Migrate from Square

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

Note

If you haven't created the store on Shopify where you want to migrate your content, then sign up for a store.

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

After you have created your store on Shopify, take a look at your existing Square store and decide what data and content you want to move over to Shopify. A migration can be a good time to purge old, low-performing content, and give your site and business a fresh look. You might want to migrate the following data from Square:

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

Next, choose a method to transfer each type of content. Review the following options, which range from the least technically complex to the most technically complex:

Migration methods and descriptions

Migration method	Description
Manual data copy paste	Copy the content from your existing Square store and paste it in your new Shopify store.
CSV import	Export your data into CSV files, and import them to your new Shopify store (some data can't be migrated 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

The rest of this guide will recommend using CSV files when available, but will note other options when CSV isn't feasible.

Step 2: Export your product data from Square

You can export your product data from Square.

Steps:

1. From your Square account, go to Items & orders > Items.
2. Click Actions > Export Library.
3. In the modal, select Export to CSV, and then click Export.
4. Name the file SquareProductDownload.csv, and then save the file to your computer.

Step 3: Edit your product export data

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 SquareProductDownload.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 Square 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 Markets 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 Square's data type with Shopify's data type. Remove any other columns that aren't mentioned in the table from your Square export. There are some columns that are available in Shopify's product CSV that aren't in your Square 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.

Data mapping for Square

Square data type	Shopify data type	Action
Reference Handle or Permalink	Handle	Decide which column you want to use for Handle. Either the Reference Handle or the Permalink can be mapped to the Handle in Shopify's product CSV. If you choose Reference Handle, then you might need to remove hashtags. The Handle can contain letters, dashes, and numbers, but no spaces, accents, or other characters, including periods. Handles are used in the URL for each product.
Item Name	Title	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Default Vendor Name	Vendor	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Category	Product Category	This column should contain values from Shopify's standard product categories. Learn more about Shopify's product taxonomy. The Product Category column can also be left blank.
Option Name 1	Option1 Name	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Option Value 1	Option1 Value	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Option Name 2	Option2 Name	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Option Value 2	Option2 Value	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Option Name 3	Option3 Name	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Option Value 3	Option3 Value	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
SKU	Variant SKU	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Weight (kg)	Variant Grams	Convert kilograms to grams by multiplying the values by 1000. Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Price	Variant Price	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
SEO Title	SEO Title	No action needed.
SEO Description	SEO Description	No action needed.
Default Unit Cost	Cost per item	Change column name to Shopify's data type.

Step 4: Import your product data

After you have your SquareProductDownload.csv file and have completed any necessary edits, you can import your Square products into Shopify.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products.
2. Click Import.
3. Click Add file, and then select the SquareProductDownload.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

Common migration errors

Issue	Resolution
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

Note

If you're selling digital products or services, then review how to sell digital products on Shopify.

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 Square

You can export your customer data from Square.

Steps:

1. From your Square account, go to Customers > Customers.
2. Click Directory.
3. Click Import / Export > Export Customers.
4. In the modal, choose which customers you want to export:
   • To export all customers, select All Customers, and then click Export.
   • To export specific customers, select Specific Groups, and then click Export.
5. In the next modal, click Download.
6. Name the file SquareCustomerDownload.csv, and then save the file to your computer.

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

You can't import your SquareCustomerDownload.csv export into Shopify without editing the CSV first. Download and view the customer CSV template and then edit your SquareCustomerDownload.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 Square 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.

Caution

Ensure that your CSV file only contains the Shopify customer CSV templated data from your store before you import it. You can't import a customer CSV that doesn't match the Shopify headings. There is no data mapping support for customer CSV imports.

Review your export for columns that map to Shopify's data type. There are some columns that are available in Shopify's customer CSV that aren't in your Square customer export. Learn more about what each column requires for the customer CSV file.

Data mapping for Square

Square data type	Shopify data type	Action
First Name	First Name	No action needed.
Surname	Last Name	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Email Address	Email	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Email Subscription Status	Accepts Email Marketing	Change column name to Shopify's data type. Use the following values to update the column: yes or no.
Street Address 1	Default Address Address1	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Street Address 2	Default Address Address2	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
City	Default Address City	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
State	Default Address Province Code	Change column name to Shopify's data type. This column should contain the province's or state's ISO code associated with the customer's default address.
	Default Address Country Code	This column isn't available in your Square download, but you will need this information for your Shopify import. This column should contain the country ISO code associated with the customer's default address.
Postal Code	Default Address Zip	Change column name to Shopify's data type.
Phone Number	Default Address Phone	Change column name to Shopify's data type.

Step 8: (Optional) Import your customer data from Square

After you have your SquareCustomerDownload.csv file and have completed any necessary edits, you can import your Square customers into Shopify.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers.
2. Click Import.
3. Click Add file, and then select the SquareCustomerDownload.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 Square 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:

• Judge.me
• Loox
• Yotpo

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

You can export your order history from Square.

Steps:

1. From your Square account, go to Online > Orders.
2. Click Export Orders.
3. Name the file SquareOrdersDownload.csv, and then save the file to your computer.

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 Square to Shopify. The following apps can help with importing your order history:

• Matrixify
• LitExtension Store Migration
• EZ Importer
• Cart2Cart Store Migration

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 within the admin.
• Buy a paid theme from the Shopify Theme Store. Although paid themes need to be purchased before you can publish them to your online store, you can try a paid theme before buying.

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.

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.

Note

If you are selling digital products or services, then you need to deactivate the shipping option, because your customers won't be receiving any physical goods.

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.

Note

If your store ships to Europe, then note that there are regulations that apply when selling digital products.

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.

Tip

When you choose to use Shopify Payments, you can avoid paying additional third-party transaction fees and you can view your payouts directly from your Shopify admin.

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:

• completing a successful and a failed transaction
• refunding and canceling an order
• fulfilling or partially fulfilling an order
• archiving a successful order

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.

Note

To prepare for your store migration, you might need to disconnect any existing domains you want to transfer from your previous platform's settings. If you don't, then you might encounter errors with SSL certificates.

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: Migrate to Shopify POS

If you have a retail location, or sell using a point of sale, then you can set up Shopify POS to sell to your customers in person. After you have imported your store data and set up your Shopify store, you can add Point of Sale as a sales channel in your Shopify admin.

Set up Shopify POS

Before you can start selling, you need to set up Shopify POS.

Make sure that your staff, products, and locations are set up to complete sales in person. To learn more about setting up Shopify POS, refer to Getting started with Shopify Point of Sale.

Hardware

If you're migrating from Square to Shopify POS, then some of your hardware might be compatible. Refer to Supported POS hardware for a list of hardware that Shopify POS supports.

Learn more about Migrating your retail store.

Step 20: (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 Online store > Navigation.
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:

• Set a title and description for your online store.
• Edit the way your product displays in search results.
• Edit the search engine listing for your blogs.
• Edit the search engine listing for your pages.

Verify and submit your sitemap with Google

Note

You can submit your sitemaps at any time, but search engines can't access it if your website is password protected. If you need to remove your website's password page, then refer to Remove your online store password.

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.