Migrate from WooCommerce

This guide outlines how to migrate your store to Shopify from WooCommerce. You can use it as a starting point and as a reference to make sure that you don't forget any key setup tasks.

Step 1: Decide how to migrate your WooCommerce store's content and data to Shopify

After you create your store on Shopify, review your existing WooCommerce store and decide what data and content you want to move over to Shopify. You might want to migrate the following data from WooCommerce:

  • products
  • customers
  • historical orders (orders that have already been fulfilled)
  • reviews

You also need to decide how you want to transfer each type of content. Review the following options:

  • Manual data copy paste: Copy the content from your existing WooCommerce store and paste it in your new Shopify store.
  • Store Migration app (Early access): Migrate your WooCommerce products to Shopify by using Shopify's Store Migration app.
  • CSV import: Export your data into CSV files, and then import them to your new Shopify store. Some data can't be migrated in this way.
  • Third-party migration apps: Use third-party migration apps from the Shopify App Store.
  • Migration expert: Hire a Shopify Partner to manage and complete your migration.

Shopify Store Migration app

The Store Migration app is a new first-party app that allows you to easily import your products from WooCommerce into Shopify with a few clicks.

Before you use the Store Migration app, review the following consideration:

  • Shopify only allows for 3 product options. Products with greater than 3 options will not have their options imported. This can be addressed via 3rd party apps or metafields.

Steps:

  1. Start a free trial for Shopify, and complete the signup form. When completing the form, select the following responses:
    • For the question Let’s get started. Which of these best describes you?, select I'm already selling online or in person.
    • For the question Are you currently selling through another platform?, select WooCommerce.
  2. After your store is created and you have access to the Shopify admin, install the Store Migration app by clicking the link in the setup guide.
  3. After installing the Store Migration app, do the following action:
    • Export your products from WooCommerce in a CSV format and upload the CSV into the app, without needing to make changes to the CSV.
  4. After your CSV file is uploaded, click Import to begin the product import process.
  5. After the import is complete, a report is displayed of how many items were imported. If there were issues with your import, then a list of items including a description of the issue is also included.

The rest of this guide recommends using CSV files when available, but notes other options when CSV isn't feasible.

Step 2: Export your product data from WooCommerce

You can export your product data from WooCommerce.

Steps:

  1. From your WooCommerce account, go to All Products > Products.
  2. Click Export.
  3. In the dialog box, do the following:
    1. Select the columns that you want to export.
    2. Select the products that you want to export.
    3. Select the product categories that you want to export
    4. Optional: To export all custom meta, select Yes, export all custom meta.
    5. Click Generate CSV.
  4. Name the file WooProductDownload.csv, and then save the file to your computer.

Step 3: Edit your product export data from WooCommerce

You need to edit your CSV file before you can import it to Shopify.

You can download and view the product CSV template and then edit your WooProductDownload.csv file to match that format. You might want to work in another tab of your CSV file. In the other tab, you can copy the column headers, and then copy and paste your WooCommerce import data into the Shopify product CSV template. Ensure that your CSV file contains only the Shopify product CSV templated data from your store before you import it.

If you use the sample file, then make sure to review the following details:

  • The sample file contains an example product and a couple of variants. Your import file probably contains more products and variants. If you use the sample file to create your own import file, then make sure that you remove all the example products.
  • The sample file includes the Variant Inventory Qty column, which is used only for stores that have a single location. If you use multiple locations and you want to import or export inventory quantities, then use the inventory CSV file.
  • The sample file includes the Price / International and Compare At Price / International columns, but both are left blank as there aren't any unique pricing requirements for these products when being sold internationally. Learn more about Shopify International CSV columns.

You can use Google Sheets to edit the formatted version of your CSV files. You can also edit the file using other popular spreadsheet applications, such as Microsoft Excel or Numbers.

Review the following table for columns that map from WooCommerce's data type with Shopify's data type. Remove any other columns that aren't mentioned in the table from your WooCommerce export. There are some columns that are available in Shopify's product CSV that aren't in your WooCommerce product export. Those columns aren't listed below but might also need to be reviewed. Learn more about what each column requires in the product CSV file.

