How to Migrate WooCommerce to Shopify (Complete Guide)

WooCommerce served you well, but you're ready for something easier to manage. Shopify handles security, updates, payments, and hosting—so you can focus on selling.

This guide walks you through the complete WooCommerce to Shopify migration.

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Why Move from WooCommerce to Shopify?

Aspect

WooCommerce

Shopify

Hosting

You manage

Shopify handles

Security

Your responsibility

Shopify handles

Updates

Weekly plugin updates

Automatic

Payments

Plugin + gateway

Native + many options

Support

Community only

24/7 support

Scalability

Expensive scaling

Handle any traffic

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Migration Overview

The migration has five main phases:

1. Preparation - Audit and backup

2. Data Export - Get data from WooCommerce

3. Shopify Setup - Configure your new store

4. Data Import - Move products, customers, orders

5. Go Live - Domain, redirects, final testing

Timeline: 1-4 weeks depending on store size and complexity

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Phase 1: Preparation

Take Inventory

Document your current store:

Products:

• [ ] Number of products

• [ ] Number of variations

• [ ] Product categories

• [ ] Product tags

• [ ] Custom attributes

• [ ] Digital products (if any)

Orders & Customers:

• [ ] Number of orders

• [ ] Number of customers

• [ ] Active subscriptions (if any)

Features:

• [ ] Payment gateways used

• [ ] Shipping methods configured

• [ ] Tax settings

• [ ] Discount codes

• [ ] Integrations (email, accounting, etc.)

Complete Backup

Before anything else:

1. Full database backup (phpMyAdmin)

2. Full file backup (wp-content)

3. Export orders as CSV

4. Export customers as CSV

5. Save all images locally

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Phase 2: Export Data from WooCommerce

Products Export

Using WooCommerce's built-in export:

1. Go to Products → All Products

2. Click Export at top

3. Select all columns

4. Choose "All products"

5. Click Generate CSV

Export includes:

• Product name and description

• SKU

• Prices (regular and sale)

• Stock quantities

• Categories and tags

• Images (URLs)

• Variations

Customers Export

1. Install "Export Users to CSV" plugin

2. Export all users with "customer" role

3. Or use WP-CLI: wp user list --role=customer --format=csv

Key fields:

• Email

• Name

• Shipping/billing address

• Order history

Orders Export

1. Go to WooCommerce → Orders

2. Use export feature or install "Order Export for WooCommerce"

3. Export all orders to CSV

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Phase 3: Shopify Setup

Create Your Account

1. Start Shopify trial at shopify.com

2. Enter store details

3. Choose a plan later (trial has full access)

Basic Configuration

Settings to configure:

General:

• Store name and email

• Address

• Currency

• Time zone

Payments:

• Shopify Payments (recommended)

• Or connect Stripe, PayPal

Checkout:

• Customer account options

• Checkout customization

• Tipping (if applicable)

Shipping:

• Shipping zones

• Rates (flat, calculated, free)

• Package dimensions

Taxes:

• Automatic tax on orders

• Configure tax regions

Choose a Theme

Options:

1. Dawn (free) - Great starting point

2. Premium themes ($150-350) - More features

3. Match your WooCommerce look - Find similar theme

Install and customize basic branding:

• Logo

• Colors

• Fonts

• Homepage layout

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Phase 4: Import Data to Shopify

Products Import

Method 1: Shopify's CSV Import

1. Go to Products in Shopify admin

2. Click Import

3. Upload your WooCommerce CSV

4. Map columns to Shopify fields

Important mappings:

WooCommerce

Shopify

post_title

Title

post_content

Body (HTML)

regular_price

Variant Price

sale_price

Variant Compare At Price

sku	Variant SKU

stock_qty

Variant Inventory Qty

images

Image Src

Method 2: Migration Apps

For complex migrations, consider apps:

• Matrixify (formerly Excelify) - handles complex imports

• LitExtension - automated migration service

• Cart2Cart - migration service

These handle:

• Variations properly

• Category hierarchies

• Image migration

• SEO redirects

Images Migration

Shopify will try to import from URLs. If WooCommerce images are still accessible:

1. CSV import pulls images automatically

2. Verify all images loaded

If WooCommerce is down:

1. Upload images to Shopify

2. Reference new URLs in import CSV

3. Or bulk upload and match by filename

Categories to Collections

WooCommerce categories → Shopify collections

1. Create manual collections matching your categories

2. Or create automated collections based on tags

3. Assign products to collections

Customers Import

1. Go to Customers in Shopify admin

2. Click Import customers

3. Upload customer CSV

4. Map fields appropriately

Notes:

• Passwords don't transfer (customers reset on first login)

• Send password reset emails after launch

Orders Import (Optional)

Historical orders are optional to import:

• Needed for: Returns, customer history lookup

• Not needed for: Analytics (starts fresh)

Use Matrixify or similar for order import.

