A Step-by-Step Guide to PrestaShop to Shopify Data Migration
Moving from PrestaShop to Shopify means backing up your PrestaShop store, transferring products, customers and orders with a migration tool or CSV files, then rebuilding your theme, replacing modules with Shopify apps and redirecting old URLs. Product combinations, categories and manufacturers all have Shopify equivalents, while customer passwords, saved payment details and custom modules don’t carry over.
Many merchants switch to stop managing servers, security patches and module updates themselves. Shopify takes care of hosting and maintenance, so the main work is mapping your PrestaShop data carefully and protecting the search traffic your store has built.
How to Migrate From PrestaShop to Shopify
There are three main ways to move a PrestaShop store to Shopify. Your choice depends on catalog size, how much order history you need and how customized your store is:
| Method | How it works | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual CSV import | Export products and customers from PrestaShop, reformat the files to Shopify’s templates and import them | Small stores with a few dozen products and little order history | Slow and error-prone at scale, and Shopify’s admin can’t import orders or reviews |
| Automated migration tools | Tools such as LitExtension and Cart2Cart connect to PrestaShop, map your data and transfer it to Shopify | Most stores, including those that need order history | Pricing depends on record counts, and extra options vary by tool |
| Assisted migration | A specialist team handles data, redirects, theme rebuild and module replacement | Thousands of SKUs, custom modules, multiple languages or B2B pricing | Quoted per project, so compare scope carefully |
Migration tools connect to PrestaShop either with a connector file uploaded to your store’s root folder or with API credentials from your PrestaShop admin. Most offer a free demo on a sample of your data, which shows how products, combinations and customers will look before you pay for the full transfer.
How PrestaShop Data Maps to Shopify
PrestaShop and Shopify organize store data differently, so some of it changes shape during the move. This table shows the usual equivalents:
| PrestaShop | Shopify | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Products and images | Products | Check descriptions, prices, weights and images after transfer |
| Combinations and attributes | Variants and options | Shopify products use up to three options, so products with more attributes need simplifying |
| Product features | Metafields or tags | Useful for specifications and storefront filters |
| Categories | Collections | Category trees become flat collections, with hierarchy rebuilt in menus |
| Manufacturers | Vendor | Usually mapped automatically by migration tools |
| Customers and customer groups | Customers, with tags or segments for groups | Names, emails and addresses move, but passwords don’t |
| Orders | Orders | Needs a migration tool, with order statuses mapped to Shopify’s |
| Vouchers and cart rules | Discounts | Rarely map cleanly, so review or recreate them |
| Reviews | A Shopify review app | Import through the review app’s template or a supported migration tool |
| CMS pages and blog posts | Pages and blog posts | Supported by some tools, otherwise copy them manually |
| Theme and modules | Not transferable | Choose a Shopify theme and replace modules with apps or native features |
Gift card balances and saved payment methods also need attention. Stored card data can’t be moved, so customers re-enter payment details at their first checkout, and outstanding gift card balances may need reissuing.
PrestaShop to Shopify Migration Step by Step
Following a set order keeps your data connected while your PrestaShop store keeps selling. You only switch over once Shopify is fully tested:
- Back up PrestaShop. Export your database through phpMyAdmin and download your site files, including images, themes and modules, over FTP.
- Clean your data. Remove duplicate SKUs, discontinued products and inactive customer accounts so you don’t migrate clutter.
- List your modules. Note every PrestaShop module and decide whether Shopify covers it natively, with an app or with custom work.
- Set up Shopify. Choose a plan and theme, and configure shipping zones, taxes and payments before importing live data.
- Connect your migration tool. Add PrestaShop as the source with a connector or API credentials, then connect Shopify as the target.
- Select and map data. Choose products, customers, orders and other entities, and map customer groups and order statuses to Shopify.
- Run a demo migration. Check sample products, especially those with combinations, along with customers and orders.
- Run the full migration. Transfer everything, then compare record counts and spot-check a wide sample.
- Rebuild the storefront. Customize your theme, set up navigation and install replacement apps.
- Create redirects. Map every valuable PrestaShop URL to its new Shopify page.
- Test and launch. Place test orders, check payments and shipping, migrate recent orders and switch your domain during a quiet period.
If you’re using CSV files
For a manual migration, export products from Catalog > Products in your PrestaShop admin using the export option, then reformat the file to Shopify’s product CSV template. Each combination becomes a variant row under the same handle, with option names and values in Shopify’s option columns.
Export customers from your customer list or with a third-party export tool, then match the columns to Shopify’s customer CSV headings, such as First Name, Last Name, Email and the Default Address fields. Orders and reviews can’t be imported through Shopify’s admin, so they need a migration tool, an order import app or your review app’s import.
Reformatting large files by hand is slow and easy to get wrong. 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.
Replace PrestaShop Modules and Theme
PrestaShop modules don’t install on Shopify, so each one needs a replacement or a decision to retire it. Sort your module list into Shopify’s built-in features, apps from the Shopify App Store, custom development and features you no longer need.
Your theme doesn’t transfer either, because PrestaShop and Shopify themes use different technology. Choose a Shopify theme close to the layout you want, and hold off on heavy customization until your data is verified.
If your PrestaShop store runs in several languages, plan how translations will move. Shopify keeps one catalog with translated content for each language, and some migration tools and services can transfer multilingual content, so check this in your demo migration.
Protect Your SEO When Moving From PrestaShop
PrestaShop URLs rarely match Shopify’s fixed paths such as /products/ and /collections/, so most addresses change. Without 301 redirects, old product and category links lead to error pages and can lose the rankings they’ve earned.
- Collect your old URLs. Export product, category, CMS and blog URLs, and pull pages with traffic from Google Search Console.
- Map page to page. Redirect each old URL to its closest new page, using your migration tool’s redirect option or a CSV import of redirects in Shopify.
- Carry over SEO fields. Check that meta titles, meta descriptions and image alt text transferred for key pages.
- Test before switching domains. Click through your redirect list before pointing your domain to Shopify.
- Monitor after launch. Submit your sitemap and watch Search Console for 404 errors, expecting some ranking movement for a few weeks.
After You Launch on Shopify
Tell customers about the move before and after launch, including how to sign in, since their PrestaShop passwords won’t work on Shopify. Mention that saved payment details need re-entering, so the first checkout doesn’t surprise them.
Keep PrestaShop available in read-only form for a few weeks as a reference for old orders and settings. Then shut down the server once you’re confident everything has moved.
Common PrestaShop to Shopify Migration Problems
Most issues come from data that doesn’t map cleanly or steps that were skipped. Watch for these:
- Broken combinations. Products with more than three attributes don’t fit Shopify’s option limit.
- Missing discounts or gift cards. Vouchers, cart rules and gift card balances were dropped without anyone noticing.
- Lost features. Modules weren’t listed early, so functionality disappeared at launch.
- Incomplete redirects. Only some old URLs were mapped, causing lasting ranking losses.
- Support tickets about logins. Customers weren’t warned about passwords and payment details.
- Unchecked data. Only a few records were reviewed after the full migration.
Conclusion
Moving from PrestaShop to Shopify trades self-managed hosting and module upkeep for a platform that handles maintenance for you. With careful data mapping, replaced modules and complete redirects, your products, customers and search traffic can make the move intact. We hope this guide helps you migrate from PrestaShop to Shopify with confidence. If you need to update product data in bulk during the move, you can explore Bulkflow.
