Pre-Migration Checklist: Shopify to WooCommerce
Before moving data, prepare the WooCommerce environment and document the Shopify features your business depends on:
- Set up WordPress hosting. WooCommerce is self-hosted, so the target environment must meet the current WordPress and WooCommerce server recommendations and have enough resources for the catalog, traffic, and planned extensions.
- Create an independent backup. Export available Shopify products, customers, orders, and content before migration. Keep a separate copy for reference and recovery.
- Inventory Shopify apps and custom workflows. Apps do not move to WooCommerce. List the subscriptions, reviews, loyalty, bundles, search, wholesale, fulfillment, tax, and marketing features your store uses so replacements can be selected early.
- Plan the storefront separately. Shopify themes use Liquid and cannot be installed on WooCommerce. Select or build a WooCommerce-compatible theme before launch and treat design work as a separate project from data migration.
- Record important URLs and SEO data. Export high-value product, collection, page, and blog URLs so redirects can be mapped to the correct WooCommerce destinations.
- Define launch ownership. Confirm who will approve the test migration, configure payments and shipping, test checkout, update DNS, and monitor the store after launch.
What We Migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce
Before migration, we classify your store data into three groups so the expected WooCommerce result is clear.
| Category | Typical data |
|---|
| Migrated as standard data | Products and variations, collections to categories, customers, addresses, orders and line items, coupons, pages, blog posts, images, and supported SEO metadata |
| Requires assessment or custom handling | Metafields and metaobjects, product bundles, subscriptions, memberships, gift cards, store credit, loyalty points, third-party reviews, B2B data, multilingual content, multiple currencies, custom order statuses, digital files, and data stored by Shopify apps |
| Cannot be transferred directly | Shopify themes and Liquid code, installed apps themselves, stored payment credentials, Shopify-specific checkout customizations, most customer passwords, and platform-specific automation rules |
Items in the second and third groups are documented during the technical assessment. You can then decide whether to migrate the underlying data, replace the functionality with a WooCommerce plugin, rebuild it, or leave it outside the project scope.
What Happens to Your Shopify Apps When You Move to WooCommerce
Shopify apps do not migrate to WooCommerce, and installing a similar plugin does not automatically transfer the data stored by the original app. We handle app-dependent functionality separately from the core migration:
- Audit the Shopify apps currently in use and identify what each one does and stores.
- Select a WooCommerce plugin or custom solution that provides the required functionality.
- Check whether the Shopify app can export its data and whether the WooCommerce solution can import it.
- Define a custom mapping for transferable reviews, subscriptions, loyalty records, bundles, or other app-owned data.
- Test both the migrated records and the resulting WooCommerce workflow before launch.
This distinction matters: a store can contain all its products and orders while still being unready for launch if subscriptions, fulfillment, loyalty, search, or other operational workflows have not been replaced and tested.
Shopify to WooCommerce Data Mapping
Shopify and WooCommerce use different data models. The following examples show how common records are typically handled; every project receives mapping based on its actual store configuration.
| Shopify data | WooCommerce destination | Required handling |
|---|
| Manual and automated collections | Product categories, tags, or custom taxonomies | Automated collection rules may need to be recreated |
| Product options and variants | Attributes and variations | Option values, combinations, SKUs, prices, and stock must be validated |
| Metafields and metaobjects | Custom fields, taxonomies, or plugin-managed data | A compatible plugin or custom development may be required |
| Customer records | WordPress users and WooCommerce customer data | Addresses and order relationships must remain connected |
| Order and fulfillment statuses | WooCommerce order statuses | Status values may not map one to one |
| Discount codes | WooCommerce coupons | Complex eligibility and usage rules may need adjustment |
| Blog posts | WordPress posts | Authors, dates, tags, images, slugs, and SEO fields require mapping |
| Product handles and content URLs | WooCommerce slugs and permalinks | URL differences require destination mapping and 301 redirects |
How LitExtension’s Managed Shopify to WooCommerce Migration Works
The three-stage process shown earlier expands into the following project workflow for an expert-managed migration.
