E-commerce Platform Migration Checklist
An ecommerce migration checklist for replatforming: move products, customers and orders, keep SEO with redirects and switch over without losing sales.
- Typical schedule per migration
- The checklist 5 sections, 22 items
- Variables
{{old_platform}}{{new_platform}}
Use this checklist when you move an online store to a new platform, for example from Magento or WooCommerce to Shopify or Shopware. A migration touches every part of the business: catalogue, customer accounts, order history, search rankings, integrations and staff routines. Most failed migrations break on the details, such as lost URLs, missing customer data or an integration nobody knew about.
Who owns it
A single migration owner, usually the e-commerce manager or the agency lead, owns the run and the go-live decision. Developers handle data and integrations, marketing owns SEO and redirects, and operations tests fulfilment and returns on the new platform. Finance confirms payments, tax and the accounting sync.
Common pitfalls
- No URL map. Changing URL structures without 301 redirects throws away search rankings and breaks links in old emails and ads. Map every product, category and content URL.
- Forgotten integrations. Old stores collect connections over the years: feeds, ERP syncs, review widgets, tracking scripts. List them all before you start.
- Customer passwords. Passwords usually cannot be migrated. Plan the account invitation email and the login help text.
- Big-bang launch on a busy day. Switch over in a quiet period, never just before a sale or the holiday season, and keep the old store available read-only.
Adapt data transfers to the data protection rules that apply to your customers.
The checklist: Migrate store from {{old_platform}} to {{new_platform}}
Plan
-
Agree the scope, the switch-over date and a freeze period for catalogue and theme changes on
{{old_platform}} -
List every integration, app, feed and script on
{{old_platform}}and decide its replacement -
Export a full crawl of current URLs and their search traffic as the SEO baseline
-
Back up the full
{{old_platform}}database and media files
Migrate data
-
Migrate products with variants, images, SKUs, weights and SEO fields
-
Migrate customers and confirm that marketing consent flags are carried over correctly
-
Migrate order history, or decide where historic orders will be kept optional
-
Migrate gift cards, store credit and active discount codes
-
Spot-check migrated records against
{{old_platform}}, including edge cases such as large variant sets
Rebuild
-
Set up payments, shipping rates, taxes and email templates on
{{new_platform}} -
Rebuild integrations with accounting, ERP, fulfilment and marketing tools
-
Recreate legal pages, the returns process and content pages
-
Prepare the customer account invitation email, since passwords usually cannot be migrated
SEO and test
-
Map every old URL to its new URL and load the 301 redirects on
{{new_platform}} -
Test a sample of redirects, including products, categories and top landing pages
-
Run the full checkout test, including real payment and refund
-
Operations tests fulfilment, returns and inventory sync on
{{new_platform}}
Switch over
-
Run a final delta migration of orders, customers and stock changed since the first import
-
Switch DNS to
{{new_platform}}in a quiet trading period and confirm HTTPS works -
Submit the new sitemap and monitor crawl errors in Google Search Console or a similar tool
-
Keep
{{old_platform}}read-only until the data is confirmed, then cancel it optional -
Compare traffic, conversion and organic search against the baseline in the weeks after go-live
Checklist as Markdown
Frequently asked questions
How do I migrate an online store without losing SEO?
Crawl your current site and record every URL and its traffic before you start. Map each old URL to a new one and set up 301 redirects, keep page titles and content where they work, and submit the new sitemap after go-live. Then watch crawl errors and organic traffic closely in the weeks after the switch.
What data can be migrated to a new ecommerce platform?
Products, customers, order history, content pages, discount codes and gift cards can usually be moved with import tools or migration apps. Customer passwords usually cannot, so customers set a new one through an invitation email. Check marketing consent, product variants and custom fields carefully, as these often lose detail.
How long does an ecommerce replatforming take?
It depends on catalogue size, the number of integrations and how much the design changes. A small store with few integrations can move in a few weeks. Stores with ERP connections, many markets or custom features take considerably longer. Plan the switch-over date around your trading calendar, not only the project plan.
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