Magento to Shopify migration
Moving from Magento or Adobe Commerce to Shopify without losing orders, customers or search traffic. We measure your store first, agree with you what moves, then migrate in waves and reconcile every count before the domain switches.
A replatform is mostly a data and URL project with a new storefront on top. The risks are the quiet ones: order totals that don't add up, customers who can't sign in, extension logic nobody wrote down, and old URLs that stop ranking. This page sets out how we handle each. For a new theme on a store already on Shopify, see theme development.
What moves to Shopify, and what doesn't
| Data | What happens | What you decide |
|---|---|---|
| Products and variants | Moved, with up to 2,048 variants per product. Shopify still allows 3 options per product | How to model products with more than 3 options |
| Customers and addresses | Moved. Each email must be unique in Shopify | How duplicate accounts across your Magento websites are merged |
| Passwords | Shopify can't import them. Customers sign in with a one-time email code | What the launch email says |
| Order history | Imported with original dates, totals and statuses; refunds recorded as refunds. One discount code per order | How many years, and whether older orders follow after launch |
| Gift cards and store credit | Imported with codes and balances, during the final catch-up | Whether reward points move too |
| URLs | Each old URL redirected to its new one, or a deliberate 404 | Which removed pages need a replacement |
| Extensions and custom code | Not copied. Each rule rebuilt as a Shopify feature, an app or a Function, or dropped | Which rules still matter |
| Analytics history | Stays in your existing analytics property | Nothing; we set up tracking on Shopify |
How we avoid duplicates and missing records
Data moves in waves while your Magento store keeps trading:
- Sample. 50–100 of each record type, including the awkward ones, into a development store. You review them against the mapping.
- Baseline. The catalogue and content go into your new Shopify store, behind a password.
- Catch-ups. Products changed since the last run, as often as needed while we build.
- Rehearsal. Customers and orders in full, timed, so we know how long the final step takes.
- Freeze and final catch-up. Magento's checkout stops briefly; everything changed since the last run moves, including edits, refunds and deletions; every count is reconciled; then the domain switches.
- History backfill, if you want it. Older orders, loaded after launch.
Every record we import carries its Magento ID, and we keep a map from old IDs to Shopify IDs. Re-running an import updates records instead of copying them, so the sample, the baseline and every catch-up can run as often as needed without duplicates. Magento doesn't timestamp every change: some product saves skip the update date, stock has no timestamp and deletions aren't recorded. So catch-ups compare full extracts rather than trusting dates.
Before the domain switches, each record type is counted on both platforms and order totals are compared. Every difference has a written reason, and that reconciliation table is part of the handover. The data rules come from reviewing a Magento-to-Shopify import toolset line by line; each one guards against a defect that would have corrupted variants, orders or customers.
Keeping your search traffic
Google says it can take "a few weeks or more" for new URLs to replace old ones in results, and that visibility can fluctuate during a move (Google Search Central). No one can give you a recovery date, so we commit to the work and its evidence:
- Every old URL collected from Magento's URL rewrites, the sitemap, a crawl, analytics landing pages and Search Console.
- Each one mapped to its new Shopify URL, keeping your URL keys as handles where possible. Pages with no equivalent return a 404 rather than redirect to the homepage.
- Shopify's redirect rules checked before launch: up to 100,000 redirects per store (20 million on Plus), and a redirect fires only when the old path returns a 404 (Shopify).
- Redirects imported before the domain moves, then the full list tested after launch.
- SEO titles, meta descriptions and image alt text moved with the content.
- Search Console watched against a baseline recorded before the move, and redirects kept for at least a year, as Google advises.
Do you need Shopify Plus?
Decide on features, not import speed: bulk imports work on every plan.
| Works on standard plans | Needs Shopify Plus |
|---|---|
| B2B with up to 3 active catalogs | An identity provider for customer sign-in |
| Shopify Flow automations | Shopify Functions in a custom app |
| Gift cards and native bundles | More than 10 locations |
| Up to 2,048 variants per product | More than 100,000 redirects |
What we've done
We led the frontend of a Magento 2 to Shopify migration for one brand inside an enterprise, multi-brand Shopify programme: migration planning, task distribution, the critical storefront features and code review, on a shared theme platform we had worked on in the months before. The client is confidential, so we describe the method rather than their results.
