In short
- Migrating to Shopify means transferring your entire store (catalog, customers, order history, content and SEO) from your current platform, without interrupting your sales.
- At Stellar Projects, a migration takes 6 to 12 weeks on average and costs €7,500 to €35,000 on average. We never fall behind schedule: what lengthens a project is approvals on the brand side and the production of new content.
- The number one risk is SEO: without a redirect plan, a migration can lose up to 40% of organic traffic. This is a general order of magnitude, and a risk that can be entirely prevented.
- A well-run migration makes the store better: after its migration with Stellar, Le Minor gained 25% in conversion rate, with the same marketing budget.
Updated on September 28, 2026 by Volkier Bentinck, co-founder of Stellar Projects.
Your current platform costs you more in maintenance than it gives you in flexibility. Every update breaks something, every change goes through a developer, and your team no longer dares to touch the back office. That is usually when the question of migrating to Shopify comes up.
At Stellar Projects, a certified Shopify Plus Partner agency based in Paris, we have been handling migrations to Shopify since 2018, from PrestaShop, WooCommerce, Magento, Wix, E-majine and many other platforms. This guide brings together our method: what gets transferred, what changed on Shopify in 2026, the six phases of the project, the pitfalls specific to each CMS, and the timeline and budget to plan for. You will also find our 20 migration guides, platform by platform.
Table of contents
What is a Shopify migration?
A Shopify migration means transferring an entire online store from an existing platform to Shopify, while preserving the commercial data and the SEO you have built up. It is not a file copy, it is a reorganization: just like moving house, you sort, throw things out and rethink the layout before filling the boxes.
In practice, five blocks of data have to make the journey:
- The catalog: products, variants, prices, stock, collections, metadata.
- Customers: accounts, addresses, segments, marketing consents.
- Sales history: past orders, refunds.
- Content: pages, blog articles, customer reviews, media.
- SEO: URLs, redirects, tags, structured data.
That last block is the one automatic import tools never handle correctly. It is also the one that costs the most when it goes wrong.
When should you migrate to Shopify?
The right time is when your platform is holding back growth. The signals we almost always find during audits:
- Load times are getting worse and nobody knows why.
- Every CMS update breaks something, so you keep putting them off.
- Traffic peaks (sales, Black Friday, media coverage) put the site under strain.
- Selling internationally, in several languages and currencies, becomes a project in its own right.
- Total cost of ownership is spiraling: hosting, paid modules, security patches, a developer constantly firefighting.
- Your team no longer dares to touch the back office.
That last signal is the most telling. A platform your teams no longer dare to handle blocks growth, whatever its technical performance. Shopify, as a SaaS solution, includes hosting, security and updates, and connects natively to most business tools (ERP, logistics, accounting, CRM).
Is your store already on Shopify and it's the experience that is falling short? You don't need a migration, you need a Shopify redesign. And if you are still unsure about the platform, our comparisons PrestaShop or Shopify and Shopify or WooCommerce will help you decide.
What changed on Shopify in 2026
A migration launched in 2026 is no longer prepared the way it was in 2024. Several platform deadlines directly change the scope of the project.
| Deadline | What changes | Impact on a migration |
|---|---|---|
| February 26, 2026 | Legacy customer accounts are no longer offered to new stores | Customer accounts are built directly on the new Shopify customer accounts |
| June 30, 2026 | Shopify Scripts stopped working | Discount, shipping and payment rules are rebuilt with Shopify Functions |
| August 26, 2026 | End of checkout.liquid for thank-you and order status pages, including outside Shopify Plus | Checkout customizations are redesigned with checkout extensions |
| Since early 2026 | Agentic Storefronts: Shopify products become purchasable in AI assistants | The quality of migrated product data determines your visibility in these channels |
Promotional rules are no longer carried over, they are rebuilt. A store arriving with complex discounts must plan for this work from the scoping phase.
Product data becomes a distribution issue. With Agentic Storefronts, Shopify distributes catalogs in ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and, gradually, in Google's AI Mode and Gemini, starting with merchants who sell in the United States. A catalog migrated with truncated descriptions or missing attributes will be recommended less by these assistants, and that doesn't show up in Google Analytics.
