Big Cartel to Shopify: Grow Your Business by Switching Platforms

Big Cartel is a famous e-commerce platform for small businesses thanks to its ease of use, basic features, affordability, and customizability. However, as soon as sales start to take off, you plan to expand your business, then Big Cartel may not be the ideal platform.

You are curious about how to make the jump? Yes, your natural instinct whistles to you to move to a bigger playfield, and Shopify is the first idea that jumps into your mind since it is the biggest e-commerce platform recently.

So, let’s scroll down, this blog post will walk you through a step-by-step process on how you can move your site from Big Cartel to Shopify. We will outline how to maintain similar branding and designs, how to import your data, and even how to keep the content you’ve already created on your previous site. That said, let’s migrate!

Shopify vs. Big Cartel: At a Glance

Honestly, Shopify needs a little introduction. It’s one of the most established and leading all-in-one e-commerce ecosystems that is no short of creating a legend in the e-commerce world and offers various solutions to help you operate a fully functional standalone online store website of all sizes and shapes. With each plan, the platform brings together powerful shopping cart functionalities with robust hosting capabilities and endless third-party integration options to scale your business to new heights.

Big Cartel is a smaller, simple, cloud-hosted gem and easy-to-use platform that provides all the essential eCommerce features to create a standalone online storefront. It markets itself as the premier e-commerce platform for artists and makers due to its free and low-cost plans as well as its absence of fees. Without knowing a single line of code, Big Cartel makes it simple to create a stunning, business-like online store.

Both Shopify and Big Cartel are eCommerce platforms that allow you to achieve the same basic goal: build and operate an online store.

But don’t be fooled! Shopify and Big Cartel cater to very different types of online stores based on their features and customization options. At first glance, Shopify is superior to the Big Cartel. Now, Let’s dive into specifics to make a decision on whether moving from Big Cartel to Shopify is best aligns with your long-term business objectives.

See more details about Big Carter vs Shopify comparison

Why Should You Migrate Big Cartel to Shopify?

So, what are the reasons that you should move from Big Cartel to Shopify? Here are some key benefits:

Features and Customizability

One of the biggest benefits that encourage people to migrate from Big Cartel to Shopify is expanded features and customizability. The Shopify business ecosystem offers a wider range of features compared to Big Cartel, such as advanced inventory management, comprehensive analytics and reports, SEO tools, and a bunch of apps out of the box which is suitable for businesses of all sizes with basic and advanced needs.

Furthermore, the huge themes library of Shopify allows you to customize the appearance and vibe of your store, and create a unique and appealing online business to attract your potential customers which will help to optimize your shop as well as to boost its profit. Conversely, Big Cartel provides a more basic feature set that is better suited for smaller retailers with basic needs and provides the users with a limited selection of themes, which may result in less flexibility in terms of design customization.

Scalability

Shopify is designed to handle businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to big conglomerates, thanks to its scalability and ability to accommodate high volumes of traffic and a large number of products and data. The bigger your company is, the more essential it is for you to choose a platform to grow with you and Shopify is a platform used specifically for your business to expand along with it.

As your company expands, you can go up to a more expensive plan from their basic one. With Shopify, barriers are no longer extinct, since the scalability feature of the platform makes it possible for it to adjust to the rising needs.

Not like Shopify, Big Cartel is better suited for smaller stores with limited product offerings and lower traffic levels. The upgrading plan is also not available for Big Cartel users unless you want to create a whole new account and start from scratch.

Security

Both Big Cartel and Shopify are shared hosting solutions and come with a free SSL certificate. However, in general, Shopify has better security than Big Cartel because it archives and protects your data by 128-bit SSL, which is one of the highest levels of encryption that is currently available and is PCI-compliant.

Only custom domains and Big Cartel addresses are protected by SSL encryption, according to Big Cartel. This implies that your website will be encrypted if you move your domain to Big Cartel. However, if you continue to use a different provider for your domain name and connect it to your Big Cartel account, your website won’t be secured. To encrypt your website, you’ll need to get a third-party SSL certificate.

Moreover, this platform is not PCI-compliant, which can be a problem in ensuring the security of your site and data, and, instead, forces its users to rely on their external payment processors, such as PayPal and Stripe, to stay compliant.

We believe that you always want to get the highest protection for your enterprise and your data, so moving from Big Cartel to Shopify is your perfect security solution.

Customer Support

Big Cartel doesn’t provide phone assistance or live chat. This may be a dealbreaker for those who want more hand-holding when it comes to setting up and maintaining the online store. The only support method that Big Cartel comes with is email support. Still, it has limited support hours, which means even though you are in an emergency, you have to wait until the support team is available.

In contrast, if you need help with anything, Shopify has a team of experts that can assist you whenever you need through live chat, phone, or email 24/7 which allows you to get real-time assistance with all your technical problems. Shopify also creates a huge knowledge base and community forum where you can access, and ask for help and consultancy. No matter what language you use, what time you ask for, and what problem you are facing, the Shopify support team is always willing to accompany you and address your problems.