Overview of data mapping for WooCommerce data to the corresponding Shopify product CSV file format.
WooCommerce data typeShopify data typeAction
NameTitleChange column name to Shopify's data type.
DescriptionBody (HTML)Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Attribute 1 nameOption1 NameChange column name to Shopify's data type.
Attribute 1 value(s)Option1 ValueChange column name to Shopify's data type. If your WooCommerce Attribute 1 value(s) field has multiple options, then create new rows for the different options. You can have only one option value per row.
Attribute 2 nameOption2 NameChange column name to Shopify's data type.
Attribute 2 value(s)Option2 ValueChange column name to Shopify's data type. If your WooCommerce Attribute 2 value(s) field has multiple options, then create new rows for the different options. You can have only one option value per row.
SKUVariant SKUChange column name to Shopify's data type.
Weight (lbs)Variant GramsConvert pounds to grams by multiplying the values by 453.6. Change column name to Shopify's data type.
StockVariant Inventory QtyChange column name to Shopify's data type.
Regular priceVariant PriceChange column name to Shopify's data type.
ImagesImage SrcChange column name to Shopify's data type.

Step 4: Import your product data to Shopify

After you have your WooProductDownload.csv file and complete any necessary edits, you can import your WooCommerce products into Shopify.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products.

  2. Click Import.

  3. Click Add file, and then select the WooProductDownload.csv.

  4. Deselect Publish new products to all sales channels, and then click Upload and preview.

  5. Review the details about the import, and then click Import products. ​​ After your CSV file is uploaded, you receive a confirmation email from Shopify to your email account used to set up your Shopify store. Read some solutions to common problems, or more general information about importing products with a CSV file.

Step 5: Verify and organize your products after import

After you import your products to Shopify, verify that all your information is imported correctly. Details, such as price, weight, and inventory, can impact your business when they aren't imported correctly.

Review for common importing errors

Types of errors that you can have when you import products to Shopify, and how you can resolve the errors.
IssueResolution
Products were imported successfully, but not published.If the products that you import are marked as hidden, then they aren't published until you make them available to your sales channels.
Details are missing from imported products.Review the product description on the product page, and then fill in the missing information.
Product variants failed to import.If a product is missing a variant option, then it won't be imported successfully. You can instead add the product to your Shopify store manually.

Review and organize your products

  1. Review your product details, including the product description, images, variants, price, and meta description.
  2. Create product collections to organize your products into categories, which helps you group your products both in the Shopify admin and on your external website.
  3. Understand product inventory and transfers to keep track of the inventory in your business. Review the available inventory apps to determine if any are necessary for your business.

Step 6: (Optional) Export your customer data from WooCommerce

You can export your customer data from WooCommerce.

Before you begin, you need to install a plugin to your WooCommerce store.

Steps:

  1. From your WooCommerce account, go to Import Export Suite.
  2. Click Export.
  3. In the dialog box, select User/Customer from the dropdown menu, and then click Step 2: Select an export method.
  4. In the next dialog box, complete the following steps:
    1. Select an export method.
    2. Select which hidden fields you want to include.
    3. Click Step 3: Advanced options/Batch export/Scheduling.
  5. In the next dialog box, then complete the following steps:
    1. To Export guest users, select Yes. Otherwise, select No.
    2. Name your export file WooCustomerDownload.
    3. Choose the export format CSV, and then choose the Delimiter. Delimiters are used to differentiate elements in raw data.
    4. Click Export

Step 7: (Optional) Edit your customer data from WooCommerce

You can't import your WooCustomerDownload.csv export into Shopify without editing the CSV first. Download and view the customer CSV template and then edit your WooCustomerDownload.csv file to match that CSV format. You might want to work in another tab of your CSV file. In the other tab, you can copy the column headers, and then copy and paste your WooCommerce import data into the Shopify customer CSV template. Ensure that your CSV file contains only the Shopify customer CSV templated data from your store before you import it.

Google Sheets is recommended to edit a formatted version of your CSV files, though many other popular spreadsheet applications might also work, such as Microsoft Excel or Numbers.

Review your export for columns that map to Shopify's data type. Some columns in Shopify's customer CSV don't match your WooCommerce customer export. Learn more about what each column requires for the customer CSV file.

