Ultimate Guide to Migrating from Magento to Shopify

Migrating from Magento to Shopify is a strategic decision for ecommerce businesses looking for a more cost-effective, user-friendly, and scalable platform. 

Shopify’s intuitive interface, powerful automation tools, and extensive app ecosystem make it a top choice for merchants transitioning from Magento. However, the migration process requires careful planning to ensure data integrity, SEO retention, and a seamless user experience.

This guide provides a comprehensive step-by-step process for migrating from Magento to Shopify, covering data backup, product and order migration, content transfers, URL redirects, SEO strategies, post-migration testing, and troubleshooting.

Why migrate from magento to Shopify?

Migrating from Magento to Shopify is a strategic decision for ecommerce businesses looking for a more cost-effective, user-friendly, and scalable platform. Shopify’s intuitive interface, powerful automation tools, and extensive app ecosystem make it a top choice for merchants transitioning from Magento. However, the migration process requires careful planning to ensure data integrity, SEO retention, and a seamless user experience.

Magento vs. Shopify: Key differences

6 key benefits of moving to Shopify

1. Lower Maintenance Costs

Shopify is a fully hosted solution, eliminating the need for costly server management, security patches, and manual updates.

2. Ease of Use

Shopify’s intuitive backend reduces reliance on developers for daily tasks, making it easier to manage products, orders, and customer interactions.

3. Scalability

Shopify Plus supports high-growth brands with advanced automation, enterprise-level security, and custom integration capabilities.

4. Extensive App Ecosystem

Shopify’s App Store provides thousands of plugins for enhanced functionality, including tools for marketing, personalization, automation, and customer engagement.

5. Improved Ecommerce Personalization & Sales

One of Shopify’s standout features is its ability to enhance customer experience and drive sales using AI-powered tools like Rebuy Engine.

6. Built-in Security & Compliance

Shopify manages security updates and PCI compliance automatically, ensuring that your store is always up-to-date and secure.

“The key to a successful migration is planning beyond launch day. It’s not just about moving products and customers—it’s about optimizing the shopping experience from day one. That includes personalized search, cart behavior, upsells, and more. Rebuy helps Shopify merchants immediately unlock those revenue-driving experiences we used to spend months custom coding on Magento.”

Chief Operating Officer, Absolute Web Sergiu Tabaran

How to migrate from Magento to Shopify in 10 steps

Step 1: Write Your Business Case for Migration

A well-structured business case is essential to justify the migration and gain internal approval.

Mapping Key Stakeholders

Identify how the migration impacts different teams.

• Executives: Need to understand ROI, operational efficiency, and cost savings.
• Marketing: Concerned with SEO preservation, content migration, and customer retention.
• IT & Development: Need to ensure smooth data migration and integration compatibility.
• Customer Support & Operations: Must adapt to new workflows and automation features.

Setting Realistic Expectations

• Migration Timeline: Typically takes 6-12 weeks, depending on complexity.
• Resources Needed: In-house team, Shopify migration expert, or third-party agency.
• Potential Challenges: Data discrepancies, feature gaps, and SEO risks.

Step 2: Get Buy-in from Internal Stakeholders

To gain internal support, align your migration objectives with business goals. Remember to highlight the following:

• Reduction in long-term operational costs
• Improved efficiency for managing content and orders
• Scalable infrastructure for future growth
• Seamless integration with existing business tools

Step 3: Backup Your Magento Store Before Migration

Before migrating, create a full backup of your Magento store.

Database Backup

Export all product, order, customer, and configuration data. Use the Magento Admin panel by navigating to System > Tools > Backups. Choose System Backup for a complete backup, including media files and databases.

Media Backup

Save all images, videos, and media files separately from your database backup.

Custom Code Backup

Document and store any custom scripts or integrations that may be needed in Shopify.

Third-Party Extensions & Plugins

List out all third-party tools in use and determine if Shopify has equivalent apps or built-in features.

Step 4: Evaluate Your Current Magento Store

Audit Your Product Catalog

Before migrating, conduct a thorough audit of your product catalog to ensure only relevant and high-quality data is transferred.

• Review SKUs, descriptions, attributes, and categories to ensure they are correctly formatted and structured for Shopify’s system.
• Identify redundant, outdated, or discontinued products and remove them before migration to prevent unnecessary clutter in Shopify.
• Optimize product descriptions, metadata, and images for SEO and a seamless customer experience. Ensure that alt-text, structured data, and product tags are properly assigned.
• Verify that inventory levels are accurate and align with your stock management system to prevent stockouts or over-ordering post-migration.

Analyze Customer Data

Migrating customer data is crucial for maintaining business continuity and customer relationships post-migration.

