Checklist for an Effective Migration to Shopify

How ready are you for Shopify migration? Imagine, you have lately considered migrating your website to something that best fits your overall growth strategy, and then later you decided to pause it for some time. Have you ever realized that your reluctance to platform migration may cost you heavy losses in business? 

The money and effort you put into developing a website must bring you the expected ROI. And that’s possible when you convert traffic into sales. But, did you know that poor website performance can dent your strategy? 

What does poor website performance mean to you? 

When an existing website fails to provide high impact SEO performance due to poorly built design, site structure, and navigation, one can face huge setbacks in scalability. See the stats below. 

 A large or small scale change to your website through Shopify migration services can best address your challenges.

But, you may wonder why Shopify migration when the market is flooded by a diverse range of eCommerce development frameworks. 

Have a look at the Shopify facts. 

Shopify is a robust platform that has a great ability to bring you great rewards for your business success. Refer to the following statistics.

Shopify Statistics

Shopify Market Position

Source: Builtwith

All these are good reasons to switch to the Shopify eCommerce platform. But, migration is not a cakewalk one can instantly get started. You need expert insights to make a successful transition to Shopify. 

We would like to take you through a step-by-step Shopify migration checklist. We have presented a functional guideline you can follow to avoid migration errors and costly expenses. Let’s get prepared to move your store to the most dynamic eCommerce framework- Shopify.

A Step-By-Step Shopify Migration Checklist

Ease of Migration to Shopify From Any Existing Platform

Shopify gives every merchant a lot of freedom to scale with its high-performing features which are highly preferred by startups. The following features yield better results-

• Advanced SEO tools with advanced analytics enable high-end store optimization.
• Make use of custom gifts, offers, and discount codes- great to bring repeat customers to your store.
• Significant advantages of web hosting come along with top-notch security.
• Better marketing efforts with built-in social integrations, communication interface with live chat and email.

To leverage all of these advantages, you can consider migrating over to Shopify. Find your options below.

Magento to Shopify Migration Service

Magento Commerce 1 EOL had already arrived this June 2020, and Magento has declared to stop providing any further support for its merchants.

Magento is pricier than other counterparts that may throw challenges for small-scale store owners. But, Shopify is easy to go with due to its capabilities- auto-publishing patches and easy software upgrades.

To avoid data loss, you can now switch to Shopify. Also, if you need to import Magento products to Shopify, you can consider Shopify migration too. Make sure your migration solution provider has reserved all options open for you.

BigCommerce to Shopify 

Shopify has the easiest user-interface as compared to BigCommerce. The built-in features in BigCommerce interfere with admins while looking to execute customization. On the other way around, Shopify comes bundled with a huge app store making it a bigger attraction for fostering an added store functionality. 

See the graph as shown in Google Trends. Shopify has an elevated number of users compared to BigCommerce. 

Migrate Wix to Shopify

When you are a Wix user, you  have already experienced how difficult it is to manage SKU. But, Shopify is built for eCommerce, giving you much-needed flexibility to manage your store. From an SEO perspective, Shopify leads as it has extended SEO plugins you can use to manage on/page or off/page site issues, add AMP pages to your store. However, Wix does not have all these features. So, it is better to migrate Wix to Shopify.

If large-scale change is not possible, you can still import orders from Wix to Shopify. 

WordPress to Shopify Migration 

If you want to convert WordPress themes to Shopify or completely migrate from WordPress to Shopify, there are some compelling reasons to go for the Shopify migration.  

WordPress is built for blogging, and not specialized for eCommerce, whereas Shopify is a dedicated eCommerce platform with built-in essential plugins. However, WordPress lets you have those plugins from a third-party eCommerce tool like WooCommerce.

Volusion to Shopify Migration

When comparing Volusion and Shopify, the former is more absorbed with analytics and data tools than sales features which the latter has dedicatedly looked into. That’s aside, Shopify migration is the easiest catch for store owners since Volution filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That’s not good news for any merchant. To avoid data loss or long customer relations, importing your store to Shopify seems the right choice.

More so, you can capitalize on other options to migrate your store to Shopify. If you look to replatform with Shopify Plus, migrate to Shopify Plus, or go for Opencart to Shopify migration, you can have them easily with a migration solution provider like HulkApps. Looking to expand your business through marketplace integrations? Migrating existing stores to the Shopify B2B app can be a lucrative option making it easier for everyone to sell and buy. 

Now, once you are ready to make a migration decision, let’s check other significant checklists. 

1. Get started with Shopify

Before you get started, you need to sign up for Shopify. Choose your plan. There are four different plans with varying degrees of features. And all of them come with a free 14-day trial.

From there on, you will land up to an initial setup page that asks for billing information, setting up a payment gateway, and adding sales taxes. Also, select a unique URL. Make sure you have access to store assets while implementing URL redirects and removing HTTP or HTTPs protocols. 

2. Things to Consider When Migrating to Shopify

Review your online store to consider what you want for migrating over to Shopify. A lot of data you need to keep track of in your old platform. Make a list of data you need for your new platform.

• Products (categories, catalog, collections)
• Customers
• Orders
• Address
• Shipping
• Payment
• Gift card
• Store credits
• Discount codes
• Blogs
• Product reviews

Well, you must have a good knowledge curve to work with the migration import order. Some important data you need to import is-

• Products
• Customers
• Historical Orders

If you find these processes daunting, you can use Excelify App built to ease Shopify migration. Also, the Shopify Migration service can be an efficient option helping you get valuable advice and get the store developed nicely. 