Overview of data mapping for WooCommerce data to the corresponding Shopify customer CSV file format.
WooCommerce data typeShopify data typeAction
first_nameFirst NameChange column name to Shopify's data type.
last_nameLast NameChange column name to Shopify's data type.
user_emailEmailChange column name to Shopify's data type.
billing_companyDefault Address CompanyChange column name to Shopify's data type.
billing_address_1Default Address Address1Change column name to Shopify's data type.
billing_address_2Default Address Address2Change column name to Shopify's data type.
billing_cityDefault Address CityChange column name to Shopify's data type.
billing_stateDefault Address Province CodeChange column name to Shopify's data type. This column should contain the state's or province's ISO code associated with the customer's default address.
billing_countryDefault Address Country CodeChange column name to Shopify's data type. This column should contain the country ISO code associated with the customer's default address.
billing_postcodeDefault Address ZipChange column name to Shopify's data type.
billing_phonePhoneChange column name to Shopify's data type.

Step 8: (Optional) Import your customer data to Shopify

After you have your WooCustomerDownload.csv file and complete any necessary edits, you can import your WooCommerce customers into Shopify.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers.

  2. Click Import.

  3. Click Add file, and then select the WooCustomerDownload.csv.

  4. Click Import customers.

  5. Review the details about the import, and then click Import customers.

  6. Review customer import summary, and then click View all customers.

Step 9: (Optional) Import your reviews to Shopify

You can't export or migrate reviews from WooCommerce to Shopify. However, you can import your reviews manually using a third-party app from the Shopify App Store. The following apps can help with importing your reviews:

Step 10: (Optional) Export your order history from WooCommerce

You can export your order history from WooCommerce.

Before you begin, you need to install a plugin to your WooCommerce store.

Steps:

  1. From your WooCommerce account, go to Import Export Suite.
  2. Click Export.
  3. Select Orders for the post type, and then click Step 2: Select an export method.
  4. In the next dialog box, do the following:
    1. Select an export method.
    2. Check which hidden fields you want to include.
    3. Click Step 3: Advanced options/Batch export/Scheduling.
  5. Optional: If you chose to move to Step 3, then do the following:
    • To Export guest users, select Yes. Otherwise, select No.
    • Name your export file WooOrdersDownload.
    • Choose the export format CSV, and then choose the Delimiter. Delimiters are used to differentiate elements in raw data.
    • Click Export.

Step 11: (Optional) Import your order history to Shopify

You can use third-party migration apps from the Shopify App Store to migrate your order history from WooCommerce to Shopify. The following apps can help with importing your order history:

Step 12: Make your website look great

To help you get started, the Themes page of your admin has a default theme set up when you open an account with Shopify. You need to customize your theme to get your website looking how you want. If you want to customize a different theme for your online store, then you can add through the Shopify admin.

To add a theme for your online store, choose one of the following options:

Add a free theme from the admin

Free themes are developed by Shopify. Help with customizations for free themes is supported by Shopify.

Steps:

Desktop
  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.

  2. In the Popular free themes section near the bottom of the page, click any theme to read about its features and to preview the available theme styles.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • If there's a theme on the page that you want to add, then click Add next to that theme. The theme is added to the Themes page of your admin.
    • If you want to review more free themes, then click Visit Theme Store, and then follow the steps to add a theme from the theme store.
iPhone
  1. From the Shopify app, tap the button.
  2. In the Sales channels section, tap Online Store.
  3. Tap Manage themes.
  4. In the Popular free themes section near the bottom of the page, tap any theme to read about its features and to preview the available theme styles.
  5. Do one of the following:
    • If there's a theme on the page that you want to add, then tap Add next to that theme. The theme is added to the Themes page of your admin.
    • If you want to review more free themes, then tap Visit Theme Store, and then follow the steps to add a theme from the theme store.
Android
  1. From the Shopify app, tap the button.
  2. In the Sales channels section, tap Online Store.
  3. Tap Manage themes.
  4. In the Popular free themes section near the bottom of the page, tap any theme to read about its features and to preview the available theme styles.
  5. Do one of the following:
    • If there's a theme on the page that you want to add, then tap Add next to that theme. The theme is added to the Themes page of your admin.
    • If you want to review more free themes, then tap Visit Theme Store, and then follow the steps to add a theme from the theme store.

