Square to Shopify Migration

Our client is an Australia-based retailer specializing in professional tools and equipment for industrial and trade use. The website plays a key role in allowing customers browse browse tools in detail, place orders independently and receive quick online support when needed.

As the product range expanded, clear categories and sub-categories became essential. Square Online’s basic category structure and limited display control made it difficult to organize products clearly and present them in a logical way. In contrast, Shopify offers more flexible category management and automated collections, allowing products to appear more structured and easier to navigate.

For the migration, the client wanted a provider who understood Square Online and could handle the transition with minimal risk. After comparing several options, they decided to work with LitExtension because of our proven experience with Squarespace migrations and a clearly defined process.

The client required a full migration of all essential store data from Square to Shopify, including products, customers, orders, categories, manufacturers and tax data.

In addition, they chose to use several Additional Options, which were included free of charge as part of our All-in-One Migration Service:

• Clear current data on the Shopify store before starting the migration;
• Create 301 redirects for products and categories after the migration;
• Preserve original order IDs and order numbers on the Shopify store.

The main challenge in this project was the difference in how Square and Shopify handle category structures. Square allows multiple categories to share the same name, while Shopify requires each collection to have a unique handle and URL. This meant the original category structure could not be transferred directly without conflicts, and required careful restructuring to preserve clarity and consistency after the migration.

To address the category limitation, we first analyzed the existing category structure on Square and redesigned it to fit Shopify’s requirements while staying as close as possible to the original layout. Once the mapping was prepared, we shared it with the client for confirmation before moving forward with the full migration. This helped ensure the final structure aligned with their expectations.

For all other data, we ran the migration using our standard process under the All-in-One Migration Service. The project followed the usual workflow, including data mapping, full migration and QA checks, resulting in a smooth and accurate transition to Shopify.