As eCommerce continues to gain momentum, businesses are increasingly adopting online platforms to reach out to customers. Shopify and WooCommerce are two popular eCommerce platforms that allow businesses to create and manage their online stores. Shopify is a hosted solution, meaning the platform takes care of the technical details like hosting, security, and maintenance. On the other hand, WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce plugin built on WordPress, which means it’s self-hosted and comes with more customization options. That sounds nice! Here are some quick links which will help you gain more knowledge of WooCommerce Security and WooCommerce Speed Optimization tips.
At some point, businesses may need to migrate from one eCommerce platform to another for various reasons, including budget, scalability, flexibility, and features. Migrating from Shopify to WooCommerce is one of the critical scenarios that many businesses face. And definitely, it is not a self-manageable task for business owners. The process involves exporting data from the Shopify store and importing it into the WooCommerce store.
One of the best benefits of migrating to WooCommerce from Shopify includes more control over the store, lower costs, and the ability to add more custom features. However, the migration process can be complex and requires technical expertise. Businesses need to plan and execute the migration process carefully to avoid losing important data, hurting search engine rankings, or disrupting the customer experience.
In this migration guide, we will explore the reasons why businesses choose to migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce, the benefits and drawbacks of each platform, and the steps involved in migrating successfully. We will also provide some tips and best practices to help businesses make the transition smoothly.
Before we start with the migration, let’s take an overview of both the eCommerce technologies…
Shopify is an eCommerce platform that enables businesses to create and manage their online stores. The platform is user-friendly, allowing businesses to manage basic features and functionalities independently. However, customization options are limited without coding knowledge and may require the assistance of a Shopify expert. Non-Shopify payment gateways incur transaction fees, and a monthly subscription fee is mandatory.
WooCommece
WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce solution that can be used to create user-friendly online eCommerce stores. This eCommerce solution can turn any regular WordPress-based website into a properly functioning eCommerce store that includes all the necessary features. The eCommerce stores built using WooCommerce are easily manageable.
Why Choose WooCommerce Over Shopify?
Enhanced control over your store: WooCommerce allows you to create a store with the features of your choice without any limitations.
Search Engine Friendly: It allows you to
Edit every single aspect of the SEO including the technical matters
Easily publish quality content.
Payment Solutions & Pricing Control:
It allows you to connect to all types of payment gateways including the niche gateways which are lesser known and lets you turn the e-commerce store into an international store.
It charges no additional transaction fees.
Website Backups: There are free backup options for e-commerce stores built on WooCommerce.
Website Customization: It is possible to copy, modify or alter the source code based on your preference. Thus, there are endless options for customization.
Extensions & Themes:
Web developers can create themes or plugins for specific functions.
WordPress plugin repository has over 54,000 free options which can be used for different types of tasks, such as marketing, designing, or functionality.
The extension marketplace of WooCommerce has more than 300 add-ons for online stores.
Pre-Requisites for Shopify to WooCommerce Migration
Finalize a hosting platform for your WordPress environment: Initially, it’s essential to find a web hosting provider tailored to the CMS of WordPress or WooCommerce. A web-hosting provider with numerous advanced features which can be used to run and expand an online store will be the right choice.
Creating a backup of your existing Shopify website: You must create a backup of the necessary data before the Shopify to WooCommerce migration. In Shopify App Store, some tools add basic backup functionality to Shopify websites. It’s also possible to export the product data in CSV format.
Selecting a matching WordPress theme: It’s impossible to migrate the design of an eCommerce store that is built on Shopify. You have to select a theme from the WooCommerce Theme Store. Many premium options are free.
Testing the theme for product feasibility, SEO & website speed: When selecting the theme, you must ensure that –
It is compatible with the latest version of WooCommerce and well-known page builders.
It is SEO-friendly and comes with drag-and-drop functionality.
2 Methods for Shopify to WooCommerce Migration
1. Manual Import/Export (Totally FREE) 2. Shopify to WooCommerce Migration through Plugin – S2W
1) 5 Steps for Migrating Shopify to WooCommerce by Manual Import/Export (Totally FREE)
Step 1: Set Up WordPress
You can download and set up WordPress manually using a software solution that is available at WordPress.org. The ‘five-minute’ installer video can walk you through the entire process.
Step 2: Install WooCommerce
After installing WordPress, you can have access to the dashboard and complete control over a website’s settings.
You must go to Plugins > Add New and type WooCommerce in the search bar.
You must install the plugin once the download of WooCommerce is complete.
You must click on the Activate button once it appears and this completes the installation process.
Step 3: Export Products from Shopify
To export the Shopify product data
Select the ‘All Products’ option in the ‘Product’ menu after entering your account.
