Square to Shopify Migration

Seamless Square to Shopify Migration with LitExtension

Migrating your store from Square to Shopify is one of the most impactful decisions you can make as your business scales. While Square serves as a solid starting point for in-person selling and basic online stores, Shopify’s advanced eCommerce infrastructure offers far more room to grow.

This guide walks you through everything you need to know before, during, and after your Square to Shopify migration. So check it out now!

What to Prepare Before the Square to Shopify Migration

Before you begin switching from Square to Shopify, complete these steps:

• Back up all your Square data: Export your products, customers, and order history as CSV files and save them securely as a safety net before anything else.
• Audit and clean your store data: Remove outdated products, duplicate entries, and inactive customer accounts so you’re only migrating clean, relevant data.
• Set up your Shopify store: Create your Shopify account and complete the basic configuration so it’s ready to receive incoming data.
• Disable notifications: Turn off third-party email and shipping notification apps on your Shopify store to prevent automated emails from firing at customers during the import process.

How to Migrate Square to Shopify with LitExtension All-in-One Migration Service

LitExtension’s All-In-One Square to Shopify Migration Service is the recommended option for merchants who want a fully managed, expert-led migration. Instead of spending hours on data formatting, field mapping, and technical troubleshooting, you hand the entire process to a dedicated team of migration specialists.

Here’s exactly how LitExtension experts carry out your Square to Shopify migration from start to finish:

Step 1. Technical consultation with LitExtension experts

Your Square to Shopify migration begins with a one-on-one technical consultation with the LitExtension expert team. During this session, our specialists take time to fully understand your Square store’s structure, such as reviewing data types, product catalog format, customer records, order history, custom fields, and any third-party integrations currently in place.

This early analysis allows us to spot potential challenges before they become problems, and to build a migration strategy tailored specifically to your store. If your Square setup includes non-standard attributes or unique workflows, we document everything carefully to ensure nothing is overlooked.

Once scope and deliverables are aligned, we prepare a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that outlines the full migration plan, timeline, and responsibilities. Only after your approval does the migration officially begin.

Step 2. Pre-migration setup

With the consultation complete, our team moves into preparing both platforms for a reliable and accurate data transfer. We gather all the necessary credentials and establish a secure connection between the two platforms. If your Square store contains custom attributes or data stored in non-standard fields, we adapt Shopify’s import architecture accordingly.

By the end of this step, all critical data fields have been mapped and validated–laying a reliable foundation for the full migration.

Step 3. Demo migration running

Before proceeding to the full transfer, our team runs a demo migration using a sample of your Square store data. This test phase migrates a representative set of products, customers, and orders to your Shopify store, giving you a clear preview of how your data will appear once fully transferred.

Our team then provide the demo migration result for your reference. If any inconsistencies or misalignments are detected, they are resolved before the full migration begins, ensuring the final transfer is clean and accurate from the first record to the last.

Step 4. Perform full Square to Shopify migration

Once the demo results have been reviewed and approved, the full Square to Shopify migration gets underway. All your selected data is transferred completely and securely into your new Shopify store, following the customized migration plan built in the earlier stages.

A key advantage of migrating with LitExtension is that your Square store remains fully live and operational throughout the entire process. The migration runs automatically on LitExtension’s secure cloud system, with no need for your PC to stay on and no maintenance mode required. You can continue selling on Square without interruption while your data moves to Shopify in the background.

Step 5. Migration results testing

After the full migration completes, LitExtension’s team conducts a detailed review of all transferred data. Our specialists check every critical element to confirm that everything has been accurately migrated and correctly structured within your Shopify store. Any inconsistencies, missing fields, or formatting issues identified during testing are resolved immediately.

Step 6. Post-migration tasks

Because your Square store stays live during the migration, it may continue to receive new orders, customer sign-ups, or product updates while data is being transferred. To ensure your Shopify store reflects every change, LitExtension provides a full set of post-migration sync services:

• Free and unlimited Recent Data Migration for any new data (less than 5% of the initial migration volume).
• 2 free Re-migrations if a full re-run is needed.
• Free and unlimited Smart Update to keep your Shopify store synchronized with any ongoing changes.

Step 7. Customer support post migration

LitExtension’s commitment doesn’t end when the migration is complete. For up to 60 days following your Square to Shopify migration, our dedicated Customer Support Team remains available to answer questions and resolve issues.

Manually Transfer Square to Shopify

For merchants with smaller stores and straightforward product catalogs, a manual migration using CSV file exports is a viable option that gives you full control over the data transfer process at no additional cost.