Step 1. Store audit and technical consultation
We review your Shopify store structure, data volume, products, variants, customers, orders, content, apps, metafields, and custom workflows. We also check the WooCommerce environment and identify items that need plugins, custom mapping, or separate development. The result is a defined scope rather than an assumption that every Shopify element can transfer directly.
Step 2. Data mapping plan
Supported Shopify fields are matched to WooCommerce products, variations, taxonomies, users, orders, posts, and custom fields. We document exceptions such as automated collections, app-owned data, status differences, and URL changes. Required store access and API permissions are then validated before data transfer begins.
Step 3. Test migration
A representative sample is migrated to WooCommerce so you can review the proposed result. We check product types, variations, prices, stock, images, customers, orders, content, and record relationships. Mapping or formatting issues identified in the test are corrected before the full migration.
Step 4. Full migration
After the test result and scope are approved, we migrate the agreed records to WooCommerce. Your Shopify store remains available during this stage, so customers can continue shopping while the transfer runs in the background.
Step 5. Data validation
Our team compares source and target record counts and checks field values, images, variations, category assignments, customer-order relationships, URLs, and duplicate records. Migration-related inconsistencies are documented and corrected, and you receive the completed results for review.
Step 6. Recent data synchronization
New Shopify orders, customers, or updates may appear after the initial transfer. Eligible post-migration services keep WooCommerce current:
- Recent Data Migration: Unlimited within 30 days and free when the new data is less than 5% of the initial migration volume.
- Re-migration: Free and unlimited full migration reruns within 30 days.
- Smart Update: Free and unlimited incremental updates within 90 days.
Eligibility and the records supported by each service are confirmed for your project.
Step 7. Launch support
Before cutover, we synchronize eligible recent data and help verify redirects and migrated records. Your team remains responsible for approving the storefront, configuring and testing payments, tax, shipping, transactional email, analytics, and any rebuilt app functionality unless those tasks are included in the agreed scope. Migration-related technical support remains available for 30 days after completion.
Service Scope and Deliverables
A standard managed migration typically includes:
- Store assessment and migration scope
- Shopify-to-WooCommerce data mapping
- Test migration and result review
- Full migration of the agreed entities
- Record-count, field, image, and relationship validation
- Applicable URL mapping and 301 redirect configuration
- Eligible recent data migration and post-migration services
- Migration result review and 30-day technical support
The following are normally separate from the default data-migration scope and may require an additional quote:
- WooCommerce theme design or complete website redesign
- Custom plugin development
- Recreation of Shopify app functionality
- Payment gateway account setup
- ERP, CRM, POS, or other custom integrations
- Ongoing WordPress hosting, maintenance, security, and performance work
We confirm the included and excluded work before the full migration begins.
Can You Migrate From Shopify to WooCommerce Manually?
Yes. A manual Shopify to WooCommerce migration can work for a small catalog with simple products and limited historical data. Shopify product CSV files can be imported through WooCommerce’s built-in product importer after the columns are reviewed and mapped.
Manual migration becomes more difficult when the store includes complex variations, metafields, customers, order history, app-owned data, or SEO redirects:
- WooCommerce core does not provide a native importer for complete Shopify customer and order history.
- Customer-order relationships and variation line items can break when IDs or mappings do not match.
- Shopify themes, apps, stored payment credentials, and Shopify-specific checkout logic do not transfer through CSV.
- Metafields, reviews, subscriptions, bundles, and other custom records need compatible target plugins and separate mapping.
- Old Shopify URLs need one-to-one redirect mapping to prevent avoidable broken links after launch.
A DIY import is usually best for a small, straightforward catalog. A migration plugin suits stores that can configure and validate the transfer internally. An expert-managed service is more appropriate when order history, custom data, app dependencies, SEO continuity, or launch coordination are business-critical.
Request a free consultation to confirm what can transfer, what needs custom handling, and what your Shopify to WooCommerce migration is likely to cost before committing to the full project.
