HOW TO COMPLETE A SUCCESSFUL MAGENTO TO SHOPIFY MIGRATION
“Hold on — I’m a retailer using Magento. Why on Earth would I migrate to Shopify Plus?”
We get it. A Magento to Shopify Plus migration can seem daunting, but the payoff is worth the effort.
In this guide, we explain why migrating to Shopify Plus could be right for you, what the trade-offs are, and how to make the switch if you decide to move forward.
Benefits of a Magento to Shopify Plus Migration
To start, let’s look at a few reasons why stores choose to move from Magento to Shopify Plus:
Save Money
Between Magento’s licensing fees, infrastructure costs, and human resources expenses, Shopify Plus ends up saving businesses a bundle.
Peace of Mind
Migrating to a cloud-hosted solution alleviates the significant stresses of self-hosting, especially on high-traffic (aka high-revenue) days. Shopify Plus handles all your store’s stability, scalability, and security concerns, so you can focus on what you do best without the fear of your site crashing, no matter how busy it gets.
Increased Site Speed
Depending on how your Magento store was built, a Shopify Plus store will likely be faster with its cutting-edge infrastructure technologies. Increased speed makes your site more user-friendly, delighting customers and boosting SEO.
Vibrant App Community
Shopify Plus has an app community like no other, eliminating the need to build much of anything from scratch. If you want to incorporate the latest and greatest marketing strategies, there’s an app for that — often with one-click installation.
Drawbacks of a Magento to Shopify Plus Migration
Of course, switching from Magento to Shopify Plus can’t only have benefits, or else everyone would make the transition! There must be some drawbacks.
Reduced Customizability
In reality, we’ve only run into one element that could be considered a drawback when moving from Magento to Shopify Plus.
With a self-hosted Magento site, you have complete ownership of the code and can literally build whatever you want. While Shopify Plus is incredibly customizable (we’ve yet to encounter a customization we couldn’t accomplish), it isn’t limitless.
The main constraint revolves around the Shopify Plus checkout process. To guarantee scalability and security, certain aspects of checkout aren’t available for tinkering. That said, Shopify’s checkout is still highly customizable — and it always works.
Step-by-Step Guide for a Magento to Shopify Plus Migration
Whether you’re on Magento or another platform, the basic steps to switching over to Shopify Plus are below.
1. Make Sure Shopify Plus Is Right for You
Shopify Plus isn’t right for everyone — even Shopify will tell you this. Before deciding on a Magento to Shopify migration, speak with a company like ours or talk to Shopify themselves to discuss the details of your business.
2. Get the Right Team on Board
If Shopify Plus is right for you, then it’s time to think about the team you’ll need to facilitate a smooth Magento to Shopify migration.
Will you need developers? Yes, at times. You’ll likely need other experienced professionals as well, which is where a company like Metacake comes in.
3. Develop a Migration Strategy
Especially if your ecommerce store is your primary revenue driver, you need to minimize risk. Consult with experienced professionals to develop a clear Magento to Shopify migration strategy so your transition and re-platforming proceed flawlessly.
4. Create a Theme on Shopify Plus
Creating a theme allows you to tailor your online storefront to match your brand’s unique aesthetic and functional needs. Shopify Plus offers an extensive library of themes to choose from, or you can develop a custom theme from scratch to bring your vision to life.
5. Build in Upgrades
Take advantage of the migration to add new functionality and upgrades. You have the opportunity to approach things in a new way and improve upon what you’ve done before.
Check out Shopify Plus’ vast app bank to see what’s available. Maybe you’ll add a rewards program, upgrade your reviews, or enhance your store with some killer new marketing functionality.
6. Develop an SEO Strategy
One of the biggest risks in migrating an ecommerce store is a drop in search engine rankings.
Since the majority of your store URLs will likely change, make sure you properly redirect those pages. You’ll also want to transfer over your metadata in addition to the front-end store content. We recommend using an experienced professional to ensure none of the small yet crucial details in this process are mishandled.
7. Migrate Your Data
Transferring your products over to the new store is a fundamental step during your Magento to Shopify migration. Additionally, consider migrating customer information, orders, and additional site content.
The data migration process is fairly straightforward with Shopify, and you’ll have access to a dedicated Shopify representative to help you.
8. Build Any Necessary Integrations
Depending on the complexity of your business and back office, you may need to build out integrations with external systems, such as enterprise ERP, accounting, or fulfillment, as part of the migration to Shopify Plus.
You may be able to use existing apps to handle these integrations. If not, you’ll need to build suitable solutions from scratch to ensure seamless connectivity and functionality post-migration.
9. Launch With Care
Carefully think through the launch of your new Shopify Plus store.
For high-volume businesses, we often A/B test the new store vs. the old store, slowly transferring traffic over to the new store to mitigate risk. Also, installing analytics tools allows you to monitor your new store’s performance closely upon launch based on real-time data.
Can Metacake Handle the Magento to Shopify Migration?
Yes — we do it every day! Metacake is built to help brands grow, which for many includes a Magento to Shopify migration.
The transition requires a lot of time and meticulous attention to detail, which inexperienced contractors can easily miss. So, whether it’s Metacake or another provider, we strongly recommend finding an experienced, trusted partner to guide you through a smooth Magento to Shopify migration.
For related articles, check out how to migrate a WooCommerce store to Shopify Plus and our Ultimate Shopify Plus Review.
