Moving from WooCommerce to Shopify is one of the more common migrations we handle, usually driven by wanting less time spent on hosting, updates and plugin maintenance, and more time spent actually running the store. Done properly it is routine, well-understood work. Done carelessly, it can genuinely cost orders, customer accounts and search rankings that took years to build.
This guide lays out nine steps, in the order that keeps a WooCommerce to Shopify migration safe, from the first inventory of what needs to move through to the weeks after launch.
Before moving from WooCommerce to Shopify: taking stock
Before touching anything, list what the current store actually contains: products and variants, customer accounts and order history, content pages, any custom functionality such as subscriptions or wholesale pricing, and every URL currently indexed by Google. This inventory becomes the checklist for the rest of the project, and skipping it is the most common reason migrations run into surprises partway through.
Step 1: What transfers and what does not
Products, their variants, images and descriptions generally transfer well between platforms, either through Shopify's import tools or a migration app. Order history can usually be imported for record-keeping, though it will not behave as live, editable orders on the new platform. What does not transfer directly includes customer passwords, some custom fields specific to WooCommerce plugins, and any bespoke functionality built with custom code. Knowing this list before starting avoids the surprise of assuming something moved automatically when it did not.
Step 2: Cleaning data before the move, not after
A migration is the natural moment to clean up data that has accumulated over years: duplicate products, discontinued items still marked active, customer records with obvious errors. Moving clutter across to a new platform just recreates the same untidy catalogue somewhere new. It costs little extra time to tidy this up first, and it makes the new Shopify store easier to manage from day one.
Step 3: Products and variants
Map out how WooCommerce's product structure, including variable products and their attributes, will translate into Shopify's variant system, since the two platforms model products slightly differently. Most catalogues map across cleanly with a good migration tool, but anything unusual, bundled products, highly customised variant combinations, deserves a manual check rather than trusting an automated import blindly.
Step 4: Customers and the password question
Customer records, names, addresses and order history, can generally be imported into Shopify. Passwords cannot, because WooCommerce stores them in a form that cannot be reversed and reused elsewhere; this is a security feature, not an oversight. Plan the communication around this in advance: customers will need to set a new password the first time they log in or check out after the move, and a short, clear email explaining why avoids confused support requests on launch day.
Step 5: Orders and historical records
Past orders typically import as a historical record for reference and reporting, rather than as active, fulfillable orders. Confirm what your accounting or fulfilment workflow actually needs from this history before the move, so nothing critical is assumed to transfer when it will not. Keeping an export of the full WooCommerce order history as a backup, separate from whatever imports into Shopify, is a sensible precaution regardless.
Step 6: The redirect map every migration needs
Every URL the old WooCommerce store used, for products, categories and content pages, needs a corresponding redirect to its new Shopify equivalent. Google's own guidance on site moves with URL changes explains why this matters: without it, search engines see the old pages as gone rather than moved, and the rankings built up over years are largely lost rather than carried forward. Build this redirect map as its own project deliverable, checked item by item, not as an afterthought once the new store is already live.
Step 7: Testing before anything is public
Before the domain switches over, test the new Shopify store thoroughly on its temporary address: checkout with a real test transaction, account creation, key product pages, and any custom functionality the business relies on. This is also the point to confirm analytics and any advertising pixels are correctly installed on the new platform, since campaigns depending on tracking data will otherwise lose visibility the moment traffic moves across.
Step 8: Launch-day cut-over
Plan the actual switch for a quiet period if the business has one, and have the redirect rules live and tested before the domain points at the new store, not after. Keep the old WooCommerce site accessible on a temporary address for a short period after launch, in case anything needs checking against the original data, even though it is no longer the live store customers see.
Step 9: The first two weeks after moving from WooCommerce to Shopify
After launch, watch closely rather than assuming everything worked because nothing obviously broke. Check that orders are completing normally, that redirects are firing correctly for a sample of old URLs, and that search traffic is not dropping more than the temporary dip that is normal after any platform move. Keep the redirect list and a note of what changed somewhere accessible, since questions inevitably come up weeks later about a specific old link that a customer or partner had bookmarked.
