Magento To Shopify Migration Checklist [Download FREE Template]

Shopify has come to replace Magento as the leading platform for online business stores. Many who migrated from Magento to Shopify can attest to the fact that it will prove to be much more efficient, secure and stable.

If you want to know more on the pros and cons, ways of switching platforms, and the real reasons you’ll want to carry out a Magento to Shopify migration, keep reading and we’ll tell you all you need to know!

Migration From Magento To Shopify Checklist – Step By Step

Follow these steps in order to properly migrate your platform from Magento to Shopify, without losing any SEO juice:

Step #1: Back Up Your Magento Store

To avoid any kind of data loss during the migration process, always backup your Magento Store beforehand.

To make sure your data is safe, we recommend backing up your store right through the Magento platform.

There are three types of backup options:

1. System Backup: It will create a full backup of all data and file systems. It may include media folders as well.
2. Database and Media Backup: It will allow you to create specific backups of the media folder and the database.
3. Database Backup: It will only do a backup of the database. 

Step #2: Prepare Your Shopify Store

The second step to begin with your migration, will be to ready your Shopify store with no additional modules or changes.

Your Shopify installation can be done by using the Shopify trial version first, to familiarize yourself with the different functions, and then choose from one of the paid versions.

Step #3: Choose A Theme

You’ll then need to choose a theme. Shopify will recommend its themes by default – you can choose a Shopify Theme customizing it to suit your needs.

Step #4: Download An App For Import

Shopify gives us the possibility to perform a platform migration in different ways. Depending on the chosen methodology, we will use one tool or another, or even more than one tool.

Everything will depend on our needs, the information to migrate and the amount of data that will occupy this migration, in any case, within Shopify App Store, we can find many tools that will meet our requirements.

Next, you’ll want to choose the best to manage the import. Shopify’s app store has numerous apps that can deal with the migration and you can download any straight from the admin page.

Some of our recommended apps:

• Matrixify
• LitExtension Store Migration
• Multichannel Importer
• Cart2Cart Store Migration App
• Ablestar Bulk Product Editor

Note: If any of these tools do not meet our needs, a custom script using the Shopify API can be developed to cover these unresolved issues.

Step #5: Export Data From Magento

It is time to jump right into the exporting process. To start with, you’ll need to:

1. Log in to the Admin panel, go to System > Data Transfer > Export
2. In the Export Settings section, set the Entity Type to one of the below options:
   • Products
   • Customer Addresses
   • Customers Main File
   • The importing process via CSV or XML file must be repeated for each of these entities if necessary.
3. Select the default Export File Format in CSV or choose XML if you are using an app like Transporter.
4. If you want to enclose any special character in the data as an escape sequence, select the Fields Enclosure checkbox.
5. Now scroll down & click on Continue (Make sure the cron job is running)

By default, all the exported data files are located in the <Magento-root-directory>/var/export folder.

If the Remote storage module is enabled, all exported files are located in the<remote-storage-root-directory>/import_export/export folder.

Step #6: Import Data To Shopify

Your data is all set to be imported into Shopify – just a few more steps and you’ll be done.

1. If using the Import Store App of Shopify you can visit the Shopify admin page and click Apps > Import Store.
2. You’ll need to select “Other” as your platform option, since Magento is not listed by default.
3. Under the Upload files, click Add file and select your exported files.
4. Select the CSV file that you have exported from the Magento store.
5. To complete, click Continue import then Import.

Now, to import products separately, you’ll need to:

1. Log in to the Shopify admin, navigate to Products > All products.
2. Select Import.
3. Select Add File and add product CSV file (Note that the product CSV file should not exceed 15MB).
4. Click on Upload file.

If you need to import customers separately:

1. Login to your Shopify admin, select Customers > Import customers.
2. Click on Add file, and then choose your customer CSV file.
3. Click on Import customers.

Note: The order of importing product, customer, & historical order data is very important.

If your imports were in this order, the migrated orders will be connected to their associated products, customers and you can go to the customers’ complete transaction history.
You must import the data in the following order:

1. Products
2. Customers
3. Historical orders

Note: Customers Passwords Can’t Be Migrated To Shopify*

*Customer Passwords: The passwords are stored encrypted, so they cannot be moved. You can only migrate customer records instead of customer accounts.

Step #7: Review Imported Data

You’ll next want to check if there is anything missing or if you’ve imported everything you need and there aren’t any gaps in your migrated data.

