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BigCommerce’s Self-Service v2 to v3 Upgrade Tool: What We’ve Discovered

If you’re a BigCommerce merchant using the v2 product experience, you may have noticed a new upgrade option that allows you to migrate to the v3 experience. BigCommerce has rolled out a self-service tool designed to streamline this process, but like many automated tools, there are both positives and negatives.

In this article, we’ll share what we’ve discovered from our testing of the tool—highlighting what works well and where you need to be cautious—and introduce a review service that we offer to ensure your transition is as smooth as possible.

The Good: What the Tool Does Well

BigCommerce is trying to simplify the upgrade from v2 to v3 for merchants with certain catalog requirements, but this tool still leaves behind some issues. Here’s what works well during our initial testing:

  • Automatic SKU Creation: The tool successfully creates SKUs as they existed in v2, ensuring SKU consistency.
  • Bringing Over Picklists: Picklists that do not define skus in v2, properly move to v3.  
  • Handling Simple Rules on Modifiers: Some rules attached to modifiers will properly migrate (price/weight increase/decrease rules)

BigCommerce’s effort to offer merchants an easy upgrade path shows their dedication to improving the platform. However, there are important caveats that merchants need to be aware of.

The Not-So-Good: Where the Tool Falls Short

Unfortunately, the upgrade process isn’t without its quirks, and in some cases, issues can lead to bad data or loss of important product configurations.  Here are some of the things that can cause issues, but keep in mind, there may be more based on each store’s unique setup:

  1. Loss of Rules (or Complex Rules): During the migration, we found that none of the rules actually disappear—instead, they all become complex rules. While this may sound like a solution, the reality is that these complex rules are hidden, uneditable, and in some cases don’t function as intended. For instance, image swap rules no longer work after the upgrade, while other rules—such as those for SKU price changes—still function but may not make sense in their new form. Because these complex rules are only accessible via the API, managing them becomes difficult without development resources.
  2. Bad Data Migration: Some data that is incorrect in v2 or unsupported in v3, carries over incorrect into v3. For instance, mismatched SKUs (where one sku is based off one option set, another sku is based off two option sets) and bad UPCs migrate unchanged, leaving errors that need manual correction which often can’t be completed in the admin.  If you define a picklist to be part of the sku definition, it has issues (leaves a floating sku but setting the option as a modifier).
  3. Checkboxes and SKUs: Rules tied to checkboxes with defined SKUs become modifiers, but still create the sku which you can’t simply drop and remove.
  4. Complex Rules for Unpurchasable Variants: If a variant was meant to be unpurchasable, the rule becomes complex instead of simply disabling the variant.
  5. First Rule-Only Migration: If you happen to have multiple price/weight impacting rules on modifiers, only the first will get used.
  6. Hidden Options Drop: Hidden options may drop and then become product-level, which can result in unexpected product configurations.

Should You Use the Self-Service Tool?

If your store has simple products and rules, the self-service tool might work well. However, for more complex setups, the tool may not catch everything, potentially leaving you with mismatched or missing data

From our extensive testing of BigCommerce’s self-service v2 to v3 upgrade tool, we’ve compiled a list of what works, what doesn’t, and the gotchas that may arise during the process. Here’s a quick breakdown:

What Won’t Work:

  • Image swaps from rules (on variant or modifier rules) don’t migrate properly.
  • Rules to block option choices for modifier rules (non-SKU rules) don’t function as expected.

What Works:

  • Images and prices on variants/SKUs migrate correctly.
  • Price/weight increase or decrease rules on modifiers (non-SKUs) transfer without issue.

Works but with Hidden Complex Rules You Can’t Change:

  • Price/weight change rules (increase, decrease, or set to) on SKUs are handled by complex hidden rules.
  • Price/weight “set to” rules on modifiers.
  • Unpurchaseable SKU/option rules on variants seem to function, though not fully tested.
  • Many hidden/disabled rules connected to SKUs carry over but become complex and uneditable.

Bad Data Causes:

  • Mismatched SKU definitions, where some SKUs are based on size/color and others only on size, lead to inconsistencies that require manual correction.

Things That Cause Options to Disappear or the Upgrade Banner to Not Display

  • Configurable fields.
  • Option set rules.

If you’re not seeing the banner to upgrade, we can help by moving your configurable fields to options and move option set rules to item level rules, which will then allow the banner to show.

Many of the issues, such as hidden complex rules or image swap failures, aren’t flagged during the upgrade process, so you would need to manually comb through your entire catalog to find these “gotchas” on your own—a time-consuming and impractical task.

Our Review Service: Ensuring a Smooth Transition

Because of these potential pitfalls, we’re offering a v2 to v3 Upgrade Review Service to help merchants assess their data before upgrading. Our goal is to make sure you have all the information you need before making the switch, whether you decide to use us, BigCommerce, or any other provider for your upgrade.

What do you get with our service?

  • Full analysis of your store’s data, identifying any items that don’t fit the v3 structure and suggesting necessary changes.
  • Detailed lists of any options or SKUs that will be lost during the upgrade—especially hidden or disabled choices.
  • Assessment of problematic rules, highlighting any that won’t function properly after the upgrade, and outlining what we can handle automatically if you choose us for the upgrade.
  • A 30-minute Zoom consultation to go over your results, answer questions, and ensure you’re fully prepared for the transition.

What do we check for?

This is not an exhaustive list, but here are some key areas we examine:

  • Duplicate option names that may cause conflicts.
  • Price and weight adjusting rules, ensuring they are valid and don’t conflict with other rules.
  • Invalid items, particularly those where options have been removed.
  • Checkbox and Picklist options that may not function in v3.
  • Complex pricing or weight rules that may break in v3.
  • Image swap rules that won’t carry over (some will work, others won’t).
  • Invalid SKU definitions, including duplicate SKUs or mismatched SKU definitions on single items.

When using BigCommerce’s self-service tool, you could end up with hidden complex rules, lost image swaps, or mismatched SKUs that cause major headaches. Our review service ensures these “gotchas” are caught early, providing a full report of what won’t work, what will work but is hidden, and any oddities in your data, such as incorrect UPCs/GTINs and mismatched SKUs.

Our migration service goes one step further by:

  • Fixing image swaps by moving them to SKUs.
  • Moving all rules to SKUs for easier management.
  • Relocating configurable fields and option set rules to items, ensuring they function correctly in v3.

Why Choose Us for Your V2 to V3 Upgrade?

Most importantly, by choosing us to do your upgrade, there’s no downtime during the migration—none at all! We can’t stress that enough!  No store owner wants downtime, and our process makes sure that your store will remain up and fully functional during the entire process.  

We’ve also lowered our pricing to make the transition more affordable. The $299 cost of the review can be applied toward the full upgrade, so you’re not paying twice. Whether you’re looking to ensure your data is clean or need us to handle the entire upgrade, we’ve got you covered.

Use the form below to contact us to learn more about how we can make your V2 to V3 migration smooth and hassle-free.


Other V2 to V3 Resources

Top 5 Things to Consider when Upgrading from BigCommerce v2 to v3 Products

BigCommerce V2 to V3 Differences

Why Do I Need to Upgrade From V2 to V3 Products in BigCommerce?

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