How to Migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce (Without Losing Sales)

You don’t lose sales during a platform switch because “migration is hard.” You lose sales because continuity breaks in small places: URLs, checkout friction, payment routing, tracking, or inventory accuracy.

If your plan is to migrate shopify to woocommerce, treat it like a revenue-protection project, not a data transfer task. The storefront is the visible part. The real work is preserving buyer paths and system behavior while you swap the engine underneath.

This guide gives you a step-by-step way to migrate shopify to woocommerce with minimal downtime and minimal surprises, using the same runbook-style approach agencies use when the client’s revenue is on the line.

Before You Migrate Shopify to WooCommerce: Define “Without Losing Sales” in Numbers

“Without losing sales” needs a measurable definition before you touch anything.

When teams skip this step, leadership avoids forcing clarity → delivery fills gaps with assumptions → QA inherits compounded uncertainty → the client experiences “random” revenue dips that were fully predictable.

Set your baseline (so you can detect leakage fast)

Capture a 14–30 day baseline from Shopify and your analytics stack. You want “before” numbers you can compare daily after you migrate shopify to woocommerce.

• Revenue per day (and revenue per channel: organic, paid, email, referral)
• Conversion rate (sitewide and top landing pages)
• Checkout funnel drop-off (add-to-cart, begin checkout, purchase)
• AOV and top-selling SKUs
• Site speed on key pages (home, collection/category, product, cart, checkout)
• Top 100 landing pages and top 100 product URLs (by sessions and revenue)

Use a simple “Sales Leakage Map” (inputs → outputs)

Here’s the mechanism: traffic enters on a URL → user expects the same product/offer → checkout must behave → confirmation must trigger post-purchase flows. If any step changes without intent, the same traffic produces less revenue.

The real risk isn’t moving products. It’s breaking purchase paths that were already working.

Make two decisions early that prevent rework

1. URL strategy: Will you keep URLs as close as possible, or accept changes and rely on redirect mapping?
2. Cutover approach: “Big bang” (switch all at once) or staged (build and validate, then switch in one controlled window)? For most Shopify-to-WooCommerce moves, you still cut over in one window, but you validate in staging for days.

Shopify Migration Audit: Inventory What You’re Actually Migrating (Not What You Think You’re Migrating)

Most ecommerce platform migration problems come from hidden dependencies: subscriptions, bundles, custom options, ERP syncs, fulfillment rules, tax edge cases, post-purchase emails, or app-driven logic the client forgot existed.

Before you migrate shopify to woocommerce, build an inventory that’s detailed enough to hand to a developer who didn’t sit in the kickoff call.

Your “migration inventory” checklist

• Catalog: products, variants, SKUs, images, alt text, collections, tags, vendors/brands
• Pricing logic: compare-at pricing, quantity breaks, discount rules, automatic discounts, coupons
• Inventory: stock levels, backorder rules, multi-location inventory (if applicable)
• Customers: customer list, customer groups/segments, tax exemptions
• Orders: historical orders, fulfillment status, refunds, chargebacks (what must be migrated vs archived)
• Content: pages, blog posts, policy pages, FAQs, size charts
• SEO: URL structure, redirects, metadata patterns, sitemap behavior, canonical behavior
• Tracking: GA4, Meta pixel, Google Ads, server-side tracking (if any), consent management
• Apps & integrations: reviews, subscriptions, bundles, search, email/SMS, loyalty, shipping, tax automation, CRM
• Operations: fulfillment workflows, shipping zones, returns, customer service macros that reference Shopify URLs

Put it into a mapping table (so it can be executed)

This is the fastest way to reduce “decision debt” during delivery: every item has an owner and a destination.

Step 1–3 to Migrate Shopify to WooCommerce: Build the WooCommerce Foundation (So You Don’t Migrate Twice)

When the foundation is unstable, the team ends up “testing” in production because staging never matches reality. That’s when sales risk spikes.

To migrate shopify to woocommerce safely, your WooCommerce environment has to be production-like before you import real data.

Step 1: Stand up WordPress + WooCommerce in a staging environment

1. Create a staging site on the same host (or same class of host) you’ll use for production.
2. Enable HTTPS on staging.
3. Set up daily backups and confirm restore works (don’t assume).
4. Block indexing on staging (robots + noindex), so you don’t create duplicate-content problems.