Multichannel Selling

You may sell your goods using Shopify not just through your web store but also through various channels like social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram), marketplaces (Amazon, eBay), and in-person with their point-of-sale (POS) system – all managed from a single dashboard. With the aid of this function, you may expand your online business and attract more customers. Big Cartel doesn’t have integrated multichannel selling capabilities and instead concentrates on the functioning of its web stores.

Traffic

Shopify is better at handling increased traffic and larger orders because of its server grid architecture, which enables traffic distribution evenly across all of its servers. This implies that even in the event of an unexpected spike in traffic or orders, your shop won’t crash. That’s the reason why people move from Big Cartel to Shopify since Big Cartel limits the number of goods you can sell and the volume of customers your business can accommodate based on your strategy.

Having stated that, let’s look at the procedures you must follow in order to switch from Big Cartel to Shopify.

Which Type of Data Can Be Transferred from Big Cartel to Shopify?

When it comes to switching from Big Cartel to Shopify, one of the crucial aspects of this transition is ensuring a smooth transfer of your valuable data. Simply put, most of your essential data can be transferred between these 2 platforms, and here is a brief rundown for you:

1. Product Information: Product data is the backbone of any online store. Fortunately, you can transfer all information about your products, from descriptions, status, name, images, and price to variants and options. You could also bring the category of products that is seen on Big Cartel to your Shopify store.

2. Customer Data: It is nonsense when moving to another e-commerce platform without customer data since it is the most precious property of a business. Luckily, the migration from Big Cartel to Shopify permits you to bring over key customer data to your new platform. This includes customer names, email addresses, shipping addresses, billing addresses and order history.

3. Orders: Order details, order status, purchase dates, payment methods, and shipping information are all retained during the process of moving from Big Cartel to Shopify. This allows entrepreneurs to easily process returns, handle customer inquiries, and maintain accurate sales records.

4. Content and Blog Posts: You can transfer blog posts, articles, and other textual content to your new Shopify store, preserving your SEO efforts and maintaining a consistent brand voice, even though you are in a new e-commerce house.

So, always keep in mind that backups of your relevant and necessary information have to be carried out before the migration process since it is the key to determining the outcome of the migration.

Step-by-Step on How to Switch from Big Cartel to Shopify

#1. Pre-migration

Step 1: Make a backup of your large cartel store

The very first lesson – never forget to reinforce your data by exporting all necessary information such as product details, customer data, order history, etc from your Big Cartel store to a CSV file as a backup to protect you from losing anything during the moving. There are two methods for data backups:

• Use the Big Cartel export tool: it helps you to package all your products, orders, customers, and other important data from Big Cartel into a CSV file, make sure that you will have a copy of your data for any purpose.
• Use third-party tools to back up your data in the cloud, so you can access it from anywhere.

Here is the process of exporting your Big Cartel data:

• Open the Big Cartel app and log in.
• Navigate to the “Orders” tab.
• Choose from the “Shipped” and “Unshipped” tabs.
• Click on the “Search” section from the drop-down menu. Here, you will be able to choose the specific data you want to export
• Choose “Download CSV” from the action menu, and you will find a copy of your data in a CSV file.

Step 2: Create a new Shopify website

It’s now your chance to use Shopify to launch your brand-new online store. Do not hurry to build a fancy complex store, you will be able to customize your store at the end of the process, just focus on setting up an operational store to kick over the process.

• Visit the Shopify website and choose “Get Started”. There will be 2 options for you to choose from: try the 3-day free trial or enter your credit card information. Do not hesitate, just click on the 3-day free trial.

• You’ll be required to enter personal information like your address, phone number, and name. Then click on the “Create Your Store” button.
• Select the “Online Store” option. You’ll be asked to add personal details such as name, phone number, and address. When establishing tax rates and currencies, these specifics are crucial.
• Besides, it will request you to choose a theme, add products, and customize your store. Navigate to your admin section, select “Select a Theme,” and pick the theme that most closely reflects your brand. Do not worry; Shopify creates numerous themes for a wide range of styles, niches, and company sizes, so you’ll find one that fits your store.

Recall that picking a theme that is comparable to your Big Cartel store is crucial if you have a sizable quantity of traffic on your prior site. Your clients will experience continuity as a result, and both you and they will benefit from a far smoother relocation process.

Step 3: Review Your Data

Before moving on to another platform, take another look at the data in your Big Cartel. To start copying any data to a new system, be sure it is all accurate.

Please note that the key to a smooth transition is to be well-prepared. You are creating a strong strategy to ease the Big Cartel to Shopify migration with each pre-migration suggestion. Now, let’s move to the main part – migration.

#2. Migration Process

The migration from Big Cartel to Shopify can be carried out manually by importing your data from the Big Cartel store into Shopify. Manual migration gives you full control over the process but requires more time and effort. So, why not choose a quicker and easier approach by using a third-party app? Here are a few steps that will help you to master it easily.