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Phase 5: Pre-Launch Preparation

URL Structure & Redirects

WooCommerce and Shopify have different URL structures:

Content

WooCommerce

Shopify

Products

/product/name/

/products/name

Categories

/product-category/name/

/collections/name

Pages

/page-name/

/pages/page-name

Cart

/cart/

/cart

Set up redirects in Shopify:

1. Go to Online Store → Navigation

2. Click URL Redirects

3. Add redirects for old URLs

/product/example-product/ → /products/example-product
/product-category/shirts/ → /collections/shirts

For bulk redirects:

1. Export URL list from WooCommerce

2. Create CSV with old/new paths

3. Import redirects to Shopify

SEO Preservation

Meta titles and descriptions:

• Manually update for key products

• Or use Shopify SEO apps to bulk edit

Keep same product slugs:

• Match WooCommerce slugs in Shopify

• Set up redirects for any changes

Verify key pages:

• Homepage

• Top products

• Collection pages

• Blog posts (if migrating)

Email Settings

Transactional emails:

• Customize Shopify's order confirmation

• Configure shipping notifications

• Set up review request emails

Marketing:

• Connect email platform (Klaviyo, Mailchimp)

• Migrate email list

• Update signup forms

Apps to Install

Essential Shopify apps:

Function

Recommended App

Email marketing

Klaviyo or Omnisend

Reviews

Judge.me or Loox

SEO	Plug in SEO or Smart SEO

Upsells

Bold Upsell or ReConvert

Analytics

Google Analytics 4 via tag

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Phase 6: Testing

Check Everything

Products:

• [ ] All products imported

• [ ] Prices correct

• [ ] Variants working

• [ ] Images loading

• [ ] Inventory accurate

Checkout:

• [ ] Add to cart works

• [ ] Checkout process smooth

• [ ] Payment processing (test mode)

• [ ] Tax calculation

• [ ] Shipping rates correct

• [ ] Order confirmation email

Navigation:

• [ ] Menus working

• [ ] Collections display correctly

• [ ] Search works

• [ ] Mobile responsive

Redirects:

• [ ] Old URLs redirect

• [ ] No 404 errors

• [ ] SEO URLs preserved

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Phase 7: Go Live

Domain Transfer

Option 1: Point domain to Shopify

1. Keep domain at current registrar

2. Update DNS to Shopify's servers

3. Add domain in Shopify settings

Option 2: Transfer domain to Shopify

1. Unlock domain at current registrar

2. Get transfer code

3. Initiate transfer in Shopify

Launch Steps

1. Final backup of WooCommerce (just in case)

2. Put WooCommerce in maintenance mode

3. Update DNS to point to Shopify

4. Wait for propagation (up to 48 hours)

5. Enable Shopify payments (if in test mode)

6. Monitor first orders closely

7. Check for errors in first 24 hours

Post-Launch

Immediately:

• [ ] Test a real order

• [ ] Verify payment received

• [ ] Check all redirects live

• [ ] Submit new sitemap to Google

Week 1:

• [ ] Monitor for issues

• [ ] Watch for 404 errors in Google Search Console

• [ ] Respond to customer questions

• [ ] Fine-tune any issues

Month 1:

• [ ] Compare sales metrics

• [ ] Review customer feedback

• [ ] Optimize based on data

• [ ] Consider removing WooCommerce entirely

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Cost Comparison

WooCommerce Typical Costs

Item

Monthly

Hosting

$30-100

Payment gateway

2.9% + 30¢

Security/SSL

$0-20

Extensions

$20-100

Email

$20-50

Maintenance time

Priceless

Total

$70-270+

Shopify Costs

Plan

Monthly

Transaction Fee

Basic

$39

2% (or 0% with Shopify Payments)

Shopify

$105

1% (or 0% with Shopify Payments)

Advanced

$399

0.6% (or 0% with Shopify Payments)

With Shopify Payments: No transaction fees, just credit card rates (2.9% + 30¢)

Apps Add-On Costs

Budget $50-200/month for essential apps depending on needs.

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FAQ

Q: How long does migration take?

Simple store (<100 products): 1-2 weeks

Medium store (100-1000 products): 2-3 weeks

Complex store (1000+ products, subscriptions): 3-6 weeks

Q: Will I lose SEO rankings?

Not if you set up proper redirects and preserve URL structure where possible. Rankings typically stabilize within 2-4 weeks. See our SEO migration checklist →

Q: What about subscriptions?

WooCommerce Subscriptions → Shopify subscriptions app (like Recharge). Migration is more complex but doable.

Q: Can customers keep their accounts?

Customer data transfers, but passwords don't. Send password reset emails so customers can set new passwords.

Q: What about my WooCommerce theme?

Themes don't transfer. Find a similar Shopify theme or customize one to match your brand.

Q: Should I consider a headless approach instead?

If you want ultimate flexibility, you could use Shopify's API with a Next.js frontend for the best of both worlds.

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Conclusion

Migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify requires upfront effort but delivers:

• No more hosting headaches

• Automatic security updates

• Better uptime during sales

• 24/7 support when you need it

• Time back to focus on selling

The key is proper preparation, thorough testing, and careful redirect setup to preserve your SEO.

Related guides:

• Best WordPress Alternatives for E-commerce

• SEO Checklist for WordPress Migration

• DNS and Domains Explained

Need help with content migration? Our tool can export your WordPress content →