Map required export fields and missing relationships
Map source identity, content, media and operational records to supported destination fields before migration. Rehearse a controlled transfer and keep missing relationships in an exception register. The export is useful only when the required downstream tasks survive, not simply when a downloadable file contains many rows.
Worked example — illustrative data.
| Source field | Destination requirement | Exception |
|---|---|---|
| Product ID and SKU | Stable identity and variant relationship | Do not replace with display name |
| Description HTML | Readable, supported content | Unsupported markup needs review |
| Image reference | Accessible file plus rights and product link | Expired URL requires recovery |
| Order history | Approved retention/use requirement | Do not assume customer secrets are portable |
| Redirect/source URL | Equivalent destination mapping | Unmatched paths stay in review |
Inventory data by business task: selling, fulfilment, support, reporting and content editing. Obtain sample exports from the actual platform using authorized access, then inspect formatting, encoding, identifiers and relationships. Record the person responsible for resolving each missing field. Import a controlled sample into the proposed destination and compare it with the original. Keep backups and source services available until acceptance is complete and retirement is approved.
Test relationships as well as exported columns
Choose a product with variants, images and a support record, then trace its stable identifiers through a sample export and import. Confirm which relationships survive and which require a supported separate process. Keep an explicit exception for unavailable account or payment data rather than substituting another field. A readable spreadsheet is only the start of the transfer check.
Passwords and payment tokens may not be portable
A customer account export may not include a usable password or transferable payment token. Do not improvise a workaround; verify provider-supported migration and explain the customer action it requires.
Hold migration acceptance when a required field or relationship has no supported destination. A smaller, verified transfer scope is better than an unsupported claim that everything moves automatically.
Should I retire the source as soon as the export downloads?
Keep the required source and recovery access until the agreed destination tasks and exceptions are accepted. Retirement is a separate approved action. A downloaded file does not prove that the new system can use its contents.
Continue with Guides for stores, software teams and local businesses, Website migration SEO services and How to migrate a store without losing its useful URLs.
For planning changed URLs, see Google site-move guidance (checked November 2026).