Looking for ways to migrate Shopify to WordPress smoothly and easily? At the same time you want to keep all your permalinks, pages, SEO and content? In this article we will review the 2 most popular ways to convert your Shopify store to a WooCommerce WordPress site.
Table of Contents:
1. Shopify vs WordPress
In order to have a better idea about the correct process of Shopify to WooCommerce (WordPress) migration let’s quickly review what exactly these platforms are and what are the differences.
Shopify is the eCommerce platform founded in 2006. It is a cloud-based SaaS solution. People use it primarily for creating websites to sell their products and services online.
WordPress is the free open source content management system released in 2003. It can be used on any kind of server free of charge or as a paid SaaS solution on a WordPress server. It can be used for any kind of website, starting with a simple personal landing page and ending with large eCommerce portals.
Now let’s compare them.
1. Market Share
As we can see people use WordPress 10 times more frequently than Shopify. 39.7% of all sites in the world are made with WP, while Shopify-based sites are only 3.2%.
2. Price
WordPress is a free open source CMS. You don’t have to pay for using it. Though, you will need to get web hosting where you can host your web project.
One of the most reliable web hosting providers is BlueHost.
WooCommerce is a free eCommerce plugin for WordPress. Even though it has plenty of paid add-ons, in most cases the free version is more than enough.
At the same time, Shopify is a 100% paid SaaS solution. The pricing starts at $29/mo ($348.00 annually). Here is their pricing table:
Also, Shopify limits you in the number of staff members that can access your site, the number of your warehouse locations, some reports are available only in the expensive plans, the number of languages of your multilingual site, etc…
WordPress / WooCommerce does not have such limits.
Therefore, in terms of pricing and costs, WordPress is far ahead of Shopify.
3. Flexibility & Features
One of the key advantages of any open source content management system as WordPress or WooCommerce is flexibility. Literally, anyone can modify the code according to the project’s needs.
The WordPress platform itself is super flexible and customizable. Modern WordPress themes and plugins extend it even further.
WooCommerce provides advanced control of your products, pricing, product variations, payment and shipping methods, stock, etc.
Shopify in its turn is not open source software. Hence it is less flexible and you can use only those features and functionality that they have developed. Sometimes it is enough though, but in some of the cases you are taken, hostage. And the only option is to migrate from Shopify to WordPress.
2. Shopify to WordPress Migration
If you already have an online store with Shopify and want to convert it to a Woocommerce shop you have several safe options.
The first option is to migrate manually. It requires some skills and time. But it is free.
And the second option is to hire experts that can do it professionally for you. Understanding the intricacies of shopify ecommerce migration can be essential for businesses looking to transition between platforms.
Let’s review both options that will help you convert your Shopify project to WordPress.
2.1. Manual Shopify to WooCommerce Migration
– Step 1. Choose domain and web hosting
So, let’s say you have a Shopify store and now you want to migrate it to WordPress (WooCommerce). Your first step is to get a domain and web hosting.
Let’s start with web hosting. You need to choose the service provider that will host your future WordPress site.
Here is the useful article Best Web Hosting for a WordPress Site. It will help you to make the right choice. Also, it offers some good discounts for visitors that come from our site (up to 70%).
Once you get your web hosting you need to get a domain name. If you want to get a brand new domain name (different from the one you used on Shopify) feel free to order it directly from your hosting provider.
Make sure to check our tutorial How to Choose the Best Domain Name for your WordPress site.
But if you need to keep the current domain name (that is on your Shopify site) you will need to get a temporary name from your web hosting provider and start working with it. And when the full migration is over contact your domain registrar and point your Domain Name Servers (DNS) to your new site.
If you got your domain name directly from Shopify you still can transfer it from them to your new web hosting. In your Shopify account navigate: Online Store > Domains > Shopify-managed domains and click “Transfer Domain”.
– Step 2. Install WordPress on your web hosting
WordPress installation on your web hosting is a pretty fast and easy task. Most modern web hosting companies provide a 1-click CMS installation service for free.
Just in case here is the guide on How to Install WordPress Quickly & Correctly.
– Step 3. Choose and install a WooCommerce WordPress Theme
The next step is to find a suitable WordPress Theme compatible with WooCommerce. Different themes provide different designs and sets of features. So you need to choose the one that meets your site’s needs.
This article can be useful in your search: How to choose a WordPress theme.
There are plenty of great WooCommerce themes online. Here are some of the best ones.
Reprizo – Jewelry & Watch Shop WordPress Theme
Craftis – Handcraft & Artisan WordPress Theme
Iona – Handmade & Crafts Shop WordPress Theme
A-Mart – Organic Products Shop WordPress Theme
Ozisti – a Multi-Concept WooCommerce WordPress Theme Augmented Reality Store Ready
Yokoo – Bike Shop & Bicycle Rental WordPress Theme
CleanSkin – Handmade Organic Soap & Natural Cosmetics Shop WordPress Theme + Elementor
FC United – Football, Soccer & Sports WordPress Theme + RTL
Blabber – All-in-One Elementor Blog & News Magazine WordPress Theme + RTL
Helion – Personal Creative Portfolio WordPress Theme + Store
Once you choose the theme that meets your expectations in terms of design and functionality you can proceed with the installation.
Most modern WordPress themes come with an easy 1-click installation feature. However, if there are any difficulties you can always open the theme’s documentation or talk to professionals, like for example ThemeREX Studio.
– Step 4. Customize the theme and the site
Once you got your theme and required plugins installed go ahead with the theme customization. Add your logo, set your fonts and color scheme.
You can use the native WordPress functionality, like Customizer.
Or edit pages with the Elementor page builder.
Also all modern WP themes are supplied with the theme panel that gives you even more customization opportunities.
– Step 5. Export from Shopify and Import to WooCommerce
When your WordPress site is ready you can proceed with exporting data from Shopify.
Currently, Shopify allows you to export your products, customers, and orders.
- In order to export your products navigate your Shopify account: Products > All products and click “Export” and follow the instructions in the dialog window.
- To export, your customers navigate: Customers and click “Export”. It will also show you an additional window with different options. But you will just need to select to export all the customers.
- Exporting orders is quite similar. In your Shopify admin panel navigate: Orders and click “Export”. In the new window select all orders and proceed with the export.
As a result, you will get 3 CSV files. Save them locally and go back to your WordPress / WooCommerce site.
In your WordPress dashboard navigate WooCommerce > Products and then click Import on the top of the page.
Then just follow the import wizard and get your products to your WooCommerce store.
2.2. Professional Shopify to WooCommerce migration
As you’ve probably noticed there is no “1-click way” to convert Shopify to WordPress (WooCommerce). These are completely different platforms and therefore migration requires some manual work. In case you want to outsource the migration, consider the service of ThemeREX Studio called Migrate Your Shop to WordPress (full site). They do it for all modern eCommerce platforms.
The service includes:
– Rebuilding all your site pages with WordPress.
– Setting up payment gateways.
– Exporting products from your current CMS.
– Converting your products/customers/orders and preparing them for the WooCommerce WordPress site.
– Uploading products/customers/orders to your WordPress site that uses a free WooCommerce plugin.
So, if you want to save your time go ahead and order this service now.
