Quick answer: A WooCommerce to Shopify migration moves products, collections, customers and order history through import tools, but themes, plugins, custom checkout logic, redirects and integrations must be rebuilt. For most Indian stores the work is a few weeks of effort, and the cost depends less on catalogue size than on how many plugins and custom features you need to replace.
WooCommerce is a sensible first platform. It is flexible, familiar and cheap to start. The trouble tends to arrive two or three years later: forty plugins, a hosting bill that keeps rising, a site that slows down during sale days, and a checkout that nobody wants to touch before Diwali.
If that sounds familiar, a move to Shopify is worth scoping. This post explains what carries over, what does not, and how to think about the budget — with India-specific points on GST, payments and shipping.
What moves cleanly
Most core commerce data can be migrated with import tools or scripts:
• Products and variants — titles, descriptions, SKUs, prices, images, inventory and basic attributes. Variant structures usually need cleaning because Shopify limits products to three options and 2,048 variants.
• Collections — WooCommerce categories and tags become Shopify collections, either manually or automated by rules.
• Customers — names, emails, addresses and order counts. Customers receive an invitation to set up a new account.
• Orders — historical orders can be imported for reporting and customer service, though they are records, not live orders.
• Content — blog posts, pages, images and basic SEO metadata.
Plan on a cleaning pass before import. A migration is the cheapest time to fix duplicate SKUs, missing images and inconsistent product titles.
What does not move
This is where the real work sits.
Themes and design
WooCommerce themes do not convert. The storefront is rebuilt on a Shopify theme, either an existing premium theme customised to your brand or a bespoke build. This is usually the largest single line in the project.
Plugins and custom functionality
Every WooCommerce plugin needs a decision: replace with a native Shopify feature, replace with an app, rebuild as custom code, or drop. A useful exercise is to list every active plugin and write one line next to each: what it does, who uses it, and what happens if it disappears. Typically a third of them turn out to be unnecessary and another third are now native features — product bundles, discounts, wishlists, basic subscriptions and size charts are common examples.
Checkout customisations
If your WooCommerce checkout includes custom fields, COD fees, pincode checks or special GST handling, these need to be rebuilt using Shopify’s checkout extensibility, apps or Shopify Functions. On Shopify Plus, checkout can be customised more deeply; on other plans you work within defined limits.
SEO and URLs
URLs change on Shopify. Every old product, category and post URL needs a 301 redirect to its new equivalent, and titles, descriptions and schema need checking. Our guide to protecting rankings during a migration covers this in detail.
Integrations
ERP, accounting, warehouse, courier and marketing integrations all need to be reconnected. In India, this often means Tally or Zoho Books, a shipping aggregator, and a WhatsApp or SMS provider.
India-specific points
Payments
Shopify Payments is not the default in India, so you will connect a local gateway — Razorpay, PayU, Cashfree, PhonePe and others are common. Check three things: UPI and card success rates, COD handling, and whether settlements reconcile cleanly with your accounting. For brands that want faster checkout, one-click checkout providers such as GoKwik or Razorpay Magic Checkout are worth evaluating. See our comparison of the two.
GST
Shopify can calculate and display GST-inclusive prices, and you can set HSN codes at product level. For GST-compliant invoices, most Indian merchants use an app or a custom order print template, because the default invoice does not cover every field required. Confirm invoice format, place-of-supply logic and credit notes with your accountant before you launch, not after.
Shipping and COD
Courier and COD integrations work through apps or aggregator plugins. If a high share of your orders are cash on delivery, plan for COD verification and pincode rules from day one, because the move is also an opportunity to fix return-to-origin leakage.
What it costs
Cost depends on scope more than on SKU count. Four factors move the number most:
1. Theme approach. A customised premium theme costs far less than a fully bespoke design.
2. Number of plugins to replace. Each custom feature adds design, build and testing time.
3. Integrations. ERP and warehouse connections are the most variable item.
4. Data quality. Messy variants, missing images and duplicate customers add cleaning time.
For a simple catalogue on an existing theme, a migration can be a matter of weeks. A brand with custom checkout logic, multiple integrations and tens of thousands of SKUs is a larger project and should be scoped properly. We would rather give you a written scope and a fixed investment than a range, which is why we begin with an audit of your current store.
A practical way to compare quotes: ask each agency to price the same list line by line — theme, plugin replacements, integrations, data migration, redirects and testing. Differences between quotes then show up as differences in scope, which is where they usually come from.
Do not forget the running costs that change. You stop paying for WooCommerce hosting, security plugins and developer retainers for patching, and start paying for a Shopify plan, apps and a payment gateway. Over a year, many brands find the total comparable or lower — but only when apps are chosen carefully.
A realistic timeline
A typical migration follows this order:
1. Audit of the current store, plugins, URLs and integrations
2. Scope, design and theme decisions
3. Data migration and cleaning
4. Theme build and app configuration
5. Payments, shipping, GST and tax setup
6. Redirect map, SEO checks and staging review
7. Launch, then four to eight weeks of monitoring
Avoid launching in the weeks before a major sale. Give yourself a calm window.
When migration is not the right call
Shopify is not always the answer. If your business depends on deep content publishing, membership logic, or heavily customised product configuration that WooCommerce handles well, a move may cost more than it saves. We will say so in the audit. The aim is the right platform, not a migration for its own sake.
Frequently asked questions
Can I migrate WooCommerce to Shopify without downtime?
Yes. The new store is built and tested on Shopify while your WooCommerce store stays live. Downtime is limited to the DNS switch at launch, which is normally a matter of minutes to a few hours.
Will my customers need to reset their passwords?
Yes. Passwords cannot be exported securely from WooCommerce, so customers receive an invitation to activate their Shopify account. Using a clear email and enabling guest checkout reduces friction.
Does Shopify support GST invoices?
Shopify handles GST-inclusive pricing and HSN codes, and most Indian merchants add an invoicing app or custom print template for compliant invoices. Confirm the format with your accountant.
How long does a WooCommerce to Shopify migration take?
A simple store can be live in four to six weeks. Stores with custom checkout logic, many integrations or large catalogues usually take longer. The audit gives you a specific timeline.
Next step
The fastest way to understand your own risk and budget is a scoped audit of your current store. We review your plugins, URLs, integrations and checkout, and give you a written scope with a fixed investment. Get a migration scope and quote and we will come back with the findings.
