Switching online business software

Suppose you are planning to take over a new online business, but actually the CMS or the online business software is not satisfactory. It does not work well and you probably need a programmer to make some adjustments. Or you want to buy an online business but it does not use the software you are used to and do not like. What do you do then? Is it easy to switch online business software? Or is this investment so large that you are actually stuck with it? Is there still the possibility to switch or are you stuck with this? Or is there still a way out? And if there is a switch of online business software, what should be taken into account? In this article Arjan Nieuwbeerta of the Dutch comparing website Webshopsoftware-vergelijken.nl helps you how to deal with this and what the options are. We will focus on SaaS (Software as a Service) online business software.

What are the risks?

Switching online business software always involves risks. Therefore, map these out first. Think especially about SEO. After all, if you do not make the switch carefully, you can lose important positions in search engines such as Google. Needless to say, this costs a lot of visitors and sales. Therefore, make sure:

• all content (texts, videos and images) will be transferred in full
• so all titles and meta descriptions are also transferred
• URLs do not change or are properly redirected
• the structure of the (product) pages remains the same

Can't figure this out by yourself? Then enlist the help of an SEO expert or discuss this with your new online business provider. They often have experience with this and can prevent you from making mistakes!

Prevent switching by testing for free

Switching online business software takes time. Prevent as much as possible that you have to switch online business software in an advanced stage of your own online business. Find out in advance which system best suits your situation. First test the online business software for a free trial period. With most SaaS shopping cart software providers, you can create a free account that you can use for a trial period. This allows you to quickly find out if the CMS works well. If it does not work well, you can easily switch software during this period.

Besides paid online business software, there are also providers that allow you to use the software completely free of charge for an unlimited period. However, these software packages often have limited functions. If you want to start a larger online business, it is better not to choose this. In both cases, it is not problematic to abandon one and choose something else. After all, you are not paying any costs (yet) and have only set up the basics.

How do you quit your current provider?

In case the trial period has already expired and you are already locked into a subscription. Then you just have to sit out the contract period and then you can cancel it. Keep in mind that this must be done at least one month before the end date of the contract. So find out when your contract runs until and cancel it a month in advance. Have you been using the software for a while and it has been tacitly renewed in the meantime? Don't panic, because there is a way out. Namely, there is the Dam Law involved here. This law allows you to cancel a tacitly extended contract every month. So the notice period of the renewed subscription cannot be more than one month. So it works a bit the same as a subscription for a cell phone.

How to switch online business software provider?

When you leave your current provider, many SaaS shopping cart software providers allow you to request an export file of the existing data. This makes moving a lot easier. You will then receive an export of your database in a CSV or Excel file, for example. This export will then contain the catalog, content, customer database, order summary and stock list. Please note that not all providers allow you to export the entire content of the old online business. For example, it is not always possible to export the products database and all pages of the shop (content). If the current online business provider does not offer this, you have 2 options: manually transfer everything or get help from a programmer. Especially if you sell a lot of products, the latter is recommended, although there are of course costs involved. Many providers have an API that can be used to export all data.

Then you cancel the contract with the current provider. If you have terminated the contract, you can already apply to another provider in the meantime. With some SaaS shopping cart software providers you can sign up for a transfer service. The new online business software provider will then help with the relocation of your online business. They can do this by using a tool to import the export files from the old online business into the new system.

With these export files, the shop is easily transferred via a switch service. This switch takes one to two weeks on average. Because your online business then remains almost the same in terms of content, SEO positions in search engines are maintained. This is the case if you switch from one SaaS to another SaaS software (for example, from Lightspeed to CCV shop or vice versa).

But what if you are using open-source software (such as OpenCart or Magento) and would like to switch to SaaS online business software? Actually, you always need the help of a programmer. He may be able to make a good export that the SaaS platform can handle. Otherwise a programmer can synchronize both platforms using an API (if the SaaS provider has one). This does require a lot of customization and programming knowledge. Thus, in the case of switching from open-source to SaaS software, it is a lot harder to transfer data. This therefore involves additional costs.

So if you want to switch from SaaS shopping cart software, this can be done quite easily, although it depends somewhat on the shopping cart software provider. If you are already tied to a contract, you just have to sit out the contract period and cancel in time. If the contract has been tacitly extended, you can fortunately cancel it on a monthly basis. Providers can import or export the data in most cases. Try to export as much as possible. After all, this saves a lot of time. Data that you cannot export and import, you have to add manually yourself provided you do not hire a programmer. The duration of the transfer depends on the type of software you want to use next. So keep this in mind!

About Arjan Nieuwsbeerta

Arjan is an online business software specialist for the Dutch platform Webshopsoftware-vergelijken.nl. This platform makes it easy to compare different software packages on specifications.