- A migration to Shopify is easy to plan if you know upfront which data is coming along and what shape it's in.
- Products, customers, categories and content come along. Customer passwords don't, but Shopify doesn't need them anymore: customers log in with an email code.
- The biggest risk isn't the data, it's lost rankings. Every old URL needs a 301 redirect.
Is the switch worth it?
Usually when your old store creates more work than revenue. The reasons we hear most often in intro calls:
- Updates are scary: every update to Shopware, Magento or WordPress breaks something, and every little thing needs a developer.
- Hosting and security: servers, backups and security holes are your problem. With Shopify, Shopify takes care of it.
- Plugins add up: lots of small extensions that get in each other's way and are all billed separately.
- Growth: new markets, B2B or more traffic, and the old system can't keep up.
The switch may not be worth it if your business model relies heavily on a feature Shopify can't handle. We clarify that before every offer.
The process in five steps
A clean migration always runs the same way. Your old store keeps selling until cutover day.
- Data check: what data is there, how clean is it, which apps and plugins are attached? Free with us.
- Plan and fixed price: what moves over and how, what gets replaced, what gets dropped. Plus a date for cutover day.
- Build the store: theme, design and features in Shopify, in parallel with the old store that's still running.
- Test migration: import all data once in full, check it, fix errors. Set up redirects.
- Cutover day: final data sync with the latest orders and customers, switch the domain, check all redirects.
What comes along, what takes work, what doesn't work
The basic rule: anything that's data comes along. Anything that was logic in the old system gets rebuilt in Shopify or replaced by an app.
| Area | Migration |
|---|---|
| Products with variants, images, prices | comes along |
| Customers with addresses and newsletter consent | comes along |
| Categories as collections | comes along |
| Pages and blog posts | comes along |
| Order history | possible, with an import tool |
| Reviews | possible, via the reviews app |
| Custom fields and filters | takes work: mapped as metafields |
| Plugins and custom logic | rebuilt or replaced by apps |
| Customer passwords | not needed: login via email code |
How much work is involved in detail depends on the old system. We have separate articles on migrating from Shopware, WooCommerce and Magento.
The three most expensive migration mistakes
All three cost revenue, and all three can be avoided upfront.
- No redirects: Shopify has a fixed URL structure, such as /products/ and /collections/. Without a 301 redirect, every old link on Google leads nowhere, and rankings built up over years are gone.
- Importing data unchecked: broken variants, duplicate products or broken images often only show up after launch, when customers are already ordering.
- Not informing customers: anyone suddenly asked for a code instead of their password after the migration gets nervous. A short email beforehand fixes that.
FAQ
How long does a migration to Shopify take? That depends on data volume, features and design. After the data check, you get a fixed date.
Is my store offline during the migration? No. The new store is built in parallel, and the old one keeps selling until cutover day.
Will I lose my Google rankings? Not if every old URL gets a 301 redirect to the matching new page.
How much does a migration cost? You get a fixed price after the free data check. The price depends mainly on how clean the data in the old system is.
Can I keep my domain? Yes. The domain is switched to Shopify on cutover day.