How to Prepare for a Smooth Shopify Migration
Planning a Shopify migration? Shifting your online store to Shopify can be a game-changer for your eCommerce business, as Shopify is a popular and robust platform with a wide range of features and tools to help you succeed.
In this guide, LitExtension – #1 Shopping Cart Migration Expert will delve into everything you need to know about the Shopify migration process. Whether you’re switching from another platform or upgrading your current Shopify setup, we’ve got you covered:
- An overview of Shopify migration
- Methods to migrate to Shopify
- Steps on how to move to Shopify with LitExtension
- Entities can be migrated to Shopify
- Quick glance through Shopify Plus migration
Buckle up because there’s a lot to tell!
Seamlessly Migrate Your Store to Shopify!
Our team of experts can safely transfer your business data, products, customers, and orders to unlock more growth in this promising eCommerce platform. Let us provide a customized migration for you!
Shopify Migration: Overview
1. What is Shopify?
Shopify is a comprehensive eCommerce solution that allows businesses to set up and manage their online stores. It provides a wide range of tools and services designed to help entrepreneurs and businesses sell products or services online with ease.
For more details, here are all the Shopify pros and cons you need to know:
[wptb id=65281]
You can begin your journey with Shopify through its initial promotion, comprising a three-day trial period followed by 3 months at the low cost of just $1 per month. If you wish to continue using Shopify, there are three pricing plans available starting from $39/month.
Seek more info on this robust platform via our comprehensive Shopify Review.
2. What is Shopify migration? & Shopify migration checklist
Migrating to Shopify is a significant process that involves transferring your online store’s data, design, and functionality from your current platform to Shopify.
In recent years, Shopify has always stood out as the best platform, attracting more and more merchants to start their online business. Even their migration rate gains the highest, according to our research on eCommerce migration trend in the first 6 months of 2023.
Here’s a guide for an eCommerce migration to help you plan and execute a successful Shopify migration:
- Define migration goals: Clearly outline your objectives, such as improving site performance, expanding features, or moving to a more user-friendly platform.
- Choose a suitable method: Choose a reputable Shopify migration service provider or migration specialist to assist.
- Backup your data: Create backups of your existing website data, including product listings, customer information, orders, and content.
- Create a Shopify store: Sign up for a new account and select a suitable pricing plan.
- Migrate your data: Employ your service provider’s expertise to transfer data from your current platform to Shopify seamlessly.
- Test thoroughly: Rigorously test your Shopify store migration for functionality, compatibility, responsiveness, and usability before launching.
- Optimize store’s performance: Enhance your new Shopify website in terms of speed, security, and SEO.
Read on because we will show you all the needed information for each task on the checklist. No need to look anywhere further!
Possible Methods to Perform Shopify Migration
To kick off your migration Shopify process, you have to choose the most suitable method regarding time, money, and your specific requirements. From our experience, there are three best ways that you can take into consideration:
But, which one is for you? Let’s find out right now!
1. Move data manually
Moving data manually involves a hands-on approach to migrating your store to Shopify. This method provides complete control over the migration process, making it an ideal choice for smaller Shopify stores with a limited amount of data. Moreover, it can be cost-effective if you have the time and resources to invest in the migration.
However, manual Shopify data migration is labor-intensive and time-consuming, particularly for larger stores with extensive databases. The risk of human errors during data transfer is a notable concern, as even minor mistakes can lead to data inconsistencies or loss.
Additionally, complex data structures may require technical expertise, making this method less feasible for those without a deep understanding of database management and eCommerce platforms. Learn how to import customers and orders to Shopify with minimal risks here.
2. Hire an expert
Hiring a Shopify migration expert or a specialist is a strategic choice for businesses looking to minimize the risks and complexities associated with the process. These professionals bring expertise and experience to the table, having successfully migrated stores to Shopify.
Nevertheless, it’s essential to factor in the cost of hiring a professional. In most cases, Shopify migration experts typically bill hourly, ranging between $50 to $150 per hour. The price gets even higher if problems arise during the migration process.
3. Utilize automated services
Automated migration services or tools streamline the migration process by automating data transfer from your current eCommerce platform to Shopify. These Shopify migration services are designed to simplify and expedite the migration, making them an attractive option for businesses aiming for efficiency.