Add a theme from the Theme Store

Paid themes are developed by third-party designers. Help with customizations for third-party themes is provided by the theme designer.

Steps:

  1. Visit the Shopify Theme Store and choose a theme. If you're still in your free trial period, then choose a free theme to avoid paying any charges.
  2. If you've chosen a free theme, then click Add theme or Start with this theme. If you've chosen a paid theme, then click Buy to buy the theme. Paid themes are non-refundable. To be sure that it suits your needs, you can try a paid theme before you buy it.
  3. For paid themes, click Approve to approve the payment. The theme will be added to the Themes page of your admin.

Try a paid theme in your store

You can try a paid theme to preview how it looks with your products, brand colors, and style, before making the commitment to buy the theme. When you preview a theme, you can make customizations by using the theme editor. Any changes you make are saved when you purchase the theme. You can preview up to 19 paid themes, which allows you to compare different themes before buying.

Steps:

  1. Visit the Shopify Theme Store and choose a paid theme.
  2. Click Try theme. A preview of the theme will load for your online store.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • To stop previewing the theme, click Close preview.
    • To purchase the theme, click Buy.
    • To modify the theme settings using the theme editor, click Customize theme.

If you choose not to buy the theme, then the paid theme is still added to the Themes page of your admin. Paid themes that you're trying have a Theme trial label.

Step 13: Set up your shipping

You need to set up shipping rates and shipping methods correctly before you launch — you don’t want to have to refund customers for overcharging them, or to email customers asking them to pay more because you didn’t charge enough to cover the shipping of their order.

For more information about order shipping and fulfillment, click here.

Steps:

  1. Review your store's address to get accurate shipping rates based on your location. If you ship from other places, then add them as locations.
  2. Create shipping zones to allow shipping to different regions, states, and countries.
  3. If you use carrier-calculated shipping rates, then configure your shipment dimensions. Many carriers use volumetric weight (the height, weight, and depth of a package) to calculate shipping rates.
  4. Set up shipping rates for the shipping zones that you create.
  5. Pick a shipping strategy that works for your business. You might find it helpful to look through some options to find what meets your needs before making a decision.
  6. Decide how you want to fulfill your orders. You can fulfill and ship orders yourself or use a fulfillment service that ships orders for you.

Step 14: Configure your taxes

Charging sales tax is an important part of running your business. Depending on your location, there are different rules and regulations about sales tax that apply to your products. To make sure that your store meets those rules, take some time to understand Shopify’s tax setup process.

Charging taxes based on your shipping destinations

When you set up your shipping, you can apply shipping taxes to your products based on the customer's provincial, state, or regional tax regulations. These are calculated automatically by Shopify.

If you need to adjust taxes manually, based on a region with unique tax restrictions or based on a specific collection of products, then you can do so with a tax override.

Keeping track of your taxes

When you configure the tax settings for your products, you need to consider how to keep track of your taxes throughout the year.

If you’re not sure which system to use to keep track of your taxes, then you might want to review some accounting apps in the Shopify App Store.

Step 15: Setting up a payment provider

To make sure that customers can pay you, you need to set up a payment provider. A payment provider lets you accept credit card payments securely. Shopify Payments is available in certain countries and a variety of supported third-party payment providers are available.

Set up a payment provider

  1. Select a payment provider from Shopify or from a supported third-party.
  2. Activate Shopify Payments or a third-party payment provider in your Shopify admin.
  3. Choose how you want to capture and authorize payments when customers buy something from your store.

After you set up your payment providers, you need to configure your checkout page so you can process customer orders.

Set up your checkout

  1. Set up your order fulfillment and your payment authorization.
  2. Add your store's policies so your customers can view your policies before they complete checkout.
  3. Edit your checkout's customer information settings and decide whether you want to collect email addresses to update customers about events and promotions.

