Expert Advice: Migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify

Do you have a WooCommerce shop and are considering migrating to Shopify? Many webshop owners find that WooCommerce requires too much technical maintenance and lacks the stability and user-friendliness needed to grow the business. With Shopify, you get a modern, cloud-based platform that frees you from hosting issues, plugin conflicts, and performance challenges.

At DTAILS, we have assisted several companies in migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify – including Silva, Momkind, OMHU and Ismageriet. Stories of breakdowns, technical issues, and the feeling that it was just too cumbersome to work with come up repeatedly.

WooCommerce vs. Shopify: Some Key Differences

When switching from WooCommerce to Shopify, you open up a world of benefits that make your e-commerce more stable, secure, and efficient. Shopify is a platform designed to handle all aspects of your webshop, from hosting and security to maintenance. Here are some of the key differences to consider when thinking about a switch.

Hosting, Security, and Maintenance

WooCommerce requires you to manage hosting, backups, and security on your own. Shopify is a hosted solution where all of this is handled automatically, so you can escape technical worries.

• Hosting: Shopify is cloud-based and ensures high uptime, fast loading times, and global infrastructure without needing you to manage servers.
• Backup: Shopify continuously backs up the system. Additionally, you can back up your theme for later use and easily export content. Backup apps are often aimed at recovering data accidentally deleted by staff.
• Security: Shopify comes with a built-in SSL certificate, complies with PCI DSS Level 1 standards, and protects your shop against attacks and vulnerabilities.

Plugins and Compatibility Issues vs. Shopify App Store

WooCommerce relies on numerous plugins to add functionality, often leading to compatibility issues and maintenance challenges. Shopify, on the other hand, offers a stable platform with built-in features and an App Store where all apps are tested for quality and security.

At DTAILS, we can help build custom apps if you need something unique. Some apps we've designed are available to all shops on the Shopify App Store, while others require a special installation link from us. You can learn more about DTAILS apps here.

Scalability and Stability

As your WooCommerce shop grows, you might experience speed issues and downtime. Shopify is specifically built for e-commerce with a scalable infrastructure that ensures fast load times even under high traffic.

Shopify's incredibly robust infrastructure handles hundreds of thousands of checkout processes simultaneously, ensuring you can confidently hold flash sales. Shopify can handle the pressure.

SaaS Platform: Minimal Technical Maintenance

Shopify is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, which means you don't have to worry about hosting, updates, and security – Shopify handles that for you.

If you want a plug-and-play webshop, Shopify works with minimal technical maintenance. However, if your shop has integrations with ERP systems or uses special functionalities, occasional updates may be necessary. Still, this is far less extensive than with WooCommerce, where the entire system and its plugins constantly require updates and maintenance.

"Shopify is much easier to work with than our old WooCommerce solution, which had turned into a big spiderweb with countless customizations only accessible by developers. With Shopify, we've gained a user-friendly and very intuitive system that everyone at the office can work in. Furthermore, the system is scalable, so our new shop is ready for the future we're heading into."

– Lauren Blair Klarskov, E-commerce & B2B Manager, Momkind

The Migration Process from WooCommerce to Shopify

Migrating from one system to another should be done with care. Your WooCommerce shop has been built over time with content, SEO optimization, and a certain structure. It can be tempting to start fresh, but it's crucial to proceed cautiously – even small changes can negatively impact your Google ranking. Therefore, you should carefully consider which pages and content to bring over and which elements can be discarded. If a page drives traffic, it might be better to keep it and clean it up later.

Step 1: Planning and Data Export

Before the migration, we map out together what data needs to be moved – products, customers, orders, blog content, and SEO data. Not everything can be directly exported from WooCommerce, so the first step is to determine how much data can be extracted. If you have a WooCommerce partner, they can help identify your options.

In some cases, it may be necessary to scrape data from the webshop, but this will rarely be as precise as a direct export. Be prepared for manual work. See it as an opportunity to review and optimize your content.