Shopify is very practical when it comes to reviewing and updating your data.

Here are some common glitches when reviewing imported data, which you can easily modify from the platform itself:

1. Data imported successfully but with minor changes
2. Some Products/Customers failed to import
3. Failed import of Bundled products
4. Products imported successfully but unpublished
5. Tags added to imported records
6. Sometimes the Product Variants fail to import
7. Imported products have no dimensions
8. Digital products imported successfully but unpublished
9. Customers sharing the same phone will not be imported

Step #8: Design Your New Shopify Store

The import process should run in parallel with the design of the new Shopify Store. While working on the data, you can work on the design and programming modifications to the new theme.

Time to design and customize your Shopify store! 

Shopify is so much easier to transform, offering several themes and visual options to help you design the best online store suited for your ideal client profile, ensuring that the look and feel of your store resonates with them.

Also, you won’t need to worry about compatibility, since all Shopify themes are mobile responsive and allow excellent shopping experiences to your customers. Shopify only guarantees correct functionality in the Themes purchased on its platform. https://themes.shopify.com/themes

GENERAL NOTE TO THE EXPORT/IMPORT PROCESS:

If the store in Magento is to continue working during this migration process, you will have to think of a “double” work process.

A first import process to get the sample of data, and a second process to include any last additions to the system. There is new data to include and there have been modifications since the first export process, so these need to be exported/imported to include up to the launching date of the new Shopify platform.

Why Migrate From Magento To Shopify

Here are 5 reasons why you need to Migrate from Magento to Shopify:

Reason #1: Easy Customization And Use

Shopify does not require technical proficiency in order to use. Its back-end is simple and clean, and its platform is straightforward and intuitive.

Reason #2: Sales Tools At No Extra Cost & Effective Marketing Tools With No Technical Skills Needed.

Depending on the version of Shopify you choose, you’ll get more or less Marketing tools enabled. The rest must be purchased from the Shopify App Store.

Shopify sales get enhanced with the features it offers and some of its tools come with no extra cost.

Reason #3: Apps And Add-ons

The Shopify app store will offer you various apps that you may install straight away and kick start, develop, and manage your online business.

Each app is designed to solve specific issues and help deal with any problem you might encounter in your platform.

The installation of these tools does not require a deploy, compilation or for the store to go into maintenance mode while this process occurs.

Meaning the work of implementing a feature, can be reduced from hours to a few minutes.

Reason #4: Saves You Money

By switching to Shopify, your online store will require a minimal amount of time and effort to manage and maintain. It will also mean you’ll be saving quite a bit, because Shopify has proven to be much cheaper to keep then other platforms in the market.

This is because the servers, and all data and services infrastructure where the store runs is Shopify’s, so you won’t need to hire a hosting service nor an administrator for the store.

Shopify has its own administrators that keep the entire platform running non-stop.

Reason #5: Secure, Reliable & Transparent

Shopify will be the perfect answer when it comes to security. It has the best system for it, as well as for storage. Also, it’s transparent when it comes to pricing plans, so no need to fear any extra or miscellaneous charge!

How Much Does It Cost To Migrate To Shopify?

Switching from Magento to Shopify will depend on the amount of data you want to actually migrate. But a basic plan will start from $49, while the All-In-One package will start from about $119.

The cost of migration to Magento comes in two stages. A first stage which corresponds to the migration process itself – customization and implementation of a new store, and a second stage for the monthly cost of the platform.

Let’s focus on the first stage, which covers the migration process of the store: its cost will depend on the amount of data and information you have to migrate, since this will demand more or less time, and can definitely vary in price.

On the other hand, you need to take into account all the customization you wish to apply on the selected theme.

As to operating costs, in the medium term, Shopify will end up being much cheaper.

How Long Does It Take To Migrate From Magento To Shopify?

Depending on the size of the store, according to several portals including the Shopify site itself, a migration to Shopify can take up to 18 months.

In our experience however, we have managed to complete migrations in only a few months, defying Shopify engineers’ predictions.

Our last migration, where Shopify’s engineers predicted it would take no less than 6 months, we managed to complete in 2 and a half months of work, with a team which included a project manager, designers and frontend and backend developers.

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Important:
After your migration, it’s essential to drive traffic and increase sales (check out our ecommerce marketing services) to help maximize your store’s potential.