Overview of the Migration Process
Moving a store from WooCommerce to Shopify can take weeks or longer, depending on the requirements and stakeholders. We've tried to accommodate this process with the Ablestar WooCommerce Importer app by including features like unlimited re-imports, deleting previously imported items, and CSV summaries of the imports.
While each store is unique, generally, the import process will include the following steps:
- Initial product import
- Initial order import
- Theme and content development
- Updating products and orders in Shopify
- Creating URL redirects
- Creating activation links
- Switching your domain to point to Shopify
In this article, we'll give a high-level overview of the migration process from WooCommerce to Shopify. While each migration is unique, we hope this guide gives you a general idea of what order the various steps should be in.
Step 1: Initial Product Import
The first thing to do when you install the Ablestar WooCommerce Importer app is to migrate your products to Shopify. Migrating the products with the app allows us to keep track of which WooCommerce product matches up with which Shopify product. This is important for migrating the orders.
After the product import, you get the option to download a CSV summary of the import.
Step 2: Initial Order Import
Once the products are imported to Shopify, you can use the app to also copy the orders over to Shopify. Depending on the number of orders, this might take a while as the app needs to retrieve each order from the WooCommerce API and upload it to Shopify. Fortunately, this process can run in the background, so you can work on other things while the data is loading.
Step 3: Theme and Content Development
This step usually takes the longest, and it's where you'll set up your theme, add other content pages, and make any modifications to the products. (If you need to edit your products in bulk, we also have a Bulk Product Editor app for Shopify, send us a note, and we'll give you a 30-day trial)
Step 4: Updating Products and Orders in Shopify
Now that your Shopify site is looking good, it's time to update it with the latest data from WooCommerce. If you've added any products to your WooCommerce store since the initial update, you can use the app just to import the new products to your store.
You can also use the Ablestar WooCommerce Importer app to import new customers and orders to your store. If you re-run the import for customers and/or orders, it will not create duplicates; it will just update existing items.
Step 5: Creating URL Redirects
Now that you have all your products in Shopify, it's time to create the URL redirects. Shopify redirects don't look at the domain of a URL, just the text afterward, so you can create the redirects before you move your domain to point to Shopify.
Step 6: Creating Activation Links
If you want your customers to be able to log in to your Shopify store, you'll need to send them an activation link that you can email to them so they can set their password. You can generate a CSV of the activation links using the Ablestar WooCommerce Importer app and then use your email marketing provider to send them out. The activation links are only valid for seven days, so it's best to do this right before launching your Shopify site.
Step 7: Switching your Domain to Point to Shopify
When you're ready to launch your store, the final step is to point your existing domain to Shopify (Shopify has helpful documentation on how to do this).
Once you move your domain to Shopify, you won't be able to retrieve new data from the WooCommerce site unless you've set up an alternate domain for it. It might take several hours for the domain to transfer, so we recommend doing this during a slow period.