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Have you outgrown your Shopify store and need more flexibility? WooCommerce might be the solution for you.
WooCommerce lets you configure taxes, add custom shipping, and control your store’s design—things you don’t get with Shopify. Plus, you can publish unlimited products for free.
You can migrate your store easily with the right steps. In this article, I’ll guide you through the process to ensure a smooth transition from Shopify to WooCommerce. Let’s get started.
Shopify and WooCommerce are two of the most popular eCommerce platforms. They both let you create an online store, but they work differently. Shopify is fully hosted, so you don't worry about backups or updates. But it costs more and limits your control over your website.
WooCommerce is open-source software that you install on your own hosting. This means you have complete control and can customize your store however you want. You don’t pay extra transaction fees, unlike Shopify.
Due to these reasons, many Shopify users switch to WooCommerce for managing their online store.
WooCommerce and Shopify are both popular platforms for the eCommerce industry. WordPress, which powers WooCommerce, holds the largest share in the CMS market. WooCommerce is the most used plugin for eCommerce websites, paired with WordPress.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of using WooCommerce:
Switching from Shopify to WooCommerce is essentially a risk-free process when it comes to your store's data. However, you'll still want to create a backup in case anything goes wrong.
Shopify lets you export product data via CSV, which you can import into WooCommerce. This includes products, customers, and some financial data.
But you can't export themes or metafields with a CSV. For that, use a backup app like BackupMaster. It backs up products, themes, blogs, orders, metafields, and files. This way, you can restore everything—whether it's the whole store or just single items.
Before you move from Shopify to WooCommerce, you need to set things up. Start by getting a domain name. You can find one for $7-$20 through places like GoDaddy and Namecheap.
Consider registering a .com domain as it's the most recognized. While some stores use other extensions like .store or .shop, .com is still the best choice.
You'll also need to think of a business name for registering your domain. Make sure it's unique and memorable. If you're short on ideas, use Spocket’s business name generator to spark new ones.
Since WooCommerce is self-hosted, you'll also need to choose a web hosting solution. Many hosting providers are tailored towards WordPress and WooCommerce users. Look for those that offer:
Some good options are:
Pro Tip: Some web hosts also sell domain names as part of their packages. If you want to manage your domain and hosting in one place, check which companies offer both.
To import Shopify products to WooCommerce, you need to create a WordPress website first.
Start by installing the core WordPress software to your web hosting account. Here are the steps:
If you don’t want to install WordPress manually, many web hosts have an auto-installer that sets up WordPress for you.
Once WordPress is up and running, you’ll have access to the dashboard. Here, you control your website’s settings, layout, and content.
Since you want an online store, you’ll need to install WooCommerce. Here’s how:
Now you should have a WooCommerce site ready to import products to.
Shopify lets you export your entire product catalog in CSV format, including titles, slugs, tags, variants, and prices. To do this, go to your Shopify account and navigate to Products > All Products. You’ll see a list of all your products and options to import and export data.
Click the Export button at the top of the screen. Shopify will ask which products you want to export. Select All products and choose CSV for Excel (or another relevant option) under Export as.
After clicking Export Products, wait for Shopify to send you an email containing the CSV file with all your product data. The email might take a while to arrive, depending on your inventory size. When it arrives, save the file to your computer. You’ll need it for the next step.
Now that you have exported your Shopify data, the next step is to import it into your WooCommerce store. For this purpose, you can use the WooCommerce Product Importer tool.
The Woocommerce Product Importer tool lets you import product lists in CSV format. Since you already downloaded your Shopify catalog as a CSV file, this process is simple.
Keep in mind, that this method only imports products. Your customers, order history, images, and reviews will stay in Shopify. You’re basically starting over with WooCommerce using your existing inventory.
If that’s okay, let’s import your Shopify CSV file into WooCommerce. Here’s how:
Once you’re happy with your choices, click Run the importer. WooCommerce will take some time to import your Shopify product data.
After the import is complete, you’ll see a success message. Click on View products to go to the Products > All Products tab and see an overview of the items you just imported.
