Shopify to Shopify Migration: How to Move Between Two Stores
A Shopify to Shopify migration moves your products, customers, orders, content and settings from one Shopify store to another. Shopify has no built-in transfer between stores, so you combine CSV exports and imports, a theme download and, for orders and other data, an automated migration service or app.
Merchants do this to merge stores, split a brand into separate stores, restructure an account or start fresh on a new store. Before you start, it’s worth checking whether you need a migration at all, since some common goals can be handled within your existing store.
Do You Need a Shopify to Shopify Migration?
Not every change requires moving to a new store. Some goals that sound like migrations are settings changes on your current store:
- Changing plans. Upgrading or downgrading your plan, including moving to Shopify Plus, happens on the same store without moving data.
- Changing ownership. Shopify lets the store owner transfer ownership to another person, so a sale or handover doesn’t always need a new store.
- Rebranding. A new name, theme and domain can all be set up on your existing store.
- Selling internationally. Shopify Markets lets one store sell in several countries with local currencies and languages.
A migration makes sense when you need a genuinely separate store. Common reasons include merging two stores into one, splitting a store into several brands, moving data into a new account structure or rebuilding a messy store from a clean starting point.
How to Migrate From One Shopify Store to Another
The best method depends on which data you need to move and how much of it there is. Most migrations combine several of these approaches:
| Method | What it moves | Best for | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSV export and import | Products, customers and inventory | Small stores and simple catalogs | No order history, pages, blogs or menus |
| Automated migration services | Products, customers, orders, pages, blogs, coupons and more, depending on the service | Full data moves, including order history | Priced by record count; design and apps not included |
| Store copy apps | Products, collections, content and other store data, sometimes with ongoing sync | Copying a store’s setup to a new store | Coverage varies by app, especially for orders and metafields |
| Bulk import and export tools | Large data sets moved through files, with options to change data along the way | Large catalogs and data that needs cleanup during the move | Some setup and spreadsheet skills |
| Shopify Partner or custom API work | Anything the Admin API supports | Complex stores, merges and custom data | Highest cost |
Automated migration services treat Shopify as both source and target. Cart2Cart, for example, supports Shopify to Shopify moves of products, customers, orders, pages, blogs, coupons and gift cards, with options such as preserving order IDs and creating 301 redirects, while LitExtension lists Shopify among its supported source platforms.
For product data, Bulkflow supports bulk import, export, field mapping and scheduled data updates for Shopify, WooCommerce and Wix. You can export selected data from the old store, import product data into the new one and keep both catalogs updated in bulk if you run them side by side.
Shopify to Shopify Migration Step by Step
Working in the right order prevents broken links between records. Orders need their products and customers to exist first, and menus need the pages and collections they link to.
- Back up the old store. Export products, customers, orders and inventory, and download the theme file before you change anything.
- Set up the new store. Create the store, choose a plan and add the product metafield definitions and inventory locations you use.
- Copy the theme. Download the theme from Online Store > Themes in the old store and upload it to the new one.
- Turn off order notifications. Disable staff notifications for new orders in the new store, so importing historical orders doesn’t send an email for each one.
- Move products. Import products with a CSV, a migration service or a bulk tool, keeping the same handles if you want the same URLs.
- Move customers. Import customers, keeping in mind that passwords don’t transfer.
- Move orders if needed. Bring over order history with a migration service, app or the API, since Shopify’s admin doesn’t import orders.
- Move content and navigation. Copy pages, blog posts and menus with a migration tool, app or by hand.
- Configure the store. Set up payments, shipping, taxes, policies, notifications and markets, and reinstall the apps you need.
- Test everything. Check products, collections, customer records and order history, then place test orders.
- Sync recent data and switch over. Bring over orders and customers created during the migration, move the domain and turn order notifications back on.
What Transfers and What Doesn’t
Even between two Shopify stores, some parts don’t copy automatically. Use this table to plan where each part of the store comes from:
| Element | How it moves |
|---|---|
| Theme | Download from the old store and upload to the new one |
| Products, variants and images | Product CSV, migration services, copy apps or bulk tools |
| Product metafields | Included in product CSV when definitions exist in the new store; coverage varies by tool |
| Collections | Recreate automated collections with their rules; manual collections depend on the method |
| Customers | Customer CSV or migration services, without passwords |
| Orders | Migration services, apps or the API only |
| Pages, blogs and menus | Migration services, apps or manual copies |
| Gift cards and discounts | Some migration services, or recreate them in the new store |
| Apps and app data | Reinstall and reconfigure, using each app’s own export tools |
| Settings | Set up manually in the new store |
Customer accounts need a plan. Since passwords can’t be moved, customers may need to reset them or sign in again, so prepare a short message explaining the change.
Domains, URLs and SEO
If the new store will use the same domain, keeping the same product, collection and page handles means most URLs stay identical, which protects your search rankings. Disconnect the domain from the old store and connect it to the new one when you’re ready to switch, and domains bought through Shopify can be transferred to another Shopify store.
If the new store uses a different domain or different handles, set up 301 redirects from every old URL to its new equivalent. Redirects created in the old store only work while that store stays open, so plan how long to keep it active, or move the old domain to the new store and add the redirects there.
After the switch, submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console and monitor for crawl errors and 404s. For a domain change, use Search Console’s Change of Address tool once both domains are verified.
Before You Close the Old Store
Keep the old store until you’re certain the new one is complete. Compare product, customer and order counts, confirm redirects and the domain work and make sure nothing depends on the old store, such as sales channels, apps or integrations.
Download a final set of exports before deactivating it. Shopify keeps a deactivated store’s information for two years, but having your own copy means you don’t depend on reopening the old store to find old data.
Conclusion
A Shopify to Shopify migration combines a theme copy, data imports and usually a migration service for orders and content, followed by careful setup of settings, apps and domains. Moving data in the right order, keeping URLs consistent and testing before you switch keeps the move smooth for you and your customers. We hope this guide helps you plan your Shopify to Shopify migration with confidence. If you’re moving or maintaining product data across Shopify stores, you can explore Bulkflow.
