Shopify migration checklist: move your store with a clear plan

What does a Shopify migration include?

A Shopify migration moves an ecommerce business from another platform to Shopify. It can involve product and customer data, storefront design, URLs, payment and shipping setup, operational integrations, and staff training. Copying a product catalog is only one part of the change. The goal is to keep shopping and order handling understandable while replacing the underlying platform.

Begin with the reason for moving. Perhaps editing is difficult, the store depends on fragile extensions, or inventory systems need a cleaner connection. List the capabilities the new store must support and the problems it must resolve. A platform change cannot fix inconsistent product data or an unclear fulfillment process on its own.

1. Inventory the store and its dependencies

Document products, variants, collections, images, customer records, order history, gift cards, subscriptions, discounts, and custom fields. Record where each item lives and how it will be moved or retained. Do not assume a standard export contains everything the business uses. Custom extensions and third-party applications may hold information separately.

List the operational connections: inventory, warehouse, accounting, email marketing, customer support, and reporting. For every integration, identify the system of record and the owner who can verify it. A migration becomes easier to review when each dataset and connection has a destination, a transfer method, and an acceptance check.

• Export and securely retain the source data.
• Identify custom fields and application-owned records.
• Assign owners for catalog, finance, and fulfillment checks.

2. Prepare products and collections before import

Clean duplicate SKUs, inconsistent variant names, missing images, and outdated descriptions before importing. Agree how products will be grouped and filtered. A shopper should be able to distinguish size, material, compatibility, and availability without guessing. Keep image filenames and alternative text useful where they provide real context.

Use a small representative import first. Include a simple product, a product with multiple variants, an unavailable item, and any item with special shipping or purchase rules. Compare the source and destination records. Check prices, inventory, images, options, and collection membership. Resolving mapping problems on a small set is easier than repairing a full catalog after launch.

3. Plan customer accounts and historical records

Decide which historical records staff actually need in the new store and which can remain in a secure archive. Tell customers what will change about account access before the switch. Customer passwords cannot simply be moved into Shopify through a normal customer CSV import; the login transition depends on the account setup you choose.

Shopify’s migration guidance covers transferring store information and preparing the new storefront. Check the current requirements for your source platform and chosen migration method. Test a returning customer’s experience, including access to relevant history, email notifications, and support contact details. Do not promise that every account or application record will transfer unchanged.

Reference: Shopify Help Center: migrate to Shopify

4. Map old URLs to relevant destinations

Export important old URLs, including products, categories, articles, and policy pages. Map each changed URL to a suitable page on the new store. Update internal links and test redirects with actual old addresses. Preserve useful content and avoid redirecting unrelated pages to one generic destination.

Shopify documents how to create and manage URL redirects, including restrictions and locale-specific considerations. Check your planned redirects against those rules. If you serve US and Canadian customers through different market or language paths, test each relevant path rather than assuming one redirect covers every variation.

Reference: Shopify Help Center: URL redirects

5. Configure markets, shipping, and payment behavior

Write down which countries the store will serve, which currencies it will display, and how shipping options are presented. Confirm the actual payment provider and account eligibility for the business. Tax settings should be reviewed by the responsible business or finance professional; a theme does not determine the business’s tax obligations.

Test representative US and Canadian delivery addresses where those markets are in scope. Check product availability, delivery estimates, shipping costs, discount behavior, and the final amount shown before purchase. Explain any restrictions clearly. A store can look complete while a shipping rule prevents a customer from checking out.

6. Test a purchase through fulfillment and support

Run a complete test journey: discover a product, choose a variant, add it to the cart, apply an eligible discount, check out, and review the confirmation. Then inspect what staff see in the order workflow and connected systems. Include failed payments, unavailable products, and incorrect address inputs in the review.

Verify notifications, inventory updates, fulfillment steps, refunds, and support access using the approved testing method. Confirm who can make changes after launch. Document the settings and application dependencies behind important behavior. This gives the receiving team a reference when a customer reports an unexpected result.

7. Plan the final sync and launch window

A trading store continues to create orders and change inventory during migration. Agree a cutoff point, a final update process, and who reconciles the data. Decide whether a short editing pause is needed and how staff will handle orders that span the transition. Keep the source store accessible to the people who need it until the agreed retention and shutdown plan is complete.

Before changing the domain, review the production configuration, redirects, analytics, and checkout. Define a rollback or contingency plan appropriate to the migration. After launch, monitor order handling, inventory, customer questions, and important URLs. A controlled launch is a coordinated business activity, not simply a theme publication.

• Final data update and reconciliation completed
• Domain and redirect checks assigned
• Checkout and operational connections verified
• Staff support and contingency plan ready

Build a migration brief your team can review

A useful brief includes the source platform, catalog size and complexity, markets, required integrations, account requirements, and desired launch timing. Add the operational problems you want the new store to solve. Screenshots and sample exports can help clarify requirements without exposing unnecessary personal data.

Valley of Digital can help plan the storefront, migration scope, integrations, and acceptance checks. A focused discovery step should identify what transfers directly, what needs transformation, and what must be handled separately. That clarity makes the estimate and launch plan easier for your team to evaluate.