SHOPIFY MIGRATION · PRESTASHOP · WOOCOMMERCE · ODOO · MAGENTO
Move to Shopify without losing traffic, data, or your sanity.
A poorly executed Shopify migration wipes months of SEO, overwrites customer history, and ships production bugs you only notice too late. I’ve done it right on 60+ stores. Here’s how.
60+ brands supported across all engagement types · PrestaShop · WooCommerce · Odoo · Magento · Shopify since 2019
WHY IT’S RISKY
Shopify migration is the most underestimated operation in e-commerce.
Most merchants think migrating means “moving products.” That’s maybe 20% of the work. The other 80% decides whether your store ends up better or worse after the switch.
The five expensive mistakes - after migration
01
Missing or poorly mapped 301 redirects
Every URL on your old site that doesn’t redirect to the new one is a dead page. Google deindexes, backlinks lose equity, traffic collapses. On an 800-product PrestaShop store, that can mean 600 redirects mapped one by one.
02
Misunderstood Shopify canonical structure
Shopify natively creates duplicate URLs - /products/slug and /collections/cat/products/slug can point to the same product. Without correct canonicals from day one, Google doesn’t know which URL to index. Result: authority dilution across your product pages.
03
Structured data not migrated
Your old site may have had rich results (stars, price, availability in the SERPs). Without schema markup reimplemented on Shopify, you lose those formats on launch day. Fixing them later takes longer than doing it right up front.
04
Lost or badly imported customer and order history
Customer data isn’t a nice-to-have - it’s a marketing asset. Order history, tags, Klaviyo segments. A migration that wipes them resets loyalty work to zero.
05
A theme picked too fast
“We’ll start with a free theme” is one of the costliest sentences in e-commerce. Wrong theme → red Core Web Vitals → performance penalty → organic loss → full redesign six months later. I’ve seen it dozens of times.
YOUR SITUATION
Which CMS are you migrating from?
PrestaShop → Shopify
PrestaShop was solid in 2015. In 2026, most PrestaShop stores carry visible technical debt: slower loads, unstable module stacks, risky upgrades. Migrating to Shopify 2.0 is a chance to reset on a clean, maintained, scalable base - without redoing your entire marketing strategy.
What I handle specifically on PrestaShop: URL mapping /fr/category/product.html → /products/slug, migrating attributes and product variants, recovering Trustpilot or Judge.me reviews, redirecting email modules (newsletters, abandoned carts).
WooCommerce → Shopify
WooCommerce is flexible but fragile at scale: conflicting plugins, WordPress updates breaking the front, hosting to babysit. Moving to Shopify removes infra maintenance and gives you a stable environment with native CDN and strong uptime.
What I handle on WooCommerce: complex permalink structure, WordPress customer data, WooCommerce attributes → Shopify metafields, content pages (blog, CMS), Klaviyo or Mailchimp compatibility.
Odoo → Shopify
Odoo is a powerful ERP - but its e-commerce module isn’t competitive for DTC brands that need performance, UX depth, and a rich app ecosystem. The migration keeps Odoo as ERP (stock, accounting, logistics) and connects Shopify as the commerce front via API or a dedicated connector.
This is exactly the migration profile I run today: hybrid Odoo back office + Shopify storefront, with real-time sync for catalog, orders, and stock.
Magento → Shopify
Magento is powerful but expensive to build and maintain. Brands moving to Shopify want lower total cost of ownership and more agility. The migration is technically heavier (large catalogs, deep customizations) - which is why initial scoping matters so much.
Other CMS (Wix, Squarespace, Jimdo, custom)
If your store runs on a generic CMS or aging custom stack, migrating to Shopify is often the most structuring decision on your e-commerce roadmap. Scope is assessed case by case.
MY MIGRATION METHOD
Six phases. No surprises on launch day.
