Squarespace to Shopify: How to Move Your Store Step by Step
Moving from Squarespace to Shopify means exporting your products, orders and contacts from Squarespace, importing them into Shopify with CSV files or a migration service, then rebuilding your design, redirecting old URLs and pointing your domain to Shopify. Squarespace doesn’t export everything, so some content, such as product images, reviews and blog posts, may need a migration tool or manual work.
Many merchants switch when their store outgrows Squarespace’s commerce tools and they need more apps, payment options or inventory features. A planned move keeps your products, customers and search traffic intact.
How to Migrate From Squarespace to Shopify
There are three main ways to move a Squarespace store to Shopify. The right one depends on your catalog size and how much beyond products you need to bring across:
| Method | How it works | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSV export and import | Export products and contacts from Squarespace, reformat them to Shopify’s templates and import them | Small catalogs and merchants who want full control | Squarespace’s product export leaves out some images and details, and Shopify’s admin can’t import orders |
| Migration services | Tools such as Cart2Cart connect to your Squarespace store and move products, categories, customers, orders, coupons, blog posts and pages | Stores that want order history and content moved too | Pricing depends on record counts, and options vary by tool |
| Migration experts | A Shopify Partner handles data, redirects and store setup | Large catalogs, custom content or tight deadlines | Higher cost, so compare scope carefully |
Shopify’s free Store Migration app accepts CSV uploads from any platform, but Squarespace isn’t one of the platforms it can connect to directly. You’ll still need to export and prepare your Squarespace files if you use it.
What Data Moves From Squarespace to Shopify
Core store data can move, but Squarespace’s exports have gaps you should plan around. This table shows what to expect:
| Data | Can it move? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Products and variants | Yes | Squarespace exports up to 10,000 physical and service products to CSV |
| Product images and alt text | Partly | Featured images, variant images and alt text aren’t in Squarespace’s product export, so use a migration tool or re-add them |
| Additional product information | No, by CSV | Not included in the product export |
| Customers | Yes | Export contacts from Squarespace, but passwords don’t transfer |
| Order history | With a migration service or app | Squarespace exports orders to CSV, but Shopify’s admin can’t import them |
| Blog posts and pages | With a migration tool or manually | Squarespace’s XML site export is meant for leaving the platform, not for Shopify import |
| Customer reviews | Needs a review app | Not included in the product export |
| Gift cards | Usually not | Plan to reissue outstanding balances on Shopify |
| Design, analytics and payment settings | No | Rebuild your theme and reconnect analytics, pixels and payment providers |
Squarespace to Shopify Migration Step by Step
Following a clear order keeps your data connected and your Squarespace store selling until launch. Work through these steps:
- Audit your store. List your products, pages, blog posts and every live URL, including custom slugs.
- Export your data. Download products, orders and contacts from Squarespace, and keep copies as backups.
- Set up Shopify. Choose a plan and theme, and configure shipping, taxes and payments.
- Import products. Reformat your product CSV or run a migration service, then check variants, prices, inventory and images.
- Import customers and orders. Bring in customers after products, and use a migration tool for order history.
- Move content. Recreate key pages and bring over blog posts with your migration tool or by hand.
- Replace features. Add apps for reviews, email marketing and other tools you used on Squarespace.
- Create redirects. Map each old Squarespace URL to its new Shopify page.
- Test and launch. Place a test order, check emails and shipping rates, then point your domain to Shopify.
Export your data from Squarespace
To export products, open the Products & Services panel, click Products and choose Export all, or select specific products and click Export. The file follows Squarespace’s import format, but it doesn’t include featured images, variant images, alt text, additional product information or customer reviews.
To export orders, go to Products & Services > Orders, click Export data and then Download CSV, choosing the statuses and date range you need. Export customers from the Contacts panel, which can include customers, subscribers and members.
Squarespace also offers an XML export of compatible site content under Settings > Advanced > Import/Export. It’s designed for leaving Squarespace and doesn’t include all images or videos, so treat it as a backup rather than a ready-made Shopify import.
Reformat files for Shopify
Squarespace’s columns don’t match Shopify’s product and customer CSV templates, so map each field before importing. For products, each variant needs its own row under the same handle, and image URLs must be public links Shopify can download.
Because Squarespace’s export leaves out some images, check every product’s photos after import. For larger catalogs, a bulk tool with field mapping saves reworking files by hand; Bulkflow supports bulk import, export and updates to existing product records with field mapping for Shopify, WooCommerce and Wix.
Replace Squarespace Features on Shopify
Some things built into your Squarespace setup need replacing or reconnecting on Shopify. List what you use today so nothing goes missing at launch:
- Payments. Set up Shopify Payments or another provider, since payment credentials and saved cards don’t transfer.
- Reviews. Install a Shopify review app and check how it imports reviews before migration day.
- Email marketing. Move opted-in subscribers to Shopify Email or another email tool.
- Analytics and pixels. Reconnect Google Analytics, Meta Pixel and any other tracking tools.
- Abandoned cart and automations. Rebuild these in Shopify or with apps.
Protect Your SEO and Move Your Domain
Shopify uses its own URL structure, such as /products/ and /collections/, so most of your Squarespace URLs will change. Each valuable old URL needs a 301 redirect to its new page, or links from search results and other sites will lead to errors.
- Record every URL. Include products, categories, pages, blog posts and any custom slugs you created.
- Import redirects in bulk. Map old URLs to their closest new pages and upload them to Shopify as a CSV file, or use your migration tool’s redirect option.
- Carry over SEO content. Move page titles, meta descriptions and product descriptions, and add image alt text again where it was lost.
- Repoint your domain at launch. Update your DNS to point to Shopify once redirects and testing are done, and transfer the domain registration later if you want, since registrars generally require a domain to be at least 60 days old before a transfer.
- Monitor after launch. Check your top old URLs, submit your sitemap and watch Google Search Console for errors.
Common Squarespace to Shopify Migration Problems
Most issues come from Squarespace’s export gaps or skipped checks. Watch for these:
- Missing images. Featured and variant images weren’t in the export and weren’t re-added.
- Unpublished products. Hidden Squarespace products imported as unpublished on Shopify.
- Missing variants. Products with incomplete variant data failed to import and need adding manually.
- Broken links. Custom slugs weren’t audited, so old URLs lead to error pages.
- Tracking gaps. Analytics and pixels weren’t reconnected before launch.
- Login confusion. Customers weren’t warned that their old passwords won’t work.
Conclusion
Moving from Squarespace to Shopify gives your store a platform built around commerce, with more apps, payment options and room to grow. Planning around Squarespace’s export gaps, mapping your data carefully and setting up redirects before launch keeps the switch smooth for you and your customers. We hope this guide helps you move from Squarespace to Shopify with confidence. If you need to update product data in bulk during the move, you can explore Bulkflow.