Every platform has its pitfalls: our 20 guides
The source platform determines much of the project's difficulty. A WooCommerce export and a Wix export differ in both completeness and blind spots.
| Source platform | Difficulty | The hard part |
|---|---|---|
| WooCommerce | Moderate | Extensions piled up over the years, custom attributes |
| PrestaShop | High | Nested categories, combinations, parameterized URL structure |
| Magento | High | Volumes, custom modules, pricing rules, connected ERPs |
| Wix | Moderate | Closed system, limited exports |
| Webflow | Low to moderate | Editorial content and redirects |
For each of the platforms we come across in projects, we have written a dedicated guide. Select yours:
| Source platform | Migration specifics | Dedicated guide |
|---|---|---|
| PrestaShop | The most common migration in France, watch out for modules and parameterized URLs | Migrate from PrestaShop to Shopify |
| WooCommerce | Native CSV export on the WordPress side, keep an eye on extensions and the blog | The WooCommerce to Shopify guide |
| Magento | Large catalogs, multi-store setups, connected ERPs | Leave Magento for Shopify |
| BigCommerce | Similar data structures, transfer made easier by import tools | BigCommerce to Shopify |
| Shopware | A widespread platform in Europe, specific product attribute mapping | Move from Shopware to Shopify |
| Wix | Recovering editorial content and redesigning the product structure | Migrate from Wix to Shopify |
| Squarespace | Limited export, careful rebuild of pages and catalog | Squarespace to Shopify |
| Webflow | Keeping the original design or redesigning on a Shopify theme | Webflow to Shopify |
| Weebly | Often simple stores, quick migration if well prepared | Leave Weebly for Shopify |
| Jimdo | Manual catalog export, redirects to build one by one | Jimdo to Shopify |
| WiziShop | French solution, recovering product pages and SEO | WiziShop to Shopify |
| Lundi Matin | POS and stock sync to reconfigure on the Shopify side | Lundi Matin to Shopify |
| e-monsite | Full migration of content and SEO | e-monsite to Shopify |
| Wshop | French solution, connected tools to carry over | Wshop to Shopify |
| Drupal Commerce | Rich content to remap, critical redirects | Drupal Commerce to Shopify |
| Ecwid | Store embedded in an existing site, switchover to a standalone store | Ecwid to Shopify |
| OpenCart | SQL export to transform, catalog cleanup recommended | OpenCart to Shopify |
| Octave | French e-commerce ERP, close coordination with the vendor | Octave to Shopify |
| SiteW | Rebuilding the catalog and content pages | SiteW to Shopify |
| Sylius | Custom framework, technical scoping essential | Sylius to Shopify |
The six phases of a successful migration
Whatever the source platform, we apply the same six-phase process.
Phase 1: audit and scoping
A complete inventory of the current store: products, categories, pages, articles, existing redirects, apps, integrations and SEO performance. This is also the time to sort things out: obsolete products, ghost pages and empty categories don't deserve to make the trip. Migrating a clean catalog costs less than migrating a complete one. A migration also almost always reduces the number of apps, because Shopify natively covers what required a module elsewhere.
Phase 2: backup and data migration
A full copy of the original store is made before anything is touched. Then come the imports, with three options depending on the context: CSV import for small catalogs, specialized apps for standard structures, or a custom migration when the data is complex. Our migrations most often go through Matrixify.
Our rule: we never migrate in a single pass. A first test import on a representative sample (a simple product, a product with multiple variants, an out-of-stock product, a pre-order product) reveals most mapping problems before committing the full catalog.
Phase 3: design and features
Choosing or creating the theme, navigation, key pages, payment methods and shipping options. The choice of theme determines the development budget that follows: we covered this in detail in our guide which Shopify theme to choose. This is also the phase where discount rules are rebuilt with Shopify Functions, along with checkout customizations.
