WooCommerce to Shopify migration: how it works
WooCommerce to Shopify migration: eight steps in a fixed order, from the audit to the post-launch checks. Work through them before you import anything.
A store migration rarely fails because of the design. It fails because of old links that Google still knows, customers who suddenly can’t log in any more, and the warehouse integration nobody thought of. I’ve done the WooCommerce to Shopify migration for our own brands Apres Allstars, ShredRack and tronature, and these days I do it for clients too.
What is a WooCommerce to Shopify migration? When you switch from WooCommerce to Shopify, products, variants, customers, order history and content move from WordPress with the store plugin WooCommerce to the Shopify platform; the old URLs are redirected to the new ones. WooCommerce is free and runs on web hosting you choose yourself, with plugins you keep up to date yourself. Shopify is rented software: hosting, updates and checkout are run by the provider, and in return you pay for a plan and, depending on your setup, for apps.
💡 By the way: I plan and carry out exactly this kind of migration with businesses – with an on-site check and a fixed price. Here’s how it works →
Is it worth switching from WooCommerce to Shopify?
Switching pays off if your team spends more time on plugins, updates and the server than on selling. It doesn’t pay off if your store depends on special features that only exist in this form in WordPress.
| Question | Points towards Shopify | Points towards WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Who looks after the tech? | nobody in-house, the tech should just work | you have your own people or a WordPress service provider |
| How many plugins hold the store together? | lots, and every update is a risk | a few, and they run reliably |
| How customised is the store? | standard processes: product, cart, checkout | custom logic that is tightly woven into WordPress |
| What should the costs look like? | a predictable plan instead of server and maintenance bills | the software itself is free; you pay for hosting and maintenance |
| What is connected to the store? | warehouse, newsletter and content should plug in via integrations | everything comes together in one WordPress installation |
Look twice at the costs. With Shopify, apps often come on top of the plan, and so do transaction fees if you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments. With WooCommerce, the software is free; hosting, paid extensions and the hours spent on maintenance are not. Calculate both over a year, including your people’s hours.
How to migrate WooCommerce to Shopify in eight steps
A clean migration is mostly preparation. Import products on day one and you’ll be hunting later for the data that’s missing somewhere. This order closes the typical gaps:
1. Audit: what the old store really does
List everything the store does today – not just what it sells. Products and variants, customer accounts, order history, plus reviews, discount codes, pages and blog – those last four don’t come across via CSV, so you need an app or manual work for them. Then go through every plugin with one question: what job does it do? Otherwise, a plugin that quietly sends invoices or syncs stock levels in the background only gets noticed after the migration.
2. Pull a URL list: every URL Google knows
Before the migration, you need a list of every URL that visitors and Google use today: products, categories, pages, blog posts. Good sources are the old store’s sitemap and Google Search Console, with the pages that get impressions and clicks. In the Search Console UI, exports are capped at 1,000 rows; for larger stores, add a crawl. This list later becomes the basis for the redirects.
3. Transfer products and variants
Shopify’s free “Store Migration” app transfers products from the WooCommerce CSV export. Shopify allows a maximum of three options per product; WooCommerce products with four or more variation attributes arrive without variants. Imported products start out as drafts, and Shopify loads the images from the old store – so the old store has to stay online until the import is finished. Afterwards, check each product type individually: variants, images, copy, weights, prices. A test import with a few products is worth it before the whole catalogue moves across.
4. Take your customers and order history with you
Your customers come along; their passwords don’t. Shopify doesn’t take over passwords from other e-commerce platforms because they’re stored encrypted there. A new Shopify store doesn’t need them anyway: with new customer accounts, customers sign in using their email address and a one-time code that Shopify sends by email. Shopify deprecated legacy customer accounts, the password-based version, in February 2026; new stores can no longer switch them on.
The same app brings your customers across from the CSV export. Orders can’t be imported via CSV – for the order history, you need a third-party migration app. Imported orders can trigger notifications to your team, so switch them off beforehand. And tell your regular customers in advance how signing in will work from now on, or the question will end up with customer service.
5. Theme, content and legal texts
The new theme is the visible part – and rarely the problem. Pages, blog posts, images and the legal texts all need to be complete in their new place before the store opens. Check the Impressum (legal notice), terms and conditions, cancellation policy and privacy policy with whoever looks after them for you. Shopify, new apps and payment providers usually change who processes customer data, and the privacy policy has to name these recipients (Art. 13 GDPR). This is general information and does not replace legal advice.
6. Payments, shipping and taxes
You set up payment methods, shipping profiles and tax settings from scratch; Shopify’s own import doesn’t bring any of it across. Run through the most important cases with real test orders: domestic, international, discount code, return. Agree the tax settings for selling abroad with your tax adviser. No e-commerce platform does that for you.