3. Data and Service Preparation for Migration

After you have decided on the method, it is time to prepare for data and service migration. Some essential things you must follow here. 

• All data is up-to-date and accurate.
• Taking a backup of existing data.
• Fixing a migration date with your service provider.
• Getting access to any third-party apps for your Shopify store. 

4. Export Data from the Existing Platforms

In case, you have a Shopify Import store app for migration, transport data from your current platform.

Magento

Import Magento products to Shopify using a private app. Also, take advantage of the Shopify Import app to migrate your data.

BigCommerce

Visit the BigCommerce dashboard, go to Products > Export > Export Template and File Format Options > Default > Continue >Export My Product to a CSV file.

Wix

Using Cart2Cart automated migration service; you can move your data to the Shopify platform. Or else, you can also use Free Demo Migration.

For WordPress, Volusion, and other platforms, you can follow a similar process or ask for expert help. 

5. Import Store Data to Shopify

There are some great levels of flexibility while migrating data from your existing store to the new one to Shopify. They are-

• Copying and pasting
• CSV files
• Third-party Shopify apps
• Admin API

You can apply these processes for data migration to the product, customers, and historical orders. But, store discounts, gift cards, blogs, web pages, and product reviews do not accept CVS files.

Using a Shopify Import app, you can import store information. Go to Shopify admin. Click Apps > Import Store. Choose the appropriate platform and follow the instructions to make it happen.

If you want to avoid all these hassles and want a smooth migration, our experienced migration service team can migrate businesses of all sizes for you. 

6. Organize Your Products

Post-migration, make sure all data is correctly set. This is important in case you use the Shopify migration app. Verify every list carefully.

• Check product details- images, product names, variants, images, and meta descriptions.
• Check collections- men’s wear, women’s wear, sale products, and seasonal discount, etc.
• Be aware of your current inventory processes. 

7. Get Your Store Aesthetics Right

Aside from being high-performing, your store must have great aesthetics to match your brand identity. You can either choose free themes or paid themes. Find a lot of themes you can tweak as per needs. 

Visit the Shopify store. Choose your themes that your store deserves. Remember, the theme must adjust well and offer consistency across all pages. Take advantage of advanced customizability for advanced functionality too. Hire a Shopify expert if you need a professional look and feel.

8. Set Up Your Domain

Get a domain now. It is important. Buy a Shopify domain or get a third-party domain.

With the Shopify domain, you allow your customers to view the custom domain which is viewable across social media and all browsers.

9. Get Ready With Shipping

Set up your shipping when you deal in physical products. Plan everything about accurate shipping rates so your customers can know during checkout. However, this is not applicable to SaaS-based products or services. 

Key considerations for effective shipping methods-

• Add an address to decide location-based shipping rates
• Segregate your shipping rates based on shipping zones
• Decide if you use third-party fulfillment services   

10. Configure Taxes

Sales tax is an important phenomenon as you have a business to run. Different location-based tax rules and regulations apply to your products. To get out of any tax penalties, you can keep a watch on the tax process throughout the year. Finding it too complex to manage your tax? Using an accounting app is way better to manage tax properly and avoid penalties.

11. Add a Payment Provider

Set up a payment provider to allow your customers to pay through a medium they feel comfortable with. Choose a dozen payment methods. Authorize Shopify Payments or a third-party payment provider.

As you configure your payment process, it is important you don’t forget about checkout.

Set up the checkout process:

• Have a plan for a customer order process.
• Make your customers aware of your store policies.
• Edit customer information settings for checkout. 

12. Place a Test Order

Implement a test order. It ensures all processes- checkout and settings are correct. Don't forget to take a test order when you are going to build your store. Run a test for three different transaction procedures-

• Successful or failed transactions
• Canceling or refunding an order
• Order fulfillment or partial fulfillment

13. Invite Your Customers

When your store is live after the Shopify migration, invite your customers to get connected with you. Ask them to create store accounts. Use an app to send invites for large numbers of customers.

How can HulkApps help you?

Any merchant can have a seamless experience with Shopify migration and integration services. We have an endless package for every Shopify migration service with a diverse range of services at a competitive price. Be it a platform migration to Shopify, Shopify Plus replatforming or migration to Shopify Plus, we do everything gracefully.  Have a look at unending migration services-

Oracle Commerce Cloud to Shopify Migration

PrestaShop to Shopify Migration

Salesforce to Shopify Plus Migration

Django to Shopify Plus Migration

Rewind the Steps

• Get started with Shopify 

• Things to Consider When Migrating to Shopify

• Data and Service Preparation for Migration 

• Export Data from the Existing Platforms 

• Import Store Data to Shopify

• Organize Your Products

• Get Your Store Aesthetics Right 

• Set Up Your Domain 

• Get Ready With Shipping 

• Configure Taxes

• Add a Payment Provider 

• Place a Test Order

• Invite Your Customers

Wrapping up:

Shopify is the most reliable and scalable eCommerce platform on the market one needs to grow their businesses. Harness its features and tools to ensure user experience and customer satisfaction. And when you succeed in making a successful transition to the Shopify platform, you will appreciate your decision for Shopify migration. Follow this step-by-step checklist and get your store up and running.