• Review customer profiles, including contact details, purchase history, and loyalty programs.
• Identify and clean up duplicate, inactive, or outdated accounts to improve database accuracy.
• Create segmentation strategies for targeted marketing campaigns based on customer behavior and past purchases.
• Plan how customer passwords will be reset post-migration since they cannot be transferred due to encryption restrictions. Implement an email campaign to notify customers of the process.

Identify Integrations & Custom Features

Magento stores often use third-party extensions, APIs, and custom-coded functionalities that may not have a direct Shopify equivalent.

• List all third-party integrations, including payment gateways, shipping providers, tax calculators, and analytics tools.
• Determine if Shopify offers built-in features or equivalent apps to replace Magento extensions.
• Evaluate if custom features, such as advanced product configurators, subscription models, or B2B functionalities, require custom development on Shopify Plus.
• Test Shopify’s API compatibility to ensure seamless data transfer and integration with existing systems.
• Identify workflow automations in Magento that may need replication in Shopify, such as order fulfillment, customer notifications, and inventory updates.

By conducting this thorough evaluation, enterprise ecommerce professionals can ensure that their transition from Magento to Shopify is efficient, accurate, and seamless, minimizing disruptions and maintaining business performance throughout the migration process.

Step 5: Choose the Right Shopify Plan

Selecting the right Shopify plan is essential for aligning with your business needs and ensuring cost efficiency. Shopify offers multiple plans tailored to different business sizes and operational complexities:

Basic Shopify ($39/month when paying monthly)

Ideal for small businesses just starting with online sales. It includes essential features like two staff accounts, basic reports, and up to four inventory locations. This plan is best for businesses with a limited product range and lower sales volume.

Shopify ($105/month when paying monthly)

A great option for growing brands that need more reporting and marketing tools. This plan includes five staff accounts, professional reports, and five inventory locations. It also reduces credit card processing fees, making it more cost-effective for medium-sized businesses.

Advanced Shopify ($399/month when paying monthly)

Designed for larger businesses managing high sales volumes. It provides advanced reporting, real-time carrier shipping, and support for up to eight inventory locations. Businesses benefit from lower transaction fees and the ability to automate workflows.

Shopify Plus (Custom Pricing)

Best suited for enterprise-level businesses with high-volume sales. This plan offers advanced automation, custom checkout scripts, API access for deeper integrations, and priority support. Shopify Plus is ideal for brands that need dedicated account management and global expansion features such as multi-currency and multi-store capabilities.

When choosing a plan, consider current sales volume, business growth projections, and necessary integrations to ensure you select a tier that aligns with your operational needs.

“One of the biggest mistakes we see during a Magento-to-Shopify migration is underestimating the complexity of personalization. Brands often try to replicate custom Magento features one-for-one in Shopify without considering smarter, more scalable alternatives. That’s where a partner like Rebuy becomes essential—bringing personalization to Shopify without the heavy development lift.”

Chief Operating Officer, Absolute Web Sergiu Tabaran

Step 6: Export Data from Magento

A successful migration begins with accurately exporting essential data from Magento to ensure seamless integration into Shopify. This step is crucial to avoid data loss, maintain product and customer history, and ensure smooth business operations.

Exporting Key Data Types

Products

Use Magento’s built-in export function under System > Data Transfer > Export. When exporting product data, ensure that all essential details such as SKU, title, descriptions, images, price, inventory levels, and attributes (e.g., size, color, weight, and other variations) are included. If your Magento store uses custom product attributes, map these properly to align with Shopify’s product fields.

Collections & Categories

Magento organizes products into a category tree structure, whereas Shopify operates using collections and tags. Export category structures from Magento and determine how they should be mapped to Shopify’s manual or automated collections.

Customers

Export all customer data, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, billing/shipping addresses, and customer groups. Keep in mind that customer passwords cannot be migrated due to encryption, so a post-migration email campaign should be planned to prompt customers to reset their passwords on the new Shopify store.

Orders

Historical transaction data, including order statuses, purchased products, taxes, and payment records, should be exported. Shopify does not allow direct order imports into its native system, but you can use third-party migration tools like Matrixify to retain and reference order history.

Discounts & Promotions

Magento’s pricing rules and promotional discounts should be exported and manually recreated in Shopify’s Discounts section. Ensure that active coupon codes, automatic discounts, and volume-based pricing rules are properly transferred.

Blog Posts & Pages

Export existing blog content, static pages, and CMS blocks to maintain SEO rankings. Ensure that meta descriptions, URL structures, and internal links are preserved. Use migration apps like Matrixify or manually recreate pages using Shopify’s built-in content management system (CMS).

