Shopify Migration: How to Move an Ecommerce Store to Shopify

To move to Shopify without losing SEO, inventory every URL and record a baseline, then import data with Shopify's Store Migration app, CSV files or APIs. Shopify can't import customer passwords; on the current customer accounts, customers sign in with an email code instead, so test that sign-in for imported customers. Map every old URL to its Shopify equivalent and create 301 redirects, individually or by CSV import. Carry over titles, meta descriptions, content, alt text and structured data, test orders and redirects on the new store, launch at a quiet time, and monitor Search Console and sales daily against the baseline.

This guide covers the practical steps of moving to Shopify. The broader decision of whether and how to change platform is in ecommerce replatforming; for non-commerce sites, see the website migration guide.

Not every migration should move to Shopify. It suits businesses that value a hosted platform, a large app ecosystem, fast operations and Shopify's checkout, with requirements that fit its data model. Businesses with highly custom checkout logic beyond checkout extensibility, very complex B2B requirements or unusual catalog structures should evaluate alternatives. Compare requirements against platforms before committing. See choosing your next platform.

Shopify's catalog model may differ from your current platform. Decide how products and variants map (up to three options and 2,048 variants per product), which attributes become metafields, how categories become collections, and how content maps to pages and blogs. Clean data before import rather than after.

Migration is the cheapest moment to fix data problems, because everything is being touched anyway.

Shopify documents several ways to bring data across.

Shopify's migration guidance is to import products first, then customers, then historical orders, so orders can link to the products and customers they belong to. Shopify's first-party Store Migration app can import data from some platforms, such as products from WooCommerce and products and customers from Wix or Square, but Shopify describes it as early access and only available for certain stores; historical orders typically need third-party migration apps or the APIs. Large or complex catalogs often use CSV-based bulk tools or custom scripts against the Admin API.

Shopify's URL patterns are fixed: products under /products/, collections under /collections/, pages under /pages/, blog posts under /blogs/. Map every old URL with traffic, links or revenue to its closest Shopify equivalent and create 301 redirects. Redirect removed items to the closest relevant product or collection, not all to the homepage.

Choose the theme approach, rebuild templates, and replace old plugins with apps or custom work. Rebuild integrations with ERP, inventory and fulfilment, and test them with real volumes. See Shopify store development.

List every plugin, extension and integration on the old platform and decide what replaces it on Shopify: a native feature, a Shopify app, custom app or integration, or nothing. Migrations are a good moment to remove tools nobody uses. Pay particular attention to integrations with ERP, inventory, shipping and subscriptions, which must work from day one. See Shopify app integrations and ecommerce ERP integration.

Recreate tracking before launch: analytics tags, conversion events, marketing pixels and consent handling, using Shopify's customer events and apps where appropriate. Keep event definitions the same as before so comparisons with the baseline are meaningful, annotate the launch date and test purchases end to end. See Shopify analytics.

For simulated orders, Shopify provides the Test payment gateway, often still called the Bogus Gateway in older guides and forum posts. You deactivate any active credit card provider first, then activate it in your payment settings. At checkout, card number 1 simulates an approved transaction, 2 a declined transaction and 3 a gateway failure; the test purchase must be worth more than the equivalent of US$1. It isn't compatible with Shopify POS or subscription products, so test subscriptions on your live gateway or with your subscription app's own tools. Customers can't place live orders while your payment providers are in test mode, so switch it off before launch, then place and refund a small real order with each payment method. Shopify notes that real test orders may still incur processor fees.

Plan redirects within Shopify's URL redirect limits: a maximum of 100,000 on standard plans and 20,000,000 on Plus. Redirects only work from broken URLs: if an old URL still loads a page on the new store, the redirect won't fire, so test against URLs that return 404. Limits checked 15 October 2026 and may change.

A few Shopify characteristics shape most migrations. URLs use fixed prefixes such as /products/ and /collections/, so most old URLs need redirects. Products support up to three options and, per Shopify's documentation, up to 2,048 variants each; catalogs with more complex variation need restructuring or metafields. Customer passwords can't be migrated; on Shopify's current customer accounts (legacy accounts were deprecated on 26 February 2026), customers sign in with an email code, so plan customer communication rather than password resets. Checkout customization follows checkout extensibility, with some capabilities limited to Plus. Import products, then customers, then historical orders.

Freeze catalog changes on the old site, run a final sync of orders and customers, point the domain to Shopify, confirm redirects are live, submit the sitemap in Search Console, and place live test orders. Launch at a quiet time with the team available.

Check Search Console for 404s and coverage changes, organic traffic and rankings, conversion by device, payment errors and support contacts daily for the first weeks. Fix redirect gaps immediately. Compare with the baseline before starting optimization; then continue with Shopify SEO and the maintenance checklist.

A move from WooCommerce has its own traps: products with more than three attributes, reviews that Shopify says can't be exported from WooCommerce directly, /product/ URLs that need redirects to /products/, and plugins that each need a Shopify replacement. These are covered field by field in the WooCommerce to Shopify migration checklist. For the platform-agnostic view, see ecommerce platform migration.

A Shopify migration succeeds or fails on preparation: a complete inventory, clean data, a full redirect map, preserved content and metadata, thorough testing and close monitoring. The data transfer itself is the well-solved part; the details around it protect your rankings and sales.