management and Store Administration
Magento
Like any thematic CMS, Magento provides basic store management tools right out of the box. Of course, you will not be able to do without initial configuration, but at least you will immediately see sections for conducting eCommerce in the administrative panel.
Among the main features of Magento, we note:
- filtration of goods;
- marketing tools for managing promotions and discounts, as well as increasing the store’s attractiveness to customers;
- allowing buyers to rate products to form a rating, leave reviews.
- built-in statistics collection system;
- multilingual support for creating different versions of the site, which opens depending on the location of the buyer.
Magento is suitable for the development of very large stores, which have to be managed not by one user, but by the whole team.
The functionality of Magento 2 is extended by add-ons available for download in the official CMS catalog or taken from third-party sources. Opportunities for customization makes the source code of the engine widespread. However, to work with it, you need to know PHP and study the Magento 2 documentation.
OpenCart
OpenCart is ready to launch your store right after installation. In the administrative panel, you will find sections for managing the catalog, information on the number of purchases and refusals, a simple CRM system that collects information about customers, marketing tools for setting up promotions and discount programs. Standard functionality is extended with modules.
From the point of view of store functionality, there are no questions either.
Out of the box CMS offers the following features:
- product filtering integrated into site search;
- customized shopping cart ready to receive orders;
The functionality of the CMS depends on which modules you connect and whether you will edit the source code. But even in the basic configuration, OpenCart’s capabilities are impressive.
4. Design Customization Features
Magento
By default, a standard theme is installed that demonstrates the main features of the store. You can install a different design option, but there are a few free options. If you want to significantly customize your site, you have two options: buy a paid theme or edit template files – in this case, you need to understand how HTML, CSS, and at least a basic PHP level work. The lack of detailed documentation in Russian can also be a problem.
The latest versions of Magento have a visual editor. It can be used to manage content without logging into the admin panel and making cosmetic changes. The functionality of the visual tools is enough for swapping blocks or adding new widgets. Global changes in the interface are performed by editing template files.
OpenCart
One of the advantages of OpenCart is a large number of free themes. If the budget has a stock for a paid template, then the number of options will grow several times. The quality will also noticeably improve – first of all, this concerns compatibility with the latest versions of the engine, but adaptability and the presence of visual tools for changing the interface will also be important.
There is no visual editor on OpenCart. Several parameters are embedded in the template settings that can be changed without editing files: the location of the widgets on the page, the color scheme, the logo. If you want to perform deep customization, you will not be able to do without the help of specialists or minimal layout skills.
4. SEO- Optimization of the Online Store
Magento
Magento offers webmasters a standard set of SEO parameters to optimize a website for the needs of search engines.
- Manual filling of meta tags of each page
- Formation of readable addresses
- Add alternative text to images to make them appear in search results and make them available to all users
- A caching system that speeds up page loading
- Formation of a sitemap with basic settings such as limiting the number of pages and priority
Magento 2 places high demands on server resources. Therefore, to optimize the engine, it is necessary to reduce the load by taking the following measures:
- Compress and cache pages
- Store data on CDN
- Disable unused modules and extensions
- Install Magento 2 updates after they are released, as they often fix bugs that create additional workload
These tips are relevant even with powerful hosting, as they can save resources for other tasks.
OpenCart
OpenCart also provides a minimal set of SEO parameters like meta tags and CNC. Extensions allow adding additional optimization tools. There are free options in the engine catalog, but premium modules offer the most functionality. With their help, you can manage the sitemap, customize navigation, fix errors in page addresses.
The main problem with OpenCart is creating duplicate pages with categories and product maps. This drawback wanders from version to version and forces webmasters to delete duplicates manually or purchase an extension to automatically clean the site from unnecessary entities.
Overall Verdict
Intuitively, the OpenCart system seems more friendly, although this is always a subjective impression. Whereas, Magento 2 development offers more customization options, and has certain requirements for webmaster training, hosting capacity, budget size in the end. This engine feels like a tool for global projects, international markets.
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Migration from OpenCart to Magento 2
Now, let’s take a look at the stages of migration that our team performs with similar projects.
Step 1: Archiving data
When moving from one platform to another, even using the automatic migration tools, errors can occur. To avoid such cases, we archive your online store data.
Step 2: Migration of Goods
At this stage, the developers will migrate data from OpenCart platforms to Magento 2. As a rule, we migrate information about the number of goods, their color, size, etc. Since Magento 2 allows you to customize URLs, it is better to migrate all links to your product pages from the previous online store to maintain the website’s position in search engines.
Step 3: Customer Information
To make your new online store convenient for existing customers, it is advised to migrate the passwords, contact information, shipping address, and order history.
Step 4: Orders
We know how important order information is for the success of an online store. Therefore, it is better to migrate information about customers who made an order and update the status of the order. The information about ordered products for the smooth execution of orders by your online store can also get migrated.
Step 5: Payment Gateway
As you know, Magento 2 has many built-in payment gateways, which speeds up the migration process. At this stage, we enter data such as API payment, secret key, and API signature from OpenCart to the new online store.
Step 6: Design Customization
If you want to keep the previous look of the online store on OpenCart, then our design team will customize the theme for Magento 2, or create a new online store design that will reflect the identity of your business.
Step 7: Testing
After exporting products from OpenCart to Magento 2, both manual and automated testing of the online store for adaptability, functionality, efficiency, and reliability is mandatory to be carried out. After the testing stage, you get an online store on Magento 2, completely ready to accept and process new orders.
What will the Magento 2 Migration Bring?
# Leverage Integrated Analytics for a More Successful Business Strategy
The success of your online business development strategy should be based on business metrics such as conversion rates, cart abandonment rates, etc. In the admin panel of your Magento 2 online store, you will find the most important metrics, thanks to which you can improve your business strategy.
# Integrated Marketing Tools to Increase Conversions
The Magento 2 platform has integrated marketing tools such as coupons, discounts, upsells, and cross-selling. With these tools, you will not only successfully convert website visitors into buyers, but also increase your average check, customer value, and customer retention.
# Fast Loading Speed and More Orders
One of the reasons shoppers abandon their carts is the slow loading speed of the online store. The loading speed of online stores on Magento 2 is 25% faster than the previous version of the platform. This makes your customers more likely to shop from your online store.
# Simplified Checkout Process for Fewer Abandoned Shopping Carts
Another reason shoppers abandon their shopping carts is that the checkout process takes too long. Magento 2 checkout is a two-step process. A guest profile checkout feature is also available, so your customers can checkout without creating an online store profile.
Let’s discuss your project needs to skyrocket your online store!
Wrapping Up
We hope this article helped you understand what the process of migrating an online store from OpenCart to Magento 2 consists of.
If you have any doubts or suggestions, then comment below or contact us!! We are here to help you out!!
Thanks for reading!!
