How to Migrate to Shopify in 2026
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A Shopify migration is part data engineering, part SEO insurance, and part change management. Done well, you cut over in a single weekend with no traffic loss and no support inferno. Done badly, you lose 30–60% of organic traffic, customers complain about lost order history for six weeks, and your team blames the platform. This guide walks through the migration playbook we use at Rightcosta — refined across migrations from WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, Wix, Squarespace, and a few homegrown systems.
The TL;DR: a successful migration is 70% planning, 20% execution, and 10% post-launch fixes. Tooling has matured (Cart2Cart, LitExtension, Matrixify all work), but tooling alone does not protect SEO, customer trust, or operational continuity. Treat the migration like a product launch, not a database export.
How This Guide Works
We split a migration into six phases: pre-migration audit, data export, theme + app rebuild, SEO mapping, cutover, and post-launch hardening. Numbers below are typical for a 1,000–5,000 SKU store with 50K–500K monthly sessions.
| Phase | Duration | Owner | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-migration audit | 1 week | Project lead | $0 |
| Data export + import | 2–5 days | Tool + dev | $59–$2,500 |
| Theme + app rebuild | 2–3 weeks | Designer + dev | $1,000–$10,000 |
| SEO mapping (301s) | 1 week | SEO | included |
| Cutover | 1 weekend | All | included |
| Post-launch hardening | 2 weeks | All | included |
1. Pre-Migration Audit
Before any export, document:
- Total products, collections, customers, orders.
- Custom fields on products (metafields, ACF, attributes).
- Subscription, B2B, or wholesale data.
- All apps/plugins currently used and which are required on Shopify.
- Top 200 organic landing pages (export from Search Console).
- Top 50 internal links and external backlinks.
- Tax, shipping, and discount configurations.
Skipping this step is the #1 reason migrations lose traffic — the team realizes only after launch that 14% of revenue ran through a custom plugin no one mentioned.
2. Choose a Migration Tool
| Tool | Source Platforms | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cart2Cart | 80+ platforms | $59–$1,500 | DIY migrations |
| LitExtension | 90+ platforms | $79–$2,000 | Mid-size with custom fields |
| Matrixify (Excelify) | CSV/XLSX | $20–$50/mo | Power users, repeated imports |
| Shopify partner agency | Any | $5K–$50K | Complex catalogs, B2B |
For a 1K-SKU store with simple metadata, Cart2Cart at $200–$500 is enough. For 10K+ SKUs with custom attributes, LitExtension plus an agency review pass is safer. Matrixify is the right tool when you need ongoing bulk operations after the migration.
3. What to Migrate (and What to Leave Behind)
| Data | Migrate? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Products + variants | Yes | Map metafields explicitly |
| Customers (no passwords) | Yes | Trigger password resets at launch |
| Order history | Yes | Required for support continuity |
| Reviews | Yes | Use Loox/Yotpo native importers |
| Blog posts | Yes | Preserve URLs where possible |
| Redirects (301s) | Yes (build fresh) | Critical for SEO |
| App-specific data (loyalty, subs) | Re-architect | Migrate via app partners |
Customer passwords cannot be migrated to Shopify. Plan a password-reset email sequence at launch.
4. SEO Mapping — The Step That Saves Traffic
The single biggest risk is broken URLs. Shopify uses fixed URL patterns:
- Products:
/products/<handle> - Collections:
/collections/<handle> - Blog posts:
/blogs/<blog>/<post-handle>
Most source platforms use different structures, so 301 redirects are mandatory. Build a mapping spreadsheet:
| Old URL | New URL | Status |
|---|---|---|
| /shop/blue-widget | /products/blue-widget | 301 |
| /category/widgets | /collections/widgets | 301 |
| /blog/widgets-101 | /blogs/news/widgets-101 | 301 |
Upload via Shopify’s bulk redirect import. Validate every URL in the top 200 organic landing pages.
5. Theme + App Rebuild
Do not try to clone the old theme pixel-for-pixel. Use a Shopify-native theme (Dawn, Impulse, or Empire), recreate the pages that drove revenue, and accept that some sections will look different. The old design is rarely the reason customers buy.
Audit every required app:
- Reviews → Loox or Yotpo (use native importers).
- Subscriptions → Recharge (run a sandbox migration).
- Loyalty → Smile.io or LoyaltyLion (export points balances).
- B2B → Shopify B2B (Plus) or apps like Wholesale Hero.
6. Cutover Weekend
The 48-hour cutover script:
- Friday evening: Freeze the source store (no new orders, content, or product edits).
- Friday night: Final data sync via Cart2Cart/LitExtension delta.
- Saturday morning: Upload 301 redirects, switch DNS, verify checkout end-to-end.
- Saturday afternoon: Send “we have a new home” email to your list with reset-password CTA.
- Sunday: Monitor Search Console, error logs, and support tickets.
How to Get Started
- Run the pre-migration audit before talking to any tool vendor.
- Pick a migration tool that matches your complexity, not the cheapest one.
- Build the new theme on Shopify Basic ($39) until launch — you can upgrade post-cutover.
- Build the 301 redirect map before you build the homepage.
- Plan the cutover for your slowest revenue weekend, not month-end.
Recommended Offers
💡 Editor’s pick: Cart2Cart’s free demo migrates 10 products and 10 orders so you can validate the data shape before paying.
💡 Editor’s pick: Matrixify’s free plan supports up to 50 records — enough to test bulk imports of metafields and translations.
💡 Editor’s pick: Hire a Shopify Partner agency for B2B or subscription migrations only. DTC migrations rarely justify $10K+ in agency fees.
FAQ — Migrating to Shopify
Q: Will I lose SEO traffic? A: Some short-term volatility (5–15% for 2–4 weeks) is normal. Beyond that, broken redirects are almost always the cause.
Q: How long does a typical migration take? A: 4–8 weeks end-to-end for a mid-size store. The “data part” is one weekend; the rest is theme, apps, and QA.
Q: Can I migrate customer passwords? A: No. Shopify hashes are different. Trigger a password reset on first login.
Q: What about subscriptions? A: Plan a parallel migration through Recharge or your subscription app’s migration team. Do not move subscriptions blind.
Q: Should I migrate during peak season? A: No. Migrate in a low-revenue month to absorb any temporary disruption.
Q: Do I need a developer? A: For under 1,000 SKUs and standard apps, no. For B2B, custom metafields, or complex theme work, yes — budget 20–60 hours.
Related Reading on Rightcosta
- Shopify vs WooCommerce
- Shopify vs Shopify Plus
- Best Shopify Themes of 2026
- Best Shopify Apps of 2026
- Shopify Pricing Guide 2026
Final Verdict
A Shopify migration in 2026 is a solved problem if you respect the order of operations: audit, map redirects, rebuild theme, then cut over. Use Cart2Cart or LitExtension for data, Matrixify for bulk operations, and a partner agency only when subscriptions, B2B, or complex catalogs are involved. The migrations that fail are the ones treated as IT projects instead of revenue protection projects.
This article is for informational purposes only. App pricing, fees, and Shopify plan terms are accurate as of publication and subject to change. Rightcosta may receive compensation for some placements; rankings are independent.
By Rightcosta Editorial · Updated May 9, 2026
- shopify
- migration
- 2026
- ecommerce