Shopify migration agency
We move brands to Shopify and Shopify Plus from Magento, WooCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Visualsoft, custom builds and headless set-ups. Recent moves include LSA International, Funkin Cocktails, New & Lingwood and Suki Tea. This page covers what a migration involves, where migrations go wrong and how long they take.
The short answer
- Most of the risk sits in three places: search rankings, customer and order data, and integrations such as ERP.
- A like-for-like move is the quickest. LSA International went from Magento to Shopify in six weeks, across Christmas trading.
- Redesign during the move only if the current experience is costing you sales.
Platforms we migrate from
| Platform | What needs most care | Brands we have moved |
|---|---|---|
| Magento and Adobe Commerce | Custom extensions, B2B pricing, ERP links, URL structure | LSA International, Funkin Cocktails, New & Lingwood, Suki Tea |
| WooCommerce | Plugins doing core jobs, subscriptions, trade accounts | Naturaw, David M Robinson |
| Visualsoft | Search, navigation and content structure | Global Knives |
| Custom builds and other CMSs | Data exports and undocumented features | Donald Russell, Ceva |
| Headless | URL patterns, and content held in a separate CMS | Allbirds, Cannaray |
We also plan moves from Salesforce Commerce Cloud. For headless set-ups, see headless to native Shopify.
What moves, and what does not
- Moves: products and variants, collections, customers, order history, blog posts, pages and redirects.
- Does not move: customer passwords. Depending on the account type you use, customers log in with a one-time email code or set a new password. We plan how to tell them.
- Rebuilt: apps and extensions, which are replaced by Shopify apps, Shopify features or custom code, and the theme.
How we protect search rankings
- We crawl the old site and map every URL to its new address with a 301 redirect.
- We carry over page titles, meta descriptions, headings and structured data.
- We keep the content on pages that already rank, rather than rewriting it during the move.
- We test redirects before launch and again on launch day.
- We watch Search Console and rankings for the weeks after launch and fix anything that drops.
Cannaray kept its search rankings when we moved it from headless to native Shopify.
How we run a migration
- Audit and discovery. We review your systems, such as ERP, PIM and payments, and write a data plan and an SEO plan.
- Design. We agree what stays and what changes.
- Data and SEO migration. We move the data by CSV or with integration partners such as High Cohesion, and map every URL.
- Systems integration. We reconnect your ERP, warehouse and order management systems and test each one. Recent work includes Kerridge ERP for Tileflair and Sage for Suki Tea.
- Testing and launch. We test data, design, performance and redirects. For LSA we kept two of the six weeks for testing.
- 6 weeks
- From project start to launch for LSA International's move off Magento
- +98%
- Returning customer rate for Funkin Cocktails since its move from Magento to Shopify Plus
- 20+
- Ceva sites now run on one Shopify Plus codebase
- 4.9/5
- Average rating from 58 verified Clutch reviews
‘Since we launched the new platform, the team are able to get through a lot more work in a given week. It’s so much easier to manage our product catalogue.’
Like-for-like or redesign?
A like-for-like move is faster and cheaper, and lets you redesign later on a stable platform. LSA International and New & Lingwood chose it to meet tight deadlines. A redesign during the move makes sense when the current experience is holding sales back. Global Knives used its move from Visualsoft to rebuild search and navigation across its range.
FAQs
How long does a Shopify migration take?
It depends on your catalogue, integrations and how much you change at the same time. LSA International went from project start to launch in six weeks. A migration with a redesign and several system integrations takes longer.
Will we lose our search rankings?
Not if the migration is planned properly. We map every old URL with 301 redirects, keep titles, descriptions and structured data, and check rankings after launch.
Can you migrate a B2B or wholesale store?
Yes. We moved Funkin Cocktails' D2C and B2B sites from Magento to Shopify Plus and built a trade area for Naturaw.
Will our ERP and other systems still work?
We audit every integration at the start and rebuild or reconnect each one. We have connected Shopify to Kerridge, Sage and other ERP, warehouse and subscription systems.
How much does a migration cost?
It depends on scope. We agree a fixed scope and price after discovery. To compare platform running costs, use our total cost of ownership calculator.
Keep reading
Planning a move to Shopify?
Tell us what you run today and when your contract ends. Or start with our free Shopify migration guide.