Quick answer: Migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify means moving your products, customers, orders and content to a new platform, then redirecting every old URL so you keep your Google rankings. Most Australian stores can complete the move in 3 to 8 weeks, depending on catalogue size and custom features.
If your WooCommerce store has become slow, expensive to maintain, or dependent on a long list of plugins that need constant updates, you’re not alone. Many Australian merchants reach the same point, and Shopify’s hosted, all-in-one setup is the main reason they switch.
The risk is that a rushed migration can cost you traffic and sales. This guide walks through the full process, the Australia-specific details (GST, Afterpay, local shipping), and how to protect your SEO from day one.
Why Australian merchants move from WooCommerce to Shopify
The most common reasons are about time and risk, not just features.
- Hosting and security are handled for you. With WooCommerce you manage hosting, SSL, backups and security patches yourself. Shopify includes them.
- Fewer plugin conflicts. A WooCommerce store often relies on many plugins for payments, shipping, SEO and speed. Updates can break the store at the worst time, such as a sale weekend.
- Faster, more reliable checkout. Shopify’s checkout is built and tested for conversion, and it supports Afterpay, Zip, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
- Predictable costs. You pay a monthly plan plus transaction fees, instead of hosting, premium plugins and developer time for every fix.
- Easier scaling. Traffic spikes during Black Friday or EOFY sales are less likely to take your store down.
WooCommerce can still be the right choice for stores with very custom content or complex membership setups. If that’s you, a short consultation before committing is worth it.
Before you migrate: a checklist
- Good preparation prevents most migration problems. Complete these before touching Shopify.
- Export a full backup of your WooCommerce database and files
- Crawl your current site and save a list of every URL (products, categories, blog posts, pages)
- Record your current Google rankings and organic traffic as a baseline
- List every plugin you use and decide what replaces each one on Shopify
- Clean up your catalogue: remove old products, fix missing images, standardise titles
- Decide which customer and order history you need to keep
- Check subscriptions, memberships, bookings or custom fields, which need extra planning
- Confirm access to your domain registrar and DNS settings
The migration process, step by step
- Choose your Shopify plan and set up the store. Start a development store or trial, then configure your store name, currency (AUD), and basic settings.
- Pick and customise a theme. Choose a theme that fits your catalogue, then adjust layout, navigation and branding. Building the design before importing data lets you test with real products.
- Export and import your products. Export products from WooCommerce as a CSV, clean it, and import it into Shopify using Shopify’s import tools or an app such as Matrixify. Check variants, images, SKUs and prices carefully.
- Import customers and orders. Customer records and order history can be imported, but customer passwords cannot be transferred. Plan to send customers an account invitation or password reset email after launch.
- Recreate pages and blog content. Move your About, Contact, policy pages and blog posts, keeping titles, meta descriptions and headings.
- Set up payments, shipping and tax. Configure your payment gateways, Australian shipping rates and GST (covered below).
- Rebuild functionality with apps. Replace each WooCommerce plugin with a Shopify app or custom feature, such as reviews, loyalty, subscriptions or product filters.
- Set up 301 redirects. Map every old URL to its new Shopify URL. This step protects your SEO and is covered in the next section.
- Test everything. Place test orders, check mobile layout, test discount codes and confirm emails send correctly.
- Go live. Point your domain to Shopify, confirm SSL is active, and submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console.
- Monitor after launch. Check Search Console for crawl errors and 404s daily for the first two weeks.
How to protect your SEO during migration
SEO loss is the biggest fear for store owners, and it’s avoidable. Shopify uses a fixed URL structure, so most of your URLs will change, and each one needs a 301 redirect to its new address.
| Page type | Typical WooCommerce URL | Typical Shopify URL |
|---|---|---|
|
Product |
/product/blue-shirt/ |
/products/blue-shirt |
|
Category |
/product-category/shirts/ |
/collections/shirts |
|
Blog post |
/blog-post-title/ |
/blogs/news/blog-post-title |
Follow these rules:
- Build a redirect map in a spreadsheet, with the old URL in one column and the new URL in the other, then bulk import it into Shopify’s URL Redirects tool.
