Big Cartel to BigCommerce Migration Guide

Access your Big Cartel admin panel and navigate to the Products section to export your product catalog as a CSV file. Big Cartel's export includes basic product information, pricing, and inventory data but has limited customization options. You'll also need to manually collect customer data, order history, and any custom content since Big Cartel doesn't provide comprehensive export tools for these elements. Document your current store structure, categories, and any custom pages for reference during the migration.

Sign up for a BigCommerce account and select the appropriate plan based on your business needs and expected growth. Complete the initial store setup wizard, choosing your store name, currency, and basic settings. Configure your store's primary domain and set up your admin user profile with appropriate permissions. BigCommerce offers a 15-day free trial, giving you time to complete the migration without immediate payment pressure.

Browse BigCommerce's theme marketplace and select a theme that matches your brand aesthetic and functional requirements. Unlike Big Cartel's limited customization options, BigCommerce offers extensive theme customization through the built-in Page Builder or custom CSS/HTML editing. Install your chosen theme and begin customizing colors, fonts, layout, and branding elements to match your previous store design. Take advantage of BigCommerce's responsive design capabilities and mobile optimization features.

Prepare your Big Cartel CSV export for BigCommerce by mapping fields according to BigCommerce's import template requirements. Upload product images separately to BigCommerce's media library, then reference them in your CSV file. Import your products using BigCommerce's bulk import tool, taking advantage of the increased variant limit (250 vs Big Cartel's 50) to create more comprehensive product options. After import, review each product for accuracy and add any additional details like SEO descriptions, custom fields, or related products.

Since Big Cartel doesn't provide direct customer export functionality, you'll need to manually recreate customer accounts or use BigCommerce's customer import feature with any customer data you've collected separately. Create customer groups and segments in BigCommerce to better organize your customer base for future marketing efforts. Set up customer account features like wishlists, order history, and address books that weren't available in Big Cartel. Consider sending customers an email notification about the platform change and new account features.

Set up BigCommerce's integrated payment processing or connect your preferred payment gateway to eliminate the transaction fees you were paying with Big Cartel. Configure multiple payment methods including credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and other digital wallets to provide customers with flexible payment options. Test each payment method thoroughly in BigCommerce's sandbox environment before going live. Set up payment security features like fraud protection and PCI compliance tools that come built-in with BigCommerce.

Configure BigCommerce's advanced shipping options, which offer significantly more flexibility than Big Cartel's basic shipping setup. Set up shipping zones, rates, and methods including real-time carrier calculations from USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL. Create shipping rules based on weight, price, or destination, and configure free shipping thresholds to encourage larger orders. Enable BigCommerce's shipping label printing and tracking features to streamline your fulfillment process.

Set up BigCommerce's comprehensive tax management system, which provides much more sophisticated tax handling than Big Cartel's basic options. Configure tax rates for different jurisdictions, enable automatic tax calculation based on customer location, and set up tax-exempt customer groups if needed for B2B sales. Integrate with tax services like Avalara or TaxJar for automated tax compliance and reporting. Configure digital product tax rules if applicable to your product mix.

Recreate your Big Cartel store's static pages, blog content, and custom content in BigCommerce's content management system. Use BigCommerce's Page Builder to create more dynamic and engaging content than was possible with Big Cartel's limited content tools. Set up your About Us, FAQ, shipping, and return policy pages with enhanced formatting and multimedia capabilities. Create any additional pages needed for improved customer experience and SEO performance.

Create 301 redirects from your old Big Cartel URLs to corresponding BigCommerce URLs to preserve SEO value and ensure customers can still find your products. Map your old product URLs, category URLs, and page URLs to their new BigCommerce equivalents. Use BigCommerce's built-in redirect management tools or implement redirects at the server level if using a custom domain. Test all redirects thoroughly to ensure they're working correctly and not creating redirect loops.

Conduct thorough testing of your new BigCommerce store including product browsing, cart functionality, checkout process, payment processing, and order fulfillment workflows. Test all the new features available in BigCommerce that weren't available in Big Cartel, such as advanced product variants, customer accounts, and shipping calculations. Perform testing on multiple devices and browsers to ensure compatibility. Create test orders using different payment methods and shipping options to verify the entire customer journey works correctly.