Magento to Shopify Migration : A Quick Guide And Checklist

2011 this was the year when eCommerce was new and all the budding entrepreneurs wanted to try things new and innovative for their business. This was the time when the coding of shopping carts with new featured plugins was in demand. At that time PHP and Dot net coding were used which later were used to develop platforms, Magento was one of them.

Magento was believed to be the best open source platform for eCommerce and all the developers had their paths straight suggesting Magento to their clients, even there is no second thought on Magento to Shopify migration! But this has become a difficulty for all the Magento users now! If you’re like many long-time Magento users, you might also find that over the years your store has become bogged down by old, outdated functionality, workarounds and code-hacks, with additional features duct-taped together using third-party add-ons and plugins.

Let me blow some more bad news for you:

MAGENTO version 1.9 going out COMPLETELY!

The Merchants are left clueless now with less support from Magento and the one that is provided is also in parts as well as shady! The fact is, it can be time-consuming and expensive to pay someone to keep your store updated, secure, well-organized, and looking good in 2019. Most of the open source web stores built out of Magento 1.9 are on the verge of facing closure if not migrated to Magento 2 or other!

So let me ask you will you still go ahead with an old platform which is not user-friendly and easy ? Will you waste so much invested on the developers and designers of your new web store (just to pay less for hosting?)

Or 

You will choose to change?

Change for a new better organized and the best eCommerce platform?

I am sure you will obviously go in with option 2?

So With so many other eCommerce platforms to choose from BigCommerce, Big Cartel, Squarespace, WooCommerce, Shopify, Weebly, Big Cartel, Mozu (by Volusion), TicTail and even Magento 2

Why do you think we are suggesting Shopify? Do we have an answer?

Yes, we do but before that let us give you a brief of what Shopify is?

Before that see the comparison between Magento and Shopify in Google Trends.

Shopify is one of the most versatile, popular and easy to us eCommerce platforms and supports almost 1,000,000 merchants. It has amazing 24*7 customer service chat helpline which is not available in any of the known platforms!

It being a paid platform you might be worried about your finances but to help you out with it let us inform that Shopify is quite affordable and has three different plans with varying features, and offers a free 14-day trial to win you over! Shopify plans will cost you less than investing it in a team of Magento developers! Think about it!

Describing more about Shopify let us tell you about how it is better from Magento

The most important thing is the EASE of use for anyone even you as an owner! You can choose beautiful themes that can be customized until they suit your every whim. You have themes for just about every industry — from art & photography to sports & recreation, price range and layout preference. You can never have that liberty in Magento! As Magento, you will always need a team to install the theme and customize it here it is clicked click go!!!

If you are a startup obviously your main focus will be to hold on your business rather than to look on to how and where of the website each time there is an order and Shopify makes it a breeze for you this is not the same with Magento where you have to keep on checking the dashboard, integration is also not as it is in Shopify you have to code each time rather than just clicking with your fingertip.

Shopify was built for startups who want to grow. Even the most basic package comes with SEO tools and features that provide advanced analytics to optimize your store, and you can also make use of their features that’ll guarantee repeat shoppers, such as custom gift cards, discount codes.

The most important feature the social integration with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and others, and a lot more. You might argue that Magento 2 gives you all this, but to your dismay, this is not the truth Magento doesn't give you social media exposure as Shopify and as you know the maximum sales happen through social media in the present day! Shopify has apps that guarantee that active user involvement as well as better social media interface.

Not only this Shopify gives you security better than most of the hosting companies SSL that too free with each plan. So you do not have to buy SSL certificate for your domain once domain integrated it is safe and secure.

Now when you are happy with getting to know about how Shopify can help you let me tell you that migration to Shopify will be as easy as eating a piece of cake!

Magento to Shopify Migration Steps:

Migration to Shopify will be a decision that will never make you look back and probably the best one for your startup or ongoing business. Shopify makes it so easy for you to migrate that you will feel that it was the same before! So let's go ahead with the steps

Step 0:

You must always keep your business up and running before the migration procedure is over so you must let your Magento store running.

Step 1: Register with Shopify

• Sign up with Shopify and set up with your business details.
• Get your About us, policies correctly done for your newly done store
• Implement your URL redirects as well as protocols like HTTP, HTTPS correctly

Step 2: Once this is done next task is to align your store's data to Shopify 

• This be done manually or using Shopify’s very own store migration apps which migrate your bulk discounts product reviews.
• For products, you may consider CSV or manual migration with Shopify giving you both the options!
• You might also like moving your existing customers!That can be done with just setting up the correct Customer CSV or uploading each one manually!

