Shopify migration mistakes: 5 pitfalls to avoid

If you’re thinking about moving your online store to Shopify, you’re likely excited about the opportunities it brings: a scalable platform, strong user experience, and easy access to a wide range of powerful tools and apps. However, despite the many advantages, the migration process can be fraught with challenges if not handled carefully. 

Migrating to Shopify isn’t just about shifting your store from one platform to another - it should be seen as the ideal opportunity to rethink your eCommerce strategy, improve your site’s performance, and deliver a better experience for your team and your customers. But without proper planning and execution, even the smallest oversights can lead to costly mistakes later down the line.

To give you a heads up on the most common pitfalls, here we highlight five major mistakes retailers tend to make during a Shopify migration, and share actionable tips for a smooth transition. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, these insights will steer you onto the right path during a migration, setting your store up for success.

Leaving your team out of the loop

Poor engagement is the downfall of many migrations, as failing to involve all relevant stakeholders early on in the process can prove costly later. A successful replatforming project requires collaboration across multiple teams - potentially including tech, marketing, sales, customer service, and finance departments - as well as external partners such as SEO and branding agencies.

As an example, your marketing team might rely on specific features such as a highly-customisable abandoned basket recovery or email integrations, while your tech team may be concerned about API compatibility. If there isn’t an opportunity for these needs to be communicated early, you risk building a store that doesn’t meet everyone’s requirements.

To avoid this, assign a business-side project manager to oversee the entire migration, and ensure that all voices are heard through a discovery process, identifying all parties that need to be involved and fleshing out their specific needs. 

Failing to plan, planning to fail

A migration is a complex project with many moving parts - data, design, integrations, and more. Without a detailed plan, it’s easy to overlook critical steps or underestimate the time and resources required.

For instance, if as a retailer you underestimate the time needed to migrate your product catalog due to custom fields and complexities, the knock on effect could be that you miss a crucial launch window, impacting sales during a peak season.

To create a realistic plan, break the project into phases: discovery, data migration, design, testing, and launch, and use the right tools to visualise timelines and dependencies. Also make sure to build in buffer time for unexpected delays such as technical issues or team availability, as a well-structured plan ensures you stay on track and minimises disruption to your business.

Kicking data down the road

Data is the backbone of your eCommerce store, yet many retailers leave it as an afterthought. Shopify’s data structure may differ from your current platform, requiring adjustments to product fields, customer data, and order history, so it’s advisable to consider requirements as early as you can in the migration process.

To avoid data-related headaches, conduct a thorough data audit to identify gaps, duplicates, or inconsistencies, and work with your Shopify agency to address potential data mapping issues. A migration is the ideal opportunity to thoroughly clean and organise your data before it’s imported into your new store, and it’s worth always testing a small batch first to ensure the data migration process you have in place works as expected. 

Ignoring SEO - the silent traffic killer

Migrating to a new platform can have a significant impact on your SEO performance as without proper planning, you risk losing valuable rankings, traffic, and revenue. A key culprit is neglecting to properly set up 301 redirects if your URLs change during the migration process, which leaves search engines unable to know where to send users when your old site pages no longer exist.This can not only lead to a drop in organic traffic, but also a loss of trust with potential customers.

To preserve and enhance your SEO, conduct a full SEO audit before migration to identify high-performing pages and keywords. By using industry-standard tools, you can easily map out your current site structure, and be sure to optimise your Shopify site with meta tags, alt text, and clean URL structures to maintain your search visibility and drive organic traffic to your new store.

Picking the wrong partner for the job

While Shopify is user-friendly, migrating a complex store requires eCommerce expertise and plenty of technical know-how. That means that choosing the wrong partner can lead to delays, budget overruns, and a low-quality storefront that negates the advantages of making the move.

To find the right agency, look for a partner with proven experience in Shopify and Shopify Plus migrations. Ask for case studies and references to assess their track record, and ensure they offer post-launch support to address any issues that may arise once your new site goes live. A skilled Shopify partner will not only execute the migration on your behalf, but will also provide expert guidance to maximise the platform’s potential for your business.

Don’t let migration mistakes hold back your business. Get more replatforming insights in your free copy of Switching to Shopify: The retailer’s guide to a stress-free migration.