A Step-by-Step Guide to Seamlessly Migrating to Shopify
Shopify is the go to platform for direct to consumer brands. It offers the best features out of the box and is easily scaleable as your business grows. It's a highly reliable platform (due to its secure hosting infrastructure) and the customer flow from product to purchase is tried, tested and robust. Also, as designers we have to mention that it provides great scope for creative design and brand building.
If you want to understand more about Shopify we have another article where we go through the basics.
So, let's imagine you have chosen to migrate to Shopify - but what next? Here is a a quick overview of the steps you need to take before making the big plunge (one which we are confident you won't regret!).
What is driving your migration? Have these things really clearly written down and refer to them throughout the migration to make sure they are being accounted for.
Is there any tech that your business relies on? Check that these can be integrated with Shopify and don't just rely on what you can read online - drop a call or message the tech provider directly and speak to someone. Trust us, there are so many permutations that talking though your requirements will be worth it - the last thing you want is to get to the 11th hour and find out that crucial bit of tech isn't working as planned. Also the Shopify App store is a great source of knowledge where you may be able to find an alternative solution if your current provider isn't going to work out.
Make sure you give your existing platform advanced notice of your desire to migrate. We have found that timelines for trying to get data out of your existing site vary wildly. Data includes products, collections, customers, blogs, users and pages. You may need to improve some additional data that is assigned to the prior data such as tags and metafields used in the core functionality of the store. The format that you receive this data in might need some tweaking before it can be imported into Shopify. Here it might be best to call in an expert especially if you have a large number of products or customers. Book a call if you want to find out more about this.
Data can be extracted but the design look and feel of your site can't. First up, you need to choose a theme or build a custom site. It's worth noting that a theme is less about the design and more about the functionality that is included. The choice of Shopify themes and which one best suits your business can be a bit overwhelming. That's where design agencies (such as ourselves!) come in to play. We listen to your needs and will design you a store that powers your purpose and connects and converts your customers. Get in touch!
Set up a Shopify account and choose from one of the pricing and feature plans. The option which is right for you will depend on the size and nature of your business. The main differences come from the transactions fees (which lower as you move up the plans) so its worth weight up the Shopify plan costs vs the transaction fees on your level of sales.
| Shopify Plans | Monthly Cost | Best For? |
| Basic Shopify | £25 | Everything you need to create your store, ship products, and process payments |
| Shopify | £65 | Level up your business with professional reporting and more staff accounts |
| Advanced Shopify | £344 | Get the best of Shopify with custom reporting and our lowest transaction fees |
In addition to the above, Shopify Plus which is an enterprise solution which offers the most extensive Shopify feature. You can read our article on Shopify vs Shopify Plus here.
6. Back up your existing store before going any further. Your existing site will keep running whilst the migration takes place so we want to make sure that there is a back up to fall back on if anything goes wrong when you hit the go live button on Shopify.
Once you are here you are ready to start the migration process - what comes next depends on whether you are confident to do it yourself or if you engage a design and development agency. Watch this space for further guides!