By carefully exporting and mapping these data points, you ensure that your transition to Shopify maintains business continuity, SEO rankings, and customer experience while optimizing for the new platform’s capabilities.

Step 7: Import Data into Shopify

Importing Products

• Shopify provides a built-in CSV product importer that allows you to upload bulk product data quickly. However, Magento product data must be formatted according to Shopify’s CSV template before import.
• Ensure that SKUs, descriptions, categories, product variants, and pricing are mapped correctly to avoid discrepancies.
• Check that product images and alt text metadata are correctly imported to maintain SEO rankings.
• If handling large inventories, consider using third-party tools like Matrixify to streamline the product import process. Rebuy Engine has helped several ecommerce partners successfully import data with Matrixify, we highly recommend it. 

Importing Collections & Categories

• Shopify operates with collections instead of a category tree, so categories from Magento will need to be reorganized.
• Use automated collections to dynamically group products by tags, vendor, or other predefined rules.
• Manually adjust Shopify’s navigation settings to maintain a user-friendly browsing experience.

Importing Blog Posts & Pages

• Shopify’s built-in CMS allows for manual recreation of blog posts and pages, but using migration apps like Matrixify can help automate this process.
• Ensure that all meta descriptions, URLs, and SEO structures remain intact to prevent search ranking losses.
• Maintain internal linking and imagery where possible.

Importing Customers

• Shopify allows CSV customer imports, but Magento passwords cannot be migrated due to encryption.
• Inform customers via email about the migration and request that they reset their passwords.
• If applicable, migrate customer groups, loyalty points, and subscription data using third-party tools.

Importing Previous Orders

• Shopify does not natively support historical order imports. Use third-party apps like Matrixify to store and view past orders for customer service and reporting.
• Ensure order history remains accessible for accounting and customer service purposes.

Setting Up Shopify Redirects

• Magento’s URL structure may differ from Shopify’s, so 301 redirects must be created to maintain SEO rankings and user experience.
• Use Shopify’s built-in redirect tool for manually handling key pages or an SEO app for bulk redirection.
• Test redirects using Google Search Console to ensure proper indexing of new URLs.

Case Study: Every Man Jack

Every Man Jack used a modern cart flyout to save two months of dev work and help boost AOV by over 10%. 

Step 8: Design Your Shopify Store

Picking a Shopify Theme

• Browse the Shopify Theme Store for free and paid themes.
• Choose a theme that matches your brand identity and provides an intuitive user experience.
• Consider using a Shopify Plus-certified agency for custom designs if you have advanced needs.

Customizing Your Store Design

• Adjust colors, fonts, and layouts to align with your brand.
• Configure navigation menus, homepage sections, and footer links.
• Ensure your store design is mobile-friendly and optimized for conversions.

Step 9: Installing Rebuy Engine for Ecommerce Personalization for Shopify

When migrating from Magento to Shopify, mid-market and enterprise brands need to ensure that their new storefront isn’t just functional—but optimized for conversion, retention, and AOV growth. That’s why we recommend installing Rebuy as part of your migration from Magento to Shopify.

Shopify stores using Rebuy can significantly increase revenue and enhance the shopping experience using AI-powered product recommendations, site search features, a customizable shopping cart, and more. Explore the Rebuy platform →

6 reasons installing Rebuy is essential when migrating from Magento to Shopify

Rebuy’s suite of AI-powered omnichannel personalization tools helps brands unlock Shopify’s full potential, replacing Magento’s complex, custom-built solutions with agile, no-code, and low-code merchandising. Here’s why installing Rebuy should be a priority during your migration:

1. Unlock Shopify’s Full Personalization Potential

Magento stores often rely on custom-coded personalization that’s difficult to scale. With Rebuy, Shopify merchants get AI-powered product recommendations that dynamically adjust to shopper behavior—across homepages, product pages, carts, checkout, post-purchase experiences, and more.

2. Increase AOV with Smart Merchandising & Bundling

Magento stores typically require custom scripts or extensions for upsells and cross-sells. Rebuy makes it effortless with AI-powered bundles, one-click upsells, and smart add-ons that increase AOV while reducing friction throughout the customer journey.

3. Optimize Subscription Sales & Retention

For brands migrating from Magento with subscriptions, Rebuy provides deep integrations with Recharge, Skio, and Smartrr, allowing you to seamlessly personalize subscription upsells and improve customer retention—all within Shopify’s ecosystem. 