Step 2: Configure global store settings before import

These settings influence how imports behave and how totals calculate at checkout.

• Currency, address, and timezone
• Tax settings (inclusive vs exclusive pricing)
• Shipping zones and methods (even if you refine later)
• Permalink structure (decide early)

Step 3: Lock your theme + page templates

Don’t chase pixel-perfect parity yet. Do lock the templates that affect conversions: product page, cart, checkout, account, and search.

Operationally: define “parity” as matching the purchase-critical elements, not reproducing every Shopify theme animation.

Step 4: Export from Shopify (Products, Customers, Orders) Without Data Gaps

This is where many shopify migration projects quietly go sideways: teams export “some CSV,” import “some CSV,” and only later notice missing images, variant issues, or broken handles.

Start with Shopify’s own export formats and document what each file contains and doesn’t contain. Shopify’s product CSV workflow is documented here: Using CSV files to import and export products.

Export priorities (in order)

1. Products + variants: Titles, handles, SKUs, prices, compare-at prices, inventory settings, images, alt text.
2. Customers: Names, emails, shipping/billing details, marketing consent flags (as available).
3. Orders: Decide if you’re importing orders into WooCommerce or archiving them in Shopify / a data warehouse.

Two Shopify export realities you should plan around

• Product images are often URL-referenced, not “moved.” If images are hosted in Shopify and you later shut Shopify down, you can create broken images on the new site. Plan an image migration strategy.
• Customer passwords cannot be migrated as-is. Customers will typically need to reset passwords on the WooCommerce site. Plan the comms and the support impact.

If you want to migrate shopify to woocommerce without conversion loss, treat images, passwords, and order history as first-class requirements, not footnotes.

Step 5–7 to Migrate Shopify to WooCommerce: Import, Rebuild, and Validate the Catalog

This is the core execution loop: import → validate → fix mapping → re-import. The fastest teams keep the loop tight and measurable.

Step 5: Import products into WooCommerce (using the right schema)

WooCommerce’s built-in product CSV tooling has a defined schema and mapping flow. Use the official docs as your baseline: Product CSV Importer and Exporter Documentation.

1. Run a test import with 10–20 products (include variable products).
2. Confirm SKU integrity (no duplicates, correct variant mapping).
3. Confirm images render and remain accessible.
4. Confirm tax status, shipping class, and stock status map correctly.

Step 6: Recreate collections as WooCommerce categories (and rebuild navigation)

Shopify “collections” don’t translate 1:1. In WooCommerce, you’ll usually use categories, subcategories, tags, and attributes to recreate browsing paths.

• Define a category tree that matches how customers shop, not how the internal team thinks about inventory.
• Rebuild menus and internal links early, because they affect crawl paths and conversion.

Step 7: Import customers (and plan for account resets)

Most ecommerce platform migration plans underestimate the support load created by account changes.

• Import customer profiles and addresses.
• Trigger a password reset campaign timed to launch (and prepare customer support macros).
• If you have customer segments tied to pricing, map them to roles or a pricing plugin approach.

Step 8: Recreate Checkout, Payments, Taxes, and Shipping Without Conversion Loss

Checkout is where “close enough” turns into revenue loss. When you migrate shopify to woocommerce, you’re not just switching platforms. You’re changing the purchase contract customers are used to.

Payments: match methods, then optimize

Start by matching what customers already trust (cards, wallets, BNPL if you use it). If Stripe is part of the stack, use the official WooCommerce Stripe documentation to implement it correctly: Stripe WooCommerce Extension Documentation.

• Confirm authorization/capture behavior matches the current store.
• Confirm refunds flow correctly and show up in the right systems.
• Confirm express pay buttons appear where expected (product page, cart, checkout).

Taxes: replicate rules before you add complexity

If the Shopify store had nuanced tax behavior (tax-inclusive pricing, exemptions, nexus-based rules), mirror it first. Then consider automation plugins if needed.

Shipping: preserve “promise language” as much as shipping rates

Customers don’t just buy shipping cost. They buy the expectation created by delivery dates, thresholds, and messaging.

• Match free-shipping thresholds and any conditional methods.
• Confirm shipping calculations for edge cases (heavy items, PO boxes, international).
• Rebuild post-purchase shipping emails to match what customers expect.

Subscriptions, bundles, and custom product options

If the Shopify store uses subscriptions or bundles, don’t treat them as “later.” They’re often where the highest LTV sits.

