How to Migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce

So you’ve been running your store on Shopify for a while, and now you’re thinking about switching to WooCommerce. Maybe it’s the monthly fees adding up, maybe you want more control and flexibility, or maybe you’re just tired of feeling limited by what Shopify allows you to customize.

Whatever the reason, migrating platforms can feel a little intimidating. You’ve got products, customer data, orders, and possibly years of content sitting on Shopify, and the idea of moving all of that somewhere else can feel like a huge task.

The good news is, it’s very doable, and thousands of store owners have made this exact switch successfully. Let’s walk through exactly how to do it, step by step, without losing your mind in the process.

Why Store Owners Switch from Shopify to WooCommerce

Before we get into the how, let’s quickly touch on why people make this move in the first place, just so you’re clear on what to expect afterward.

Lower long term costs. Shopify charges monthly subscription fees plus transaction fees in some cases. WooCommerce itself is free, though you’ll still pay for hosting and any premium plugins or themes you choose.

More customization freedom. WooCommerce, being built on WordPress, offers far more flexibility in terms of design, functionality, and content options.

Full ownership. With WooCommerce, your store data lives on your own hosting, giving you more control and independence compared to being tied to Shopify’s platform and rules.

Better content and blogging capabilities. Since WordPress was originally built for content, it offers a much more powerful blogging and content management experience compared to Shopify’s more limited blog features.

That said, WooCommerce does require a bit more hands on setup and maintenance compared to Shopify’s more all-in-one, beginner-friendly approach. So it’s worth going in with realistic expectations about that trade off.

Step 1: Plan Before You Touch Anything

Before migrating anything, take a moment to plan things out properly. Rushing into a migration without a plan is one of the most common ways things go wrong.

Make a list of everything you’ll need to move:

• Products, including images, descriptions, variants, and pricing
• Customer data and order history
• Existing blog content, if you have any
• URL structure, so you can maintain your SEO rankings
• Any custom design elements you want to recreate

Having this list ready helps you avoid forgetting something important in the middle of the process.

Step 2: Set Up Your New WordPress and WooCommerce Environment

Before migrating any data, you’ll need your new store’s foundation ready to go.

This means:

1. Registering a domain, if you’re using a new one, or preparing to point your existing domain to new hosting
2. Choosing quality WordPress hosting suited for ecommerce
3. Installing WordPress
4. Installing and setting up WooCommerce

It’s a good idea to build this on a temporary or staging domain first, so you can get everything set up and tested before actually pointing your live domain to the new store.

Step 3: Export Your Data from Shopify

Shopify makes it relatively easy to export some of your core data. Here’s generally what you can export directly:

Products: Shopify allows you to export your product catalog as a CSV file, including titles, descriptions, prices, and variants.

Customers: Customer data, including names, emails, and order history, can typically be exported as a CSV file as well.

Orders: Similarly, order history can usually be exported in CSV format for record keeping purposes.

Keep in mind that exported data often needs some reformatting before it can be properly imported into WooCommerce, since the two platforms structure their data a bit differently.

Step 4: Use a Migration Plugin

Rather than manually reformatting and uploading everything yourself, migration plugins can automate most of this process, saving you a significant amount of time and reducing the chance of errors.

Popular migration tools include:

Cart2Cart a paid service that specializes in migrating between different ecommerce platforms, including Shopify to WooCommerce specifically.

LitExtension another dedicated migration service supporting a wide range of ecommerce platforms.

FG Shopify to WooCommerce plugin a WordPress plugin designed specifically for this exact migration, handling products, customers, and orders.

These tools typically connect directly to your Shopify store using an API key, then import your data directly into WooCommerce, handling most of the technical formatting automatically.

Step 5: Migrate Your Product Data

Whether you’re using a migration tool or doing this manually, make sure the following product details transfer over correctly:

• Product titles and descriptions
• Pricing, including any sale prices
• Product images, ideally all of them, not just the main photo
• Variants, like different sizes or colors
• Stock quantities
• Categories and tags

After migration, it’s worth manually spot-checking a handful of products to confirm everything transferred correctly, especially images and variants, since these are common areas where migration tools can sometimes miss details.

Step 6: Migrate Customer and Order Data

This part matters especially if you want to maintain customer relationships and historical order records for your own reference.

