Migrating to Shopify is an opportunity to simplify operations, but also a period of increased risk. If only the appearance of the new online store is dealt with, customers, orders, important URLs, measurements or connections may be missing after launch, without which the team cannot operate the store.
1. Start by auditing your current store
First, find out what you're actually using. In addition to products and customers, map collections, articles, reviews, gift cards, discounts, customer groups, product channels, shipping, payment methods, accounting, emailing and analytics. A feature that is not visible on the home page can be critical to operations.
| Area | Question before migration |
|---|---|
| Products | What are variants, identifiers, custom data fields and media? |
| Customers | Can accounts, consents, addresses and segments be transferred? |
| Orders | Does the team need history in Shopify, or will an archive suffice? |
| Content | Which pages and articles get traffic or links? |
| Integration | Which system is the source of truth for inventory, pricing and invoices? |
2. Determine what can be transferred and how
Shopify officially supports several routes: manual transfer, CSV, migration apps, and custom API solutions. The correct method varies depending on the type and amount of data. It is advisable to import products before customers and historical orders so that the relationships can be linked correctly.
There is a detailed official migration procedure for WooCommerce. For Shoptet and other local solutions, the scope depends on available exports, APIs and data quality. It's not fair to promise automatic transfer of everything in advance. Some information will need to be transformed, supplemented or archived.
3. Prepare a URL map and redirects
The Shopify URL structure may not match the original platform. Create a list of important products, categories, articles and landing pages and assign them a new destination address. Then redirect the old URL with a 301 status code to the nearest relevant page.
Don't automatically redirect everything to the home page. Both the search engine and the visitor expect content corresponding to the original address. Keep page titles, descriptions and content where they already work; migration alone is not a reason to overwrite every successful content.
- Export URLs with organic traffic, links and conversions
- Create old URL →︎ new URL map
- Check the canonical, robots and indexing of the test site
- After launch, submit your sitemap in Google Search Console
- Track 404s, indexing and organic traffic for several weeks
4. Restore operational integrations
The new online store is only ready when the order goes through the entire process. Check availability, shipping, payment, confirmation emails, billing, warehouse, order fulfillment, customer support and marketing events. For each connection, determine the owner and error procedure.
5. Test real scenarios
Checking the homepage is not enough. Test purchases on mobile and desktop, different product variants, discount, failed payment, foreign address, return and customer account. If you're selling B2B, test multiple company roles, catalogs, and pricing.
Perform a test import and record the transformation rules.
Assign responsibility for domain, payments, integrations, measurement and communication.
Stop or synchronize the changes in the old system and perform the final import.
Track orders, errors, 404 pages, analytics data, and support feedback.
6. Plan the launch as an operational change
Choose a date outside the main business peak and prepare the possibility to respond quickly. The team needs to know what has changed in the Shopify admin, how to deal with the first orders and who to report the problem to. DNS and domain are just one point of the entire transition.
A successful migration is not one where the new site opens. It is the one where the customer buys and the team completes the order without surprises.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to migrate to Shopify?
There is no universal time. The amount and quality of data, custom functions, integration, design, content, testing and the team's readiness to change operations are decisive.
Will all data be transferred automatically?
Not always. The extent of the transfer depends on the export capabilities of the originating platform and Shopify's data model. Each group of data needs to be mapped in advance and verified after import.
Can organic traffic be maintained during migration?
Risk can be reduced by address mapping, 301 redirects, preserving important content, and post-launch indexing checks. However, the same search results cannot be guaranteed.
Planning to switch to Shopify?
Please send me your current store address, platform and basic list of integrations. I will help prepare questions, risks and a realistic process before the actual development.
Request an audit →︎