Migrating to Shopify in 2026: how to do it without losing data

A migration to Shopify is one of the smartest investments you can make as an e-commerce entrepreneur — but also one of the most underestimated tasks. Do it poorly and you lose SEO value, customer data or product information. Do it right and you have a clean, fast and scalable platform as the foundation for growth.

In this article I walk through the steps we follow in every Shopify migration — so you know what to expect, whether you’re doing it yourself or bringing in a specialist. Specific guides per platform: WooCommerce to Shopify, Magento to Shopify and Lightspeed to Shopify.

Step 1: Inventory what you have

Before touching anything, map out what needs to be migrated. For most stores, this includes:

• Product data — titles, descriptions, images, variants, prices, inventory
• Customer data — names, email addresses, order history
• Orders — historical orders for reporting and customer communication
• Pages — about us, policies, FAQ, category pages
• Redirects — all URLs your current store has, so your SEO stays intact
• Apps and integrations — email marketing, accounting, feed management

Also take a screenshot or export of your current analytics. You want a baseline before you start comparing.

Step 2: Set up a Shopify trial account

You can try Shopify for free — use that period wisely. Set up a test environment before going live. This lets you test the new theme, verify imports and configure integrations without the pressure of downtime.

Step 3: Export your data

From WooCommerce: WooCommerce has a built-in export for products (CSV). For customers and orders, use the WooCommerce orders export plugin or a third-party tool like LitExtension.

From Magento: This is more complex. Magento’s data structure differs from Shopify’s, requiring manual field mapping. Especially with large catalogues I recommend a specialist migration tool or partner.

From other platforms: Shopify has an official Store Importer app that supports many platforms: BigCommerce, PrestaShop, Volusion and more.

Step 4: Import and verify

You import products via the CSV import in Shopify. Note: Shopify requires a specific format. After import, always check:

• Have all images loaded?
• Are variants and prices correct?
• Are product descriptions intact (no HTML garbage)?
• Are inventory levels correct?

This is the labour-intensive part of every migration. We check every product manually for smaller stores, and use scripts for large catalogues.

Step 5: Set up redirects

This is the most underestimated step. If your URL structure changes (and it always does in a migration), you need to forward old URLs to the new ones. Without redirects you lose all the SEO value you’ve built up over years.

In Shopify you set up redirects via Online Store → Navigation → URL Redirects. For large volumes, use a bulk import via CSV.

Make a complete crawl of your old site (Screaming Frog or Ahrefs) before the migration, so you have a complete URL list.

Step 6: Configure payment, shipping and tax

Key points for UK/international stores:

• Payment gateway — activate Shopify Payments first for the lowest fees
• VAT settings — configure tax correctly for your fiscal location
• Shipping costs — Shopify has a powerful shipping matrix; set up free shipping thresholds

Step 7: Test, test, test

Do a complete test purchase (with real payment, then refunded) before going live. Check:

• Order confirmation email arrives
• Payment is received
• Inventory updates correctly
• Customer account works

Step 8: Go live

Update your DNS settings so your domain points to Shopify. This can take up to 24 hours. Keep your old environment active for 2–4 weeks as a backup.

When to bring in an expert

You can do a migration yourself if your store is small (under 200 products), you have no complex integrations, and you’re willing to invest the time. For larger stores, or if SEO and data are critical to your business, it’s wise to bring in a Shopify specialist.

At Web Builders we do this daily. Get in touch if you want to know what a migration would look like for your specific situation.