Migrate from Magento to Shopify: Pre-migration & Setup

Magento is an excellent platform for online stores. In fact, it is one of the best eCommerce development platforms. But rising maintenance costs, complex updates, or scalability concerns may have you considering a switch. Enter Shopify.

You can migrate from Magento to Shopify to streamline operations, reduce technical overhead, and improve user experience–but only if done right. A poorly executed migration risks search rankings, customer data, and sales.

So our eCommerce experts have compiled this guide to explain how to migrate from Magento to Shopify. From pre-migration audits to post-launch optimization, this process will ensure a seamless transition. Let’s begin.

Potential Reasons to Switch From Magento to Shopify

Magento has long been a powerful eCommerce platform, but evolving business needs may make Shopify a better fit. Here are key reasons businesses switch:

• Simplified Management: Shopify’s user-friendly interface reduces technical dependency, unlike Magento’s complex backend.
• Lower Maintenance Costs: No server management, security patches, or costly developer support—Shopify handles it all.
• Faster Performance: Optimized hosting ensures quicker load times, improving SEO and conversions.
• Scalability Without Hassle: Shopify Plus offers enterprise-level features without Magento’s infrastructure demands.
• Seamless Integrations: Native apps and plugins simplify adding features like subscriptions or AI-powered tools.

Do operational ease, cost efficiency, or growth flexibility matter to your business? Then you may consider migrating to Shopify.

What to Consider Before Magento to Shopify Migration?

Migrating your eCommerce store is a major decision—rushing it can lead to lost data, broken search rankings, or disrupted sales. Before making the switch, evaluate these critical factors:

• Data Migration Complexity: Product listings, customer data, and order history must be accurately transferred without corruption.
• URL Structure (for Search Rankings): Improper redirects can tank rankings; audit existing URLs and plan 301 redirects carefully.
• Custom Functionality: Does Shopify support your Magento-specific features, or will you need app replacements?
• Design & Theme Adaptation: Your store’s look and UX may need adjustments to fit Shopify’s framework.
• Third-party Integrations: Payment gateways, CRMs, and marketing tools must be reconnected seamlessly.

A well-planned migration ensures business continuity, preserves search ranking equity, and maximizes Shopify’s advantages. You may consider hiring our eCommerce migration services to switch from Magento to Shopify effectively.

Magento to Shopify Migration Process

Switching from Magento to Shopify requires careful execution. So you can avoid data loss, search ranking drops, or functionality gaps. Here’s a structured approach.

Pre-migration Planning

Before migrating the site to Shopify, you need to plan the process well, otherwise, there will be costly mistakes. This phase determines your entire migration strategy and identifies potential roadblocks before they disrupt your business.

Key Highlights

• Complete Store Audit: Catalog all products, categories, customer data, and order history. Identify custom features that need rebuilding.
• Assess Technical Requirements: Compare Magento’s capabilities with Shopify’s framework—will you need apps or custom development?
• Choose a Migration Strategy: You can choose between manual export and automated tools.
• Set a Realistic Timeline: Allocate time for data transfer, design adjustments, and testing. Plan the launch during low-traffic periods to minimize disruption.
• Backup Everything: Secure a full backup of your Magento store (database, files, and media) as a fail-safe.
• Choose a Shopify Plan: Shopify offers several packages, starting from Basic at $29 per month. Select the suitable one according to your store size.

Pre-migration planning prevents data loss, preserves search rankings, and ensures a seamless transition. Plus, you can leverage Shopify’s strengths from day one.

Data Migration

Data migration is the backbone of your Magento-to-Shopify transition. It involves moving products, customers, orders, and other essential information to your new store.

Done correctly, it preserves business continuity; done poorly, it can lead to inventory discrepancies, lost customer records, and operational chaos.

Key Highlights

• Essential Data Transfer: Move products, customers, orders, and SEO metadata.
• Automation Tools: Use apps like Cart2Cart for bulk, error-free transfers.
• Validation Checks: Ensure no duplicates, missing images, or corrupted entries.
• Customer Data Integrity: Preserve login credentials and purchase history.
• Post-Migration Review: Verify all data appears correctly in the Shopify admin.

You can manually export data to a CSV/Excel file or use Shopify’s built-in import tools. You may also automate the whole process using tools like Cart2Cart, LitExtension, etc.

Design & Theme Setup

Transitioning from Magento to Shopify isn’t just about moving data. It’s an opportunity to refresh your store’s design while maintaining brand consistency. Shopify’s theme-based structure offers flexibility, but requires careful planning to ensure a seamless customer experience.

Key Highlights

• Theme Selection: Pick a free, premium, or custom built Shopify theme.
• Brand Consistency: Replicate colors, fonts, and layouts from Magento.
• Mobile Optimization: Ensure responsive design for all devices.
• Custom Adjustments: Modify Liquid code for unique design elements.
• Performance Tuning: Compress images, lazy-load media, and minimize scripts.
• Test UX thoroughly: Test the navigation, filters, and mobile experience.

A strategic design transition balances brand recognition with Shopify’s modern capabilities. It creates a store that’s both familiar to customers and optimized for conversions.

Functionality & Integrations

Migrating from Magento to Shopify means re-establishing your store’s operational backbone. Take care of the features and integrations that power your business. While Shopify offers robust native functionality, some Magento customizations require strategic rebuilding.

Key Highlights

• Checkout & Payments: Reconnect gateways and test fraud prevention tools.
• Product Management: Rebuild custom product types (bundles, configurable items).
• Customer Features: Migrate loyalty programs, wishlists, and account portals.
• Third-party Apps: Replace Magento extensions with Shopify equivalents.
• API & Automation: Use Shopify Flow for business rule automation.

