Migrating products from WooCommerce to Shopify sounds straightforward until you are three hours deep in a broken CSV and your variant data is scattered across five columns that Shopify has never heard of. We have been through this with enough store owners to know that the move itself is not the hard part. The hard part is the preparation you skip before you even open a spreadsheet. This guide walks you through exactly what to do, in order, so your product data lands clean on the other side.
Key Takeaways
- Migrating products from WooCommerce to Shopify requires thorough data preparation before touching any export tools — auditing for duplicate SKUs, broken image URLs, and inconsistent category names prevents the most common migration failures.
- WooCommerce and Shopify organize product data differently, so you must carefully map CSV column headers (e.g., post_title to Title, regular_price to Variant Price) to avoid import errors.
- Shopify has hard limits of 3 variant options and 100 variants per product, so products exceeding these thresholds must be restructured before migration.
- For large catalogs, importing in batches of 100–150 products at a time makes it significantly easier to isolate and fix errors without re-importing your entire store.
- After completing the migration, always verify product data accuracy, image integrity, collection assignments, and SEO meta fields, since these are the areas most likely to need manual correction.
- If your catalog includes complex variants or custom plugin data, a professional migration service can save more time and cost than the manual CSV route alone.
What the Migration Actually Involves
When you migrate products from WooCommerce to Shopify, you are not just dragging files from one folder to another. You are translating data between two platforms that organize product information in fundamentally different ways.
WooCommerce stores product data inside a WordPress database, spread across several tables. Shopify uses its own closed data model with specific field names, image rules, and variant structures. That gap is where most migrations break down.
Here is what typically moves in a product migration:
- Product titles and descriptions
- SKUs, prices, and inventory counts
- Product images (usually re-uploaded, not transferred directly)
- Variants (size, color, material)
- Product categories and tags
- Meta titles and descriptions (if you export them)
What does NOT move automatically: customer reviews, order history, custom fields built with ACF or metaboxes, and any WooCommerce-specific features like custom product tabs for WooCommerce or WooCommerce custom product designers. Those require separate planning.
The migration method we recommend for most store owners is the CSV export-import path. It gives you full visibility into your data before anything touches Shopify. There are also paid migration tools and Shopify’s own import app, which we cover below.
Before You Touch Any Tools: What to Prepare
This is the part most guides rush past. Do not skip it.
Audit Your WooCommerce Product Data
Before you export a single file, open your WooCommerce product list and do a honest review. Look for:
- Products with missing images or broken image URLs
- Duplicate SKUs (Shopify requires unique SKUs per variant)
- Inconsistent category names (e.g., “T-Shirts,” “t shirts,” and “Tshirts” all meaning the same thing)
- Products with more than 3 variant options or more than 100 variants per product, Shopify has hard limits here
- HTML or shortcode in product descriptions that will not render correctly outside WordPress
If you have been running your WooCommerce store for a while, you likely have some of all of the above. Fix them now, in WooCommerce, before you export. Cleaning data in a CSV is possible but far more tedious.
For a refresher on how WooCommerce organizes its product data, our guide on how WooCommerce handles product setup and order fulfillment is worth a read.
Set Up Your Shopify Store First
Do not import products into an empty shell. Before the migration, your Shopify store should have:
- A confirmed plan (Shopify Basic at minimum)
- Your store currency, timezone, and tax settings configured
- At least a placeholder theme installed so you can preview how products display
- Collections mapped out, Shopify uses Collections where WooCommerce uses Categories, and the structure is not always a 1:1 match
Setting up collections in advance means you can assign products to them during import rather than manually sorting hundreds of items afterward. That step alone saves significant time.
Step-by-Step: Moving Your Products to Shopify
With your data audited and your Shopify store configured, you are ready to move. Here is the process we use.
Export Products From WooCommerce as a CSV
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to WooCommerce > Products.
- Click Export at the top of the product list.
- Select which product types and data columns to include. For a full migration, export everything, you can remove columns you do not need later.
- Click Generate CSV and save the file.
Your export will include a column for each product attribute: title, description, short description, SKU, price, stock, images, categories, tags, and more. Variable products will have parent rows and child rows for each variant.
One important note: WooCommerce exports image URLs, not the image files themselves. You will need to either keep your WordPress site live during the migration so Shopify can fetch those URLs, or download all images separately and re-upload them. The Shopify blog has a useful breakdown of how Shopify handles image imports, which is worth reviewing before you start.
Map and Clean Your Data Before Import
This is the most time-consuming step, and the most important one.
Shopify’s product CSV template uses specific column headers. Open a copy of Shopify’s sample CSV template alongside your WooCommerce export and map each column. Key differences:
| WooCommerce Column | Shopify Column |
|---|---|
| post_title | Title |
| post_content | Body (HTML) |
| regular_price | Variant Price |
| _sku | Variant SKU |
| _stock | Variant Inventory Qty |
| Images | Image Src |
Variants are where things get tricky. Shopify expects each variant on its own row beneath the parent product row, with the parent’s title repeated and most fields left blank. WooCommerce exports variants differently. You will likely need to reformat several rows manually or with a spreadsheet formula.
