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Shopify Migration

Live store migration to Shopify without a messy go-live

We moved a selling catalog off a legacy platform and onto Shopify while orders were still coming in. The work was the migration itself: theme, full catalog, 301s, Shopify checkout, shipping, apps, and pixels, proven in staging before the domain flipped.

Selling catalog brand (composite) · Shopify Migration

Live store migration to Shopify without a messy go-live

Challenge

Orders could not stop during the migration. Legacy URLs, awkward variants, Shopify checkout, and measurement had to land together. We kept the old store selling until the Shopify buy path had already been completed and checked.

Approach

The new Shopify store was built beside the live one. Theme and pages went up in parallel with a batched product import, including messy option sets the old catalog had never cleaned up. The client clicked through collections and variants in Shopify admin before sign-off. High-value legacy URLs were mapped to Shopify paths as 301s, then titles and metadata were set on the core templates. Shopify payments, shipping, apps, and ad pixels were configured in staging and checked with real test orders on phone and desktop. DNS moved only after that buy path felt routine, and the first days were spent watching Shopify 404s and failed checkouts.

Outcome

Live on Shopify with a storefront that still looked like their brand Products, collections, and variants imported cleanly, including messy option sets Old URLs 301’d to Shopify paths instead of 404ing Shopify payments, shipping, analytics, and ad pixels fired through to purchase Test orders were completed before DNS moved, so day one was store ops, not a rescue

Sample Shopify storefront after migration
Shopify storefront — theme and catalog live in staging before the domain moved
Sample Shopify catalog with products and variants
Shopify catalog — products, variants, and inventory in admin after import
301legacy URLs pointed at Shopify
Day 1Shopify checkout and pixels live
0theme-only cutover

Migration, not a theme makeover

The brand wanted Shopify because the old admin had become the bottleneck. We scoped the move as catalog, URLs, checkout, shipping, apps, and pixels. The theme had to match the brand. It was not allowed to stand in for a finished migration.

Shopify was built beside the live store

Theme and content were built in Shopify while a batched import brought products, collections, and awkward variants across. The client clicked through the imported catalog. A redirect sheet covered the URLs that actually ranked and the campaign links still in market. Metadata was set on the core Shopify templates after those paths were mapped.

The domain moved last

Payments, shipping, apps, and pixels were configured in staging and proven with test orders on phone and desktop. A short cutover runbook named who watched 404s and failed checkouts after DNS moved. What followed was normal Shopify merchandising, not firefighting the migration.

ShopifyThemeProduct import301 redirectsShopify checkoutShippingAppsPixels

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