Magento has long been the leading platform for online business stores. However, many merchants are now moving their eCommerce stores to Shopify because of its user-friendly interface and flexible features.
Moving from Magento to Shopify is an elaborate process that needs to be carefully planned.
This article will explain how to migrate from Magento to Shopify when you should migrate, and the challenges involved in the process.
So, let’s start.
Table of Contents
How to Migrate from Magento Shopify: Reasons to Migrate
Before directly moving on to the steps of the migration process, it is necessary to look at some of the reasons why you would need such a migration:
- First, Shopify intends to enable business owners to build and manage their eCommerce stores. Switching to this platform makes your business processes more accessible and more straightforward than any other platform.
- Second, Shopify offers a host of benefits for online businesses. You can manage and maintain your Shopify store with minimal effort and time. The cost is also less, offering an excellent cost marketing strategy for online stores.
- Third, Shopify promises increased storage and security. This is much-needed for any eCommerce business. Plus, there is a range of add-ons and other features that Shopify users can access.
7 Steps to Migrating from Magento to Shopify
Here go the seven critical steps to migrating from Magento to Shopify:
Step 1 - Prepare Your Shopify Store
The first step to making your Shopify store ready is to go through the installation of your eCommerce store on the Shopify platform without any additional changes or modules.
A typical Shopify store comes with a 14-day trial, which is a good starting point. The trial version will familiarize you with Shopify's different functionalities. Once used to it, you can choose from the paid versions.
The next thing is choosing a theme, and Shopify themes are highly recommended concerning how eCommerce stores work. You can select a theme per your needs or customize it further to suit your store. The migration should be complete before theme customization to avoid certain potential risks.
Step 2 - Backup the Magento Store
It is necessary to avoid possible mishaps while migrating from Magento to Shopify. That is why; you need to ensure that all data on the store is safe by performing a data backup process.
To create a backup in the Magento store, log in to the Admin panel, click ‘Systems’ in the ‘Tools’ section and choose ‘Backups.’ Next, tap the upper-right corner button to select the type of backup you want.
System backup helps you create a complete backup of all the data and file systems in the store. You can include a media folder in this backup too. Data backup only creates a database backup, while database and media backup enables the creation of specific backups of the database and media folder.
Click ‘OK’ after choosing the desired option.
Step 3 – Import Using an App
You can find a lot of apps in the Shopify app store, and one of the most useful ones is the Store Importer. It is an easy-to-use, free app while migrating data to Shopify.
To download it, you need to go to the Shopify admin page, choose ‘Apps,’ then ‘Store Importer’ and follow the instructions.
Step 4 – Export the Magento Data
It is now time to set up your Shopify store. So, you must carefully export all the data from your Magento store.
Start by logging in to the Admin panel; go to ‘Systems’ – ‘Data Transfer’ – ‘Export.’ In the Export section, you have to set the ‘Entity Type’ to one of the options: Products, Customer Addresses, and Customers Main File.
You must repeat the importing process via XML or CSV file for each entity.
Step 5 – Import the Store Data to Shopify
Importing your data to Shopify is the most crucial step in the migration process, and you need to do the following:
- Go to the Shopify admin page; navigate to ‘Apps’ and then ‘Import Store.’
- As Magento is not listed, choose the platform option as ‘Other.’
- Under the ‘Upload Files,’ choose ‘Add File’ and select your exported files
- If you have exported from your Magento store, choose the CSV file
- Click on ‘Continue Import’ and then ‘Import’ to complete
- If you want to import the products separately, then
- Login to the Shopify admin and navigate to ‘Products’ and then ‘All Products’
- Choose ‘Import’
- Select ‘Add File’ and add the product CSV file
- Press on ‘Upload File’
You must follow the same steps by choosing ‘Customers’ if you want to import customers separately.
It is crucial to remember that importing products, customers, and historical order data must be in the same order.
Also, note that the customers’ passwords cannot be migrated to Shopify. They are stored encrypted, so you cannot move them. You can only migrate the customer records and not the customer accounts.
Step 6 – Review the Imported Data
Once you have imported the data, it is time to review it to ensure that you have not missed out on anything. Shopify makes it super simple to update and review data.
The following are some of the common problems you will find when reviewing the data:
- Data was imported successfully, but there are some missing data, which you need to edit naturally.
- Some products or customers have not been imported, which can be added manually through the Products or Customers import option.
- Failed import or bundled products, which also can be manually added using the product bundling apps from the Shopify store
- Successful import of unpublished products is another problem. To fix this, you need to change product availability in Shopify.
- Sometimes, tags will be added to imported records; some product variants will fail to import, and imported products will lack the dimension, all of which you can manually fix.
- Digital products might be imported successfully, but these might not be published. To solve this, you will need to install a specific Shopify app that enables selling digital products.
Step 7 – Start Designing Your New Shopify Store
Once you have executed all the steps, it is time to decorate your Shopify store. Even though Magento SEO features are great, Shopify is an easy platform to customize.
Shopify agencies as well as other web development companies offer a range of pre-made themes and numerous visual suggestions to help you design a beautiful and functional online store.
What Data can be Migrated from Magento to Shopify?
Even when you are aware of migrating from Magento to Shopify, you might wonder what type of data can be transferred. These are:
- Products and Product Categories - These include all the products on a website along with their respective information such as name, description, SKU, status, price, images, URL, manufacturer, weight variants, special price, meta titles and descriptions, base image, and the number of in-stock goods.
- Products’ Visuals - Visuals imply the products' shape, color, and size. All the order details, including the purchase amount, payment details, customer names, billing, and shipping address, can also be transferred.
- Static page content, including about us, blogs, contact pages, and other CMS pages of the website.
- Benefits in the form of coupons, discounts, etc.
- Integrations imply all the customers’ information, such as location, phone number, name, email address, and more.
Challenges in Magento to Shopify Migration
When you are all set to migrate from Magento to Shopify, take note of the possible challenges too that you need to face and overcome during the process.
It will help if you re-examine how your store operates so that you can move only the most necessary operating structures. However, Shopify has excellent customer support, and a large community is always there for you.
Plus, you must ensure that all the required data is migrated without damage or loss. The most difficult parts are data migration from one site to another while maintaining the existing structure.
How to Migrate from Magento to Shopify Takeaways
That sums up all you need to know if you are considering moving from a Magento store to a Shopify store.
You can always seek professional help and guidance from a team who knows how to build an eCommerce website on any platform.
They will help you leverage the benefits of Shopify and make your store more valuable and attractive for the users.
