If you run an ecommerce website then you will no doubt have thought about migrating it to Shopify.
Over the last few years Shopify has considerably matured into a well oiled platform which is well supported and has a great learning curve.
You can use it to easily build sites with just a handful of products, all the way to thousands of products.
However, unlike setting up a new store, migrating an existing store has its own complexities you need to be aware of.
If you’re still unsure after reading this guide – or you just want the professionals to do it – then get in touch with us.
Why move over to Shopify?
When we first came across the platform years ago it was clunky, slow and didn’t have many of the features you expect today.
Compared to Woocommerce some things were not available, and others were really confusing to achieve.
Over the years however Shopify has steadily improved and become a hugely popular platform which has great support and it’s really easy to get started with.
Unlike some other ecommerce platforms you can get started with a basic site in minutes rather than hours.
You don’t need any hosting or backend knowledge since it’s all handled for you.
From marketing to international shipping, payment gateways to emails – there’s loads built-in from scratch.
Shopify Apps have grown in number too, and they provide a really good range of features and functionalities, as you would expect from a mature marketplace.
Finally, the support is really good with a very responsive live chat and then ticketing and forums which are very active.
So, in short if you don’t know much about servers and coding, Shopify is your number one choice with which to build an online store.
Migrating an existing website to Shopify
We’ve migrated a few websites over to Shopify now and the main reasons for doing so usually are:
- Shopify handle the server, so you don’t have to fix technical issues, that’s their job
- You want the advanced reporting features built in by default
- Your current platform doesn’t have plugins or apps to do what you want – most likely Shopify does
- Someone in your team has already used it and it’s way easier to use than your current site
- You want to benefit from the extra support and apps available
All of the above are great reasons to move over and grow your online shop.
However, unlike setting up a brand new store, moving an existing one has a few more important steps which you need to be aware of.
Migration checklist
When you are thinking of moving your ecommerce site to a new platform you need to be careful not to lose data, ensure links are all working, and the customer gets the same quality user experience (or better).
- Export all product data (such as to CSV)
- Determine if you want to move customers, orders, coupons and other pages
- Move images over
- Set up collections and products in your new store
- Port over any offers and discounts
- Ensure all pages from the old site redirect to a page on the new site (usually with 301 redirects)
- Set up all emails, taxes, shipping rates, apps as required
Exporting products and other data
This is going to be the most tricky part of the entire process.
Not just products, but you may want to move customers, order history, sales figures, discount codes and other data over.
Shopify has the ability to import data via CSV files but in our experience it may be easier to use services such as Matrixify.
Having said this, even then it’s not a straightforward process, especially when dealing with complex variable products.
Different platforms store meta data in different ways so you have to ensure you map data correctly.
As well as things like product descriptions and pricing, you may have to consider variations, SEO and of course images.
Copying images over
This can be a bit tricky because Shopify won’t automatically pull images from your old site to the new one.
Using an app may simplify this by automating part of it.
A great tip is to test a few products first.
By testing a handful of products you can ensure data is copied over correctly, nothing is missing, and that Shopify doesn’t report any errors.
In some cases there can be a bit of trial and error to ensure data is right and in the format Shopify require it.
Shipping, taxes, apps
Once you have migrated all of your products over, and they are properly assigned to collections you can look at other details.
Depending on how complex your store is, things like shipping and taxes might be easy to set up or you may need specialist apps.
In most cases it’s just a question of becoming familiar with how Shopify handles things compared to your old platform.
In our experience you can do most things by default and some things (like complex shipping weight rules) may require apps.
Things you can’t do in Shopify
One of the most important things to understand is what you cannot do which may have been possible in your previous platform.
For example, you cannot edit the checkout page or process (unless you are on Shopify Plus).
Another thing to consider is how themes are built differently, and getting used to liquid code and blocks in Shopify.
These limitations are key to ensuring you don’t get half way and then find out your new store will miss a key feature you need.
A good tip here is to trial Shopify and add a few products manually to understand the entire process.
Get help migrating your store
If you need help then contact StudioRav today.
We have moved many stores over from Shopify (and also away from it!) so we understand the pitfalls and intricacies involved.
As well as taking the headache away from you, we can also help guide and train you on new aspects of the store.
With our in-house design team, coding expertise and friendly approach we’re sure to be able to help you.