Squarespace to Shopify Migration

Before you start the migration process, a little preparation goes a long way toward a smooth transition. Here are a few things worth reviewing first:

• Back up your Squarespace site. Export a copy of your products, orders, customer information, JSON file, custom code and CSS before the migration begins, just as a safety net. Our comprehensive guide to Squarespace backup can help.
• Know what can and cannot be migrated. Your Squarespace design, theme, and custom code cannot be transferred to Shopify, so you will need to choose a new Shopify theme separately. Customer passwords also cannot be migrated due to platform security policies, meaning your customers will need to reset their passwords on first login.
• Check your product catalog size. Squarespace caps standard exports at 10,000 products, with each variant counted separately. If your catalog is larger, let our team know so we can plan around this limit.
• Think about your SEO. Squarespace and Shopify use different URL structures. Setting up 301 redirects in advance helps preserve your search rankings and avoid broken links after launch.
• Set a realistic timeline. Larger stores with more products, custom fields, or third-party integrations will need more time to migrate properly than a simple catalog.

Once you have these basics in mind, our migration experts will take care of the rest. However, for smaller websites with a simple product catalog, a manual approach may be considered before opting for our migration service:

Method 1: Manual Switch from Squarespace to Shopify Guide

If you prefer to handle the migration yourself, it is possible to move your store data manually using the export and import tools built into both platforms. This approach takes more time and hands-on work than using a migration service.

Summary Steps for Moving from Squarespace to Shopify:

• Step 1: Set Up Your Shopify Store
• Step 2: Export Your Data (Products, Customers, Orders) from Squarespace
• Step 3: Format Your CSV Files for Shopify
• Step 4: Import Your Data (Products, Customers, Orders) into Shopify
• Step 5: Recreate Your Design and Content
• Step 6: Set Up Redirects, Test, and Launch Your Shopify Store

Step 1: Set Up Your Shopify Store

Before moving any data, create your Shopify account and choose a plan that fits your business. Pick a theme for your new store and configure the basic settings, such as payment methods, shipping options, and currency, so your store is ready to receive data once the import begins. Our Shopify tutorial can help you get started.

Ensure all basic store settings are fully configured before importing data to prevent errors or inconsistencies during the migration process.

Step 2: Export Your Data (Products, Customers, Orders) from Squarespace

To export product data to CSV from your Squarespace site:

• Log in to your Squarespace account and navigate to Commerce > Inventory, or Selling > Products depending on your Squarespace version.
• Click “Export All” in the top right corner to download a CSV file of your product catalog. The export includes product titles, descriptions, prices, inventory levels, SKUs, and image URLs.

Keep in mind a few limitations before you export. Only physical and service products can be exported, digital products are not included. Each product supports a maximum of three variant options such as color, size, and material; any additional options will not appear in the CSV.

To export customers data to CSV from your Squarespace site:

• Go to Lists & Segments > Customers
• Click the export icon in the top-right corner and click Confirm.

To export orders data to CSV from your Squarespace site:

• Go to Products & Services > Orders, then click Export data > Download CSV.
• Select the order statuses and date range (based on order creation date, not fulfillment date).
• Choose All products then click Download.

Note: Squarespace does not export blog posts via CSV. Use the XML export option (Settings > Advanced > Import / Export) and manually import the posts into Shopify’s blog section.

Step 3: Format Your CSV Files for Shopify

Shopify requires CSV files to follow its own specific template and column headings. Before editing your Squarespace file, download Shopify’s sample CSV directly from the import screen to use as your formatting reference. Or you can download it directly from the link provided by Shopify:

• Shopify product sample CSV
• Shopify customer sample CSV

For products, the required columns include:

• Handle
• Title
• Body (HTML)
• Vendor
• Type
• Tags
• Option names and values
• Variant SKU
• Variant Price
• and Image Src, among others.

For customers, the required columns include:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Email
• Phone
• Address1
• City
• Province
• Province Code
• Country
• Country Code
• Zip, among others.

Open your exported Squarespace files and remap the columns to match Shopify’s structure for each data type. This step typically takes the most time, since small mismatches in column names or formatting will cause errors during import.

Step 4: Import Your Data (Products, Customers, Orders) into Shopify

Once your CSV files are formatted correctly, you can begin uploading them in the Shopify admin.

• Products: Go to Products > Import, then select your CSV file and click Import products.
• Customers: Go to Customers > Import, select Add file to upload your CSV, review the file, then click Import customers.
• Orders: Shopify does not support order imports via CSV. To transfer order history, you’ll need to use a third-party migration app such as EZ Importer.

After each import, review the summary page for any errors or failed records and fix them manually.

Note: Customer passwords cannot be transferred between platforms. All existing customers will need to reset their passwords when logging in to your new Shopify store for the first time.

Step 5: Recreate Your Design and Content

Your Squarespace theme and any custom code cannot be carried over to Shopify. You will need to rebuild your store’s design using a Shopify theme and manually recreate pages, blog posts, and other content that falls outside the standard data export. If you have not decided on a Shopify theme, we recommend reviewing our article covering the best eCommerce Shopify themes for different industries.

Step 6: Set Up Redirects, Test, and Launch Your Shopify Store

Squarespace and Shopify use different URL structures, so set up 301 redirects from your old URLs to the new Shopify pages to protect your SEO rankings.

In Shopify admin, go to Content > Menus > URL Redirects to add them manually, or use the bulk CSV import option for larger redirect lists. Once redirects are in place, add your Shopify domain as a new property in Google Search Console and submit your sitemap at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml, which Shopify generates automatically.

