Migrating from Shopify to WooCommerce

Shopify is a polished hosted platform, but it comes with monthly fees that grow with your store, limited customization, and Shopify's own third-party transaction fees on orders you take through a payment provider other than Shopify Payments. WooCommerce runs on WordPress and gives you full control over your store, and your costs.

Moving to WooCommerce is a larger project than a simple website migration. Your store has products, customers, orders, and settings that all need careful handling.

What transfers and what doesn't

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What migrates reasonably well

Product names, descriptions, prices, and SKUs
Product images, as links, so your Shopify store has to stay live and public while we import
Product variants (sizes, colors)
Customer names and email addresses
Historical order data (with a separate import tool and cleanup)
Your domain name

What must be rebuilt or reconfigured

Your Shopify theme and store design
Navigation menus
Shipping zones and rates
Payment gateway settings
All Shopify app integrations
Discount codes
Subscription product setups
Abandoned cart tools
Checkout customizations

Shopify Payments does not come with you

Shopify Payments is Shopify's own payment product, set up inside your Shopify store, so it does not move to WooCommerce. If that is how you take card payments today, you will need a gateway on the new store instead. A standalone Stripe or PayPal account is yours and can simply be reconnected: have those login details ready.

Realistic timeline

Phase	What happens	Typical duration
Audit	Document products, apps, custom features	2 to 3 days
WooCommerce setup	Install WordPress, WooCommerce, theme	2 to 3 days
Product migration	Export from Shopify, clean CSV, import	2 to 4 days
Customer & order migration	Export, clean data, import	1 to 2 days
Store configuration	Shipping, taxes, payment gateways	1 to 2 days
Design rebuild	Build store pages to match your brand	3 to 5 days
Testing	Test purchases, checkout, emails	1 to 2 days
Redirects	Map Shopify URLs to WooCommerce URLs	1 day
Cutover	Switch DNS, go live	1 to 4 hours
Post-launch	Monitor, fix issues	2 to 3 days

The migration process, step by step

PrepareAudit the store, get access and export your data
Build on stagingSet up WooCommerce, import products and rebuild shipping, taxes and payments
ReviewYou test the store and we set up redirects
Go liveSwitch the domain to the new store

Stage 1 of 4: Prepare

We audit your Shopify store. We list every product, collection, app, custom feature, and integration. This shapes the migration plan and timeline.

You give us access to your Shopify store. Shopify's collaborator system works the other way round from most platforms: we send the access request and you approve it. Send us the 4-digit collaborator request code from Settings → Users → Security, along with your .myshopify.com address. Full walkthrough: give us Shopify collaborator access.

We export your Shopify data. Products, customers and orders each export as their own CSV file from the Shopify admin: products from the Products page, orders from the Orders page. A full export usually arrives by email rather than as a direct download, and when the person exporting isn't the store owner, Shopify sends a copy to the store owner as well, so keep an eye on that inbox.

Stage 2 of 4: Build on staging

We set up WordPress and WooCommerce on staging. We install and configure everything on a private staging environment. You never see a half-built store go live.

We import and clean your product data. Shopify and WooCommerce use different CSV formats, so we transform the export before running it through WooCommerce's built-in product importer (the Import button on Products → All Products). Images aren't inside the CSV file: they come across as web links, and WooCommerce copies each one into your WordPress media library. That only works while the images are still reachable on your Shopify store, which is why we leave it live until the import is done.

We configure shipping, taxes, and payments. These settings don't export from Shopify. We rebuild your shipping zones, rates, and tax settings from scratch based on your current Shopify configuration.

We set up your payment gateway. If you take cards through Shopify Payments today, we set up a replacement gateway on WooCommerce, because Shopify Payments only works inside Shopify. If you already use Stripe or PayPal directly, we reconnect the same account. We test a transaction in test mode before going live.

Stage 3 of 4: Review

You review and approve the store. We send you a staging link. You test the full purchase flow, check product listings, and confirm everything looks right.

We set up URL redirects. Shopify's URL structure is different from WooCommerce's. We create redirects from all your Shopify product and collection URLs to the correct WooCommerce pages.

Stage 4 of 4: Go live

We switch the domain over. We update your DNS settings so your domain points to the new WooCommerce store. Your Shopify store stays reachable at its myshopify.com address for as long as the Shopify subscription is active.

A note on orders and customer data

WooCommerce's built-in CSV importer covers products only, so customers and orders need a separate import tool plus data cleanup. Imported historical orders are mainly useful for record-keeping rather than for running the store day to day.

Customer passwords don't transfer. They are stored encrypted, so no export contains them: Shopify says the same thing about moving customers into Shopify from another platform. Customers set a new password on the WooCommerce store if they want an account, or check out as a guest.

WooCommerce hosting considerations

Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce requires its own hosting. We recommend managed WordPress hosting providers such as Flywheel, WP Engine, or Kinsta. These providers handle server maintenance, backups, and security so you don't have to.

See managed WordPress hosting for a comparison.

Common questions

How much cheaper is WooCommerce than Shopify?

WooCommerce itself is free. You pay for hosting, any premium extensions, and your domain. Check your chosen host's pricing page and woocommerce.com for current rates, and shopify.com/pricing for what your current Shopify plan and its fees cost today. For stores doing significant volume on Shopify's higher-tier plans, the switch often reduces monthly costs. For small stores on Shopify's entry-level plan, the difference is smaller. We can price your specific setup before you commit.

Will my customers notice the change?

Customers only notice if something breaks (wrong URL, missing product, checkout error) or if the design changes significantly. A well-executed migration is invisible to customers: same domain, same products, same checkout experience.

Can I migrate my Shopify subscription products?

Recurring billing needs an extension. WooCommerce's own is called WooCommerce Subscriptions, and WooCommerce describes it as a premium extension, so budget for it. Existing subscriber billing can't be moved across automatically: customers re-subscribe on the new platform. This is an important consideration if subscriptions are a significant part of your revenue.

When should I cancel my Shopify account?

Keep Shopify running for at least four weeks after your WooCommerce store goes live. During that time, confirm all products are correct, all orders are flowing to the new store, and your payment gateway is working. Shopify makes the same point about product images: leave the original store and its listings intact until the import is finished, or the images won't come across. After that period, you can safely cancel Shopify.

When to call a pro

Platform moves are where sites most often lose search rankings. Missing redirects, changed URLs and dropped page titles can cut your traffic from Google for months.

If any of that sounds risky for your business, book a free call and we'll tell you whether you need help. Clients can email support@chykalophia.com.