Phase 4: testing and acceptance testing
This is the most cost-effective phase of the project, and the one many rush. Serious acceptance testing requires a written scope, designated testers and a shared tracking tool. You test journeys, not pages:
| Journey | What we check |
|---|---|
| Discovery | Home page, menu, search, filters, pagination |
| Standard purchase | Product page, variants, cart, checkout, payment |
| Complex purchase | Promo codes, free shipping threshold, pre-orders, out-of-stock items |
| Customer account | Sign-up, login, imported history |
| Continuity | Old URLs, past orders, reviews, loyalty points |
| Performance | Mobile load times on high-traffic pages |
Each bug is tracked with its URL, a screenshot, the device used and a severity level. Our exit rule: no blocking bug left open at switchover time. Test orders in Shopify Payments test mode are mainly used to check the email chain: confirmation, shipping, cancellation, refund.
Phase 5: teams, logistics and data tracking
A migration that succeeds technically can still fail on the human side. Three workstreams run in parallel with acceptance testing: documenting the logistics chain (stock, order routing, tracking, returns), training each department separately (customer service, accounting, e-commerce), and connecting tracking before the switchover: Google Analytics 4, Search Console, Merchant Center, Meta pixel and consent banner. Tracking installed after the fact creates a gap in the data that can never be recovered.
Phase 6: go-live and follow-up
The domain name switchover is prepared in writing a week ahead: who holds the access, which records change, at what time, with what rollback plan. Our guide to the Shopify domain name details the configuration. On D-Day, in this order:
- Take Shopify Payments out of test mode.
- Place a real order with a real card, then refund it.
- Remove the store password.
- Check redirects in production on high-traffic URLs.
- Submit the sitemap to Google and Bing.
- Monitor for 24 hours: 404 errors, add-to-carts, orders, emails sent.
Two scheduling rules: never on a Friday, never the day before a public holiday. And wait a few days before announcing the new site to your entire customer list: the traffic from an email campaign reveals the last bugs at the worst possible moment.
The go-live countdown
The last three weeks concentrate most of the risk. Here is the reverse schedule we share with our clients from the start of the project.
| Deadline | Action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| D-21 | Scope freeze, end of change requests | Project manager |
| D-18 | Final data import and spot checks | Agency |
| D-14 | Acceptance testing opens, testers designated | Brand and agency |
| D-10 | Team training by department | Agency |
| D-7 | Domain name switchover plan written and approved | Brand and agency |
| D-5 | Redirect file imported into Shopify | Agency |
| D-3 | Fixing the last blocking bugs | Project manager |
| D-1 | Restricted opening to the team and a few loyal customers | Brand and agency |
| D-Day | Switchover, checks, sitemap, 24-hour monitoring | Agency |
| D+5 | Announcement to the customer list | Brand |
SEO and redirects: the point that decides everything
The question that comes up in every one of our meetings: "Will I lose my SEO by migrating?" The risk is real: without a redirect plan, a migration can lose up to 40% of organic traffic within a few weeks. This is a general order of magnitude, and it is an entirely avoidable risk, on one condition: every old URL must know its new address before the switchover, not after.
Three blind spots explain most losses:
- The catalog changes during the project. Between kickoff and go-live, products appear, disappear or get renamed. The redirect plan must track the catalog right up to the last day.
- Shopify imposes its URL structure (/products/, /collections/, /pages/, /blogs/). Each old URL must be redirected to its exact equivalent, never in bulk to the home page.
- Forgotten areas: a blog on a subdomain, an international version in a subfolder, an old customer area.
The good news: this work is much less manual than it used to be. We now build and check redirect tables with Claude, connected to Shopify through MCP (Model Context Protocol). Cross-referencing the crawl of the old site, Search Console data and the new store's URLs is faster and safer, with far less manual entry.
A migration is also the best time to clean up your content: merge pages that compete with each other, remove those that add nothing, and start again on a clear architecture. The complete method, from URL inventory to post-migration monitoring, is detailed in our article migrate to Shopify without losing SEO. For optimization after the switchover, see our Shopify SEO guide.