Document the exact behavior: proration rules, renewal reminders, payment retry logic, account management. Then pick WooCommerce equivalents and test end-to-end in staging.

Step 9: SEO + URL Redirects (The Part That Protects Organic Sales)

Organic revenue loss after you migrate shopify to woocommerce usually comes from one of three causes:

• URLs changed without a complete redirect map
• Internal links weren’t updated (so crawl paths broke)
• Canonical/sitemap behavior changed (so indexing got messy)

Google’s own guidance on moving URLs is clear about what matters: planning, URL mapping, server-side redirects, and monitoring. Keep it open while you work: Google Search Central: How to move a site with URL changes.

Build a redirect map like an operator, not an optimist

Start with your top URLs by revenue and traffic (not just “all URLs”). Then expand until coverage is complete.

Use a simple metric your team can rally around:

• Redirect Coverage Score = redirected sessions from old URLs / total sessions to old URLs (baseline)

Goal: drive Redirect Coverage Score as close to 1.0 as possible during the first 2–4 weeks after cutover.

Redirect rules you should enforce

• Use 301 redirects from every old Shopify URL to the most relevant new WooCommerce URL.
• Avoid “everything goes to home page.” That’s how you turn real pages into soft 404s.
• Update internal links to point directly to the new URLs (don’t rely on redirects for your own site).
• Regenerate and submit XML sitemaps in Search Console post-launch.

Step 10: Analytics, Email, and Tracking Continuity (So You Can Prove You Didn’t Lose Sales)

When attribution breaks, leadership can’t tell if sales dipped because of the migration or because tracking failed. That’s how migration projects turn into weeks of internal arguing.

Before you migrate shopify to woocommerce in production, confirm these are implemented and firing correctly on staging:

• GA4 (with ecommerce events verified in real-time/debug tools)
• Google Ads conversion tags (and enhanced conversions if used)
• Meta pixel (and any server-side tracking approach if used)
• Email platform purchase events (for abandon cart and post-purchase flows)
• Consent banner behavior (so tags don’t fire incorrectly)

Operational tip: run a “tracking QA order” script

Create a test order and record what should happen: events fired, emails sent, order status, fulfillment signals. Use the exact same script pre- and post-launch so you can compare behavior quickly.

Step 11: QA Runbook for a No-Surprises Launch

QA isn’t “click around.” QA is confirming that the systems that produce revenue behave the same way after you migrate shopify to woocommerce.

Use a test matrix (pages × devices × outcomes)

• Devices: iPhone Safari, Android Chrome, desktop Chrome, desktop Safari/Edge
• Funnels: browse → product → add to cart → checkout → payment → confirmation
• Edge cases: discount code, free shipping threshold, out-of-stock, backorder, international shipping, taxes

QA checklist (minimum viable)

1. Top 20 products: pricing, variants, images, stock, shipping notes
2. Search: returns expected results; filters work; no dead ends
3. Cart: quantity updates correctly; shipping/tax estimates behave
4. Checkout: guest checkout (if offered), wallet pay (if offered), order confirmation
5. Emails: order confirmation, shipping confirmation, password reset
6. Tracking: purchase event is correct (revenue, currency, item count)

The real QA failure mode is testing “pages” instead of testing “revenue behaviors.”

Step 12 to Migrate Shopify to WooCommerce: Cutover With Minimal Downtime (And a Clear Rollback)

The cutover window is where teams either look like they have governance, or like they’re improvising.

To migrate shopify to woocommerce without losing sales, your cutover plan needs two paths: forward and rollback.

48–72 hours before cutover

• Lower DNS TTL for the domain (if you control DNS) so the final switch propagates faster.
• Freeze code changes unless they’re directly tied to launch risk reduction.
• Re-run your import on staging from a fresh Shopify export (so data is close to current).
• Finalize your redirect map and test a sample set at scale.

Cutover day (typical sequence)

1. Put Shopify storefront into a controlled state (disable purchasing or set expectations) based on your approach.
2. Export final “delta” data (products/inventory changes, new customers, orders you need for continuity).
3. Import delta into WooCommerce.
4. Switch domain/DNS to the WooCommerce host.
5. Enable payments and run a live $1 test order (then refund it).
6. Validate critical paths: homepage → top collection/category → top product → checkout.
7. Monitor logs, uptime, and checkout errors continuously for the first 2–4 hours.