Step 2: Importing Products, Customers, and Orders

Before we can import data into Shopify, the export file from WooCommerce needs restructuring to match Shopify's format. Data may also need adjustments to fit the customizations we develop during the migration. Key data to export includes:

• Products: All products, their descriptions, prices, images, variants, and stock levels.
• Collections: Categorizing products into groups (e.g., by type or season), which must be properly imported to maintain structure.
• Customers: Customer information such as names, email addresses, delivery, and billing addresses.
• Orders: History of previous orders, including order lines, prices, status, and payment information.
• SEO Data: Meta tags, URL structure, and alt texts for images.
• Customer Reviews and Comments: Any product reviews and comments from customers.
• Discounts and Coupon Codes: Discounts, promotions, and coupon codes that need to be transferred to Shopify.
  
• Sitemap: The structure of your existing site to help transfer the correct URL structure and avoid broken links.
• Content Pages: Text-based pages like "About Us," "Contact," "Terms and Conditions," etc., that need to be exported and imported to Shopify to preserve content.
• Legal Pages: All necessary legal pages such as "Privacy Policy," "Cookie Policy," "Return Policy," and "Terms of Service" must be included in the migration to comply with regulations and protect your customers.

Depending on the complexity of your shop, there are various methods to import the data, and we choose the solution that ensures the most accurate transfer.

Step 3: Setting Up Design and Functionality

Shopify offers a wide range of beautiful and functional themes that form the foundation of your webshop. We help you choose the theme that best matches your brand identity and business model. Through workshops, we work closely to determine how design and functionality should look, ensuring everything from colors and layout to navigation and UX supports your vision.

We assess the pros and cons of different themes, so you can make the best choice – if special adjustments or features are needed, we'll build them for optimal shop functionality. If you seek a completely unique design, we'll also discuss ways to develop something tailored to your business.

You can learn more about Shopify themes here.

Sales Strategy and Payment Method Setup

A crucial part of the setup is also payment methods, which we help you choose and configure. Shopify supports a wide range of payment solutions, and we ensure your shop is ready to receive payments effectively and securely. You can read more about payment methods in our payment setup article.

If you want to sell internationally, we help determine whether Shopify Markets or expansion stores are the best solution for you. We ensure that migration isn't just about creating an attractive shop but also a functional one ready to handle growth. When the project is finished, you'll have a webshop that not only looks great but is optimized for global business. We ensure all details are in place, so you can focus on what truly matters – growth.

If you're curious about international sales on Shopify, you can read about Shopify Markets here.

Step 4: Testing, Redirects, and Go-Live

Before launching, we thoroughly test all functions to ensure no surprises. It's not only important that we've checked functionality – it's equally important that you're familiar with how everything works. That's why we test together, so you feel comfortable with the system before going live.

After going live, we enter a 2-week hypercare period, ensuring you get off to a great start independently. We're available during this time if questions or uncertainties arise. We can quickly assist if help is needed, but it's rare since Shopify generally operates very stably and smoothly.

If you want, you can extend cooperation with a DTAILS Care agreement, gaining access to a team of e-commerce specialists,

Redirects - A Critical Part of the Migration Process

Redirects are one of the most important tasks in the migration process. To ensure your customers don't encounter broken links, we set up 301 redirects from the old WooCommerce URLs to the new Shopify pages. But we don't stop there – we always play it safe and install a redirect app that monitors any 404 errors. If such errors occur, they are quickly detected and corrected.

Go-Live - Easier Than You Think

We also assist on the actual go-live day. Although many find going live anticlimactic, the process is quite simple: we point the domains to your new shop, remove password protection, and then it's "open for business." If you want champagne and glitter, go ahead – you deserve it!

• Test Together: We test the functions together, so you're ready to handle everything after going live.
• Hypercare: After go-live, you have 2 weeks of extra support to ensure a smooth start.
• Redirects: We set up both 301 redirects and an app to monitor 404 errors to protect your SEO value.
• Go-Live Process: We help you get your domain onto the new shop – simple and effective.

Migration isn't just about moving data – it's also an opportunity to optimize your shop. We support you all the way, ensuring a seamless transition to Shopify while retaining your SEO value.