7. Integrations: warehouse, accounting, newsletter
This is where it’s decided whether the new store is a piece of your business or an island. Write down every connection that hangs off the store today: warehouse and stock management, accounting, newsletter, content, marketplaces. For each one, check whether it runs just as well with Shopify as before – or better. You’ll find what that looks like at Apres Allstars in the use case further down.
8. 301 redirects, testing, switchover, post-launch checks
Shopify sets fixed URL patterns: products live under /products/, categories – called “collections” in Shopify – under /collections/, pages under /pages/ and blog posts under /blogs/. That’s why every old URL from step 2 gets a 301 redirect to the matching new page, including the old blog URLs from WordPress. Shopify accepts this list of URL redirects as a CSV file; with several languages, each language version needs its own redirects. Then: test orders, switch the domain over, and in the weeks after launch, check Search Console for error pages (404). Measuring results belongs on the list too: tracking code that sits on the WooCommerce thank-you page can’t be carried over – Shopify tracks purchases via pixels in customer events or via apps (as of October 2026).
Where a WooCommerce to Shopify migration gets expensive
Most problems after a store migration have nothing to do with Shopify and everything to do with what was forgotten during the migration.
- Missing redirects. Old links aren’t only in Google; they’re also in newsletters you’ve already sent and on retailers’ websites. Nobody can guarantee that rankings will survive a migration – but without redirects, you’re giving them up voluntarily.
- Untested integrations. Warehouse and accounting have to work with real test orders before the switchover, not on the Monday after.
Use case: how the Apres Allstars store is wired into the business today
The Apres Allstars store runs in five languages and is the core of our own sales channel, alongside a B2B channel, Amazon and retailers in several countries. What makes it part of the business are the integrations: our own ERP automatically deducts sales made in the Shopify store from stock. The newsletter builds itself from the store data; the article on the newsletter at the push of a button shows how. And once approved, new blog articles land in the store’s blog via an integration, in the other language versions too, as described in the article on the content system.
How I build a channel like this for other businesses is described under your own sales channel. The store is only one part of it: if you’re growing from reseller to your own brand, you’ll find the next steps in my Manufacturer DNA.
How I handle your store migration
How much work a migration takes is rarely down to the products and usually down to the integrations. That’s why it works like the Test Bench:
- 20-minute phone call: What do you sell, through which channels, and what annoys you about the old store?
- Check at your company: I look at your store, plugins, integrations and processes on site, with the people who work with the store every day. This costs nothing.
- Quote based on scope: You get in writing what the migration covers and what it costs – at a fixed price, before you buy anything. If it doesn’t pay off, I’ll tell you that too.
- Migration and handover: data, redirects, integrations, tests, switchover and a briefing for your team.
If needed, the migration includes everything that makes the store a real sales channel: B2B orders, connection to warehouse and invoicing, visibility through content.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a WooCommerce to Shopify migration take?
It depends less on the number of products than on integrations and special features. A store with standard processes migrates much faster than one with B2B pricing, a warehouse connection and several languages. Before the switchover, plan time for a test import and test orders, and after launch, a few weeks in which you check Search Console for error pages.
Will I lose my Google rankings when I switch to Shopify?
Not necessarily. For that, every old URL has to point to the matching new page with a 301 redirect, and after launch you check Search Console for error pages. Nobody can guarantee it, but without redirects your rankings are almost certainly gone.
Can customers keep their WooCommerce passwords?
No. Shopify can’t take over passwords from other e-commerce platforms because they’re stored encrypted there. But your customers don’t need a new password: in a new Shopify store, they sign in with their email address and a one-time code (as of October 2026).
Are orders and customer data carried over?
Yes, but not with the same tool. Shopify’s free “Store Migration” app transfers customers and products from the WooCommerce CSV exports. Orders can’t be imported via CSV; for the order history, you need a third-party migration app. So always run a test import with a few records first, and only then the full data set.
How much does a WooCommerce to Shopify migration cost?
It depends on the scope: number of products, content, languages and, above all, integrations. With me, you get a written fixed-price quote after the free check. On top of that come Shopify’s own running costs: the plan, apps, and transaction fees if you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments.
Can I run a multilingual store on Shopify?
Yes. The Apres Allstars store runs on Shopify in five languages. Plan translations and redirects for every language version, not just for your main language.
Sources
Shopify Help Center (help.shopify.com): guide to migrating from WooCommerce (“Store Migration” app: products and customers via CSV, orders only via a third-party app, a maximum of three variant options), pages on URL redirects, importing customers, customer accounts (sign-in with a one-time code), plans and transaction fees, and pixels and customer events. Shopify Changelog (changelog.shopify.com): “Legacy customer accounts are deprecated”, February 2026. WooCommerce (wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce, woocommerce.com). Google Search Central (developers.google.com): site moves with URL changes, redirects. Art. 13 GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (eur-lex.europa.eu). Accessed 30 October 2026. Information on customer accounts, redirects and tracking as of October 2026.
Is your business stuck right here? That's what I solve →