4. Power Your Checkout with Shopify Plus-Exclusive Features

Unlike Magento, Shopify Plus checkout customization is limited—but Rebuy fills the gap. With checkout page personalization, dynamic offers, and AI-driven upsells, Rebuy helps Shopify Plus merchants maximize last-minute conversions without needing custom development.

5. Gain Actionable Insights with Data-Driven Merchandising

Migrating to Shopify isn’t just about moving products—it’s about optimizing how they’re sold. Rebuy’s real-time analytics and A/B testing empower brands to track performance, optimize recommendations, and continuously refine their merchandising strategy—something Magento’s static rule-based systems struggle to match.

6. Seamless Integration with Shopify’s Best-in-Class Tech Stack

Migrating from Magento to Shopify offers a great opportunity to optimize your entire ecommerce tech stack. (Here's how SpearmintLOVE did it). Rebuy strives to be the most integrated Shopify app on the market, offering deep, plug-and-play connections with industry-leading solutions like:

• Attentive & Klaviyo. Sync personalized product recommendations with SMS & email marketing.
• Tapcart. Bring AI-powered upsells & merchandising into your mobile shopping app.
• Gorgias. Empower your support team with AI-driven upsells & personalized shopping assistance.
• Yotpo. Enhance the shopping experiences with review-driven recommendations, in-cart SMS capture, and more.

What's more, Rebuy users get access to the Rebuy App Store, allowing brands to supercharge Rebuy Smart Cart with additional cart-enhancing integrations. Instead of struggling with Magento’s fragmented extension marketplace, Shopify merchants can use Rebuy’s easy-to-use integrations to create a seamless, high-converting shopping experience.

So, don’t just migrate—elevate your customer experience with Rebuy. From smart recommendations to checkout upsells, Rebuy helps brands sell smarter, convert faster, and accelerate revenue growth.

Case Study: OLLY

OLLY used in-cart subscription upsells to increase subscription revenue by 63%.

Step 10: Test and Launch Your Shopify Store

Soft Launch

• Launch to a small audience to gather feedback.
• Conduct test transactions to ensure the checkout process is seamless.

Final Testing Before Full Launch

• Test integrations with third-party tools like email marketing and analytics platforms.
• Verify customer accounts and past order history imports.
• Ensure all redirects function correctly and lead users to relevant pages.

Official Launch Strategy

• Announce the launch to your customer base via email and social media.
• Run paid campaigns to attract new visitors.
• Monitor performance metrics and user feedback in the first few weeks.

Pre-Launch Checklist

Before launching, verify the following:

1. Data Integrity & Migration Verification

✅ Ensure all products, collections, and categories are properly imported and formatted. 

✅ Verify that SKUs, descriptions, images, and pricing match Magento’s original data. 

✅ Confirm that customer profiles, including names, emails, addresses, and order history, have been imported accurately. 

✅ Test migrated orders using third-party apps to ensure order history remains accessible. 

✅ Validate that blog posts, pages, and metadata have been successfully transferred and formatted correctly in Shopify.

2. Website Functionality & User Experience

✅ Check that Shopify’s navigation menu, homepage layout, and footer links are correctly structured.

✅ Test product filters, search functionality, and collection pages to ensure customers can easily find products. 

✅ Verify that all internal links, images, and media files are working correctly. 

✅ Ensure that product variants (sizes, colors, configurations) are functioning as expected. 

✅ Conduct a full mobile and desktop usability test to confirm site responsiveness across all devices.

3. Payment Gateway & Checkout Configuration

✅ Set up and test Shopify’s payment gateways, including credit card processors, PayPal, Apple Pay, and other methods. 

✅ Verify tax calculations based on location to ensure compliance with state and country-specific regulations. 

✅ Confirm that shipping methods and rates are correctly configured, including international shipping zones. 

✅ Test the checkout process using multiple payment methods to ensure no errors or delays. 

✅ Set up abandoned cart recovery emails to optimize conversions and recover lost sales.

4. SEO & URL Redirects

✅ Implement 301 redirects for all old Magento URLs to corresponding Shopify pages to preserve SEO rankings. 

✅ Submit a new sitemap to Google Search Console and request reindexing. 

✅ Verify that meta titles, descriptions, alt texts, and structured data are optimized for search engines. 

✅ Test page load speeds and optimize images and scripts for better performance. 

✅ Ensure proper use of canonical tags to avoid duplicate content issues.

5. Store Policies & Compliance

✅ Update the Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, and Return Policy according to Shopify’s format. 

✅ Ensure GDPR compliance by implementing cookie consent banners and customer data handling policies.

✅ Set up legal pages, including shipping policies, refund policies, and FAQs. 

✅ Verify that all email notifications (order confirmations, shipping updates, etc.) are set up correctly.

