Before You Begin

Before You Begin

A migration should not enter connection setup or configuration until the account, purchased service, access, scope, target store, validation plan, and security responsibilities are ready.

This page helps you confirm that your Next-Cart account, purchased migration service, store access, target store, data scope, validation plan, and security responsibilities are ready.

Start from the service you purchased

A Next-Cart migration service includes one fixed migration path, Standard, Managed, or Custom Service, an Entity Points Plan, optional Add-ons, and a one-year duration from the initial purchase date. Confirm those details before you prepare access or configure migration options.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

Requirement	What to confirm
Next-Cart account access	You can sign in to the account that owns the order and purchased migration.
Purchased service details	You know the migration path, Migration Service, Add-ons, and Entity Points Plan.
Source store access	You can access the source store or the person who owns source access is available.
Target store access	You can access the target store and confirm it is the correct environment.
Decision owner	Someone can approve scope, configuration choices, and acceptance criteria.
Validation owner	Someone can review migrated data and confirm pass or fail results.
Support contact	Someone can respond to Next-Cart support questions during setup and validation.

Preparation checklist

1. Confirm the migration path.

   Review the selected Source Platform and Target Platform in your order or under Account → Migrations → My Migrations. Do not continue if the path does not match the stores you intend to use.

2. Review the purchased service details.

   Confirm the Migration Service, purchased Add-ons, Entity Points Plan, payment status, and service expiration.

3. Confirm source store readiness.

   Make sure the source store is accessible and stable. Avoid major source-store updates, bulk catalog edits, database repairs, or app changes while preparing migration work.

4. Confirm target store readiness.

   Make sure the target store is accessible and prepared for validation. Confirm baseline settings that affect validation, such as language, currency, tax mode, shipping framework, and required platform apps or modules.

5. Identify required access owners.

   Confirm who can provide admin access, API credentials, hosting access, exported source data files, or other setup details if Next-Cart shows that they are required for your selected platforms.

6. List the data types you need to migrate.

   Identify required data types, such as Products, Categories, Customers, Orders, Reviews, Coupons, CMS pages, and other supported data shown in the migration interface.

7. Identify non-standard requirements.

   Document custom fields or database columns whose required handling exceeds supported mapping, third-party app or plugin data, unusual product structures, special order workflows, custom customer groups, subscription data, or any other requirement not represented by standard data selection or purchased Add-ons.

8. Define validation ownership.

   Decide who will review migrated products, customers, orders, content, redirects, and target-store behavior. Validation should include representative records, not only record counts.

9. Prepare security cleanup.

   Plan how temporary credentials, API tokens, social account access, hosting credentials, and KitConnect files will be revoked, rotated, or removed after migration work is complete.

What to prepare by area

Area	Prepare this information	Why it matters
Account	Account email, Order #, purchased migration, payment status	Support and migration access depend on the correct account and service.
Migration path	Source Platform, Target Platform, source store URL, target store URL	The purchased service applies to the selected path.
Access	Store admin access, API credentials, hosting access, source export access, or contact owner	Connection setup depends on what Next-Cart shows for the selected platforms.
Scope	Required data types, exclusions, filters, date ranges, and special records	Scope controls what must be migrated and validated.
Add-ons	Purchased Add-ons and where they apply	Add-ons affect supported migration behavior and configuration.
Custom Service	Non-standard data, transformations, app/plugin data, and examples	Custom Service requirements need clear examples and expected results.
Entity Points	Expected data volume and current Entity Points Plan	Capacity affects whether all eligible data can be migrated under the current plan.
Validation	Sample records, pass criteria, blocker definitions, launch timeline	Validation determines whether migration output is acceptable.
Security	Temporary access, cleanup owner, credential rotation plan	Access must be protected during and after migration work.

Expected result

After completing this checklist:

• the correct Next-Cart account and purchased service are identified;
• the migration path is confirmed;
• the source store and target store are accessible;
• the required setup owner is available;
• the target store is ready for validation;
• the data scope is clear enough to configure;
• non-standard requirements are documented;
• validation ownership and pass criteria are defined;
• security cleanup responsibilities are known.

Verification

Before moving to connection setup, verify these items:

Check	Pass condition
Account check	You can sign in to the account that owns the order and purchased migration.
Service check	The migration path, Migration Service, Add-ons, and Entity Points Plan match your intended work.
Source check	The source store is accessible and contains the data you expect to migrate.
Target check	The target store is the correct environment and can be reviewed after migration.
Access-owner check	The right person can provide required credentials, files, or hosting access.
Scope check	Required data types and known exclusions are documented.
Custom requirement check	Non-standard data or behavior is identified before configuration begins.
Validation check	Sample records and acceptance criteria are ready.
Security check	Temporary access cleanup is planned.

Failure handling

Issue	What to do
You cannot access the correct Next-Cart account	Recover account access or contact the account owner before continuing.
The migration path is wrong	Do not configure migration work. Review the order or purchase the correct migration path.
Payment is incomplete	Complete payment through Checkout before starting paid migration work.
The source store is unstable	Resolve source-store issues before connection setup. Avoid migration work during repairs or major updates.
The target store is not ready	Prepare the target store enough for validation before running full migration work.
Access owner is unavailable	Assign a replacement owner or delay setup until required access can be provided.
Scope is unclear	Use Define Migration Scope before configuring data types or Add-ons.
Non-standard requirements are discovered	Prepare Custom Service requirements with examples and expected results.
Entity Points may be insufficient	Review your Entity Points Plan and upgrade if required.

Next step

If you need to	Go to
Define included data, exclusions, filters, and validation examples	Define Migration Scope
Prepare credentials or platform access	Prepare Source and Target Store Access
Document non-standard requirements	Prepare Custom Service Requirements
Define pass and fail criteria	Define Acceptance Criteria
Start platform setup after preparation is complete	Connect Your Source and Target Platforms
Complete payment for a selected or unpaid service	Checkout