You may use Shopify Flow to automate many Magento-like business rules without coding.

Search Optimization & Redirects

Migrating from Magento to Shopify without proper SEO planning can erase years of hard-earned search rankings. This phase ensures organic traffic remains stable while optimizing for Shopify’s architecture.

Key Highlights

• URL Mapping: Maintain or properly redirect old Magento URLs.
• 301 Redirects: Preserve SEO rankings for high-traffic pages.
• Metadata Transfer: Migrate titles, descriptions, and alt text accurately.
• Sitemap Submission: Update and submit to Google Search Console.
• Broken Link Monitoring: Use tools like Screaming Frog post-launch.

Create a redirect fallback plan. Go for a catch-all rule for unmatched URLs to send visitors to relevant categories instead of 404 pages.

Testing & Launch

The final phase of your Magento to Shopify migration demands rigorous testing to prevent revenue-killing errors. This isn’t just about checking links. It’s about validating every customer touchpoint under real-world conditions before and after launch.

Key Highlights

• End-to-End Testing: Validate checkout, accounts, and integrations.
• Staged Rollout: Start with 5% traffic to catch issues early.
• Performance Checks: Test speed under load and mobile usability.
• 24/7 Monitoring: Track errors, sales, and user behavior post-launch.

Create a rollback playbook detailing exactly how to revert to Magento with ease if critical failures occur. This safety net reduces team stress during launch.

If you want help with this process and ensuring the best results, consult with our professional eCommerce development company. We will thoroughly audit your existing Magento store and come up with the best possible strategy for migration.

How to Migrate From Magento to Shopify?

Manual migration is the best approach for those looking for complete control over the process and outcomes. But this DIY process will be more suited to smaller and mid-size businesses. Larger businesses will be better off with professional help.

First and foremost, we assume that you have set up a Shopify store. After that, you can go about migrating the data from Magento to Shopify. Here’s the manual process.

Step 1: Backup Your Magento Store

Before starting any core process, it’s important to take a backup of your store. So in case there is an issue mid-way, you can revert the changes.

1. Go to the Magento admin panel and navigate to System > Backups.
2. Then, select the backup type, enter the backup name, and put the store in maintenance mode (if required).

There are three types of backups available. With System Backup, you can save the store in its entirety, which includes the database and the source code. Database and Media Backup involves saving the database and media folder content. The theme won’t be backed up in this process. Finally, there is Database Backup, which saves only the database of your store.

Step 2: Export Magento Data

With Magento, you can export the products, pricing, customer data, addresses, and stock sources. These entities will be exported one at a time to separate files.

1. Go to the Magento admin panel and navigate to System > Export.
2. Select the “Entity Type” and “Export File Format” (CSV will be ideal for export).
3. Enable the “Fields Enclosure” checkbox.
4. Set Entity attributes, if needed. You may folder the data for a more focused export.
5. After you are done selecting the data, click ‘Continue’ to start the data export process.

Once the data export is done, download the CSV file.

Step 3: Import Data to Shopify

Now that the data is summarized in a CSV file, it’ll be easy to import into Shopify. Here’s how.

1. Adjust your current CSV file to match the template style of your Shopify store.
2. Go to the Shopify admin panel and navigate to ‘Products’.
3. On top of the screen, click ‘Import’ and select the .csv file for your products and data.

4. Do you want to publish the new products to all sales channels? In the case of multichannel eCommerce. If yes, select the checkbox.
5. Preview the products and click ‘Upload and continue’.

That concludes the import process. If you want a more involved process and better results, get help from our Shopify development experts.

Magento to Shopify Migration Costs

The cost to switch your online store from Magento to Shopify depends on store complexity, data volume, and customization needs. Here’s a look at the potential expenses.

Shopify Plan

Unlike Magento’s self-hosted model, Shopify operates on fixed monthly subscriptions.

• Basic ($29/mo): Small stores with <1,000 products
• Shopify ($79/mo): Growing businesses needing reporting
• Advanced ($299/mo): High-volume stores with 3rd-party shipping
• Shopify Plus ($2,300/mo): Enterprise-level solutions

Shopify Themes

Shopify offers free themes, but most businesses invest in premium options or custom designs. Costs vary based on:

• Customization complexity (Liquid coding vs. drag-and-drop)
• Mobile responsiveness optimization
• Third-party app compatibility

Shopify Payments

Shopify waives additional transaction fees if you use Shopify Payments (powered by Stripe). Otherwise, expect:

• 0.5–2% per transaction (external gateways)
• Currency conversion fees (1–3% for international sales)
• Chargeback fees ($15–25 per dispute)

Apps & Integrations

While Shopify’s app store offers 8,000+ tools, costs add up quickly with different types of apps:

• Must-have apps
• Custom API development
• App stacking risk (Some Magento features require multiple Shopify apps)

Shopify often beats Magento on maintenance, but may cost more in app subscriptions.

FAQs on Magento to Shopify Migration

Let’s Summarize

Switching from Magento to Shopify can streamline operations, reduce technical overhead, and improve scalability. But of course, success hinges on careful planning. With the proper approach, you can ensure a smooth transition–it can preserve search rankings, customer experience, and business continuity.

Shopify’s user-friendly platform offers long-term efficiency gains, but the real key lies in meticulous execution. Make sure you prioritize data integrity, design consistency, and functionality.

So, ready to make the switch? Then connect with our experts today!