Watch points to settle before the switchover
Customer and order history
Your customers need to find their past purchases in their account. Importing the history is possible, with one costly trap: if email notifications stay active during the import, your former customers receive confirmations for orders several years old. Turning off notifications is the first box to tick, before the first file is imported.
Two other limits to know about: customer passwords can never be transferred, so your customers will have to create a new one. And imported orders can be viewed one by one, but they don't feed Shopify's native reports: your sales charts start on switchover day. Freeze your history before the migration (monthly revenue, average order value, cohorts), or build a dashboard that queries both systems.
Access to the old site
The old site must remain accessible at an internal address for at least twelve months. Not to the public, but to you: returns and refunds on earlier orders, complaints, accounting, tax audits. Shutting down the old environment on switchover day is the most regretted saving in any project.
Images and media
Image URLs always change. Check the alt texts, which carry part of your image SEO, and use the migration as an opportunity to dig out the source files of your key visuals.
Customer reviews and loyalty
Reviews are migrated through the connectors of the main solutions on the market, and loyalty programs are reconfigured with an import of point balances. These are short workstreams, but with high perceived value: a customer who finds their points and reviews again considers that the migration went well.
Timeline and budget of a Shopify migration
Timeline: 6 to 12 weeks on average
At Stellar Projects, a migration takes 6 to 12 weeks on average, redirect plan and acceptance testing included. We never fall behind on our side. What makes the schedule vary depends mainly on the brand:
- Approval workflows: the number of people who sign off on each step.
- Availability: acceptance testing that falls during your team's vacation automatically pushes back the go-live.
- Producing new content: when the migration comes with a redesign, a photo shoot, retouching or rewriting product pages get added to the schedule.
Budget: €7,500 to €35,000 on average
At Stellar Projects, a migration costs €7,500 to €35,000 on average. Our day rate is fixed, €800 per day whatever the project: the budget depends solely on the number of days required. Three variables make the difference:
- The volume and cleanliness of the catalog: poorly structured data requires more preparation than large but clean data.
- Integrations to carry over: ERP, logistics, POS, marketing tools.
- The level of design customization: a market theme adapted to your brand, or a custom theme.
On top of this budget come the platform costs: subscription, payment fees and apps, detailed on our page about Shopify plan pricing. For building a project budget as a whole, see how much a Shopify site costs with an agency. And if your migration targets Shopify Plus directly, our Shopify Plus guide helps you check whether that plan is justified.
Migrate on your own or with an agency?
Migrating on your own is feasible for a small store with no SEO at stake: Shopify's import tools are well designed, and our platform guides cover every step.
As soon as your organic traffic generates revenue, your catalog exceeds a few hundred SKUs or business tools are connected to the store, working with an agency changes the level of risk. An agency brings three things no import tool can replace: experience of the pitfalls specific to each platform, ownership of the redirect plan, and a single point of contact coordinating data, design and SEO while you keep selling.
Our migrations to Shopify
A well-run migration doesn't just preserve what exists: it makes the store better.
- Le Minor, a Breton workshop founded in 1922: complete redesign and technical migration from the old CMS. Result: +25% conversion rate, with the same marketing budget.
- Maroquinerie Renouard: after its switchover to Shopify with Stellar, around +20% online revenue in 2025 and traffic doubled.
- From PrestaShop: Matatie, Bluebuck, L'Arbre à Café and Songe Lab, which moved straight to Shopify Plus.
- From WooCommerce: Samaya and Flowrette.
- From Magento, Wix and E-majine: Angell Mobility, Trèfle Rouge Paris and Le Joli Shop.
Planning a migration? Let's talk about your project: we audit your current setup and tell you frankly whether the migration is worth it, with a reasoned timeline and budget.
About the author
Volkier Bentinck is co-founder of Stellar Projects, a Shopify Plus Partner agency founded in Paris in 2018. A L'Oréal alumnus, he has co-founded several e-commerce brands and supports brands with their Shopify creation, redesign and migration projects. Learn more about Stellar Projects. He is co-author of the book Créer sa marque à l'ère de l'IA (Building a Brand in the Age of AI, Eyrolles), which formalizes the STELLAR method.