Phase 1 - Audit of the current setup
5–10 daysBefore touching anything: I analyze your current CMS, URL structure, organic traffic, customer and order data, and active integrations (ERP, CRM, email, logistics, payments). Deliverable: migration report with risks, precise scope, and effort/timeline estimate.Phase 2 - Shopify architecture
3–7 daysTheme choice, collection structure, navigation, product metafields, data migration plan. Everything is decided before the first import - not during. Deliverable: signed architecture document.Phase 3 - Redirect mapping
5–15 days depending on volumeFull map of existing URLs → new Shopify URLs. Every URL with organic traffic, backlinks, or strategic value is mapped manually. Redirect rules are tested on staging before production. This is the slowest phase - and the most important.Phase 4 - Data migration
3–10 daysImport products (titles, descriptions, variants, images, metadata), customers (emails, history, tags), orders (for reporting and loyalty), and content pages. Data cleanup along the way: duplicates, thin copy, unoptimized images.Phase 5 - Build & QA
2–8 weeks depending on scopeDevelopment of the Shopify 2.0 theme, integrations (Klaviyo, ERP, tracking), schema markup, performance (LCP < 2s target), full technical SEO. Cross-browser QA, mobile, checkout, transactional emails. Deliverable: signed QA checklist before go-live.Phase 6 - Go-live & post-migration follow-up
D+1 to D+30Controlled launch, 301 redirects on, GSC check within 48h, organic traffic monitoring, anomaly fixes. Follow-up reports at D+7, D+14, and D+30 to confirm nothing was lost.
DELIVERABLES
What you actually get.
Before migration
- - Complete audit of your current site (CMS, SEO, data, integrations)
- - Validated Shopify architecture document
- - Exhaustive redirect mapping file
- - Dated migration plan with milestones
During migration
- - Clean import of products, customers, orders
- - Shopify 2.0 theme built or configured to scope
- - JSON-LD schema markup on key pages
- - Performance work (images, scripts, LCP)
- - Third-party integrations (Klaviyo, ERP, Meta Pixel, GA4, GTM)
At go-live
- - Activation of tested 301 redirects
- - Search Console verification within 48h
- - Documented QA sign-off checklist
After migration
- - Organic traffic follow-up reports D+7 / D+14 / D+30
- - Technical handover documentation
- - 30 days of post-launch support included
ONGOING CASE
Odoo → Shopify migration: the TERRASCAPERS example.
L’Atelier de l’Aquarium - Terrascapers serves the aquarium and terrarium niche. Their store ran on Odoo, a strong ERP but a weak fit for a modern DTC storefront: poor performance, limited UX customization, almost no app ecosystem.
Goal: make Shopify the high-performing, maintainable commerce front while keeping Odoo as ERP (stock, accounting, logistics) - without losing data or stopping sales.
What the migration covers:
- - Hybrid Odoo (ERP) + Shopify (front) architecture with catalog and order sync
- - Product catalog migration with metafields tailored to the aquatic niche
- - Shopify 2.0 theme built for conversion with a passionate, technical audience
- - Full technical SEO: structure, schema, redirects, performance
- - Planned launch mid-May 2026
Mission in progress - full case study after go-live.
BY THE NUMBERS
What it looks like in practice.
100%
Of strategic redirects
inventoried, tested, and monitored
at cutover.
0
Planned service interruption
through a prepared cutover
in a low-traffic window.
4 weeks
Minimum duration for a migration
done properly. Shorter timelines
cut corners - and you pay for it.
D+48h
First GSC verification window
after go-live. If traffic dips,
I see it before you do and act.
FIT OR NOT
This mission is for you if - and only if.
It’s the right time to migrate if:
- → Your current CMS is slowing growth: heavy maintenance, poor performance, recurring technical limits.
- → You’re planning a redesign anyway - better to land on the right platform.
- → You have a structured catalog (data exists, even if messy).
- → You have a realistic go-live horizon - at least ~6 weeks for a clean migration.
- → You can freeze major catalog changes during the migration window.
- → You’re planning CRO after migration : funnel, key pages, tests.
It’s not the right time if:
- → You have a seasonal peak in under 8 weeks. We don’t migrate during Black Friday week.
- → Your catalog is chaotic (duplicate copy, missing images, corrupted customer data). Clean first, migrate second.
- → You want someone to “just move products” in three days. That vendor exists. It isn’t me - and you’ll regret it.
- → You want to start without auditing the current setup or scoping data, redirects, and integrations.
Migration deliverables for a store your team can run
I prepare data mapping, the buying journey, redirects and launch checks. The scope identifies what moves, what needs adapting and what stays in an external system.