Before going live, test your store thoroughly, checking products, checkout flow, and customer accounts to make sure everything works as expected.

Manual migration gives you full control over the process, but it also means more room for error, especially with large catalogs or complex data. If the process feels overwhelming at any point, our migration experts are ready to step in and handle it for you.

Method 2: Migrate from Squarespace to Shopify with LitExtension

Switching from Squarespace to Shopify is one of the most impactful decisions you can make for your online business, but without the right support, the migration process can quickly become overwhelming. At LitExtension, we take that complexity off your plate entirely.

Here is exactly how we handle your Squarespace to Shopify migration, step by step:

• Step 1: Technical Consultancy
• Step 2: Pre-Migration Preparation
• Step 3: Run Demo Migration
• Step 4: Full Migration Implementation
• Step 5: Migration Results Testing
• Step 6: Post-Migration Support
• Step 7: Dedicated Customer Support at Every Stage

Step 1: Technical Consultancy

Every successful migration starts with a plan, and that plan starts with a conversation. Before any data moves, your Personal Assistant schedules a one-on-one consultation to understand your store in detail:

• The size of your product catalog,
• Your order and customer history,
• Custom fields, metadata,
• Any third-party integrations currently running on Squarespace.

Our team uses this session to answer your technical questions, clarify what data is compatible between Squarespace and Shopify, and identify anything that may require special handling. Once your requirements are fully mapped out, both parties sign a Service Level Agreement (SLA) confirming the migration scope, timeline, and expected deliverables.

Step 2: Pre-Migration Preparation

With the migration plan finalized, your Personal Assistant moves on to preparing your Shopify store to receive data from Squarespace. This includes setting up the target store environment, installing the required apps and plugins, and configuring the data structure so that every entity, including products, customers, orders, and categories, maps correctly into Shopify’s architecture.

Beyond basic setup, our team also handles store customization at this stage, adjusting data mapping to ensure that Squarespace-specific attributes translate properly into their Shopify equivalents. Because every store is different, this preparation phase is tailored entirely to your source and target configuration, so nothing gets lost or distorted before a single record is transferred.

Step 3: Run Demo Migration

Before the full data transfer begins, LitExtension runs a Demo Migration, which is a controlled test that gives you a real, hands-on preview of how your Squarespace data will look inside Shopify.

Our experts configure the demo to cover each data entity type, migrating a representative sample of products, customers, and orders to your Shopify store. You review the results directly checking how product descriptions, images, pricing, variants, and metadata appear inside Shopify, and flagging anything that needs adjustment. This is how we eliminate guesswork.

Any formatting issues, mapping gaps, or data misalignments are identified and resolved at this stage, before the Full Migration begins. Nothing moves forward until you are confident in what you see.

Step 4: Full Migration Implementation

Once the demo is approved, LitExtension’s experts configure and execute the complete migration of your Squarespace store to Shopify. Every agreed data entity is transferred, including products, product variants, customers, order histories, reviews, and any additional data included in your migration scope.

Throughout the process, our Smart Controller system monitors the migration in real time, detecting and flagging errors as they occur so our team can resolve them immediately. There is no waiting until the end to find out something went wrong. Every available additional migration option, including 301 redirects to preserve your SEO rankings, Strip HTML Tags, and Preserve Product, Order, and Customer IDs, is included at no extra cost as part of our Expert Migration Service.

Step 5: Migration Results Testing

A completed data transfer is not a finished migration. Once your full migration is done, LitExtension’s team conducts multiple rounds of thorough testing to verify that every record has been moved accurately and completely.

We inspect both the front end and back end of your new Shopify store, covering product pages, customer accounts, order histories, collections, URLs, and metadata, then cross-reference the results against your original Squarespace store. Any discrepancies found during testing are corrected before you receive the final deliverable.

Only after our experts confirm that everything aligns with your stated requirements do we hand the completed migration over to you.

Step 6: Post-Migration Support

The end of the migration is not the end of our involvement. Because your Squarespace store continues operating while the migration runs, new orders, customer registrations, and product changes will accumulate on your source store throughout the process.

To account for this, our experts provide unlimited Recent Data Migration, Re-migration, and Smart Update services after the Full Migration is complete. Recent Data Migration captures new records that appeared on Squarespace after the initial transfer. Smart Update syncs any changes made to data that was already migrated. Re-migration lets our team repeat the process if needed to resolve any outstanding issues.

On top of this, every Migration Service client receives up to 60 days of free technical support after the full migration is completed. And if major technical issues arise with the migrated data, LitExtension’s migration assurance policy offers a full refund within 30 days, giving you complete peace of mind throughout the entire project.

Step 7: Dedicated Customer Support at Every Stage

From the moment you engage with LitExtension to long after your Shopify store goes live, your Personal Assistant remains your primary point of contact. As an experienced migration specialist assigned exclusively to your project, your PA keeps you updated, answers questions, troubleshoots issues, and provides hands-on guidance whenever you need it.

LitExtension’s support team operates 24/7, including weekends, with a committed response time of 12 hours for Migration Service clients. You can reach your Personal Assistant through ticket, email, phone, online meeting, or a dedicated private channel on Slack or WhatsApp, whichever suits your workflow best.

This level of continuous, expert-led support is what distinguishes LitExtension’s Migration Service from self-managed tools. Whether you are moving a small lifestyle brand or a high-volume Squarespace store with years of sales history, you have a dedicated team handling every detail so you can stay focused on running your business on its new home.