6 good reasons to migrate to Shopify

When creating an e-commerce site, it is not always easy to know which CMS platform to choose, as there are so many possibilities. Very often, the site owner does some research, but if they are not familiar with the field, they make a random decision. Once the business grows and develops (more turnover, an increasingly large product catalog, etc.), the selected platform may no longer meet the needs of the company's activity. Some CMS, indeed, are not scalable. Therefore, it may be interesting to migrate the website to a more suitable platform for the store. In which cases should a store be migrated to Shopify? Here are some answers.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a SaaS CMS that allows e-merchants to create a complete and functional online store very simply. Currently, more than one million merchants use Shopify as their main point of sale. It must be said that the CMS offers some notable advantages and attracts new customers every year. These customers are divided into two distinct categories:

• those who have never had an online store and are creating their point of sale for the first time with Shopify;
• those who already had an online store through another CMS (Prestashop, WordPress, Wix, WooCommerce, etc.) and are migrating to Shopify.

In both cases, the platform is considered an economical and easy-to-use solution. Users benefit from a sophisticated back-office and numerous features that allow them to develop their e-commerce store.

When to migrate an online store to Shopify?

A merchant who launched their online store with a CMS other than Shopify may at some point want to migrate. And for good reason! Shopify mixes SaaS and open source to offer a flexible, fast and scalable solution to its users. Here are the situations in which it is useful to migrate a store to Shopify. Learn more about our Shopify agency's services.

Better meet business and customer needs

Very often, a company's needs evolve over the years. A new e-merchant often has few customers. However, by working effectively, they can see their results increase significantly. Naturally, the needs they had with a single client are no longer the same as when they have thousands.

It can therefore happen that the CMS functionalities are no longer suitable and that the business owner expects more from their software. If the company's strategy, activity, and resources evolve, finding a platform that can meet these challenges is an interesting option to consider.

Migrating your online store to Shopify, which is one of the most popular e-commerce CMS among merchants, can be the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the latest technologies implemented by the platform and respond more effectively to customer needs nationally or internationally.

Take advantage of attractive prices

The e-merchant may also wish to migrate their store to Shopify to take advantage of more attractive prices. By comparing the total cost of e-commerce ownership (TCO) of their current platform with that of Shopify, the owner of the web platform may notice significant differences. Migrating can then allow them to save money while benefiting from advanced functionalities.

Furthermore, Shopify offers subscriptions that can suit all budgets:

• Shopify Basic costs €27 per month;
• Shopify Standard costs €79 per month;
• Shopify Advanced costs €289 per month;
• Shopify Plus costs a minimum of $2,500 per month.

Create a functional custom website

The customization options, as well as the proposed functionalities, are not all the same on the different e-commerce platforms that exist. Some of them sometimes offer very limited options. When the owner of the online store wishes to benefit from a more modern interface or add other modules, but this is not possible, they can choose to migrate to Shopify.

Indeed, Shopify offers a wide choice of personalization through thousands of themes. It is therefore possible to create a custom website, 100% reflecting the company's image. In the same way, the functionalities that can be integrated are very numerous. Shopify's interface is also very intuitive and the CMS provides multiple resources allowing merchants to easily manage their e-commerce.

Automate processes as much as possible

Migrating a store to Shopify is also the ideal solution for e-merchants who cannot automate processes through their current CMS. Indeed, Shopify offers various automation possibilities that allow for significant time savings and increased productivity. Furthermore, it is possible to connect the store to ERP software, management, and accounting software, making processes much smoother.

Moreover, with Shopify, plugin updates are simpler and take less time. Here again, it is possible to opt for automatic module updates and focus on one's core business.

Avoid technical problems and attacks

Many e-merchants sometimes complain about technical problems and bugs they encounter on their e-commerce platform. However, if they are not resolved quickly, these setbacks can lead to significant loss of revenue.

Under Shopify, technical problems are not non-existent. However, they are less frequent and generally do not impact the entire site. Moreover, by using the API, it is possible to limit the consequences of problems that may occur. Finally, Shopify's source code is quite closed, making external attacks more difficult.

Many site owners thus migrate to Shopify when bugs are too frequent on their digital platform or when they want to benefit from more security.

Benefit from a complete CMS and improve its SEO

Finally, in general, e-merchants choose to migrate their store to Shopify when they need a complete CMS. Shopify, in fact, integrates all the essential technical aspects for the e-commerce store (hosting, backup, data security, etc.). The back-office offered is also very complete and benefits from an intuitive interface. It is even possible to manage your business from your smartphone. Many functionalities are integrated and there are more than 7,000 applications in the Shopify App Store that allow the e-merchant to benefit from all the modules they need. Finally, the site is often well enough designed for the owner to improve their natural referencing on search engines (SEO) and reach more customers.

Successfully migrating your store to Shopify

Migrating a store to Shopify is not a trivial act and requires specific knowledge. To achieve a successful migration, you must proceed step by step and:

• configure the basic administrative settings;
• export then import data from the old platform to Shopify (pages, blog, products, etc.) by creating a CSV file, using copy-paste or a dedicated application;
• organize products once the migration is complete;
• work on the online store's appearance;
• configure the different functionalities (domain name, shipping, taxes, etc.);
• place test orders;
• configure the redirection URLs.

Once all these steps have been completed, the e-merchant will be able to develop their business on Shopify and take advantage of all the functionalities offered to grow their business.