BigCommerce to Shopify: How to Migrate Data, Options and SEO
Moving from BigCommerce to Shopify means exporting your products, customers and orders from BigCommerce, importing them into Shopify with CSV files, a bulk import app or a migration service, then rebuilding your theme, replacing features with Shopify apps and redirecting old URLs. Core store data moves well, while customer passwords, saved payment methods, design and settings such as shipping rules need to be set up again.
BigCommerce and Shopify structure some data differently, especially product options, custom fields and URLs. Mapping those differences before you import keeps your catalog accurate and protects the search traffic your store has built.
How to Migrate From BigCommerce to Shopify
There are four main ways to move a BigCommerce store to Shopify. The right one depends on your catalog size, how complex your products are and how much order history you need:
| Method | How it works | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual CSV import | Export CSV files from BigCommerce, match them to Shopify’s templates and import products and customers in the Shopify admin | Small stores with simple products | Variants and custom attributes often break imports, and Shopify’s admin can’t import orders |
| Bulk import apps | Apps such as Matrixify import BigCommerce exports after you rename the columns to the app’s format | Merchants comfortable with spreadsheets who want more data types | You still export and map each data type yourself |
| Automated migration services | Services such as Cart2Cart and LitExtension connect to BigCommerce through its API and transfer products, customers, orders, reviews and more | Growing stores and stores that need order history and redirects | Pricing depends on record counts, and extra options vary by tool |
| Migration agency | A Shopify Partner handles data, redirects, custom features and testing | Large or heavily customized stores | Quoted per project, so compare scope carefully |
Many automated services offer a free demo on a sample of your data, which is the quickest way to check how products and variants will look. Keep your BigCommerce store selling until the Shopify store is fully tested.
How BigCommerce Data Maps to Shopify
Some BigCommerce data changes shape on Shopify, and a few things don’t transfer at all. This table shows the usual equivalents:
| BigCommerce | Shopify | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Products and images | Products | Repoint any images still loading from BigCommerce URLs to Shopify-hosted files |
| Variant options | Variants and options | Shopify supports up to three options per product |
| Modifier options, such as text fields or add-ons | Product options apps | Modifiers don’t create Shopify variants, so they usually need an app |
| Custom fields | Metafields | Audit them early, since they often cause import errors |
| Categories | Collections | Rebuild hierarchy with menus |
| Brands | Vendor | Usually mapped automatically by migration tools |
| Customers | Customers | Names, emails and addresses move, but passwords and saved payment methods don’t |
| Orders | Orders | Needs a migration tool or order import app, and imported orders serve as history rather than active orders |
| Reviews | A Shopify review app | Export with a BigCommerce review app or migrate with a supported tool |
| Coupons, pages and blog posts | Discounts, pages and blog posts | Supported by some tools, otherwise recreate them |
| Theme, shipping and payment settings | Not transferable | Rebuild your theme and set up shipping, taxes and payments again |
Product dimensions may also need attention. Some imports don’t keep them, so check your shipping data after the move if your rates depend on package size.
BigCommerce to Shopify Migration Step by Step
A clear order keeps products, customers and orders connected. Work through these steps:
- Audit your store. Review products, custom fields, categories, pages and blog posts, and document every URL for your redirect map.
- Clean your data. Remove discontinued products and duplicate customers, and standardize descriptions, tags and images.
- Back up everything. Export products, customers and orders to CSV, since BigCommerce has no one-click store backup.
- Set up Shopify. Choose a plan and theme, and configure currencies, taxes, shipping zones and payments before importing.
- Import products first. Map titles, descriptions, prices, SKUs, variants and inventory, then validate a test batch.
- Import customers, then orders. Bring in customer records, then order history with a migration tool or order import app.
- Move reviews and content. Import reviews into your review app, and check pages and blog posts for broken links and old formatting.
- Replace features. List every BigCommerce feature you use and find a native Shopify feature or app for each.