6. Third-Party Apps & Integrations

✅ Reinstall and configure necessary third-party apps, including email marketing tools, analytics, and customer support. 

✅ Ensure integration with CRM, ERP, and fulfillment systems is working correctly.

✅ Test automation workflows, such as inventory syncing and order processing, to avoid fulfillment issues. 

✅ Configure Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other tracking tools to monitor website performance.

7. Security & Performance Optimization

✅ Activate SSL certificates to ensure website security. 

✅ Conduct penetration testing to identify any vulnerabilities in your Shopify store. 

✅ Optimize images, minify scripts, and use caching tools to improve page speed. 

✅ Set up Shopify’s fraud detection tools to prevent unauthorized transactions. 

✅ Monitor site performance using Google PageSpeed Insights and Shopify’s performance reports.

8. Marketing & Promotional Readiness

✅ Set up email marketing campaigns to inform customers about the migration and provide discount incentives. 

✅ Ensure product pages have compelling descriptions, high-quality images, and upsell opportunities. 

✅ Update social media profiles and Google My Business with the new Shopify store details. 

✅ Test discount codes, loyalty programs, and referral programs to ensure they function as expected. 

✅ Prepare a launch-day marketing campaign, including email newsletters, social media promotions, and PPC ads.

9. Customer Communication & Support Readiness

✅ Notify existing customers about the transition and provide step-by-step instructions on resetting their passwords. 

✅ Test the contact forms and customer support chat to ensure customers can reach your team easily. 

✅ Train your customer service team on Shopify’s backend for smooth post-launch operations. 

✅ Create an FAQ section to address common concerns regarding the new store. 

✅ Ensure a backup support plan in case of unexpected technical issues post-launch.

10. Final Testing & Soft Launch

✅ Perform a complete site walkthrough and test all major functions with real transactions. 

✅ Launch a soft rollout with limited traffic to identify any last-minute issues. 

✅ Gather feedback from test users and internal teams to fine-tune the experience. 

✅ Finalize all pending adjustments and double-check checkout functionality. 

✅ Officially launch the store and closely monitor analytics for traffic, conversions, and potential errors.

Key Considerations for Enterprise Ecommerce Professionals Migrating from Magento to Shopify

For enterprise ecommerce professionals, migrating from Magento to Shopify requires a strategic approach to ensure minimal disruption, optimal performance, and long-term scalability.

Here are the critical factors to consider:

1. Data Security & Compliance

Handling sensitive customer data, transaction records, and proprietary business information demands a secure migration process. Shopify Plus provides built-in PCI compliance, fraud protection, and data encryption, but enterprises should also implement secure data transfer protocols and ensure proper backups before migration.

2. Performance & Site Speed

Shopify’s fully hosted SaaS model offers robust infrastructure, but enterprises need to optimize storefront speed, reduce unnecessary third-party scripts, and leverage Shopify’s CDN to maintain high performance, especially for large product catalogs.

3. Revenue Impact & SEO Considerations

Enterprises need to map old Magento URLs to Shopify URLs using 301 redirects, maintain structured data for SEO rankings, and optimize the checkout experience to avoid disruptions in conversion rates.

4. Customer Data & Personalization

Customer account details, purchase history, and loyalty program data must be carefully migrated. Since passwords cannot be transferred, implementing secure password reset flows and email notifications is critical for customer retention.

5. Inventory, Stock Management & Multi-Location Support

Large enterprises often operate across multiple warehouses and regions. Shopify Plus supports multi-location inventory tracking, but businesses must configure stock syncing, automation rules, and SKU mapping carefully.

6. Storefront Customization & Browser Compatibility

Enterprises migrating from Magento may have custom storefronts with unique UX designs. Shopify allows theme customization and headless commerce, but it’s important to test mobile responsiveness and browser compatibility for a seamless user experience.

7. Regional Regulations & Tax Compliance

Shopify supports multi-country operations, but enterprises must ensure proper tax calculations, currency settings, and compliance with local e-commerce laws in different regions.

8. Dedicated Support & Technical Resources

Unlike Magento’s developer-driven model, Shopify Plus provides dedicated account managers and 24/7 priority support, ensuring enterprises have expert guidance throughout migration and post-launch.

By addressing these considerations, enterprise ecommerce professionals can ensure a smooth migration from Magento to Shopify, reducing risks while leveraging Shopify’s scalable infrastructure for long-term success.

Conclusion

Migrating from Magento to Shopify can streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve user experience. By following best practices and a structured migration plan, you can ensure a seamless transition with minimal disruptions.

Looking for ecommerce experts to help you for migrating from Magento to Shopify? Contact us today!

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