Most migration tools can transfer:

• Customer names and contact information
• Order history and past purchase details
• Customer accounts, though passwords typically can’t be transferred directly due to security reasons, meaning customers will likely need to reset their password on your new site

It’s a good idea to send an email to your existing customers after migration, letting them know about the platform change and asking them to reset their password if needed.

Step 7: Recreate Your Design

Your Shopify theme won’t transfer over directly, since Shopify and WordPress use completely different theme systems. This means you’ll need to choose a new WooCommerce theme and recreate your store’s look and feel.

Look for a WooCommerce theme that closely matches your previous design, or use this as an opportunity for a refresh if you’ve been wanting to update your store’s appearance anyway.

Popular WooCommerce themes for this include Astra, Flatsome, and OceanWP, all of which offer flexible customization options to help you recreate your desired look.

Step 8: Set Up Redirects to Preserve SEO

This step is critical and often overlooked. Your Shopify store’s URLs will be structured differently from your new WooCommerce URLs, and if you don’t handle this properly, you risk losing valuable search engine rankings you’ve built up over time.

Here’s what to do:

1. Make a list of your existing Shopify URLs
2. Compare them to your new WooCommerce URLs
3. Set up 301 redirects from old URLs to their corresponding new ones

A plugin like Redirection makes this process manageable directly within WordPress. This step tells search engines that your pages have permanently moved, helping preserve your existing search rankings rather than starting from scratch.

Step 9: Set Up Payments and Shipping

Just like your Shopify store, you’ll need to configure payment gateways and shipping settings in WooCommerce.

For payments, WooCommerce supports popular options like PayPal, Stripe, and Square. Simply connect your existing accounts, or set up new ones if needed.

For shipping, recreate your previous shipping zones and rates within WooCommerce’s shipping settings, making sure your shipping costs and options match what your customers were used to on Shopify.

Step 10: Test Everything Thoroughly

Before making your new WooCommerce store live, go through everything carefully:

• Browse your product pages and check that images, descriptions, and prices are correct
• Place a test order to confirm checkout and payment processing work smoothly
• Check that your redirects are working properly
• Test your site on both desktop and mobile devices
• Confirm your customer accounts and order history transferred correctly

It’s worth having someone else test the store too, since a fresh set of eyes often catches small issues you might overlook after staring at the same store for hours.

Step 11: Switch Your Domain Over

Once you’re confident everything is working correctly, it’s time to point your domain to your new WooCommerce hosting. This typically involves updating your domain’s DNS settings to point to your new hosting provider.

Keep in mind that DNS changes can take anywhere from a few hours to 48 hours to fully propagate, so there might be a brief transition period where some visitors see the old site while others see the new one.

It’s often smart to do this switch during a lower-traffic time period, just in case any unexpected issues pop up during the transition.

Step 12: Monitor Closely After Launch

Once your new WooCommerce store is live, keep a close eye on things for the first few days or weeks.

Check for:

• Any broken links or missing redirects
• Customer complaints about login issues
• Payment processing errors
• Any sudden drops in search rankings, which might indicate an issue with your redirects

Being proactive during this period helps you catch and fix any issues quickly, before they significantly impact your sales or customer experience.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Skipping the redirect step. This is one of the most damaging mistakes, since it can cause you to lose valuable search rankings built up over time on Shopify.

Not testing thoroughly before launch. Always test your new store extensively before pointing your live domain to it.

Forgetting to notify customers. Since passwords typically don’t transfer, let your customers know they’ll need to reset their password on your new store.

Rushing the migration without a proper plan. Take time to plan out exactly what needs to move and in what order, rather than rushing through it.

Neglecting design differences. Don’t assume your Shopify theme will translate directly. Budget time to recreate your desired look properly in WooCommerce.

Final Thoughts

Migrating from Shopify to WooCommerce is a bigger task than simply installing a new plugin, but it’s absolutely manageable with proper planning and the right tools.

Take it step by step: plan your migration, set up your new WooCommerce environment, carefully migrate your products, customers, and orders, recreate your design, and make sure your SEO is preserved with proper redirects.

Yes, it takes more effort upfront compared to staying on Shopify, but for many store owners, the long-term flexibility, control, and cost savings make the switch well worth it. Just be patient with the process, test thoroughly, and you’ll come out the other side with a store that’s fully your own.