Before exporting a single file, document exactly what your WooCommerce store contains. This prevents data loss and scope surprises mid-migration.

• Product inventory: Total number of products, variants, product types (simple, variable, grouped), and whether any products use custom fields or WooCommerce extensions.
• Customer records: Number of registered customers, whether you need to migrate their order history and account details.
• Order history: How many orders to migrate and whether historical orders need to be visible to customers in their Shopify accounts.
• Blog posts: Number of published posts — Shopify has a blog feature but URL structure differs from WordPress, requiring careful redirect mapping.
• Custom functionality: List every WooCommerce plugin that provides functionality your store depends on — subscription billing, product configurators, loyalty programmes, B2B pricing. Each one needs a Shopify equivalent identified before migration begins.
• Indian payment gateways: Document your current gateway (Razorpay/PayU/CCAvenue), merchant account IDs, and any custom payment configurations that need to be replicated.
• Current Google Search Console data: Export your top 50 URLs by organic clicks — these are your highest-priority pages for redirect mapping.

Export all data from your WooCommerce store before making any changes. Always work from exports — never migrate directly from a live WooCommerce store.

• Products: WooCommerce → Products → Export. Export all products as CSV including product name, description, SKU, price, images, variants, stock quantity, and categories. For variable products, ensure all variants export correctly.
• Customers: WooCommerce → Customers → Export or use the WooCommerce Customer/Order Export plugin. Export: name, email, billing address, shipping address, and order history reference.
• Orders: WooCommerce → Orders → Export. Export order ID, customer, products ordered, amounts, dates, and statuses.
• Blog posts: WordPress → Tools → Export → Posts. This exports a WXR file containing all blog content.
• Images: Download your entire wp-content/uploads directory via FTP — product images are referenced in the CSV and need to be accessible during import.

Build your Shopify store on a password-protected development store before migrating any data. This means customers can continue purchasing from the WooCommerce store while the Shopify store is being set up.

• Install and customise your Shopify theme — match your brand colours, typography, and layout from the WooCommerce store. Do not rush this — the theme is the visual foundation everything else builds on.
• Configure store settings: currency (INR), timezone (Asia/Kolkata), store email, and contact details.
• Build your navigation menu structure — collections, pages, and links — to match or improve on the WooCommerce navigation.
• Set up your collection structure (the Shopify equivalent of WooCommerce product categories) before importing products — this makes assigning products to collections during import significantly easier.
• Configure shipping zones for India — metros, Tier 2 cities, and general India rates.
• Set up GST tax rates in Settings → Taxes for your product categories.

Product import is typically the most time-consuming step. There are two approaches — manual CSV import or a migration app.

• Option A — Shopify CSV Import (free, more control): Reformat your WooCommerce export CSV to match the Shopify product import format. Key differences: Shopify uses a different column structure for variants, handles (URL slugs) are separate fields, and image URLs must be publicly accessible. Shopify Admin → Products → Import. Good for stores under 500 products.
• Option B — Migration app (paid, faster, less formatting): Apps like Cart2Cart or Matrixify handle the WooCommerce-to-Shopify data format conversion automatically. Cart2Cart supports Indian store migrations and can migrate products, customers, orders, categories, and blog posts in one run. Recommended for large catalogues above 500 products.
• After import, verify: Product titles, descriptions, images, variant options, prices, SKUs, and stock quantities are all correct. Check a random sample of 20–30 products manually before proceeding.
• Assign products to collections: After import, assign all products to the correct Shopify collections. This step is often missed — products without collection assignments do not appear in navigation.

Customer and order history migration preserves your business continuity — customers can see their past orders on the new Shopify store without needing to contact support.

• Customer migration: Import customers using the Shopify customer CSV import or via a migration app. Important: Shopify cannot import WooCommerce password hashes — customers will need to reset their password on their first login to the new Shopify store. Send a password reset email campaign after migration.
• Order history: Historical orders can be imported to Shopify using Matrixify (formerly Excelify) which supports order import. This is essential for B2C brands where customers expect to see their full purchase history. Note: imported historical orders are marked as archived and do not affect inventory levels.
• Customer addresses: Verify Indian address format imports correctly — particularly state names and pin codes. WooCommerce uses state abbreviations that may not match Shopify's Indian state list.
• Post-migration communication: Send all customers an email explaining the store upgrade, that they need to reset their password, and providing a direct link to the password reset page.

Indian payment gateways do not transfer from WooCommerce to Shopify — they must be configured fresh on the new platform. This is a completely separate setup, not a migration of existing credentials.

• Razorpay: Install the official Razorpay app from the Shopify App Store. Connect your existing Razorpay merchant account using live API keys. Configure webhooks for order confirmation. Test a real payment before going live.
• PayU: Install the official PayU app. Connect your existing merchant key and salt. Configure webhooks. Test payment and refund flow.
• COD: Enable Cash on Delivery under Settings → Payments → Manual payment methods. Configure COD availability by shipping zone if needed.
• GST checkout: Configure IGST, CGST, and SGST rates in Settings → Taxes to match your WooCommerce GST configuration. Verify the tax display at checkout matches your pricing strategy (inclusive or exclusive).
• Shiprocket / Delhivery: Reconnect your Indian shipping integration on Shopify via the respective app. Configure pickup addresses and shipping rates to match your current setup.

This is the most SEO-critical step of the entire migration. WooCommerce and Shopify use different URL structures — every URL on your old store will change, and without 301 redirects, all the SEO equity (Google rankings) built over months or years will be lost overnight.

• WooCommerce vs Shopify URL formats:

• Create a redirect map: For every old WooCommerce URL, document the new Shopify URL. Prioritise your top 50 organic traffic URLs first (from Google Search Console export).
• Implement redirects in Shopify: Shopify Admin → Navigation → URL Redirects → Import CSV. Shopify supports bulk redirect import via CSV — much faster than adding redirects one by one.
• Redirect CSV format: Column 1 = old URL (/product/blue-kurta/), Column 2 = new URL (/products/blue-kurta). Import all redirects before switching the domain.
• Verify redirects after domain switch: Test a random sample of 20+ old URLs and confirm they redirect to the correct Shopify pages with a 301 status code. Use a tool like httpstatus.io for bulk testing.

The go-live step switches your domain from WooCommerce to Shopify. This should be done during low-traffic hours — early morning on a weekday is ideal for most Indian stores.

• Before switching domain: Confirm all products are imported correctly, payment gateways are live mode and tested, 301 redirects are loaded, legal pages are published, and mobile checkout works end-to-end.
• Switch domain to Shopify: In Shopify Admin → Settings → Domains → Connect existing domain. Update your domain DNS settings to point to Shopify. DNS propagation takes 24–48 hours globally but typically updates within 1–2 hours for most Indian ISPs.
• Keep WooCommerce live during DNS propagation: Do not take WooCommerce offline until DNS has fully propagated to Shopify. Run both stores in parallel during the 24-hour propagation window.
• Post-launch testing checklist: Place a real test order on Shopify using UPI and card. Verify COD shows at checkout. Verify order confirmation email arrives. Test 5 old WooCommerce URLs and confirm 301 redirects work. Check Google Analytics is tracking on the new store.
• Update Google Search Console: In Search Console, submit the new Shopify sitemap (yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml). Use the URL Inspection tool to request reindexing of your top product and collection pages. Monitor the Coverage report daily for the first two weeks post-migration for any indexing errors.