Our dedicated migration staff will assist you during the import of your existing subscribers over to ReCharge, free of charge. We aim to do this with as little impact on your existing subscribers as possible.
Migration Overview:
If you are contemplating moving to ReCharge, consider the following questions so we can cater to your needs more efficiently.
- Do you already offer subscriptions?
- What ecommerce platform are you currently using for subscription products?
- What payment processor are you using now?
- What payment processor will you use on ReCharge?
- How many active subscribers do you currently have?
- How many inactive subscribers do you currently have?
- How many products do you offer as subscriptions?
Migration Questionnaire:
Reach out to us and a dedicated Migration Specialist will help you out every step of the way.
All migrations must complete our migration questionnaire using the following link: Migration Questionnaire
If you're looking to import over 500 active subscribers, one of our Solutions Consultants will arrange a call with you to guide you through the Migration Steps below.
Migration CSV Template:
You can view our article that explains how to map your data to the Migration CSV Template: ReCharge Migration Template Explained.
Please download the ReCharge Migration CSV Template file.
Migration Steps:
1. Download Recharge and Go Live
Before migrating any clients over, you’ll want to download the ReCharge app on your Shopify storefront so new subscribers can sign up while the migration is happening.
This way, all new sign-ups will go straight to ReCharge and you don't end up with new subscribers in your old platform who will need to be migrated in a second import.
2. Fill out the Migration Confirmation Form
Please note Step 2 is only required if you currently have over 100 subscribers that you will be migrating into ReCharge. This will require you to be in contact with one of our Solutions Consultants.
Pick a date for the migration import to officially take place in our Migration Confirmation Form here: Migration Confirmation Form
3. Export the customer data
Export active customers’ data from your existing ecommerce platform as well as the payment processor data. Data should be extracted from the old platform AFTER ReCharge is live on the storefront. By exporting your existing subscriber data after you go live, you can be confident that all customer data gets included in your migration import file.
4. Format the data into Migration Template File
Your team will map this data to the ReCharge Migration CSV template. If you have any questions on how to map this data properly, feel free to ask us over email. You can find a thorough explanation of the Migration CSV Template we use to import your existing subscribers here.
All data manipulation will be completed by the merchant.
On the file you send over, all next_charge_dates should be set for a future date of approximately three business days after the migration begins. This way, we’ll all have enough time to prepare, import and check the data for accuracy.
5. Sending over the data
When sending Migration Template back to us, be sure to give our staff access to your store so we can complete this.
We suggest to not set the soonest charge for the weekend as we have migration support hours Monday - Friday 9:00 AM EST - 6:00 PM EST.
From the migration import until the process is complete, your old recurring billing system will handle your existing subscriptions. The date you choose for the migration import should be at least three business days after you have launched ReCharge on your site.
6. Data import
Our team will review the CSV data, note any adjustments if needed, and upload it into our system. Note that all data manipulation should be done by you.
After the import is done all the recurring orders along with imported orders will be put on HOLD. They will not process until your official confirmation.
You will need at least one business day between the day of the migration import and the soonest next_charge_date. The number of days depends on the number of imported subscriptions and time you need to go over the data to make sure that all is accurate.
The HOLD prevents all automated processing for the store. It does NOT stop checkout orders. If the HOLD causes charge dates to be missed then when the HOLD is removed the system will process them automatically the next day (we can also trigger the whole store to process on our end). If the charge is delayed because of the HOLD then the date the order was processed will be the new anniversary date.
7. Data import completion & confirmation email from merchant
Once the data is finished uploading, we will email you to review the data in ReCharge to make sure it is correct.
You will be responsible for reviewing our Post-migration checklist: https://support.rechargepayments.com/hc/en-us/articles/360024037573/.
You will also need to provide written confirmation that you have reviewed it and found the data to be correct. From here, the ReCharge team will remove the HOLD and all your imported charges will begin processing on the next_charge_dates.
8. Turning off your old recurring billing platform
On the day of the switch, it is your responsibility to make sure your old system is cancelled to ensure customers are not double-billed.
Subscriptions will not be cancelled automatically after disabling the old system from the storefront or after importing customers to ReCharge. You will need to cancel your account in the previous system or cancel subscriptions there in bulk.
Check on the best cancelling option with the support team of your former recurring billing system before starting with the data preparation.
The last step is to use the Shopify Invite Feature to have customers create passwords.
Payment Processor:
Are you not currently using Stripe or Braintree?
