A WooCommerce to Shopify migration moves products, images, customers and order history, usually with an import tool or script. Passwords, some plugin data and custom features do not move cleanly. The biggest risk is losing search traffic, so map every old URL to its new one with 301 redirects. Plan for 2 to 6 weeks, depending on store size.
Key Takeaways
- Migrate for a clear reason: cost, maintenance burden, features or payment options.
- Products, customers and orders can move; passwords and many plugin settings cannot.
- URL structures differ between platforms, so redirects are essential to keep rankings.
- Run the new store in parallel and switch over at a quiet time, never before Eid or a big sale.
- Compare total monthly costs on both platforms, including apps or plugins, before deciding.
Why Consider a WooCommerce to Shopify Migration?
Pakistani store owners usually consider a WooCommerce to Shopify migration because their WooCommerce site has become slow, keeps breaking after plugin updates or needs a developer for every change. Others move the opposite way, from Shopify to WooCommerce, to escape monthly app bills and transaction fees or to gain more control. Both moves can be right. Both carry real risk if done carelessly. Our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison covers the decision itself; this guide covers the move.
It belongs to our e-commerce series beginning with the online store start-up guide.
What Data Moves and What Does Not?
| Data | Moves? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Products, variants, prices, stock | Yes | Check variant options map correctly |
| Product images | Yes | Alt text may need re-adding |
| Categories and collections | Mostly | Structures differ; rebuild some by hand |
| Customers | Yes, details only | Passwords cannot move; customers reset them |
| Order history | Usually | Often imported as historical records |
| Reviews | Depends | Need export and import through the review tool |
| Blog posts and pages | Yes | Formatting needs checking |
| Plugin or app features | No | Replace with equivalents on the new platform |
| Custom code and theme | No | Design is rebuilt on the new platform |
How Do You Keep Search Traffic?
WooCommerce and Shopify use different URL patterns for products and categories. If old URLs simply stop working, Google rankings and links from other sites are lost. Google's guidance on site moves recommends mapping every old URL to its most relevant new URL with permanent (301) redirects. Make a spreadsheet of all old product, category, page and blog URLs, match each to its new address, and load the redirects before switching. Keep titles and descriptions for important pages. Our guide to changing websites without losing traffic explains the process step by step.
How Do You Avoid Downtime?
- Build and test the new store on a temporary address while the old one keeps selling.
- Import data, then check a sample of products, prices and stock against the old store.
- Test checkout with every payment method and courier integration.
- Choose a quiet switch date, never just before Eid, 11.11 or a sale.
- Do a final import of orders and customers added since the first import.
- Point the domain to the new store, activate redirects and watch for errors.
- Keep the old store backed up and accessible to staff for a few months.
Will Your Payment Methods Still Work?
Check this before anything else. Your current gateway may have a plugin for WooCommerce but no integration with Shopify, or the other way round. Shopify Payments is not available in Pakistan, and Shopify charges third-party transaction fees of 2%, 1% or 0.6% depending on plan when Shopify Payments is not used, according to its pricing page checked on 30 October 2026. Cash on delivery and courier integrations also need confirming on the new platform.
What Affects the Cost of Migration?
- Number of products and variants, and how clean the data is.
- Whether the design is rebuilt from scratch or adapted from a theme.
- Custom features that must be rebuilt or replaced.
- Number of URLs to redirect.
- Payment, courier and other integrations.
We quote migrations after reviewing the existing store. A store rebuild on either platform falls within our online store pricing from Rs 157,500.
How Should Customer Data Be Handled During the Move?
Export files contain customer names, phones, addresses and order histories. Store them securely, share them only with the people doing the migration, and delete working copies once the move is complete. Tell customers if they need to reset passwords.
What Should You Check After Switching?
Watch Search Console for 404 errors and fix missing redirects, compare daily orders with the weeks before, check that emails and order notifications arrive, and ask a few loyal customers to place test orders. See e-commerce development for help.
See also Ecommerce SEO in Pakistan and Abandoned Cart Recovery for Pakistani Stores.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Google Search Central — Site moves with URL changes
- Shopify — Pricing
- WooCommerce — Documentation
- Shopify Help Center — Shopify Payments supported countries
How we researched this: Redirect guidance comes from Google's site move documentation. Shopify transaction fees come from its pricing page, checked 30 October 2026. The data table and switchover steps are editorial, based on common migration practice. No migration tool is named or priced. Our prices come from the published list.
Thinking of switching platforms?
Message us on WhatsApp for a fixed quote, or see our published pricing first.