SEO details worth checking specifically
Beyond the redirect map, a few SEO-specific details deserve a direct check rather than an assumption they transferred automatically: meta titles and descriptions on key pages, structured data for products, and the XML sitemap Shopify generates for the new store. Comparing a sample of important pages side by side, old versus new, catches gaps before launch rather than weeks later when a drop in organic traffic prompts the investigation. This is a small amount of extra effort that meaningfully protects the search visibility a store has spent years building.
Apps that help a WooCommerce to Shopify move
A number of established migration apps handle the mechanics of moving products, customers and orders between the two platforms, and using one is usually faster and less error-prone than a fully manual export-and-import process for a standard catalogue. That said, an app is a tool, not a substitute for the planning steps above; running an app without first inventorying what the store contains, cleaning the data, and building the redirect map separately still leaves the same gaps a rushed migration always has. Treat the app as the step that moves data, not as the whole project.
What tends to go wrong without a plan
The migrations that cause real problems are almost always ones rushed straight to launch without steps 6 and 7 done properly: no redirect map, or a redirect map built but never actually tested against the live old URLs. The second most common issue is customer communication, launching without warning shoppers that they will need a new password, which generates a spike of confused support messages that a single advance email would have prevented entirely.
A short checklist before you begin
Before starting the technical work, confirm five things are in place: a full export of the WooCommerce database and files as a backup, a complete product and customer inventory, a list of any custom functionality that needs individual planning, a target launch window, and a plan for communicating the change to customers. Having these settled first keeps the nine steps that follow moving in order, rather than working through them while still gathering basic information that should have been sorted at the start.
Custom functionality that needs special attention
Most catalogues migrate cleanly, but stores with subscriptions, wholesale pricing tiers, membership content or bespoke plugins built for a specific workflow need individual planning rather than assuming a standard import tool covers them. Shopify has native or app-based equivalents for most of these, but mapping WooCommerce's specific configuration onto Shopify's equivalent feature is manual work, not a checkbox in an import wizard. Identifying these pieces during the initial inventory, rather than discovering them mid-migration, is what keeps the timeline realistic.
Choosing between an app and a manual migration
For straightforward catalogues, a migration app that connects to both platforms can move products, customers and orders with reasonable accuracy and far less manual effort than doing it by hand. For stores with significant customisation, a more manual approach, exporting data, cleaning it, and importing deliberately in stages, gives more control over exactly how each piece lands on the new platform. Neither approach is wrong; the right one depends on how much the store deviates from a standard WooCommerce setup, which is precisely what the initial inventory in step one is meant to reveal.
Communicating the move to customers
Beyond the password reset notice, it is worth telling regular customers about the move in general terms before it happens, particularly anyone on a mailing list or with a business account with special pricing. A short note explaining that the store is moving to a new, faster platform, when it will happen, and that their history is being carried across, prevents confusion and repeat support enquiries during the transition window. This is a small piece of communication that costs little and consistently pays off in a calmer launch day.
Reviews and user-generated content
Product reviews accumulated over years on WooCommerce represent real social proof, and losing them in a migration is a genuine cost even though it is easy to overlook while focused on products and orders. Most review apps used with WooCommerce offer an export, and Shopify's review apps generally accept an import in a compatible format, so plan this as its own line item rather than assuming it happens as part of the product migration. Wishlists and any other customer-generated content deserve the same explicit check.
Handling discount codes and gift cards
Active discount codes, store credit and gift cards need their own line in the migration plan, since these do not always transfer automatically and customers notice quickly if a previously valid code stops working. Decide in advance whether existing codes will be recreated on Shopify before launch, and communicate clearly if any promotional codes need to be reissued as part of the move, so customer service is not caught off guard by the first enquiry.
What a realistic timeline looks like
A simple catalogue with few customisations can move through these nine steps in a matter of weeks from planning to launch. A larger catalogue, with subscriptions, wholesale tiers or extensive custom functionality, reasonably takes longer, because steps 3, 4 and 5 each require more careful mapping rather than a bulk import. Building in time for the testing step, rather than treating it as a formality before launch, is what most consistently separates a smooth WooCommerce to Shopify migration from a stressful one.
Getting a WooCommerce to Shopify migration done properly
None of these nine steps is individually difficult, but skipping one, especially the redirect map, is what turns a routine migration into a costly one. Our Shopify store development service includes migrations built around exactly this checklist. If you are weighing whether to move, our comparison of Shopify vs WooCommerce for a growing store is a useful starting point, and you are welcome to talk through your specific catalogue before committing to a date.