If you’ve started an online store on a platform like Shopify and want to move to a new platform like WooCommerce, it’s entirely possible to do.
People change their minds over time and maybe looking for new features, more affordable pricing, different templates, and so on.
When it comes to Shopify vs WooCommerce there are some clear differences. WooCommerce is certainly better value for money, but Shopify might be an easier solution to getting started.
If you’re looking to expand your business internationally, WooCommerce could be just the ticket. Fast-growing businesses that want to reach out to other markets can definitely benefit from WooCommerce’s features and customization.
WooCommerce hosts around 4 million websites and represents 6.8% of the world’s top million websites.
If you’re currently using Shopify for your online store and want to learn how to move your Shopify store to WooCommerce, read on.
Table of Contents
1. Create a WooCommerce Account
The first step to moving your Shopify store to WooCommerce is to create a WooCommerce account. However, it’s not as simple as setting up an account and running with it.
With WooCommerce, you’ll need to set up your own web hosting. That means finding a hosting provider like Bluehost or SiteGround that will cater to your website’s needs.
SiteGround is not only recommended by WordPress, it’s also recommended by WooCommerce too. With prices starting from $4.99 per month, I highly rate SiteGround as the best WooCommerce hosting provider.
You’ll need to choose a hosting plan that suits your website. SiteGround has three WooCommerce hosting plans; StartUp, GrowBig, and GoGeek.
If you already have a domain name that you used for your Shopify store, you can input this into the domain name step once you start signing up with your hosting provider.
2. Backup Your Shopify Store
While it isn’t necessary to do this, I really recommend backing up your Shopify website in case something goes wrong. The last thing you want to do is migrate your website across to WooCommerce and lose all of your hard-earned work.
The easiest and most reliable way to backup your Shopify site is to export the entire store into a CSV file:
- Navigate to your admin page on Shopify
- Select Export on each of the pages you want to backup
- Do this for all pages individually
Note: Rewind costs $3 per month but does include a free 7-day trial.
3. Download Cart2Cart
Cart2Cart is a recommended migration aid that is supported by WooCommerce. Rather than transferring all of the data yourself, Cart2Cart can copy across:
- Categories
- Coupons
- Customers
- Images
- Manufacturers
- Multiple languages
- Multistore
- Orders
- Passwords
- Product variants
- Products
- Reviews
- Tags
- Taxes
Cart2Cart is a premium service with prices starting from $29. You’ll need to input your source cart and target cart, along with the number of products, customers, and orders you wish to migrate. The service will then provide an estimate of the costs to move your Shopify store to WooCommerce.
It’s a simple process and definitely worth the investment to make sure nothing is missed. Your website won’t be affected while the migration takes place, meaning you won’t miss out on any sales.
If you’re unsure about Cart2Cart, they do offer a free trial that covers a certain amount of products.
Looking for an alternative to Cart2Cart? There are other options you can consider like WP All Import. It’s a WordPress plugin that uses a CSV file to migrate your data over to a WordPress website.
WP All Import costs $99 for a standalone import/export service. You can also purchase a package that contains more features, all of which come with a 90-day money-back guarantee.
It’s entirely your choice as to how you choose to move your Shopify store to WooCommerce. If you don’t want to spend any money doing so, you can use the CSV files (remember you need one for each aspect of your store including products, customers, etc).
You’ll need to import your CSV files into the corresponding page on your WooCommerce site. For example, there will be a Products tab that you can navigate to and Import your CSV file.
4. Review Your Website
Regardless of how you’ve chosen to move your Shopify store to WooCommerce, the final step is probably the most important one.
I won’t lie to you, it’s boring, but it’s absolutely essential. You’ll need to work out whether your WooCommerce website is behaving as it should and contains all of the data from your Shopify store:
- Check all links are working
- Make sure your website flows well
- Ensure there are no broken or missing images
- Check none of your products are missing
There’s a good selection of free and premium themes to choose from. In my opinion, I think they’re better than what Shopify has to offer, but that could be down to my taste.
WooCommerce is an extension to WordPress, so if you’re not familiar with WordPress, take a few moments to read and discover the exhaustive list of WordPress resources on offer.
Shopify to WooCommerce Recap
Moving your website from Shopify to WooCommerce isn’t all that difficult. Once you’ve got your head around getting everything together, the process is quite simple:
- Create your WooCommerce account
- Backup your Shopify store
- Download Cart2Cart
- Review your website