Step 1: Choose a Migration App (If you want to migrate manually, skip this step and head to step 2)

There are a variety of migration solutions to migrate from Big Cartel to Shopify seamlessly. No matter which migration app you choose, ensure that your choice is consistent together with your function and adapts to your specific requirements. We suggest some popular migration app providers such as Cart2Cart, LitExtension, Next-Cart, etc.

Step 2: Connect Your Stores

After choosing the right app, let’s connect your Big Cartel and Shopify stores to the migration app. Commonly, this means including the URLs to your web page in the application.

Step 3: Format the CSV file to it into Shopify

To ensure a smooth data import into Shopify, it is recommended to save the demo data file, and then copy the relevant data from the exported file obtained from the Big Cartel into the corresponding columns of the Shopify sample CSV. In doing so, you will move all of the data from your Big Cartel sheet into the relevant columns while keeping the column headings that Shopify requires. It’s important to note that the order of the columns does not matter when importing into Shopify.

Step 4: Start the Migration

After deciding on the objects that you wish to transfer and format them into CSV on Shopify, you can then initiate the migration process.

• You are now in the Shopify admin panel, navigate to “Products > Import“
• Choose the “Add File” button, and select the desired file from your computer.
• Pick “Upload > Continue” to proceed
• Select “Upload and Preview” on the right corner to review the import preview. Check the field mapping to see if everything appears correct.
• Press the “Import Products” button to finish the process.

Similarly, you can start the transformation of other data from Big Cartel to Shopify.

#3. Post-migration

Install themes and apps

Your database has been done, now, let’s move to decorating your store. We all know that visual appeal influences your store’s conversion rate, credibility, and other marketing metrics as well. As a result, do not forget to install an attractive theme and make it unbeatable by utilizing customization tools. You can consider Eurus – a beautiful theme built for speed and conversion.

Shopify has been kind to its users by providing tons of free and premium themes with different styles. Most of Shopify’s themes offer necessary functionalities for your store operation and guarantee the most fulfilling experience for your customers.

Change DNS and switch domain

DNS, or the domain name system turns domain names into IP addresses where your server is located. Your domain name server (DNS) settings connect your website’s address (IP address) to your unique domain name. As a result, in order to use the IP address of your recently established eCommerce website, you must adjust your domain name server settings.

Friendly reminder, after the Big Cartel to Shopify transfer, some problems related to DNS and domain may happen, including:

• Though both stores are hosted by one company, using the same URL, the Shopify store you’re moving to lies in the subdirectory.
• There are some small differences and inconsistencies between the two stores while you are using the same hosting service.
• You own two online stores which active on distinct domain names and hosting providers.

Your Shopify store will be plagued with issues if you don’t replace the old domain. So, remember to change the DNS and your domain to make sure your online store runs smoothly after the Big Cartel to Shopify migration.

Set up payment methods

Your business can not kick off if your payment methods are not configured.

Payment methods are one of the most important aspects for any online seller and Shopify also takes it seriously. Big Cartel may allow you to set up some popular methods, but Shopify is superior in this field. Multiple payment gateways and third parties are permitted to join your business, including Shopify Payment – an integrated default payment gateway on the Shopify e-commerce platform, which assures the highest security of the transaction. The more payment options customers get, the easier for them to take orders, and the lower the abandoned cart rate for your online store.

Test after migration

Last but not least, don’t forget to test your website before publishing to make sure everything works properly, from products and orders to transactions. This also helps you to identify issues and address them promptly.

Common Issues When Migrating from Big Cartel to Shopify

#1. Changes in some fields

This is one of the most common issues you may encounter during the migration. The factor that leads to this issue is the incorrect mapping of fields between the 2 platforms. To address this problem, just click “View Items with issues” > Choose “Update fields”, and bring back the correct data.

#2. Fail to import some data of products, customers, or orders

To explain, this originated from invalid data in your CSV file such as invalid product types, duplicate SKUs, or missing required fields. In this case, the best solution for you is to manually add the data which is failed to import.

The process goes through these steps: Moving to the Shopify admin panel > Select the data field that failed to import > Update and correct the information > Save the changes.

This process may take time if many items have not been imported since you have to repeat this same process for each item.

#3. Delete your imported data

In the last place, sometimes, you may need to delete your imported data because of some mistake or the desire to start from scratch during the import process.

To do this, you should go to your Shopify admin panel > Enter the Import Complete page > Press the Delete Import button. From there, you will see a dialog box appear asking you to confirm the deletion. Choose the “Delete Import“. That’s all, your imported data has been removed.

BSS Commerce offers dedicated Shopify migration services that help merchants migrate websites from any platform to Shopify. Come to BSS Commerce – a trusted Shopify eCommerce website development agency, you don’t have to worry about data losses, migration flow, data security, or data issues after migration, we handle them all. Contact us now to migrate your Big Cartel store to Shopify quickly!

Final Thoughts

That’s it! You have now successfully migrated your shop from Big Cartel to Shopify. This is the right time for you to discover the potential of Shopify and bring your online store to a new level. As a Shopify specialist, BSS Commerce  Shopify provides you with effective solutions to leverage your Shopify store success. Come with us and conquer the e-commerce world today!