- Set up redirects. Map each old URL to its new Shopify page and test for chains and loops.
- Test and launch. Test checkout with every payment method, discount and shipping option, then connect your domain.
Export your data from BigCommerce
BigCommerce exports each data type separately as a CSV file. These are the usual paths in your BigCommerce admin:
| Data | Where to export it | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Products | Products > Export | Export with the Default template, and also with the Bulk Edit template if you need variant data |
| Customers | Customers > Export | Use the Default template and export to CSV |
| Orders | Orders > Export | Use the Default template and keep the file for your migration tool or archive |
For large catalogs, keep BigCommerce’s API rate limits in mind, since automated tools that pull data through the API can take longer. Store copies of every export separately from the files you edit.
Prepare files for Shopify
BigCommerce’s column names don’t match Shopify’s product and customer CSV templates, so rename and reshape them before a manual import. Each variant needs its own row under the same handle, and unsupported BigCommerce fields should be removed or moved to metafields.
For larger catalogs, a bulk tool with field mapping saves rebuilding files by hand. Bulkflow supports bulk import, export and updates to existing product records with field mapping for Shopify, WooCommerce and Wix, which can help when product data needs reshaping or correcting after the move.
Replace BigCommerce Features on Shopify
Built-in BigCommerce features and installed apps don’t carry over, so plan replacements before launch. Check Shopify’s native features first, then add apps only where you need them:
- Filtering and search. Set up Shopify’s storefront filters or a search app for large catalogs.
- Reviews. Install a review app and import your exported reviews.
- Product options. Use an options app for BigCommerce modifiers such as personalization fields.
- Promotions and discounts. Recreate coupon codes and automatic discounts in Shopify.
- Subscriptions. Choose a subscription app if you sell recurring products.
- Analytics. Set up GA4 events and compare new metrics with your BigCommerce history during the first month.
Avoid installing every app you might need at once. Each extra app can add monthly cost and slow your store, so start with what your customers actually use.
Protect Your SEO and Move Your Domain
Shopify uses fixed path prefixes such as /products/, /collections/ and /pages/, so most BigCommerce URLs will change. One-to-one 301 redirects from each old URL to its new page are the most important step for keeping your rankings.
- Map every URL. Redirect products, categories, blog posts and landing pages to their closest equivalents, not to the homepage.
- Import redirects in bulk. Upload your redirect map to Shopify as a CSV file, or use your migration tool’s redirect option.
- Test redirects. Check for wrong destinations, chains and loops before launch.
- Keep SEO content. Match or improve page titles, meta descriptions, headings and image alt text.
- Connect your domain last. Connecting it before the Shopify store is ready can disrupt your BigCommerce store, so switch only after testing.
- Monitor after launch. Submit your Shopify sitemap to Google Search Console and watch indexing and crawl errors for several weeks.
Time the switch near the end of your BigCommerce billing period if you can. That way, you avoid paying for both platforms longer than necessary.
Common BigCommerce to Shopify Migration Problems
Many issues come from data formatting or skipped testing. Watch for these:
- Variant import errors. Variants or custom attributes weren’t formatted for Shopify’s template.
- Missing modifiers. BigCommerce modifier options disappeared because no options app replaced them.
- Broken images. Images still pointed to BigCommerce URLs that stopped working after the store closed.
- Hidden products. Products hidden on BigCommerce imported as hidden on Shopify.
- Login confusion. Customers weren’t warned that passwords don’t transfer.
- Checkout surprises. Shipping, tax or discount logic wasn’t tested before launch.
- Redirect gaps. Old URLs were sent to the homepage or not redirected at all.
Conclusion
Moving from BigCommerce to Shopify works best when you map options, custom fields and URLs before importing anything. With clean data, replaced features and tested redirects, your products, customers and search traffic can make the switch intact. We hope this guide helps you migrate from BigCommerce to Shopify with confidence. If you need to update product data in bulk during the move, you can explore Bulkflow.