Remember, WooCommerce won’t import product images, so you must upload those manually. Check each item to ensure it’s not missing any critical information. If needed, rerun the importer to port the correct fields to WooCommerce.
At this stage, you should have a fully working WooCommerce store with all your Shopify products. However, you still need to update your domain records to point to your new web host.
Currently, your domain points to your Shopify store. You probably don’t want to register a new domain, as you’ll have to build traffic from scratch and may lose a significant percentage of your customer base.
The process for changing your domain varies depending on your service provider. If you use a domain registrar, you’ll need to update your records there. This process differs from registrar to registrar.
For example, if you registered a domain through Shopify, you’ll need to edit your DNS settings using their platform. Follow the specific instructions from your domain registrar or hosting provider to ensure your domain points to your new WooCommerce store.
It’s best to choose a permalink structure when you start your WooCommerce store. Changing it later can impact your SEO and cause errors on your site. Setting it early on prevents future headaches.
Next, you might have URLs in your product descriptions still pointing to your old Shopify domain. To bulk update these URLs, install and activate the Go Live Update Urls plugin.
Visit Tools > Go Live. Enter your Shopify store URL as the old URL and your WooCommerce domain as the new URL. Click the Update Urls button to fix all links across your site. Once done, you can uninstall the plugin.
If you have blog posts or pages, set up redirects to ensure visitors and search engines go to the correct page. Install and activate the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plugin.
After activation, follow the setup wizard. Go to All in One SEO > Redirects. Enter the old URL in the Source URL field and the new URL in the Target URL field. Set the Redirect Type 301 Moved Permanently and click Add Redirect. Repeat this for other links. AIOSEO keeps a log of the redirects, showing you the number of people visiting the redirected link.
In your new WooCommerce store, the pages might not resemble their Shopify counterparts. This is because you are still using one of the default WordPress themes.
At this point, you have two options for designing your new store:
Recreating your Shopify store design can make the transition smoother for existing customers. However, starting over with a new WooCommerce template allows you to take advantage of the greater customization options that WordPress offers.
WordPress gives you access to multiple page builder plugins that work with WooCommerce, enabling you to customize your store extensively. You can also use the built-in Block Editor with a WooCommerce-friendly theme.
Both options are viable, so decide which approach works best for you and make the most of the features that WordPress and WooCommerce offer.
Migrating from Shopify to WooCommerce is common. Plugins and services simplify the process. Using Shopify migration tools automates the entire process and allows you to port data that a simple CSV file can't handle.
Cart2Cart is a useful tool for this purpose, enabling a smooth migration of products, customers, orders, and other data from Shopify to WooCommerce.
Sign up on Cart2Cart with your email, password, and full name, or use your Facebook account.
Choose between Free Demo Now or Get Estimates. For now, we’ll use the Free Demo.
Your Shopify products, categories, customers, and orders should now be successfully migrated to WooCommerce. Review your WooCommerce store to confirm all data is in place and functioning as expected.
There you have it—all the steps you need to migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce. With WooCommerce, you get much more control over your store than Shopify offers. Go ahead and make the switch, and explore the endless possibilities of WooCommerce.
It won’t. The data is just downloaded from one place and uploaded to another. Your current Shopify store stays as is.
Only the data can be transferred from Shopify to WordPress. Themes and apps won’t migrate. You’ll need to redesign your site on WordPress.
The top three tools are Cart2Cart, Next-Cart, and LitExtension. They help you move products, customers, orders, and more. All offer easy migration services.
Yes. Use SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to check your URLs and tags. Make sure you have working 301 redirects to maintain your rankings.
A: WooCommerce offers more control and is cost-effective. However, Shopify is hassle-free and scalable. Spocket integrates with both platforms to help you get started quickly.
Adeel holds a Master’s degree in digital marketing and is a passionate e-commerce marketer. He specializes in long-form content creation and has a conversion mindset, which helps him focus on elements that generate sales for businesses.
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