These benefits also apply to LitExtension – #1 Shopping Cart Migration Expert. Our service works as a bridge to seamlessly migrate data to your Shopify store, with the utmost accuracy and security. We support migration via both our exclusive connection file and Shopify CSV import.
After 10+ years working in the industry, we have gained a 4.9/5 customer satisfaction rate on Trustpilot. Even the migration expense is clearly displayed, so you can rest assured that there’s no additional Shopify migration cost.
Currently, LitExtension is offering 2 migration packages for you to choose from. The exact price depends on the amount of migrated data. Feel free to use our cart migration pricing calculator for more information:
- Basic Migration Package: starts from $79.
- All-in-One Migration Package: starts from $139.
Save Time Import Store Data to Shopify
Trusted specialists streamline migrations that actualize ambitions.
Stages on How to Migrate to Shopify With LitExtension
One of the outstanding advantages when migrating with LitExtension is that the process can’t get any easier. It only takes you a few minutes to complete the task, on your own, without any technical knowledge needed.
How can we do it? Follow these 3 simple stages:
We did produce detailed tutorials for almost all migration pairs moving to Shopify, they might be helpful for your case:
1. Prepare for your Shopify migration
1.1. Back up your database
Start by creating a comprehensive backup of your database. This step ensures that in case anything goes amiss during the website migration Shopify process, you have a secure copy of your data to fall back on.
Each platform requires a different process to export and back up your database. Thus, we recommend checking their official guidance to perform the task.
1.2. Set up a Shopify store
The next crucial step is establishing a Shopify store that will serve as your new online storefront. This entails creating a Shopify account and selecting a suitable pricing plan based on your needs.
Here are the steps on how to create your new Shopify store:
- First, sign up for a new Shopify account (in case you haven’t owned one)
- Next, provide your store’s information to Shopify. “Skip all” if you don’t prefer to do this.
- Explore the Shopify Admin Dashboard.
If you’re searching for a speedy Shopify tutorial that will walk you through the fundamental procedures, be sure to watch this video:
2. Transfer data to Shopify
The most exciting part is just around the corner. This is when LitExtension comes into play. As mentioned earlier, you only need to perform 3 simple steps to migrate website to Shopify.
Before getting into the real deal, our tutorial video will help you understand the whole Shopify migration process:
2.1. Configure Source & Target cart
To start with, register your new account on the LitExtension website using email, full name, and password. Otherwise, logging in using Gmail and Facebook would be a much quicker method.
Then, navigate to the “Create new migration” tab, where we set up the Source and Target Cart. Based on your current platform, the LitExtension will require either the URL or API password.
For instance:
- Install LitExtension’s connector folder: WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart, etc.
- Fill in the API password: BigCommerce, PrestaShop, Shopify, etc.
Moving on to the Target Cart settings, select “Shopify” from the dropdown and type in your Shopify API key following our guide here. When utilizing the LitExtension app, our system will automatically update your API.
Still struggling with getting your Shopify API key? The video below can help you:
2.2. Choose migration entities
In the next step, we will define the entities for our Shopify migration. In this case, we support migrating various entities, including products, customers, pages, blog posts, and coupons.
You can opt for selective migration, for instance, import products to Shopify, or you can streamline the process by selecting “Select all” to move all data from your source store.
Want more enhanced functionalities? We’ve covered you with LitExtension’s Additional Options, such as:
- Preserve Product, Order, Customer IDs on Target Store:
Despite changes in the platform, your product, order, and customer IDs will remain the same. This choice is essential for preserving entity connections after migration and facilitating consistent store management experience.
Enabling this Shopify SEO migration feature enables you to transfer the URLs of Products and Categories from your Source Store to your Target Store. This preservation of URLs plays a crucial role in retaining the SEO ranking you’ve diligently built over the years.
After choosing the migration entities, cast your eye over the language and order status mapping section. Hence, your data will be appropriately appeared on the new Shopify store.
2.3. Activate Full Migration
As you switch to Shopify, we highly recommend starting with our free demo migration to preview the entire process beforehand.