Clean up as you go:
- Remove any HTML shortcodes from descriptions
- Standardize capitalization in titles
- Confirm all image URLs are accessible
- Check that no SKU appears twice
For developers comfortable with data transformation scripts, Stack Overflow has several community threads with Python and Node.js scripts that automate the WooCommerce-to-Shopify CSV remapping. Worth checking before you do it all by hand.
Import Products Into Shopify
- In your Shopify admin, go to Products > Import.
- Upload your cleaned CSV file.
- Shopify will validate the file and flag errors before completing the import. Read every error, they are specific and fixable.
- Once the import completes, go to your product list and spot-check 10–15 products across different types (simple, variable, digital if applicable).
If you have a large catalog (500+ products), consider importing in batches of 100–150 products at a time. Smaller batches make it easier to isolate and fix errors without re-importing everything.
Shopify’s import tool does not overwrite existing products by default. If you run the import a second time to fix errors, watch for duplicates and delete them from the product list afterward.
If you are also evaluating the reverse direction, we have a related guide covering how to move a store from Shopify back to WooCommerce that covers the opposite workflow in the same level of detail.
What to Check After the Migration
A completed import does not mean a finished migration. Run through this checklist before you consider the job done.
Product data accuracy
- Verify titles, descriptions, and prices on at least 15% of your catalog
- Check that variant options (size, color, etc.) display correctly on the product page
- Confirm inventory numbers match your WooCommerce records
Images
- Every product should have at least one image. Missing images are the most common post-import issue
- Check that image order is correct for products with multiple photos
Collections and organization
- Products should appear in the correct Shopify collections
- Tags imported from WooCommerce should be visible and consistent
SEO fields
- Meta titles and descriptions need attention. Shopify stores SEO fields separately from product descriptions, and they often do not carry over in a CSV import
- Once your products are live, reviewing your Shopify SEO setup is a worthwhile next step. Our guide on optimizing Shopify SEO with RankMath covers the specifics, and if you are using Yoast, our complete Shopify SEO guide for store owners walks through on-page optimization from scratch
Functionality
- Add a test product to your cart and go through checkout to confirm the store works end to end
- Check that any apps you have installed (reviews, upsells, subscriptions) are pulling in the correct product data
For broader context on how different platforms handle product data and migration, BigCommerce’s ecommerce blog has solid platform comparison breakdowns that can help you understand what you gained and what to watch for post-migration.
If you need help with a Shopify to WooCommerce migration plugin for a future reverse migration or a second store, that resource covers the tool options in detail.
Conclusion
Migrating products from WooCommerce to Shopify is a process you can handle yourself with the right preparation. The work happens before the import, not during it. Audit your data, map your columns, clean your CSV, and check your results systematically. That sequence is what separates a clean migration from a three-day troubleshooting spiral.
If your catalog is large, has complex variants, or includes custom product data from plugins and metaboxes, the manual CSV path may not be the most efficient route. In those cases, a migration professional can save you more time than the service costs. We are happy to take a look at what you are working with and give you a straight answer on the best path forward.
Frequently Asked Questions About Migrating Products from WooCommerce to Shopify
How do I migrate products from WooCommerce to Shopify without losing data?
To migrate products from WooCommerce to Shopify without losing data, audit your WooCommerce catalog first, export a full CSV, then carefully map columns to Shopify’s format before importing. Fix duplicate SKUs, broken image URLs, and inconsistent category names beforehand. Spot-check 10–15 products after import to confirm accuracy.
What product data does NOT transfer automatically when migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify?
Customer reviews, order history, custom fields built with ACF or metaboxes, and WooCommerce-specific plugin features — such as custom product tabs or custom product designers — do not migrate automatically. These require separate planning and manual handling outside the standard CSV export-import process.
What are Shopify’s variant limits when importing products from WooCommerce?
Shopify enforces hard limits: a maximum of 3 variant options (e.g., size, color, material) and no more than 100 variants per product. If your WooCommerce store has products exceeding these limits, you must restructure or split them before attempting to migrate products from WooCommerce to Shopify.
Can I use a CSV file to migrate products from WooCommerce to Shopify?
Yes, the CSV export-import method is the most recommended approach for most store owners. Export your WooCommerce products, remap column headers to match Shopify’s template (e.g., post_title → Title, regular_price → Variant Price), clean the data, then upload via Shopify Admin > Products > Import. Import in batches of 100–150 for large catalogs.
Do product images transfer automatically during a WooCommerce to Shopify migration?
Not directly. WooCommerce exports image URLs, not the actual image files. Shopify will attempt to fetch images from those URLs, so your WordPress site must remain live during migration. Alternatively, download all images separately and re-upload them to Shopify. Missing images are the most common post-import issue to check.
Are there tools or scripts that can automate the WooCommerce to Shopify product migration?
Yes. Beyond manual CSV remapping, there are paid migration apps and community-built Python or Node.js scripts available on platforms like Stack Overflow and GitHub that automate column transformation. Shopify also offers a built-in import app. For complex catalogs with custom data, hiring a migration professional may be faster and more cost-effective.
Some of the links shared in this post are affiliate links. If you click on the link & make any purchase, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost of you.
We improve our products and advertising by using Microsoft Clarity to see how you use our website. By using our site, you agree that we and Microsoft can collect and use this data. Our privacy policy has more details.
