From Shopify to WooCommerce: Everything You Need for a Smooth Migration

Tutorials

In the ever-evolving landscape of eCommerce, choosing the right platform can make or break your business’s growth. Many merchants begin their journey on Shopify due to its simplicity, but as their needs expand, they often look for more flexibility, ownership, and cost control. That’s where WooCommerce, powered by WordPress, becomes a compelling long-term solution. This guide walks you through everything you need to know to migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce — safely, efficiently, and without losing your SEO performance or store data.

As your store grows, you may need deeper customization, richer content integration, or tighter control over functionality and expenses. Migrating to WooCommerce bridges the gap between ease of use and full ownership, giving you the freedom to design, extend, and manage your store with almost no limitations. Whether you are a non-technical store owner or a developer overseeing a full migration, this tutorial will help you execute the process smoothly.

Why Consider Migrating from Shopify to WooCommerce?

The main reason merchants migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce is the desire for full control and long-term scalability. Shopify is great for quick launches but becomes restrictive when you need advanced customization, access to backend code, or freedom from ongoing platform fees.

WooCommerce empowers you to own your infrastructure, content, and data without platform lock-in. It’s especially suited to businesses with growing product catalogs, custom workflows, or content-driven strategies. At the same time, WooCommerce remains accessible to beginners, especially when handled through managed hosting and modern WordPress tooling.

Before You Begin: Essential Preparation

A smooth migration starts with preparation. Before exporting anything, complete these steps:

Audit your Shopify store: Identify everything you’ll transfer (products, collections, customers, orders, pages, blog posts).
Document your apps: Some Shopify features rely on apps that require WooCommerce equivalents.
Review your URL structure: Particularly product and collection URLs to prepare redirects.
Select your WordPress hosting: Preferably optimized for WooCommerce with caching and backups.
Plan your design: Choose whether you’ll replicate your current design or build something new.

A few hours of planning can save days of correction work later.

Step 1: Export Your Shopify Data

Shopify allows exporting most critical store data via CSV, making it the starting point of any migration:

Export products: From Products → All Products, export CSV with all fields.
Export customers: From Customers, export as CSV.
Export orders: From Orders, export your order history (note: partial detail may require a migration tool).
Export blog posts and pages: These require an app, an API-based tool, or manual migration depending on your setup.

Organize your CSV files into folders so you can import them step by step.

Step 2: Set Up WordPress and WooCommerce

Once your Shopify data is exported, prepare the WooCommerce environment:

Install WordPress: Use your hosting’s installer or a manual setup.
Install WooCommerce: Search for it under Plugins → Add New and run the setup wizard.
Configure store basics: Currency, location, taxes, and shipping defaults.
Choose a theme: Select a WooCommerce-ready theme or a builder-based starter template.

Advanced users can add a staging site, child theme, or performance plugins at this stage.

Step 3: Import Products, Customers, and Orders

WooCommerce includes built-in import tools, and specialized plugins can help where needed:

Import products: Go to Products → Import and map your Shopify CSV fields.
Import customers: Use a CSV User Import plugin to map customer accounts.
Import orders: Orders often require a migration plugin to preserve line items and statuses accurately.
Validate your data: Review several items manually to ensure everything imported correctly.

This step directly affects your inventory and historical data — take your time here.

Step 4: Rebuild Pages, Navigation, and Store Design

Now it’s time to recreate the structure and appearance of your store:

Rebuild your menus: Go to Appearance → Menus and recreate navigation items.
Recreate pages: Use Gutenberg or your page builder to rebuild key pages (Home, About, Contact).
Set up product/category layouts: Configure these using theme options or builder templates.
Migrate blog posts: Import using a migration tool or copy content manually if needed.

WooCommerce offers greater control over templates, layouts, and custom fields than Shopify.

Step 5: Configure Payments, Shipping, and Taxes

To make your store functional:

Enable payment gateways: Set up Stripe, PayPal, or local providers under WooCommerce → Payments.
Set up shipping zones: Define regions and rates under WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping.
Configure taxes: Enable taxes and choose manual rates or automated plugin-based solutions.
Update policy pages: Assign your Terms, Privacy Policy, and Refund Policy under checkout settings.

Test each configuration thoroughly before launch.

Step 6: Protect SEO and Set Up Redirects

SEO is a critical component of any platform migration. Incorrect handling can cause ranking drops. Follow these steps:

Map your Shopify URLs: Note down product and collection URLs.
Create 301 redirects: Use a redirection plugin to send old Shopify URLs to new WooCommerce URLs.
Update internal links: Ensure your menus, pages, and posts link to the new URLs.
Regenerate and submit your sitemap: Use an SEO plugin (like Yoast) and submit to Google Search Console.

This ensures your search visibility stays intact during the transition.

Pros and Cons of Migrating from Shopify to WooCommerce

Migrating platforms is a strategic decision. Here’s a realistic, migration-focused breakdown:

Pro: Full Ownership & Flexibility — You control hosting, data, database, and code. No lock-ins.
Pro: Lower Long-Term Cost — No transaction fees, fewer recurring app subscriptions.
Pro: Unlimited Customization — Anything can be edited or replaced, from checkout to design to backend logic.
Pro: Better Content Integration — WordPress blogging and SEO tools surpass Shopify’s built-in capabilities.
Con: More Technical Responsibility — You must handle hosting, backups, performance, and security (or choose managed hosting).
Con: Migration Complexity — Moving orders, customers, and URLs correctly requires time and careful mapping.
Con: Higher Initial Setup Time — WooCommerce is more flexible, but requires more initial configuration.
Con: App/App-Equivalent Discovery — Some Shopify features rely on specific apps that require WooCommerce plugin equivalents.

Overall, the migration is worth it for businesses seeking long-term scalability, customization, or ownership — but it requires a properly structured process.

Final Thoughts

Migrating from Shopify to WooCommerce is a major but rewarding step for any eCommerce business seeking more control, customization, and scalability. With careful preparation, structured data migration, SEO-aware redirect planning, and thorough testing, you can transition to a platform that grows with your business instead of limiting it.

Once your WooCommerce store is live and stable, you’ll be ready to enhance performance, optimize SEO, and build the exact shopping experience your customers deserve.