- Keep product handles the same where possible, so the redirect is simple.
- Carry over titles, meta descriptions, headings and image alt text for your top-ranking pages.
- Keep your content, not just your URLs. Don’t shorten or rewrite top-performing pages during the move. Improve them after rankings are stable.
- Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console and monitor the Pages report for 404 errors.
- Expect small fluctuations. Rankings can dip for a few weeks after any migration, then recover when redirects are working correctly.
Australia-specific setup: GST, payments and shipping
A migration is also the best moment to get your local setup right.
- GST. Set your tax settings so prices display GST-inclusive, as Australian customers expect, and confirm your ABN and tax details appear on invoices. If you sell to New Zealand or overseas, check how GST applies to those orders and talk to your accountant before launch.
- Buy Now, Pay Later. Afterpay and Zip are widely used by Australian shoppers. Enable them at checkout and add messaging on product pages so customers see instalment prices before they reach the cart.
- Shipping. Set up rates for Australia Post, Sendle or your preferred carrier, and consider free-shipping thresholds. Test shipping rates for metro, regional and remote postcodes, and for any products with unusual weight or size.
- Accounting. If you use Xero or MYOB, connect it early so your first orders on Shopify sync correctly from day one.
How much does a WooCommerce to Shopify migration cost, and how long does it take?
Cost and timeline depend mostly on catalogue size and how much custom functionality needs rebuilding.
| Store type | Typical timeline | Indicative cost (AUD |
|---|---|---|
|
Small store (under 100 products, standard theme) |
2 to 4 weeks |
1000 |
|
Mid-size store (100 to 1,000 products, theme customisation) |
4 to 8 weeks |
2000 |
|
Large or complex store (1,000+ products, subscriptions, custom features) |
8 to 16 weeks |
3000 |
The main cost drivers are theme design, custom features, number of products and variants, apps and integrations, and how much content needs redirecting. For a wider view of agency rates, see our guide to what a Shopify development company charges in Australia.
Common migration mistakes to avoid
- Skipping redirects. Missing 301s turn ranking pages into 404 errors overnight.
- Launching without testing checkout. Always place real test orders with each payment method.
- Importing messy data. Duplicate products, missing images and broken variants are far easier to fix before import.
- Forgetting the blog. Blog posts often drive a large share of organic traffic and need redirects too.
- Redesigning and migrating at the same time without a plan. Large changes to content and structure during the move make it hard to tell what affected your rankings.
- Ignoring customer communication. Tell customers about the new store, explain the password reset, and keep order confirmations consistent.
- Switching off the old site too early. Keep your WooCommerce backup available for at least 30 to 60 days.
Frequently asked questions
Will I lose my Google rankings if I migrate to Shopify?
Not if redirects are set up correctly. Some short-term movement is normal, but properly redirected pages with preserved content usually recover within a few weeks.
Can I keep my existing domain name?
Yes. You connect your current domain to Shopify by updating DNS settings, so customers and search engines keep finding the same address.
Can I move my customer accounts and order history?
Yes, customer details and past orders can be imported. Passwords can’t be transferred, so customers will need to activate their account or reset their password.
Will my WooCommerce plugins work on Shopify?
No. Plugins are specific to WordPress, so each one needs a Shopify app or custom development as a replacement.
How long will my store be offline during migration?
Usually not at all. The new store is built separately, and your old site stays live until you switch the domain over.
Do I need a developer to migrate?
Small stores can sometimes do it themselves. Stores with many products, custom features or strong SEO traffic should use an experienced Shopify developer to avoid costly mistakes.
Ready to move to Shopify?
A well-planned migration protects your rankings, your customer data and your revenue. If you’d like a team to handle it, eCommerce Partners helps Australian businesses migrate to Shopify, rebuild their theme and integrate the apps they need. Contact us for a free migration review, or call 1300 72 50 90.