Rollback criteria (decide this before emotions are involved)

• Payment failures above a defined threshold
• Checkout error rate spikes
• Pricing/tax/shipping miscalculations that materially change totals
• Site instability (timeouts under normal load)

What This Looks Like in Practice (A Real Agency Delivery Sprint)

A common agency scenario: the client is on Shopify, doing steady revenue, and wants more control over SEO, content, and customization. They’ve also outgrown the app stack and want fewer recurring fees. They ask you to migrate shopify to woocommerce “next month.”

The sprint that goes well looks boring from the outside. The team spends week one on inventory, URL mapping, and a staging build that matches production constraints. Week two is import → validate loops, checkout recreation, and tracking QA orders. Week three is redirect testing at scale, content parity, and a controlled cutover with post-launch monitoring.

The sprint that goes poorly skips week one, over-focuses on theme parity, and discovers checkout and URL problems after the switch.

When You Should Not DIY This Ecommerce Platform Migration

Some moves are technically possible DIY, but operationally expensive.

If any of these are true, the cost of a mistake is higher than the cost of expert execution:

• You have meaningful organic traffic tied to legacy Shopify URLs.
• You rely on subscriptions, bundles, complex shipping, or tax edge cases.
• You have multiple integrations (ERP, 3PL, CRM, loyalty, reviews) that can’t be down.
• The client expects “no revenue dip,” not “we’ll see how it goes.”

This is where confusion starts: migration is framed as a development task, but the impact is commercial.

Where a White-Label Shopify Migration Service Fits (MoFu Reality)

If you’re an agency, the work to migrate shopify to woocommerce is rarely the hard part. The hard part is doing it while you’re also selling, servicing, and delivering everything else.

Rivulet IQ supports agencies with white-label execution for shopify migration and broader ecommerce platform migration work, so you can keep strategy and client ownership while delegating the heavy lift of data import, redirect mapping, WooCommerce configuration, and QA runbooks.

The Takeaway: A “No Sales Loss” Migration Is Governance, Not Heroics

You don’t protect revenue by moving faster. You protect revenue by deciding earlier.

When you migrate shopify to woocommerce with a baseline, a complete migration inventory, a redirect map, a checkout parity plan, and a cutover runbook, you turn a risky switch into a controlled change.

If you want a second set of eyes or execution support, Rivulet IQ can help you migrate shopify to woocommerce with a revenue-first process that’s built for agency delivery.

FAQs About How to Migrate Shopify to WooCommerce

How long does it take to migrate shopify to woocommerce?

For small-to-mid catalogs, a disciplined plan can often be executed in 2–6 weeks. Timeline expands when URL mapping is large, when subscriptions/bundles are involved, or when multiple integrations need testing.

Will I lose SEO if I migrate shopify to woocommerce?

You can preserve most SEO equity if you maintain URL parity where possible, implement complete 301 redirects where URLs change, update internal links, and monitor indexing post-launch. The biggest SEO losses usually come from incomplete redirect coverage and broken internal paths.

Can I migrate customer accounts from Shopify to WooCommerce?

You can migrate customer profile data (names, emails, addresses). You typically can’t migrate passwords in a way that keeps logins seamless, so plan a password reset flow and customer support coverage.

Should I migrate order history during a shopify migration?

It depends on operational needs. Many teams archive Shopify order history and only migrate what’s required for customer service workflows. If you must have WooCommerce-native order history for reporting or account views, plan the toolchain and the validation effort.

How do I handle product images when I migrate shopify to woocommerce?

Decide whether images will be re-hosted in WordPress media (common) or referenced from a CDN. Avoid relying on Shopify-hosted URLs long-term if you plan to downgrade or close Shopify later.

What’s the safest cutover approach for an ecommerce platform migration?

Build and validate everything in staging, then do a controlled cutover window with a final delta export/import and a clear rollback threshold. The safest approach is rarely the fastest; it’s the most testable.

What’s the most common reason teams lose sales after they migrate shopify to woocommerce?

Checkout friction and tracking gaps. Teams focus on “did the site launch” instead of “did the purchase path behave,” so problems show up as unexplained conversion drops.

Over to You

If you’ve had to migrate shopify to woocommerce (or are planning to), what part of the process caused the most unexpected sales risk for you: redirects, checkout parity, tracking, or operational integrations?