A page with a list of all products within your store appears.
Select the ‘Export’ button
Click on ‘All products’ and select the option ‘CSV for Excel, Numbers, or other spreadsheet programs’ under ‘Export as’.
Shopify is going to compile a CSV file that includes the product data once you click on the button ‘Export products’.
The CSV file is sent to you via e-mail. You have to save the file to the computer for the next step.
Step 4: Import Your Shopify Products into WordPress
There are two methods for this task.
Method – 1
You may use the WooCommerce product importer tool to import the product lists in CSV format. This process enables you to import only the products. The remaining data of the Shopify store, such as images, order history, customers, and reviews, do not get imported.
Go to Tools > Import after accessing the WordPress dashboard
Click on ‘Run importer’ within the WooCommerce products option
Choose the files for import
Select the downloaded CSV file and press the ‘Continue’ button
Select the data that you want to import in WooCommerce after going through the list of options
Press the ‘Run the importer’ button to import the product data
Method – 2
You may use one of the Shopify migration tools, such as Cart2Cart, to automatically import the data. Using this method, it’s possible to import the data that cannot be imported via a CSV file.
Step 5: Test your product list
It’s essential to ensure that no important information is missing after the migration of data. You must rerun the importer and import the correct fields to WooCommerce if any product data is missing.
Professional Service (Paid):
You may retain the service of a professional if you don’t want to migrate the data on your own. Our expert WooCommerce developers work with WooCommerce and can assist you with the migration.
2) Shopify to WooCommerce Migration through Plugin – S2W
This is another method of migrating the data from Shopify to WooCommerce. This plugin enables the automatic transfer of data.
Step 1: Installing
Find the ‘Plugins’ tab and select ‘Add new’ on the WooCommerce dashboard
Insert the URL, API key, and API secret (password) of the Shopify store in General settings after the plug-in is installed
Step 2: Choosing data categories & completing the migration
Click the ‘Import’ button after including all credentials in the General settings section
A list appears with entities that can be moved from Shopify to the WooCommerce store by the S2W plugin
The Products and Product categories can be migrated using the free version.
You must upgrade to the Pro version for comprehensive migration.
Click ‘Import’ after selecting all entities and the automatic transfer of relevant data to WooCommerce starts
Cart2Cart Extension (Paid)
What type of data can you migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce?
SKU, name, product description, manufacturer, status, tax class
Price, sale price
URL, Meta Title, Meta Description
Weight
Product Tags
Variants (SKU, weight, attributes, quantity, price, special price, additional image)
Base image, additional images
Quantity, manage stock
How to use Cart2Cart Extension?
Step 1: Get a migration estimate
Using the estimate tool of Cart2Cart, you can learn about the cost of migrating the data from Shopify to WooCommerce. The cost is calculated based on product quantity.
Step 2
Visit the home page of Cart2Cart and sign in using your existing account on Facebook or Google.
From the drop-down menu, select Shopify as the source cart and WooCommerce as the target cart.
Enter your URL of the source store along with the Shopify API password.
In the ‘description’ section, you may enter your email ID or write the title as Cart2Cart.
Change the permission setting of all entities from ‘No Access’ to ‘Read and Write’ or ‘Read Access.’
Copy and paste the API Key that is generated in the ‘setup’ section of the ‘source and target’ cart.
Enter your target cart URL after selecting WooCommerce as the target cart.
Click on the ‘Download bridge’ and extract it from the WordPress root folder.
Select the entities that must be migrated or press the ‘Select All’ checkbox for complete data migration.
Click the button – ‘Start Free Demo.’
Visit the target store to check the migrated data when the process is complete.
Click on the ‘start full migration’ option to transfer all the data after checking the entities.
Post Migration Steps for Shopify to WooCommerce
Domain Configuration
You must update your domain records to ensure that they point toward the new web host.
Method 1
You must update the records in the ‘domain’ registrar if it is used. The process varies depending on the registrar.
Method 2
If the domain is directly registered through Shopify, then the DNS settings must be edited using the platform.
Permalinks Setting:
To change the URL structure of your store: Go to Settings > Permalinks > Product permalinks and select the desired option, such as Standard, Shop Base, Shop Base with Category, or Custom Base.
Select the permalink structure and save any changes made to the WordPress website
Conclusion
WooCommerce is more flexible and cost-effective than Shopify. Thus, it’s suitable for building a growth-oriented eCommerce store.
Are you facing challenges and not able to run your eCommerce store smoothly? Not able to set a proper online ambience on your store? It’s time to migrate your store from Shopify to WooCommerce. Feel free to connect with us to discuss your Shopify to WooCommerce Migration, our WooCommerce Expert will be right back to you with the best suitable eCommerce solution.
