Changing an e-commerce platform is a major obstacle that needs to be overcome, but there are ways to make this transition.
You can easily transfer your products, customer list, and orders from Shopify to WooCommerce.
WooCommerce and Shopify platforms are very different from each other, so transferring a store from Shopify to WooCommerce requires technical knowledge or experience with such a transfer.
In this article, we’ll go over 3 ways to transfer your store from Shopify to WooCommerce.
Things to Know before Transferring your Store from Shopify to WooCommerce
If you already have a store on Shopify and want to transfer it to WooCommerce, you’ll want to move the store without losing customer and order data, and you want the process to be as easy and efficient as possible.
First, you need to choose a hosting company and install WordPress, WooCommerce, and later additional plugins on the hosting.
It’s important to note that when transferring a store from Shopify to WooCommerce, the design doesn’t transfer with the store and you’ll need to redesign your store in WordPress (you can use suitable templates to create a store identical to the one in Shopify).
Now let’s go over 3 ways you can transfer the store from Shopify to WooCommerce.
Method 1 – Manual Export and Import
Although this method requires more time investment than other methods, manually transferring your products and orders from your Shopify store to a new WooCommerce store is relatively simple and free. Follow these steps:
- Export your data and products from Shopify by downloading or exporting
- In your WordPress admin panel, go to WooCommerce and then to Products
- At the top, click on Import, where you can import a CSV file of the products that will ease the process (the same file you downloaded from Shopify)
- Click on Choose File and select the CSV file you want to upload, then click Continue
- When uploading the file, you’ll see a screen called Column Mapping, where WooCommerce automatically tries to match the columns from the file you downloaded from Shopify to the existing product fields in WooCommerce. You may need to map some columns yourself – do this using the drop-down menus to the right of each row
- Click on Run The Importer and then wait until the import process is complete
If you want to import your customer data and orders to your new WordPress site in addition to the product list, we recommend using one of the following 2 methods.
Method 2 – Using the Cart2Cart Plugin
The Cart2Cart plugin helps you transfer your Shopify store to a new WooCommerce store in a few simple steps.
You can first check the process with a free demo site transfer that demonstrates exactly how the transfer will work.
Not only is the site transfer process performed without required technical knowledge, your Shopify store will still work until the transfer is complete, so you won’t miss sales during the store transfer.
Here are some of the data that can be transferred using the plugin:
- Product data, product names, SKUs, product descriptions, prices, variations, and weights
- Product category information, category names, category descriptions, and URLs
- Customer names, emails, and addresses
- Order details, order date, order ID, order status, quantities, discounts, and shipping details
- Coupon names, codes, and discounts
- Blog post information, titles, descriptions, dates, URLs, content, and images
- Page information, titles, URLs, and page status
How much Does Using the Cart2Cart Plugin Cost?
The exact pricing for using the Cart2Cart plugin depends on the size of your store and the amount of information you want to transfer to the new WooCommerce store.
The starting price of the plugin is $69 per month and includes the transfer of 1000 products, 500 customers, and 500 orders.
This price increases according to the store size if your numbers are higher than these.
There are also paid upgrades that can be added when purchasing the plugin, providing additional functionality such as creating 301 redirects during the transfer process and more.
You can check the costs before purchasing on this page.
How to Transfer a Site Using the Cart2Cart Plugin?
Activate your store transfer from Shopify to WooCommerce in several steps:
- Connect the Cart2Cart plugin to your Shopify store by entering the URL and API connection
- Connect your new WooCommerce site. You can do this manually or automatically with the plugin (automatic is recommended)
- Choose the data you want to transfer and match it to the appropriate fields in WooCommerce before transfer
Now, all you need to do is initiate the transfer process between Shopify and WooCommerce and wait until it’s complete. The transfer duration depends on the site size and the amount of information you’re transferring.
Method 3 – Hire an Expert in the Field
One of the most effective ways (certainly not the most economical) to transfer your store from Shopify to WooCommerce is to pay an expert who deals with these types of migrations.
Since these are not platforms that communicate well with each other, transferring the entire store can complicate things for you and take a lot of time, not always with complete success.
So if you have the option to invest in an expert who deals with transferring sites between Shopify and WooCommerce, it can be an excellent solution for you.
Today, there are many programmers and developers who do this type of work, the cost is usually for development hours at an estimate of 200-350 “” per hour.
In Conclusion, Migrating a Shopify Site Can be Complex
Whether you choose to transfer your store from Shopify to WooCommerce using site import and export, a paid expert, or with the Cart2Cart plugin – transferring the entire store is not a simple action and some things you’ll need to arrange in WordPress and also in WooCommerce (store design, functionality, and more).
There are many reasons why it’s worthwhile to transfer from Shopify to WooCommerce, but the most common reason is the flexibility and convenience you get when your site is in WordPress and in your hands and not “held” hostage in a closed system like Shopify under code and hosting that’s not under your control.
My recommendation is, of course, to use the Cart2Cart plugin which, with just a few clicks, helps you transfer all the data on the site. After that, all that remains is to invest in the design and experience of the site pages.