Step 16: Place some test orders

Now that you've configured your payment settings, you should try out a few transactions to make sure that everything is working. Running a test order will help you understand the process your customers go through when they buy your products. You can access all the orders that customers place from the Orders page in your Shopify admin.

You can run test orders for a few different types of transactions:

As you create, refund, and fulfill orders, you will see the emails that your customers receive for each action. You can edit the templates for these emails from the Notifications page in your Shopify admin.

Step 17: Add staff to your store

If you have staff that helps you manage and run your store, then you can add staff members to your Shopify store. Each staff member has personal login credentials. You can also set permissions for each staff member to restrict access to certain areas of your store and keep sensitive information secure.

Learn more about managing staff.

Step 18: Set up your domain

When setting up your Shopify store, you can buy a new domain or transfer the domain associated with your existing store to your new Shopify account.

Get a new domain

You can buy a new domain directly from Shopify.

Steps:

  1. Purchase your domain through Shopify.
  2. Set your Shopify domain as your primary so it becomes the domain that's displayed to customers in their browser, in search results, and on social media.
  3. Set up email forwarding so that email messages that customers send to your custom domain email address are redirected to your personal email address.

Connect or transfer an existing domain to Shopify

If you have an existing domain, then follow these steps to point your domain to your Shopify store.

You can use your existing domain, but Shopify's link structure for individual pages is likely different from your previous service, meaning that old links to specific pages likely won't load for customers. For example, your old page about your shipping policy might have had the URL example.com/policies/shipping-policy, but on Shopify that page might now be example.com/pages/shipping-policy.

To help customers avoid landing on error pages, before you transfer your domain, you can set up URL redirects in advance for any pages that your customers might have bookmarked, or links from third-party sources. This way, if they visit the old link after you transfer the domain, then they're redirected to the new link instead of receiving an error page.

Step 19: (Optional) Set up your SEO for success

You can set up your Shopify store for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) success to maintain your rankings in search results.

Set up redirects

You can set up redirects for all your important pages to help preserve your SEO ranking. After your store is live, you might want to review what pages on your site get the most traffic and make sure that those pages redirect to your Shopify store. You can also use a CSV file to import your redirects.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Content > Menus.

  2. Click View URL Redirects.

  3. Click Create URL redirect.

  4. In Redirect from field, enter the old URL that you want to redirect visitors from.

  5. In Redirect to field, enter the new URL that you want to redirect visitors to. If you want to redirect to your store's home page, then enter /.

  6. Click Save redirect.

Confirming your redirects are working

After you set up your redirects and launch your store, ensure they're working correctly by entering the original URL in a web browser and confirming that it redirects to the target URL. Any pages that were most visited in your other store should be checked to ensure they redirect to your Shopify store.

Editing your meta descriptions

A meta description is the brief bit of text that is displayed in search engine results. The meta description can be set for webpages, product pages, collection pages, and blog posts in Shopify. Make sure each page has a unique meta description that uses plain, direct language. A good description encourages more people to click the link to your store.

The Shopify admin has various areas where you can edit the meta description. Consider editing the following meta descriptions to help optimize your store for search engines:

Verify and submit your sitemap with Google

All Shopify stores automatically generate a sitemap.xml file that contains links to all your products, primary product image, pages, collections, and blog posts. This file is used by search engines such as Google and Bing to index your site so that your store's pages display in search results. Submitting your sitemap files to Google Search Console helps Google find and index pages on your site.

Sitemap files are generated automatically. You can find them at the root directory of your Shopify store's domains, such as johns-apparel.com/sitemap.xml.

The generated sitemap files link to separate sitemaps for your products, collections, blogs, and webpages. Sitemap files are automatically updated when you add a new webpage, product, collection, image, or blog post to your Shopify online store.

The process of crawling and indexing your site can take time, and Google doesn't guarantee how long it will take.

After your site is launched, it can take Google anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to index your site. To check the status, you can search Google to check your index status by typing site: followed by your domain into the Google search bar—for example, site:shopify.com.

Learn more about finding and submitting your sitemap to Google.

Using an app for SEO

You can use an app to help your site's SEO. SEO apps can help optimize your images, boost site speed, and monitor broken links.

Browse SEO apps on the Shopify App Store.

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