Migrating to BigCommerce Effectively: Five Key Milestones for a Smooth Transition

BigCommerce, Website

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When done right, migrating to BigCommerce can unlock better performance, more flexible merchandising, and easier day-to-day management. But when it’s rushed, vague, or poorly planned, it can lead to missed sales, broken features, and endless frustration.

As a project manager who specializes in ecommerce migrations, I’ve overseen the good, the bad, and the downright chaotic. I can tell you firsthand: there are five key milestones that make a BigCommerce migration successful. These steps help reduce risk, align stakeholders, and ensure a smooth launch.

1. Discovery & Technical Specifications: No Guesswork Allowed

A migration isn’t just about moving content from one platform to another. It’s about rebuilding your ecommerce foundation—smarter and stronger. And that starts with proper discovery and technical planning.

An experienced partner should:

  • Conduct in-depth stakeholder interviews to understand your business model, growth goals, and operational needs.
  • Audit your current site, including backend systems, plugins, custom code, and data structures.
  • Document a detailed technical specification outlining every piece of functionality that needs to migrate, improve, or be reimagined in BigCommerce.

This phase results in a shared understanding of scope, risks, and priorities. It’s not glamorous work, but it’s critical.

2. Proof of Concepts: Test the Unknowns Early

Almost every migration involves some level of uncertainty. Maybe it’s a custom product configurator, a legacy ERP system, or an unusual checkout flow. A solid team identifies those potential challenges early and creates proof of concepts (POCs) to test feasibility.

Here’s what that looks like:

  • The team flags anything that might require custom development, unique integrations, or third-party tools.
  • They spin up quick POCs or sandbox environments to validate assumptions.
  • They use what they learn to refine scope, timelines, and resource allocation.

In one of our recent BigCommerce migrations, the client needed a unique bundling system for product bundling. Rather than assume it would work, our dev team built a prototype using native tools. The outcome shaped our build plan and saved weeks of backtracking.

3. Low-Fidelity Visuals First: Focus on Functionality

Before diving into polished designs, low-fidelity wireframes are a great way to prioritize usability and structure.

A thoughtful approach includes:

  • Providing basic wireframes or clickable prototypes that show layout and functionality.
  • Walking through user journeys for key flows: product discovery, checkout, account management.
  • Gathering early feedback and iterating quickly.

This ensures alignment before a pixel is pushed. It’s easier (and more cost-effective) to make changes at this stage than once everything is finalized.

4. High-Fidelity Design & Smart Development

Once wireframes are approved, the process moves into high-fidelity design and development—but thoughtful planning continues.

What this involves:

  • Translating wireframes into branded, polished designs.
  • Collaborating with developers during the design phase to align on feasibility.
  • Building in BigCommerce using a staging environment, with regular previews and feedback loops.

Maintaining visibility throughout this phase is key. Regular check-ins, progress demos, and a shared understanding of priorities help the project stay on track.

5. Robust Training & Documentation: Empowering Your Team

A successful migration doesn’t end at launch. It includes making sure your team is trained, confident, and supported as they take the reins.

Effective training and documentation should include:

  • Live or recorded walkthroughs of key workflows: product updates, promotions, order management, reporting.
  • Written documentation tailored to your setup, not just generic platform help.
  • Ongoing post launch support to ensure your team has the support you need after launch 

The goal is to empower your internal team to manage the site confidently from day one.

Final Thoughts: A Great Migration Is Intentional

BigCommerce is a powerful ecommerce platform, but strategy and structure don’t happen by accident. Planning, collaboration, and transparency throughout each of these five milestones can make the difference between a smooth, successful migration and a stressful, scattered one.

These five steps are designed to reduce risk, improve outcomes, and set your business up for long-term success on BigCommerce.

Because at the end of the day, migration isn’t just a task. It’s an opportunity to level up your entire ecommerce experience.

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