In short: Moving from Magento or PrestaShop to Shopify or WooCommerce transfers products, customers, past orders and pages well. The theme, extensions, integrations and pricing and shipping rules have to be rebuilt. The most delicate part is search rankings: every old URL needs a 301 redirect to its new one.
A Magento or PrestaShop shop that costs too much to maintain, or that nobody knows how to update any more, is a common situation. The usual way out is a move to Shopify or WooCommerce. A migration isn't a copy and paste: it's a job where it pays to know in advance what travels on its own and what calls for decisions.
First: why are you changing?
Write the reason down in one line. It might be the cost of updates or a slow site. Sometimes it's dependence on a single developer. Or day-to-day management that's too complicated for the people doing the selling. The answer steers the choice: if you want less technical maintenance, Shopify is almost always the more straightforward route. If you need complete freedom over code and data, WooCommerce gives you more room. See also Shopify or WooCommerce: how to choose.
What transfers well
- Products with titles, descriptions, prices, SKUs, categories and images. Variants (size, colour) need checking, because each platform describes them in its own way.
- Customers with addresses and purchase history. Passwords, however, don't transfer: customers will have to reset them.
- Past orders, which you need for accounting and customer service. After the migration they can be looked up but not processed as live orders.
- Content pages such as about us, terms and conditions and the blog.
What has to be rebuilt
- The theme. It doesn't carry over from one platform to another. It's a chance to slim it down.
- Whatever your extensions did. Modules and plugins aren't compatible. For each one, ask whether you still need it and what the equivalent is.
- Integrations. Management software, warehouse, couriers and invoicing all need reconnecting. This is where much of the day-to-day workload is decided.
- Pricing and shipping rules. Group discounts, dedicated price lists and tiered rates have to be rebuilt and checked with test orders.
The part you can't see: search rankings
The pages of the old site have URLs that Google knows. If they change without a redirect, anyone who finds you through a search engine lands on a page that no longer exists. The job is to draw up a table: old URL, new URL. Then you set up a permanent (301) redirect for each one. You also check SEO titles and descriptions, structured data and the sitemap. After launch, you watch Search Console to catch errors.
A tidy sequence
- Inventory. Products, customers, orders, extensions, integrations and the pages that get the most traffic.
- Choosing the platform and the migration plan.
- Building the new shop in a separate environment.
- Transferring the data and spot-checking it.
- Full test purchases: order, payment, shipping, emails, invoice.
- Redirects and SEO checks.
- Launch on a low-traffic day, with the old shop still available for a while.
- Post-launch checks on orders, errors and rankings.
Mistakes to avoid
- Switching off the old site before checking the redirects.
- Importing everything without a clear-out. Discontinued products and empty categories follow the shop into its new home.
- Forgetting transactional emails: order confirmations and shipping notices are the first thing the customer sees.
Further reading: migrations and redesigns · SEO for an online shop · Shopify or WooCommerce
Frequently asked questions
What transfers in an e-commerce migration?
Products with descriptions, prices, SKUs, categories and images, customers with their addresses, past orders and content pages. Customer passwords don't transfer: customers will have to reset them.
What has to be rebuilt from scratch?
The theme, whatever your extensions did, the integrations with management software and couriers, and your pricing and shipping rules.
How do you avoid losing your Google rankings?
By drawing up a table of old and new URLs, setting up permanent (301) redirects, checking SEO titles, descriptions and structured data, and keeping an eye on Search Console after launch.