Reducing Migration Risks: 5 Key Tips

Migrating from any platform to Shopify comes with challenges, but the long-term gain is worth a little short-term pain. 

At Quickfire we’ve led many platform migrations, even custom platforms. Because we believe that when your platform stops working for you, it’s time for one that does.  

That’s why ambitious brands are making the move to Shopify. It’s fast, flexible, and scalable, Shopify removes the complexity so you can focus on the growth of your business. 

To help you migrate with confidence (and avoid the common pitfalls) we’ve compiled a list of 5 challenges to plan for and how to overcome them.

It’s important to establish whether you’re carrying out a 1-to-1 migration or if there are going to be changes to the structure, collections, and workflows.  

This must be established early to guide your migration process. You should also consider:

• Impact analysis: Assess the potential impact of any structural changes on existing operations, workflows, and data integrity. Identify dependencies and how changes will affect different areas of the business. 

• Planning and documentation: Develop a comprehensive migration plan that includes detailed documentation of the current structure, desired changes, and the steps needed to achieve the new setup. 
• Stakeholder alignment: Engage stakeholders from different departments to ensure all needs and concerns are addressed. Consensus on the migration approach will help in minimising. 

Migrating outdated data will lead to inventory errors, inaccurate reports, and frustrated customers on your new Shopify store – problems you don’t want to deal with during a platform launch. 

Tools like Litextension help mitigate this risk with features such as free recent migration, smart updates, and re-migrations for three months post-launch. This ensures your new store seamlessly receives newly generated entities, allowing you to focus on setting up your store without interruption. 

To establish you’re happy with how a product is connected and displayed on Shopify before you make the full move, create a test or demo product at the start of the migration. To get testing right, follow these steps:

• Review and adjust: Carefully review how the test product appears and functions in Shopify. Check for display accuracy, connect data migration, and seamless integration with other systems such as inventory management and sales channels. 
• Iterative testing: If necessary, conduct multiple iterations of testing. Each iteration should refine the process based on feedback and findings from the previous test. 
• Stakeholder feedback: Involve key stakeholders for all departments in reviewing the test product to ensure it meets business requirements and user expectations.

It’s important to establish whether you’re carrying out a 1-to-1 migration or if there are going to be changes to the structure. This must be established early to guide the entire migration process. You should also consider: 

• Integration planning: Plan integrations with CRM systems, email marketing tools, and other relevant platforms to ensure a seamless connection between products, customers, and orders. 

• System testing: Perform thorough testing to ensure that the migration doesn’t disrupt the existing relationships between products, customers, and orders. This includes end-to-end testing of the order processing flow. 
• Training: Provide training for staff on any new processes or systems introduced as part of the migration. Create documentation to assist with troubleshooting and onboarding. 

Because your URL structure will change dramatically it’s crucial to work with an SEO agency to help with your redirect plans. An agency will support you with: 

• SEO impact assessment: This will help you understand how the migration will affect search engine rankings, traffic, and overall visibility. 

• Content review: Ensure that all content, meta tags, and other SEO-critical elements are properly transferred and optimised in the new platform. This includes updating internal links to reflect the new URL structure. 
• Monitoring: Implement monitoring tools to track redirect performance and overall SEO health post-migration. Be prepared to make adjustments based on performance data and search engine updates. 

Platforms like Visualsoft can handle nested categories but Shopify can’t. Here’s how to plan for this: 

• Category mapping: Analyse the existing nested category structure in Visualsoft and determine how it will translate to Shopify’s flat category system. Develop a mapping system to align categories between the two platforms. 

• Reclassification plan: Reclassify products to fit within the new category structure. This may involve creating new tags, collections, or product types to mimic the nested structure. 
• UX testing: Conduct user experience testing to ensure that the new category structure is intuitive and easy for customers to navigate. Gather feedback and make necessary adjustments to improve usability. 

Migrating to Shopify isn’t just about switching systems, it’s choosing a platform that won’t slow your growth, limit your ideas, or cap your revenue potential. 

Shopify gives brands the stability to grow without friction; delivery speed, security, seamless integrations, and the capacity to scale globally. Ultimately giving brands the foundation to grow without limits. 

By preparing for your migration with these 5 tips, you’re laying the foundations for a migration that is seamless, intentional, and unlocks your growth potential. 

We’ve successfully migrated multiple brands from Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Visualsoft, and custom builds to Shopify, ensuring a smooth transition and a platform set up for success, check them out here.

If you’re ready to make the move to Shopify and limit the hassle, we’re ready to make that happen. 

Let’s get your Shopify migration started today! Contact us here.