Successfully migrating your e-commerce store to Shopify

Migrate to Shopify without disrupting your business

Migrating an e-commerce store to Shopify is a structured project that unfolds in several phases. A well-prepared migration preserves your data, SEO rankings and revenue. This guide details the key steps to successfully transition to Shopify from any platform.

Phase 1: pre-migration audit

The pre-migration audit inventories everything that needs to be transferred. Count your products, variants, collections, customers, orders and content pages. Identify specific features of your current store: custom shipping calculations, ERP or CRM integrations, loyalty programs.

Document your current URL structure. Every URL that generates organic traffic will need to be redirected to its Shopify equivalent. This mapping is essential for preserving your search rankings.

Also evaluate the applications and modules you use. Most have an equivalent in the Shopify App Store, but some very specific features may require custom development.

Phase 2: Shopify configuration

Create your Shopify store and configure the fundamental settings before migrating data. Choose and customize your theme, configure payment methods (Shopify Payments, PayPal, Stripe), define shipping zones and rates and set up VAT.

Configure your domain name in Shopify without pointing it to the new store yet. This step lets you test the entire configuration before going live.

Phase 3: data migration

Exporting data from your current platform is typically done in CSV format. Products, customers and orders are exported separately. Shopify provides native import tools and specialized applications like Matrixify for complex migrations.

Product images are transferred automatically if they are referenced by URL in the import file. Locally hosted files must be uploaded manually or via a migration script.

Customer data includes names, emails, addresses and order history. Passwords cannot be migrated for security reasons. Customers will need to reset their password on their first login to the new store.

Phase 4: SEO redirects

301 redirects are the key to preserving your search rankings. Every old URL must point to its corresponding Shopify page. Shopify lets you create redirects from the admin interface or in bulk via a CSV file.

Verify that your most important pages (flagship products, main collections, blog posts) maintain their rankings after migration. Google Search Console flags 404 errors that indicate missing redirects.

Submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to accelerate reindexing of your store.

Phase 5: testing and go-live

Test the entire purchase journey before going live: navigation, search, add to cart, checkout, order confirmation and transactional emails. Check the mobile rendering, which accounts for the majority of e-commerce traffic.

Going live consists of pointing your domain name to Shopify. This takes effect within a few hours depending on DNS propagation. During this period, both stores coexist without service interruption.

A certified Shopify partner can manage the entire migration process to secure your transition. LCMH supports merchants in Alsace with their e-commerce migration projects.

To optimize your new store after migration, read our Shopify SEO guide.

Sources

1. Shopify, Migrating to Shopify. help.shopify.com/en/manual/migrating-to-shopify
2. Shopify, URL Redirects. help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/menus-and-links/url-redirect
3. Google, Move Your Site. developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes