Magento 1 to Magento 2 Migration – Step by Step Guide

Even though Magento 2 came out some time ago, a lot of companies have not migrated to the latest version. However, time is running out to do so because Magento 1 will no longer be supported after June 30th, 2020. If you have not made the shift to Magento 2, you are not alone. In fact, out of the more than 185,000 online stores running on Magento, only 52,218 are running on Magento 2. Using the latest version of Magento can open a whole new world of opportunities for retail businesses. Let’s take a look at some additional reasons why you should start transitioning to Magento 2 today.

Why You Should Upgrade to Magento 2

A lot of business leaders believe that migrating to Magento 2 will not affect, but this is not the case. In fact, there is a wide array of benefits companies can enjoy, such as:

• Better Performance and Scalability – Magento 2 is better in this regard because it comes equipped with a new indexer that allows for improved querying speeds. Some eCommerce stores have reported as much as a 43.5% decrease in page load times. Improving the speed of your web pages will result in faster delivery, thus leading to more sales.
• Improved Security – Consumers are always hesitant to divulge any personal information because they are worried about how it will be handled and possible leaks. Magento 2 offers advanced security features such as SHA-256 hashing algorithms for password management, two-factor authentication, unique admin URL, and many other features.
• Streamlined Checkout – Nobody wants to waste time filling in their personal information or other time-consuming tasks. Magento 2 recognizes visitors as already registered guests or customers, thus eliminating the need to log in or register. There is extended support for payment methods such as PayPal, or you can integrate another option to pay into any other merchant checkout platform.
• Detailed Reporting – Magneto 2 offers 20 different reports through its web interface. It will be easy to stay on top of business-critical data such as the number of orders you have, registered accounts, which products sell the best, and a lot of other information.
• Mobile-Friendly – Since more users are accessing online content via mobile devices, it is essential that your site looks and performs well on smartphones and tablets. Not only does Magento 2 offer an upgrade in this regard, but it also has a responsive design that will make it easier for users to browse through your site.

Things to Keep in Mind During Magento 2 Migration

Properly planning out your migration process will save you a lot of time and money. Just like with other web solutions, there are some nuances that you will have to take into account. First of all, there is some data that will need to be migrated manually, such as the storefront design, media, and access control lists (ACL). Also, when installing Magento 2, there should be no information inside the program. The reason is that developers will get an error message if they already have some data migrated to Magento 2 but later would like to migrate even more data from scratch.

How to Migrate to Magento 2

We highly recommend that you hire an experienced development team to perform this migration for you, but technically it is possible to do so yourself if you have the right skills. You can follow this step-by-step guide to migrate your site to Magento 2.

During the migration process, you might run into problems such as the homepage not displaying correctly. If you had a custom homepage layout in Magento 1, you would need to create a similar layout in the new version. You may also notice that some of the products on your new site are in the wrong category after you made the transition. This is a common issue, but the way to solve this problem would be to re-index all of the indexers. This may be time-consuming, but a professional service provider may be able to recommend a Magento 2 data migration tool to streamline the process.

Start Enjoying Magento 2 Today

As we said in the very beginning, time is running out to migrate to the new version of Magento, and it is not a good idea to risk working with an unsupported product. The latest version of Magento can offer a lot of benefits for you that will give you a business advantage. Talk to a Magento development company about the timeframes and costs of making the migration since it might take less than you think.