Alternatively, you can opt to skip the demo and proceed directly to the full migration to Shopify. The great thing about using the LitExtension service is that you can freely turn off your device during the migration process. Leave the work to the experts and have zero concerns!
In the event that you have no time and technical knowledge to perform the task on your own, LitExtension’s All-in-One Migration Package is the one for you. We will assign a dedicated Personal Assistant (PA) to handle your migration project. Not only are they in charge of running the Shopify migration, but also keep you updated about every phase of the process.
See how the LitExtension All-in-One Migration Service functions:
3. Set up your Shopify store after migration
Welcome to your new home! But, to let it actually make money and run as normal, we still have some unfinished business.
This checklist will walk you through essential tasks on how to set up the Shopify store after migration:
Another thing to be noticed is that your website will continue receiving new orders and customers as usual during the Shopify migration process. In other words, you must update your database after the transfer.
Nevertheless, worry no more because LitExtension’s post-migration services are here to support:
- Recent data migration guarantees a smooth transfer of freshly created entities, such as orders and customers, from your old store to Shopify throughout the entire migration procedure.
- Smart update enables you to both update modified data and migrate newly added data from your Source Store after the migration process.
- Re-migration offers second-time migration if the first one hasn’t fulfilled your needs.
We also have a tutorial to guide you through the steps of transferring your domain to Shopify. Take a look at it if that’s what you need!
A List of Data Can Be Migrated to Shopify
During the process of migrating to Shopify, you’ll have the capability to transfer the following entities:
[wptb id=65280]
Migration to Shopify Plus: Is It Worth It?
Shopify Plus is an advanced and enterprise-level version of the popular Shopify eCommerce platform, designed to cater to the specific needs of larger businesses and high-volume merchants. This means that Shopify Plus online merchants will gain access to even more advanced features.
As we’ve been doing the research on Shopify vs Shopify Plus comparison and actually trying the platform ourselves, we noticed these outstanding advantages that you couldn’t miss out on:
- Customizing flexibility
By migrating to Shopify Plus, you have greater flexibility to customize your online store. You can access the platform’s underlying code (Liquid) and build custom features and integrations to meet your unique business requirements.
- Multi-channel capabilities
Shopify Plus enables you to sell your products not only through your online store but also on social media, marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, and in-person through the free Shopify POS pro plan. This omnichannel approach helps you reach a broader audience and grow your business in various ways.
- High-performance infrastructure
Shopify Plus provides a robust infrastructure with redundancy and uptime guarantees. This means your online store remains accessible and performs well even during unexpected traffic spikes or technical challenges, enhancing the overall reliability of your business.
- Exclusive apps
Some third-party apps and integrations are exclusively available to Shopify Plus merchants. These specialized tools can further enhance your eCommerce capabilities, providing you with unique features and advantages in the competitive marketplace.
Thus, it’s no surprise that more and more businesses are upgrading to Shopify Plus to gain higher profits.
Migration to Shopify: Recap
Let’s bring it all together – here’s a concise recap of the essential steps you need to follow when performing a Shopify migration, ensuring your eCommerce transition is seamless and stress-free:
- Back up the database – Save all of your most important data in your file.
- Create a new Shopify store – Set up a new destination for your Shopify migration.
- Configure Source and Target Cart – Provide the LitExtension experts information about your shopping carts information
- Select migration entities – Choose specific data or opt for a complete migration.
- Migrate website to Shopify – Officially moving to your new platform.
- Review post-migration checklist – Verify the outcome post-migration and carry out crucial actions to guarantee seamless migration.
Shopify Migration: FAQs
[sp_easyaccordion id=”65278″]
Key Takeaways
In conclusion, executing a Shopify migration can open doors to enhanced eCommerce capabilities and growth opportunities. Hopefully, with the steps outlined in this article, you can seamlessly transition your online store and position yourself for success in the competitive marketplace.
Contact us today for personalized guidance and more details about the LitExtension migration service. We’re committed to making your eCommerce journey the most fulfilling.
For more tips & tricks to grow your Shopify store, check out our LitExtension blog or join the Facebook community group.
Besides Shopify migration, LitExtension also supports a wide range of platforms, including: