What To Know Before Migrating Your Ecommerce Store to Shopify

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Time for a change? Migrating to Shopify may be the change your business needs for it to reach new heights of success. In this article, we go into everything you need to know before migrating your store to Shopify or Shopify Plus.

To grow and scale your online business, you need an ecommerce solution that supports your upward trajectory. When businesses outgrow their platform, many of them turn to Shopify or Shopify Plus, a leading choice for some of the world’s most successful businesses— businesses that require a robust, scalable, safe, and flexible ecommerce platform that can keep up with the demands of their business.

While it might seem daunting to migrate your entire website onto a new ecommerce platform, about 820,000 plus businesses have already made the switch. Which now begs the question:

Who is Shopify For?

A flexible ecommerce platform built for every business type in mind, the Shopify ecommerce platform was designed to accommodate a wide range of businesses, from small startups to market-dominating enterprises, and everything else in between.

The platform is one of the fastest growing in the ecommerce world, available in over 170 counties with over 4.6 million live Shopify stores as of 2024.

With Shopify’s emphasis on user-friendliness, flexibility, automation, and integration capabilities that streamline businesses and drive growth, many brands have already made the switch, future-proofing their business and making room for future growth with Shopify.

So, no matter the size of your business, big or small, Shopify offers the flexibility, security, and tools you need to succeed. Below, we list the kinds of businesses Shopify is for:

• Small Businesses and Startups: Shopify is a great platform for establishing your online presence quickly. Its online store experience is easy to grasp and is also budget-friendly for those starting out.
• Growing Businesses: As businesses grow, they require an ecommerce platform that can keep up. Shopify’s seamless scalability allows growing businesses to handle increased traffic, orders, and customers without compromising record-fast performance.
• Large Enterprises: Shopify Plus, Shopify's enterprise-level solution, is perfect for large businesses that need high performance, security, and customization. Some of the top global brands use Shopify Plus, like Tesla, The Economist, and the BBC.
• Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Brands: Shopify is particularly popular among D2C brands, providing them with the tools to manage their entire ecommerce operation, from storefront to fulfillment, all in one place.
• Dropshippers: Shopify is a favorite among dropshippers. Entrepreneurs can easily add products, manage orders, and automate shipping processes, making it easier to run a dropshipping business with minimal upfront investment.
• B2B Brands: Shopify has robust B2B capabilities, offering dedicated tools for wholesale. The platform supports B2B transactions, allowing for personalized pricing, wholesale storefronts, and bulk ordering, and more.

Ready to take the next step in online business? Migrate to Shopify with  Ecommerce Pro - Shopify Migration Agency. Let our experts handle the complexities of the migration process so you can focus on what matters most: growing your brand. Contact us today.

Why do Ecommerce Businesses Migrate to Shopify?

Shopify is an ecommerce platform well-known for its ability to stay on the cutting edge of ecommerce development. The Shopify platform also constantly sets the benchmark for having the world’s fastest checkout, superior customization, and powerful automation tools. These are just some key reasons brands migrate, but ultimately, what brands are after is the platform’s ability to support growth, improve efficiency, and deliver a better online store and customer experience. Below, we break it down into more detail on why brands migrate to Shopify:
1. Scalability: Businesses sometimes outgrow their platforms, and that’s when they make the move to Shopify. Shopify and Shopify Plus offer unlimited bandwidth, seamless scalability, and the ability to handle high transaction volumes without ever slowing down, keeping in step with your business demands all the way.

2. Ease of Use: Shopify continues to evolve its platform to be even more user-friendly, even for those with little tech know-how. From product management to order processing, the platform is intuitive, allowing even non-technical users to update and manage their sites without relying too heavily on developers. At the end of the day, the Shopify platform offers an intuitive experience for most users.

3. Reduced Maintenance Costs: Shopify is a fully hosted solution. Unlike self-hosted platforms, this removes much of the overhead costs of running an online business. Plus, Shopify manages all security updates or performance tuning automatically, reducing the time and money spent on maintaining your ecommerce store.

4. Security and Reliability: Security is a major concern to online businesses, and Shopify’s enterprise-level security, including SSL certificates and PCI compliance, ensures that both your business and your customers’ data are fully protected.

5. Built-In Marketing Tools: Shopify comes with a lot of built-in tools, including built-in marketing features like SEO tools, email marketing integrations, and social media connectivity. This helps businesses attract and retain customers without relying on multiple external tools that weigh down site performance. There is also the Shopify App Store for any additional marketing channels and tools you may wanna add.

6. Multi-Channel Selling: Shopify takes multi-channel selling to the next level, enabling you to connect your brand and sell across various platforms, like on social media, other ecommerce marketplaces, and even in physical stores through Shopify POS. It's a true multi-channel experience, unified under one platform.

7. Customizability and Flexibility: With a vast library of ecommerce optimized themes, Shopify apps, and APIs, Shopify offers extensive customization options to help you realize your brand vision.

Common Concerns About Migrating to Shopify

Migrating is daunting, and everyone who is facing the question of whether to migrate their shop or not will have some valid concerns. Below, we cover some of the most common concerns and questions our Shopify migration clients have to hopefully relieve them.

1. “I've invested too much time and money in my current platform.”

This is the number one concern when it comes to migrating: not being able to let go of your old platform because of time and money already spent. While re-platforming may seem costly upfront, in the long run, Shopify can save money by eliminating hosting, development, and maintenance costs. You’ll essentially make more and spend less.

Not to mention, migrating to the Shopify platform may even help you grow, especially if you are finding it difficult to scale on your old ecommerce site, allowing you to increase your sales and revenue at the end of the business year.

Shopify is a future-proof ecommerce platform, where you’ll never worry about outgrowing your platform again.

2. “Will the migration process take over a year?”

Migrating to Shopify can take up to 90 days or even less. With a well-planned strategy and the right team, a migration project can take as little as 3 months, depending on the scale of your store.

You’ll be able to import all of your store's content and data to Shopify and set up all the necessary features to run an ecommerce business in record time. During the migration process, you won’t need to worry about putting a halt to your online business operations, as the transfer is seamless.

3. “The timing isn’t right for us.”

Waiting around for the "right time" to hit before migrating your online business can leave your brand vulnerable to growth issues in the future. Before issues of the like even take place, migrating to a platform with all the room for growth can help you avoid any bumps along the way.

You’ll never have to worry about how to handle the increased traffic or stress over the growing operational complexity when you switch to Shopify.

4. “What about the cost of migration?”

The cost of migrating your ecommerce website to Shopify varies, and it depends on the size and complexity of your store. Pricing can also vary if you decide to go with a Shopify Migration Expert or decide to DIY.

However, when it comes to overall cost, Shopify's all-in-one platform reduces overall operational expenses and will probably have you seeing returns on your investment in little time. After all, you’ll no longer need to pay for third-party hosting or constant security updates, and with Shopify’s array of apps, you can easily add functionality without expensive custom development. Many businesses factor it in as a win when it comes to the value of reduced long-term costs, combined with Shopify's potential to help your business grow, offsetting the initial expenses of migrating.

5. “Will I lose my data during the migration?”

A completely valid and natural concern for any website migration, data loss during migration from your old platform to Shopify should be a non-issue, especially when handled by a skilled team of Shopify Migration Experts.
Shopify also provides tools and resources that allow for a comprehensive migration of your data, including customer information, product catalogs, and order history. With a thorough backup process of all your data, you can ensure that no critical information is lost during migration,

That said, it’s important to work with migration experts who understand the complexities of data transfer, ensuring that nothing is lost in the process.

What to Expect When Migrating Your Online Business to Shopify

Knowing what to expect when migrating your online business from your old platform onto Shopify will help ease you into the process by knowing exactly what to anticipate. You naturally want to be on top of the migration process of your business, and below, we list the key details on what to expect from a seamless migration to Shopify:

1. Timeline and Budget:

Before even starting the migration process, it’s best to have an outlined timeline and budget to keep you feeling organized and on track. Migrating to Shopify is often faster than moving to other platforms, but make sure to add some buffer time for unexpected challenges that sometimes come up. You’ll be able to have a clear timeline for the migration process, especially when working with a Shopify Migration Agency, which can also help you factor in costs like new apps, themes, and customizations.

2. Data Backup and Cleanup:

A smooth and seamless migration means keeping your store’s data intact but also getting rid of anything that may be necessary.

Before the migration process begins, expect to back up all critical data, such as product details, customer records, and order history. In addition to backing up, you’ll need to clean up the data by removing outdated, duplicate, or irrelevant entries. Migration is a great time to get rid of any dated or low-performing content, giving your site a fresh look and feel.

Here’s what you might want to backup for migration:

• Products
• Images
• Customers
• Historical orders
• Gift cards, certificates, and store credits
• Blogs Posts
• All Relevant Pages

3. Maintaining SEO and URL Structure:

Migrating doesn't mean losing your SEO ranking and previous URL structure—and it certainly doesn’t mean losing traffic. Maintaining your site’s SEO rankings during migration is a crucial step in migrating from your old ecommerce platform onto Shopify.

You can set up URL redirects from your old platform to your new one to drive traffic to your freshly migrated site, all without losing search engine traffic, allowing you to carry on with business as usual.

4. Theme and Design Customization:

Migration presents the chance to completely revamp your site. During migration, you’ll need to decide whether to replicate your existing website design or create a fresh look. The Shopify Theme Store offers a curated collection of free and paid premium themes that are all optimized for ecommerce. Themes are customizable so that you can fine-tune them to match your brand’s identity. You can even hire a Shopify expert to handle advanced customizations for you.

5. App Integration:

When migrating, expect to review some of the apps and tools you use in your existing platform. For any add-ons you might want when migrating, you can check out the Shopify App Store for its extensive collection of apps that can boost the functionality of your online store, from marketing to shipping, store design, and more. In some cases, you may require custom integrations with the help of a developer.

6. Team Training:

Migrating to the Shopify platform may mean that you and your team will need to take some time to familiarize yourself with Shopify. At the same time, Shopify is known for its user-friendly interface, plan for training sessions to ensure that your staff is comfortable in their role of managing the new system, from processing orders to managing products and even customer interactions.

7. Testing Before Launch:

Before launching your Shopify website, you need to conduct tests to see if migration was performed smoothly. A thorough test explores every avenue and aspect of running your ecommerce site, from landing page to checkout, going over payment gateways, shipping, and any custom features, ensuring that everything is working smoothly and up to standard.

This stage presents an opportunity to fix any issues or refine any process, making adjustments to your store before the big launch day.

Post-launch, you will still need to keep an eye on performance to be sure that everything is running smoothly and up to your expectations.

Ready to take the next step in online business? Migrate to Shopify with  Ecommerce Pro - Shopify Migration Agency. Let our experts handle the complexities of the migration process so you can focus on what matters most: growing your brand. Contact us today.

Work with Shopify Migration Partners: Ecommerce Pro

Migrate to Shopify with Ecommerce Pro, a Shopify Plus Migration Agency. We are a Shopify-certified expert agency specializing in ecommerce migration to Shopify and Shopify Plus from any platform, including WooCommerce, Bigcommerce, WordPress, Magento, and more.

We have helped dozens of global ecommerce brands make the switch to Shopify, allowing them to realize new levels of growth and business success.

With our full team of Shopify Experts and Specialists on board, we can ensure your online business receives a seamless migration from your old platform to Shopify or Shopify Plus.

Our expert team will have your website up and running on the Shopify ecommerce platform in record time.  

Conclusion

While migrating to Shopify may seem like a daunting and complicated move for your business, it can also be a smart move, allowing you to scale and streamline your operations and enhancing your brand experience.

The Shopify platform is packed with cutting-edge ecommerce features but still manages to be user-friendly—a flexible solution for businesses of all sizes. With the right planning and the right migration partner to streamline and support your business through the process, migration can be completed smoothly and efficiently, all without the need to put a halt to your business operations.

Shopify’s security, marketing tools, and multi-channel selling capabilities make it a future-proof choice for your brand.

If you're ready to make the switch, consider working with a migration partner to ensure a seamless and complete transition to the Shopify platform.

Get in Touch

At Ecommerce Pro - Shopify Plus Migration Agency, we help entrepreneurs and business owners build better and more successful Shopify businesses. Have a question or a project in mind? Get in touch with us today!