But please note that manual migration is technically demanding. It requires careful CSV formatting, column-by-column field mapping, and multiple import steps across products, customers, and orders. Additinally, complex and custom data fields cannot be handled automatically and will need manual attention after import. For stores with large data volumes, this method significantly increases the risk of formatting errors and data loss.

Step 1. Export products from Square

• Log in to your Square Dashboard and go to Items & Orders > Items.
• Click Actions > Export Library, select CSV format, and save the file to your computer.
• Review the exported file and check for any unusual characters, missing values, or formatting issues before proceeding.

Step 2. Format and import products to Shopify

• Download Shopify’s product CSV template and reformat your Square export to match it exactly.
• From your Shopify Admin, go to Products > Import, upload the formatted CSV, and click Upload and preview.
• Review the import details and confirm.

After the import process is done, spot-check product records to verify prices, weights, variants, inventory counts, images, and meta descriptions are all correct.

Step 3. Export and import customers

• From your Square account, go to Customers > Directory, then click Import/Export > Export Customers and select All Customers.
• From your Shopify Admin, go to Customers > Import, upload the previously downloaded CSV, and confirm.

Note that customer passwords cannot be migrated–you will need to prompt customers to reset their passwords after your new Shopify store lives.

Step 4. Migrate order history

Export your order history from Square by going to Online > Orders > Export Orders and saving the file. Since Shopify does not support native order imports from Square, you will need to use a third-party migration app from the Shopify App Store to import your historical order records.

Step 5. Migrate reviews

Customer reviews cannot be exported from Square or imported natively into Shopify. To carry your reviews across, you will need to use a third-party reviews app from the Shopify App Store, then manually add or import your review data through that app.

Post-Migration Checklist for Square to Shopify Migration

Once your data is successfully transfered from Square to Shopify, complete the following tasks before fully launching your new store:

• Configure your payment gateway: Set up Shopify Payments or connect your preferred alternative.
• Set up shipping zones and rates: Recreate your shipping structure in Shopify by defining zones, rate types, and fulfillment rules.
• Set up 301 redirects: Redirect all your old Square store URLs to the corresponding Shopify URLs to preserve your existing SEO rankings and prevent broken links.
• Verify your domain: If you have a custom domain, connect it to your Shopify store via Settings > Domains and confirm DNS propagation is complete before going live.
• Review your storefront: Check product pages, category navigation, collections, images, and the complete checkout flow. Confirm that everything displays correctly across desktop and mobile.
• Sync recent data: If your Square store received new orders or customer sign-ups during the migration window, use LitExtension’s free Recent Data Migration or Smart Update to sync those data before going live.

How to Integrate Square with Shopify

For merchants who aren’t ready to fully commit to Shopify just yet or who want to keep using Square’s POS hardware for in-person sales while running their online store on Shopify, integrating the two platforms is a viable middle ground worth understanding.

Shopify and Square do not offer a native, built-in integration of Square to Shopify. You’ll need to use third-party apps to sync inventory, sales, and customer data between both platforms. Fortunately, there are several high-rated plugins on the Shopify App Store so you can choose the one that best suit your needs.

The general setup process across most integration apps follows the same pattern:

Step 1. Choose your integration app

Browse the Shopify App Store for a Square to Shopify integration app that fits your requirements and budget. Popular options include DPL Square Integration, LitCommerce, and Zapier.

Step 2. Install and connect the app

Install your chosen app from the Shopify App Store, then authenticate both your Shopify store and your Square account within the app dashboard.

Step 3. Map your products and data

Make sure your product listings and inventory in both Shopify and Square are updated and accurate before syncing. Use the app to map shared SKUs across both platforms so inventory updates flow correctly in both directions.

Step 4. Configure sync settings

Select which data you want synchronized, typically inventory levels, product details, pricing, and orders. Enable inventory syncing so stock levels update automatically across Shopify and Square, preventing overselling and reducing the need for manual adjustments.

Step 5. Test the integration

Before going live, run a test by making a transaction on one platform and verifying the update appears correctly on the other. Check that product counts, order records, and customer data are syncing as expected.

Square to Shopify Migration vs Integration – Which Is Right for You?

Running Square and Shopify in parallel via an integration tool works well as a temporary setup or for merchants who genuinely need both platforms for different selling channels. However, it introduces ongoing complexity: two systems to manage, two sets of fees, and a reliance on a third-party app to keep everything in sync.

If your goal is to consolidate your operations, reduce overhead, and take full advantage of Shopify’s eCommerce capabilities, a complete Square to Shopify migration is the cleaner, more scalable long-term solution. LitExtension’s All-In-One service transfers all your data in one accurate, secure process, so you can move forward on a single platform without the friction of managing two.