Import the Converter's files into BigCommerce

The files written for BigCommerce

At the Export step, the Converter writes one CSV file per conversion, on your computer: comma separator, CRLF line endings, UTF-8 with BOM by default (Encoding setting in Settings). The suggested name is your file's name followed by _bigcommerce.

• Products: the columns of BigCommerce's product import (Item, Name, Type, SKU, Options, Price…). Each product takes a Product row, followed by one Variant row per variant and one Image row per image. Columns empty on every row are removed, as BigCommerce's help advises. There is no ID column: these are new products.
• Customers: the columns of BigCommerce's customer file (Email, First Name, Last Name, address…). Receive Marketing Emails is N for every customer. A US state code (CA) is written in full, as BigCommerce's help asks; other regions stay as your file gives them.
• Orders: no file. According to BigCommerce's help, orders can only be imported through the API. Today, the Converter only says so when you click Export, with the message “BigCommerce has no order CSV import.”: do not choose BigCommerce as the target for an order file.

• Weight: in kilograms, with no unit. According to BigCommerce's help, the unit comes from the store's settings: check that it is set to kilograms.
• Categories: Categories must be recreated on BigCommerce. Create them in the control panel, then assign them to the imported products.
• Images: BigCommerce downloads them from their addresses. According to its help: http or https, JPEG, GIF, WebP or PNG format, 8 MB at most per image.
• `ID` column: according to BigCommerce's help, Variant and Image rows need an ID column left blank. If the import refuses these rows, add an empty ID column with Edit the output (Mapping step), then export again.

According to BigCommerce's help, a product file can be 20 MB at most, a customer file 2 MB, and an import of more than 1,000 images can get stuck. Then tick the split into files of at most 500 rows at the Export step: a product stays whole with its Variant and Image rows. The split counts rows, not size: check the size of the customer file.

Import the products

1. In the control panel, open Products › Import.
2. Drag the file into the upload area, or click Upload file to choose it.
3. Click Preview and review the values of the first row.
4. Click Start import and wait for the summary.

The summary lists errors with their line. After fixing them, Start new import runs another import; View product list opens the products created.

Import the customers

1. Open Customers › Import.
2. Leave File was exported using the 'Bulk Edit' template unticked: the file does not come from a BigCommerce export.
3. Choose the file next to Import file, then click Next.
4. Match each column to its field; Email, First Name and Last Name are required. Click Next.
5. Click Start Import. If there is an error, More Information shows the details.

Customer passwords never migrate. According to BigCommerce's help, a customer imported without a password goes through the password reset process.

BigCommerce error messages

Check the result

• With View product list, check the number of products, then open a product with variants: options, prices, images.
• Assign categories to the imported products.
• In Customers, check a few addresses (country, region) and the email subscription, N for everyone.
• The What will not transfer (BigCommerce limits) section of the Review step lists what the file does not contain.

If BigCommerce refuses a row

1. Note the message and its line: the number is the line in the imported file, not in your original file. Find the product by its name.
2. Make a copy of your original file that keeps only the refused products, and correct the value in it.
3. In History, click Start again, then Continue, and drop this copy.
4. Correct at the Review step, with Fix, what the Converter still flags, then export and import the new file.

If the Converter itself blocks the export, see Error blocking the export.