In short
A Magento to Shopify migration moves the catalogue, customers, order history, content and URLs from Magento or Adobe Commerce into Shopify, rebuilds the storefront as a Shopify theme, and replaces extensions and custom code with Shopify features, apps or Functions. Done properly, every record type is counted on both platforms and every old URL either redirects or returns a deliberate 404.
Who this is for
- Magento 2 and Adobe Commerce stores whose version is out of standard support, or soon will be
- Teams spending more time on patches, hosting and extension conflicts than on selling
- Stores with years of orders and customer accounts that have to come across intact
- Brands that get a meaningful share of sales from organic search
How it works
- 01
Assess your store
We measure the catalogue, customers, orders, extensions, integrations and URLs from a restored copy of your database and your code. You keep the report whether or not you move with us.
- 02
Make the decisions
How much order history, how customers sign in, which Shopify plan and which import route, each with its consequences. We write down what you decide.
- 03
Sign the mapping
Field by field, how each Magento record becomes a Shopify one. You sign it before anything is imported.
- 04
Build the store
A Horizon-based Shopify theme, with your extensions replaced by Shopify features, apps or Functions.
- 05
Migrate in waves
A sample, the catalogue baseline, catch-up runs and a timed rehearsal, so the final step fits a short freeze agreed in advance.
- 06
Switch and check
Redirects, domain, tracking and integrations switched over; counts and order totals reconciled; every redirect tested. All of it goes into the handover.
Work we have done
Questions
Can customer passwords be migrated from Magento to Shopify?
No. Shopify can't import passwords from another platform. Its current customer accounts sign in with a one-time code sent by email, so customers have nothing to reset; we plan the launch email that tells them. On Shopify Plus, an identity provider you already use can keep its own logins.
How much order history should we move to Shopify?
Shopify recommends at least every order inside your return window, and suggests two to five years. Orders inside the return window go in before launch; older history can follow after it. Imported orders keep their original dates and totals, but Shopify allows one discount code per order, so orders with stacked discounts are flattened, and we show you how.
Will we lose search rankings when we move to Shopify?
Visibility can fluctuate during any site move, and Google says it can take a few weeks or more for new URLs to replace old ones in results. Nobody can promise a recovery date. We map every old URL, test every redirect after launch, keep redirects for at least a year and watch Search Console against a baseline recorded before the move.
Can we keep selling during the migration?
Yes. Data moves in waves while Magento keeps trading. Only the final catch-up needs a short freeze before the domain switch; its length comes from the timed rehearsal, and we agree it with you in writing.
What happens to our Magento extensions and custom code?
None of it is copied as code. We find every rule, including those hidden in custom modules that change the cart, prices, tax, shipping or payment, and rebuild each one as a native Shopify feature, an app or a Shopify Function, or drop it with your agreement.
Do we need Shopify Plus after Magento?
Often not. B2B, Shopify Flow, gift cards, bundles and up to 2,048 variants per product work on standard plans. Plus is needed for an identity provider for customer sign-in, Functions in a custom app, more than 10 locations or more than 100,000 redirects. We recommend a plan from the features your store uses.
How long does a Magento to Shopify migration take, and what does it cost?
Both depend on your catalogue, order history, integrations and custom code, so we don't quote either before the assessment. The assessment is a fixed-price first step; once you've made the decisions, we quote the build at a fixed price.
When does support for our Magento version end?
Adobe's standard support for 2.4.6 ended on 11 August 2026, with extended support until 31 August 2027. Version 2.4.7 is supported until 31 May 2027 (extended to 31 May 2028), 2.4.8 until 31 May 2028 and 2.4.9 until 31 May 2029. That date usually sets the latest launch date, so we plan the migration back from it. We read your version from the code and check Adobe's lifecycle policy again on the day of the assessment.
Can we roll back if something goes wrong?
Yes, and we agree how before launch. Before the domain switches, every migrated record can be found through the ID map. After it, the domain can point back to Magento, which stays read-only until the rollback window closes, and orders placed on Shopify are exported back.
Do you migrate from platforms other than Magento?
We would use the same assessment, data mapping and cutover for other platforms, such as WooCommerce or BigCommerce; only how we measure the source store changes. Tell us what you run on the first call.
Tell us what isn't working.
In 20 minutes we look at your store with you and say what we would check first, and whether we are the right team for it.