How to Clone a Shopify Store: Methods, Steps and Checklist
To clone a Shopify store, you create a new store and copy your theme, products, collections, content and settings into it, either by hand with exports and imports or with a store duplication app. Shopify has no one-click clone button, so the method you choose decides how much transfers automatically and how much you rebuild yourself.
Merchants clone stores to launch a new brand, open a regional store, build a staging copy for testing or start a wholesale storefront. Planning which data you actually need in the new store keeps the job faster and avoids copying things that should change.
Can You Clone a Shopify Store?
You can, but not with a single built-in action. Each Shopify store has its own theme, catalog, customers, apps and settings, so cloning means moving each part into the new store using themes, CSV files, apps or a mix of these.
Before you clone, check whether a second store is really what you need. If you’re expanding to new countries with the same catalog and brand, Shopify Markets lets one store sell in several regions with local currencies, languages and pricing, which avoids running and syncing two stores.
Cloning makes more sense for a separate brand, a store with a different catalog or audience, a wholesale storefront or a staging copy for testing changes safely. Shopify Plus includes additional expansion stores for cases like these, though each still needs its data copied in.
Ways to Clone a Shopify Store
There are four main ways to clone a store, and many merchants combine them. The table compares what each one handles well:
| Method | What it copies | Best for | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual export and import | Theme files and CSV data such as products and customers | Small stores and tight budgets | Slow, and settings, apps and content must be rebuilt by hand |
| Store duplication apps | Products, collections, content and more, depending on the app, sometimes with ongoing sync | Fast full-store copies and staging stores | Monthly costs and varying data coverage |
| Bulk import and export tools | Large data sets such as products, customers and, in some tools, orders, pages and menus | Big catalogs and copies that need changes along the way | Some setup and spreadsheet skills |
| Agency or developer help | Whatever the project needs, including custom code and integrations | Complex stores with custom features | Highest cost |
Store duplication apps
Duplication apps connect your source and destination stores and copy selected data between them. Duplify and Rewind Staging are common examples, and Rewind Staging can copy themes, products, pages, files and more to a destination store, with an optional continuous sync for staging copies.
Coverage differs from app to app, especially for metafields, menus, customers and orders. Check each app’s list of supported data types against what your new store needs before you commit.
Bulk import and export tools
Bulk data tools export data from one store to files and import them into another. Matrixify, for example, covers products, customers, orders, pages, blog posts, redirects, menus and metafields, which makes it a common choice for full store copies.
For product catalogs, Bulkflow supports bulk import, export, field mapping and scheduled data updates for Shopify, WooCommerce and Wix. You can export selected data from the original store, import product data into the clone and keep both catalogs updated in bulk afterward.
How to Clone a Shopify Store Step by Step
Whichever tools you use, cloning works best in a set order, because later steps depend on earlier ones. Products need to exist before collections and menus can link to them, and customers need to exist before orders can attach to them.
- Create the new store. Set up a new Shopify store, or an expansion or development store if you have access to one, and choose a plan that fits its purpose.
- Copy the theme. In the original store, go to Online Store > Themes, download the theme file and upload it to the new store, which brings over your code and theme settings.
- Prepare custom data. Create the product metafield definitions you use and any locations you’ll need for inventory.
- Copy products. Export products as a CSV and import them, or use an app or bulk tool, then check variants, images and SEO fields.
- Rebuild collections. Recreate automated collections with their rules, and confirm manual collections contain the right products.
- Copy content. Move pages, blog posts and menus with an app or bulk tool, since Shopify’s admin doesn’t export them.
- Copy customers if needed. Import customers with a CSV, keeping in mind that passwords can’t be transferred and marketing consent rules still apply.
- Bring over orders only if required. Historical orders need an app or the API, since Shopify’s built-in importer doesn’t handle them.
- Set up the store’s settings. Configure payments, shipping, taxes, checkout, notifications, policies and markets.
- Reinstall apps. Install the apps the new store needs and reconfigure each one.
- Connect the domain and test. Add the new domain, then run test orders and check every key page before launch.
What Transfers and What Needs Rebuilding
Some parts of a store copy cleanly, while others must be set up again in every new store. Use this table to plan the work:
| Element | How it moves |
|---|---|
| Theme and theme settings | Download and upload the theme file |
| Products, variants and images | Product CSV, duplication apps or bulk tools |
| Product metafields | Included in product CSV when definitions exist; coverage varies by app |
| Collections | Automated collections need their rules recreated; manual collections depend on the method |
| Pages, blog posts and menus | Apps or bulk tools, or rebuild by hand |
| Customers | Customer CSV or apps, without passwords |
| Orders | Apps or the API only |
| Discounts and gift cards | Usually recreated in the new store |
| Payments, shipping, taxes and checkout | Set up manually |
| Apps and their data | Reinstall and reconfigure, using each app’s own export tools where available |
| Domain, analytics and tracking | Set up fresh for the new store |
Before You Launch the Cloned Store
A cloned store needs its own identity before customers see it. Identical product descriptions and pages across two stores can compete with each other in search results, so update content, titles and meta descriptions where the stores serve different audiences.
If the stores target different countries or languages, tell search engines how they relate with hreflang tags. Then set up analytics and marketing pixels for the new store, so its data doesn’t mix with the original store’s reports.
Finally, test the full customer journey. Place test orders, check shipping rates and taxes, confirm order and shipping notifications and review the store on mobile before you remove password protection.
Only Clone Stores You Own
Cloning tools and services work on your own stores, and that’s where they belong. Copying another brand’s design, product photos, descriptions or trademarks without permission can infringe their rights and lead to removed listings or legal claims.
If you admire another store’s approach, use it as inspiration and build your own design, content and branding. A distinct store also gives customers a clearer reason to buy from you.
Conclusion
To clone a Shopify store, you combine a theme copy, data exports and imports or a duplication app, then rebuild settings, apps and integrations that can’t be copied. Working in the right order and planning what each new store really needs makes the process faster and more reliable. We hope this guide helps you clone your Shopify store with confidence. If you’re copying and maintaining product catalogs across stores, you can explore Bulkflow.
