The Shopify migration checklist

Moving the data

Shopify's own advice is to import products first, then customers, then any historical orders.

• Products

  Import products with a CSV file, Shopify's Store Migration app where it's available, or a migration app. Then check that counts, variants, prices, SKUs and images match the old store.

• Customers

  Customer passwords can't be moved with a CSV. Shopify's answer is to invite customers to create new passwords, so plan that email for launch.

• Email consent

  Import each customer's email marketing consent, and mark anyone who unsubscribed or never opted in as no. Engagement history, such as past opens and clicks, doesn't move.

• Orders

  Past orders move with migration apps or Shopify's APIs, not with a customer CSV. Each imported order can send your staff a new order email, so plan for that before the import.

• Gift cards

  Shopify's Plus launch checklist moves gift card data right before launch. Gift cards can't be edited or deleted in Shopify, so check the file first.

URLs, 301 redirects and SEO

Every old URL needs a 301 redirect to its closest new Shopify page before the domain moves, and Google recommends keeping those redirects for at least a year.

• Import the redirect map

  Shopify imports redirects from a CSV file under Content, then Menus, then URL redirects. A store can hold up to 100,000, or 20,000,000 on Plus, and each one works as soon as it is added.

• One old URL, one closest page

  Google warns against sending many old URLs to one unrelated page, such as the home page. Map each product, collection, page and post to its own replacement.

• No chains

  Point each old URL straight at its final address, not through an older redirect.

• Keep what ranks

  Carry over the titles, meta descriptions and main text of the pages that bring the most traffic, and keep their images' alt text.

• Update internal links

  Google's site move guide says to change the new site's internal links to the new URLs. Menus, footer links and links inside text all count.

• Canonical tags

  Google wants each new URL to carry a canonical tag pointing to itself. Shopify adds canonical tags on its own, so check that your theme kept them.

Theme, apps and payments

After the data, Shopify's own migration steps set up the theme, shipping, taxes, a payment provider, test orders, staff and the domain, in that order.

• Theme

  Build or adapt the theme for every template you use: home, collection, product, cart, pages, blog and customer accounts.

• Apps

  Install the apps that replace your old plugins, and build small features into the theme instead of adding more apps. Most app charges then appear on your Shopify bill.

• Shipping and taxes

  Set shipping rates for every zone you ship to, and check the tax settings for each country or state.

• Payments

  Set up Shopify Payments or another provider. With another provider, Shopify adds a fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus.

• Staff

  Add staff accounts with only the permissions each person needs.

Testing before launch

Place real test orders before launch with every payment method, a discount code, a gift card, a refund and a shipping rate for each zone.

• Orders and refunds

  Run each payment method from start to finish, then refund one order and cancel another.

• Emails

  Check order, shipping and account emails, and any Klaviyo flows, from the new store.

• Redirects

  Run the full list of old URLs through a crawler. Each should return a 301 to the right page in one step.

• Tracking

  Check that analytics, ad pixels and conversion events record a test purchase once, not twice.

• Phones and keyboards

  Go through the buying path on a phone and with a keyboard only, from the home page to the order confirmation.

Launch day

On launch day, point the domain at Shopify, take the store out of private mode and check the redirects, since a domain connection usually takes effect within two hours but can take up to two days.

• Connect the domain

  For a domain from another provider, point its A record to Shopify's IP address 23.227.38.65 and its www CNAME to shops.myshopify.com. You keep paying for and renewing it at that provider.

• Turn off private mode

  New Shopify stores start in private mode, which hides every page from visitors and search engines. Turn it off once the domain is connected.

• Submit the sitemap

  Submit the new sitemap in Search Console, which Google says helps it learn the new URLs.

• Check the live store

  Open your top 20 old URLs, place one real order and follow it through to fulfillment.

• Invite customers

  Send the account invitations, so returning customers can set their new passwords.

After launch

For the first weeks after launch, compare Search Console, rankings and sales against your baseline every week, and fix each new 404 with a redirect.

• Watch for 404s

  Search Console and your crawler show old URLs that still return 404. Add a redirect for each one that had traffic or links.

• Compare with the baseline

  Clicks, rankings, conversion rate and revenue, week by week. Look at the trend over several weeks, not a single day.

• Speed

  Check Core Web Vitals once real visitors arrive, and remove any app you no longer need.

• Close the old store last

  Export a final backup from the old platform before you cancel it.

When to get help

A migration is worth handing over when the store has search traffic you can't afford to lose, custom features or integrations.

Every migration starts with a free migration plan within 48 hours, with the fixed price in it.