How do I move my store between WooCommerce and Shopify?
Plan it as a project, not a weekend. Export products, customers and orders, import them in that order, and rebuild what doesn't transfer, such as theme, apps and settings. Map every old product and page address to its new one with redirects before you switch the domain. Then test checkout, emails and tax before launch.
The short version
- Decide first whether moving fixes the real problem. Our answer on WooCommerce or Shopify helps.
- Data moves in a set order: products, then customers, then orders.
- Themes, apps or plugins, and most settings don’t move. Plan to rebuild them.
- Redirect every old product, category and page address to its new home. Shopify’s addresses differ from WooCommerce’s.
- Switch the domain last, after a full test of checkout, emails, shipping and tax.
What moves, and what doesn’t?
| Moves with tools | Usually rebuilt by hand |
|---|---|
| Products, variations, images, prices | Theme and page design |
| Customers (names, emails, addresses) | Apps and plugins, and what they did |
| Past orders, with a migration app or the API | Shipping, tax and payment settings |
| Gift cards and store credit, with a migration app | Email templates and wording |
| Blog posts and pages | Redirects, forms and tracking code |
Shopify’s migration guide lists five ways to move, from least to most technical: copy and paste, CSV files, a migration app such as Shopify’s Store Migration app, a Shopify Partner, or a custom build with its APIs. The same page notes that some data can’t be migrated with CSV files.
How do I plan the move?
- Freeze the list. Export your products, customers and orders, and count them. You’ll check the new store against these numbers.
- List every URL. Export your sitemap or a crawl of the current store. Note which pages get the most visits in Search Console or Analytics.
- Build the new store privately. Keep it password-protected while you work.
- Import products first. In WooCommerce, the importer is under Products, All Products, Import; WooCommerce’s CSV importer guide covers variations and images by URL. In Shopify, use a product CSV or a migration app.
- Then customers, then orders. Shopify says this order matters, because orders need to link to the products and customers already there.
- Turn off staff order emails during the import. Shopify warns that each imported order can trigger a “new order” email to staff. Turn those notifications off before importing and back on afterward.
- Rebuild settings: shipping zones and rates, tax, payments, store emails, policies.
- Set up redirects from every old address to its new one. Shopify gives the example of a policy page moving from one path to another, and says to set redirects before transferring your domain. You can import redirects from a CSV file.
- Test everything: search, cart, checkout with a real payment and refund, emails, shipping to each zone, tax by state, coupons.
- Switch the domain. Shopify says to disconnect the domain from the old platform first, or you may see security certificate errors.
- Check after launch. Visit your busiest old URLs and confirm they redirect, and watch Search Console for errors.
Why do redirects matter so much?
Your product pages may have years of Google history and links from other sites. Without redirects, those addresses become “page not found,” and customers and search engines both hit a dead end. Google’s redirects guide recommends permanent server-side redirects when a page has moved for good. Our article on redesigning without losing SEO covers the wider checklist.
What are the common mistakes and edge cases?
- Moving to fix a problem the move won’t fix, such as slow pages caused by large images, or a missing feature a plugin could add.
- Forgetting customer accounts. Customer records can move, but customers may need to set up their login again on the new store. Tell them before launch.
- Variations that don’t map. Shopify allows up to three options per product, so a WooCommerce product with four attributes needs rethinking. See products in sizes and colors.
- Subscriptions and saved cards. These depend on the payment provider. Ask both old and new providers what can move.
- Launching in your busiest season. Pick a quiet month.
- Cancelling the old store too early. Keep it, or at least a full export and backup, until you’re sure nothing is missing.
What if this didn’t work?
- Product counts don’t match. Check the importer’s skipped rows and error list.
- Images didn’t import. WooCommerce’s guide notes some hosts block images fetched from outside URLs; upload those by hand.
- Traffic dropped after launch. Check that old URLs redirect with a single hop to the right page, not all to the home page.
- Orders arrive without emails. Check the new store’s email settings and sending domain. See order confirmation emails.
How much does it cost, and how long does it take?
It depends on the number of products, how much order history you want, and how much design you rebuild. Migration apps and partners have their own fees. We’ll quote after a short call.
How does E-3 handle this?
E-3 treats a store move like a redesign: the new store is built and tested on a private copy first, and goes live only after you approve it. New accounts are created in your name, with E-3 added as a user. We save the existing DNS records before changing them, set up Search Console with E-3 added as a user, and check the redirects after launch. This is part of our redesign work; afterward, website care keeps the store updated.
Related questions
Next step
- Online stores: the complete guideEvery guide in this topic, in order.
- Free website checkPublic checks on your own site, then an action plan of what to fix first.
Still stuck? Ask E-3 for an answer from our help guides.
Rather we handled online stores for you?
It’s part of what we do every week for small businesses, as part of website care. Start with a free check of your site and profile, or call and ask.