Step 3: 

The next task after you have migrated the store data is to set them up according to Shopify and getting used to the Shopify dashboard. As you know different platforms have different nomenclature for their features(like categories in Magento becomes Collection in Shopify) you may try setting up your data adding new stuff organizing existing data properly, you might try

• Adding and updating product details, including product names, descriptions, images, variants and meta descriptions
• Creating a collection for further organization — e.g., clothes for men, women, or children, sale items, seasonal products, etc.
• Familiarizing yourself with your inventory with inventory apps to avoid problems down the line, such as running out of inventory or selling out-of-stock products.

Step 4:

Now next step is to give your store a fresh new look, Ok you don’t want that you want the same old wine in a new bottle? For that, you can check out Shopify experts doing the same CSS and layout in your old platform and give it the same look as earlier just a new platform!

But incase you want a new fabulous look of your store then you may visit the Shopify Theme Store and browse by what’s trending, price, industry, or other filters.

• Install (and preview) the theme
• Publish the theme so that your customers can see it in all its glory
• Finally (and optional), customize the theme by yourself or by hiring a Shopify expert

Step 5:

Done with the Aesthetics of the store? Now we come up to the final steps of the migration! That is the integration of your domain to the present store you might have a domain name already if you want to change then you can as well buy from Shopify or leading domain name providers. So

If you’re purchasing from Shopify :

• Make the purchase.
• Enable auto-renewal to prevent accidental expirations.
• Set your Shopify domain as your primary domain so that people can find it through search and social media.
• Set up email forwarding and send yourself a couple of test emails to ensure that never miss a customer’s query.

If you’re purchasing through a third-party provider:

• Make the purchase
• Follow Shopify’s instructions for custom domains
• Claim your Shopify domain
• Follow steps 3 and 4 from above (purchasing from Shopify)

If you already own a domain name

• Click to connect to an existing domain name
• Select your provider
• Verify connection

YO, it's done!

Step 6:

The digital world mostly sells physical products so shipping is as important as selling in eCommerce. You can’t forget about shipping, you need to be sure and set up accurate shipping rates and methods so that you don’t end up overcharging or asking for more money when the time to ship comes.

You can always disable the shipping option if you’re selling digital products/services.

Here’s how to properly set up your shipping:

• Add your shipping address for accurate shipping rates based on your location
• Create shipping zones — and shipping rates per zone — so that you can ship everywhere
• If you’re using carrier-calculated shipping rates, configure your shipment dimensions
• Pick the shipping strategy that works best for your business
• Decide whether you’ll ship items yourself or use a third-party through fulfillment services

Step 7:

Tax is also an important aspect in any store taking into consideration the present day legal scenario. Keep in mind that depending on where you’re based, there will be different rules and regulations about what sales taxes can be applied to which products. And, of course, always keep track of your taxes to curb any issues that may arise during tax season.

Step 8:

Give me money!! So this is why you have a business so obviously, you might not want to lose out on making money in fact you want to make money. You, therefore, have to set up a payment provider so that your paying customers can actually pay you, be it by credit card, debit card, or the many other payment options available in the online world and all of the same and more available on Shopify!

Here’s how:

• Choose a payment provider from Shopify or a supported third-party
• Enable Shopify Payments or a third-party payment provider
• Decide how you want to capture and authorize payments

Step 9:

All set and done now before someone else places an order do it for yourself and check what all details are going in and coming out so that you may deal with your customers in a better way always! Shopify provides a test transaction gateway as well.

You may try:

• Completing a successful and failed transaction
• Refunding and canceling an order
• Fulfilling or partially fulfilling an order
• Achieving a successful order

Find out what customers are saying about Shopify

Now here goes your Magento to Shopify Migration Checklist

Before the Migration:

1. Check on all the features that you want and had in Magento and their feasibility in Shopify.
2. Get used to Shopify utilizing the first few days of the trial period

During the Migration:

1. Configure Basic Administrative Settings
2. Import Store’s Data to Shopify
3. Organize  Products
4. Make Website Look Great
5. Set Up Domain
6. Set Up Shipping
7. Configure Taxes
8. Set Up a Payment Provider
9. Checkout process
10. Informational and policies pages
11. Third party sites and services Integration
12. SEO- Domain, URL, and metadata
13. Social media content and integration
14. Data and reporting business rules
15. Customer communication and proactive customer care

After the Migration

1. Check the shipping and payment gateway information
2. Check 301 Redirects
3. Invite existing customers.
4. Make a test order, check all emails and the updates that come from your store!

Bingo!! And you are done!!!

So with all the steps and tasks mentioned we made sure to clear each point so that you have no issues with the most user-friendly and helpful platform. Still, if you get stuck feel free to contact us.

What you need to consider when migrating

Source: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/migrating-to-shopify/considerations

Now It’s Your Turn

Hope you enjoyed this ultimate guide and checklist about Magento to Shopify Migration.

Let us know about this post by leaving a quick comment below.