A finished design does not prove that stock, translations or shipping are ready. Launch requires technical and operational checks, with an owner for each open issue.
| Deliverable | Pre-launch check |
|---|---|
| Catalog mapping | Match products, variants, references, images and custom fields between the source and Shopify. |
| Redirect plan | Map old URLs to relevant destinations and test priority pages. |
| Acceptance checklist | Test mobile navigation, search, cart, shipping, payments and emails against agreed scenarios. |
| Cutover and recovery plan | Document owners, timing, final synchronization, backups and recovery steps. |
| Handover | Share open issues, administration guidance and post-launch checks with the team. |
What we validate together before launch
I prepare implementation and checks; your team confirms commercial data and launch decisions. Prices, sellable stock, weights, shipping destinations and return conditions need approved sources. Activating a country in Shopify does not prove that an order can be paid for and shipped.
The account holder completes identity and banking verification. The appropriate specialists approve legal content. Test orders, any refunds and domain changes are agreed with you. A validated theme alone is not a launch approval.
PrestaShop to Shopify migration
Inventory products, variants, categories, content and module-dependent workflows. Use a trial import to validate the catalog, then map old URLs to relevant destinations. Importing products alone does not reproduce the previous store’s business rules.
WooCommerce to Shopify migration
Review WordPress plugins, custom fields and content that brings useful traffic. Subscriptions, account features and shipping rules need individual validation. Agree what will move, what needs adaptation and what will stay in an external system.
Magento and Odoo: define system ownership
Determine which system owns stock, pricing, customers and orders before selecting connectors. Test redirects, key pages and buying flows before launch. Monitor errors and search performance afterwards; temporary traffic changes remain possible.
Frequently asked questions about migrating to Shopify
- How long does a Shopify migration take?
- It depends on three factors: catalog size (products, variants, images), data complexity (customers, orders, content), and theme scope (configured theme vs custom build). A simple migration takes 4–6 weeks. A full build with custom theme and ERP-connected architecture takes 3–5 months. I never commit to a timeline without auditing the current setup first.
- Will a Shopify migration hurt SEO traffic?
- A migration can cause traffic fluctuations even with careful preparation. Redirect mapping, useful content preservation and indexation checks reduce risk but cannot guarantee that traffic will not fall. I compare pages and queries in Search Console before and after launch, account for seasonality and investigate documented anomalies.
- Can we keep Odoo (or another ERP) alongside Shopify?
- Yes - it’s a common architecture for brands that need ERP depth for operations (stock, accounting, logistics) and Shopify for the storefront. Connection is via API or a connector (e.g. LitCommerce, SKULabs, or custom). I scope the architecture in phase 1 based on your real flows.
- Do we need to change the theme when we migrate?
- No - you can configure an existing Shopify theme (Dawn, Impulse, Prestige, etc.) and migrate onto it. But migration is often the best moment to pick and configure the right theme from the start, instead of fixing a weak theme six months later. I always recommend the right theme during architecture.
- What exactly gets migrated?
- Products (titles, descriptions, variants, images, SEO metadata), collections, content pages, customers (emails, order history, tags), and URL redirects. Accounting data and archived orders can be exported separately for compliance. Third-party tools (Klaviyo, Meta Pixel, GA4, ERP) are reconfigured on Shopify within the project scope.
- How do we go live without downtime?
- The migration runs in parallel on a Shopify staging environment. Go-live is scheduled in a low-traffic window (often Tuesday or Wednesday morning). Redirects flip, DNS updates, and the first 48 hours are monitored closely. Your current store stays live until the last moment.
- How do you scope a Shopify migration?
- Scope depends on catalogue size, data to migrate, the theme, markets, and ERP or logistics integrations. I provide a precise estimate after auditing the current setup, never before.
- Do you work solo or with a team?
- I mostly work solo, which keeps continuity on your project. For very large migrations or specific builds (custom Shopify app, complex ERP integration), I work with trusted developers - while I keep ownership and delivery responsibility. As your Shopify consultant, you still have a single point of contact.
Considering a migration to Shopify?
The first step is always an audit of what you have today. Send me your current store URL and what you want to achieve - within 48 hours I’ll tell you if the migration is realistic, what it involves, and how I’d approach it.
Reply within 24h · Direct, no form
For complex projects - 30 minutes is enough
Shopify-only since 2019 · Based in France · 60+ stores supported · Planned launch and documented follow-up
Teo Comyn · Shopify · CRO · SEO · Migration