If your previous customers are not currently on Stripe or PayPal via Braintree, they will need to be migrated to these systems in order for us to access the data for future billing. Your previous merchant processor(s) are required by law to assist you in moving over to the new system. Contact your provider to get this scheduled well in advance of your migration.
Using Authorize.net?
If you're using Authorize.net, add two columns to fill in the Customer Profile ID and the Customer Payment Profile ID in the Migration template:
authorizedotnet_customer_profile_id
authorizedotnet_customer_payment_profile_id
To bulk export those IDs from Authorize.net, you can use this guide.
When you are on the Advanced Search screen, under 'Profile Type', select 'Search All Profiles'. Some customers have more than one payment profile id from having entered more than one card over time. The first record in the file corresponds to the most recent, active profile.
Migrating Customer Account Logins and Passwords:
When we migrate the customer to ReCharge, we also create the customer accounts in Shopify. That doesn't create the login and password itself, just the email record for their login. Shopify doesn't have an easy way to import passwords, due to security reasons. Customers tend to re-use their passwords, this is what makes it a security constraint. However, you can then use Shopify to send out mass invites to the customers. If a customer account has already been created in Shopify at the time of the ReCharge migration, our system will automatically find the existing account with the matching email and connect it.
Notifications sent to imported customers
We do not send any notification that states customers are now in ReCharge. However, customers might get an email regarding their next charge depending on how you have set Upcoming charge notification. If this notification is turned on and if their next charge is up to three days after the import they will be notified. Please be sure to check on how you have set Upcoming charge notification in Settings> Notifications.
FAQ’s
- Is it possible to send everyone an email asking them to login to their new account or how will they get this prompt? You can send an invitation in bulk through Shopify. https://help.shopify.com/manual/customers/customer-accounts#send-customer-account-invites-in-bulk. The bulk invite tool is only available for Shopify plus stores but they link to a third party tool that other clients have used. Once your customer has accepted the invitation they will be able to enter a new password and complete their account setup.
- How do I enter my next charge dates on the CSV file so that none of my customers are billed twice and so I don’t miss any customers from being billed? In order to move your customers seamlessly, when you enter the next charge dates in the migration spreadsheet, you need to post date any charge dates that are the week of the migration. That way your current system with process those charges that week and ReCharge will begin processing charges after that week.
Example:
You have a planned launch date of January 1st.
We recommend your migration beginning around or after January 3rd.
The date your migration begins is the date you’ll send us over the completed CSV file. In this example, we are using January 3rd as the date the migration begins.
The migration completion date will be January 8th; this is when you’ll turn off your old system. The soonest charge should be January 9th.
Your customer is on a monthly subscription in this example
If your customer is to be billed on January 5th, in the migration spreadsheet, you will enter the next charge date of February 5th.
Your current subscription platform will handle the January 5th charge and ReCharge will start billing that customer on February 5th.
- When will my customers start being charged once you import them into ReCharge? Your customers will be charged in ReCharge on their next charge date from the CSV after you’ve reviewed the data and sent verification to us that the data is OK to process.
- Can I use my existing payment processor account (e.g. Stripe) or do I need to set up a new one for ReCharge? As long as you’re currently using Stripe, Braintree or Authorize.net, no need to set up a new account. You can connect your existing account to ReCharge.
- Will you be able to edit my data I sent over? Changes to your data, even minor changes, should be done by you.
Note: If your old system used Stripe, make sure to double check that no Stripe subscriptions are set up. If you see any subscriptions, make sure to cancel them to prevent double-billing.
Note: We will put a hold on your account after we run the import so that any customer( migrated or existing ones) will not be billed until we’ve received written confirmation that the data is correct. Billing will resume the day AFTER we have taken the hold off the account. Normal billing will continue through this time for any new customers who signed up through ReCharge.
Note: ReCharge does not send out any migration specific notifications to your customers
Notes for Filling out the CSV:
- If any of your customers are in Stripe, you will find the token here on the Stripe Dashboard after searching and selecting a customer and include it in the CSV.
- All dates must be in month/day/year format. Such as 03/24/2015.
- You can ignore the Product ID and Variant or Option ID fields if you don't know how to find them. Just make sure that the products exist in your online store and our team can fill that out for you. Just be sure you give us staff access as outlined in step 3.
- For the Recurring Price, it should be the item price-per-unit. If you charge shipping/tax, it will be added to each recurring order once it's migrated into ReCharge. The price can be different than the Shopify price if the migrated customers are on a legacy plan.