Before you start: a store inventory
Before exporting anything, take inventory of the current store: number of products and variants, option types, custom fields, price lists, customers, orders, pages, blog, apps and integrations with your ERP, warehouse or marketplaces. That inventory decides the migration method and saves you surprises halfway through the project.
It is also the time to clean up. Discontinued products, empty categories or test customers do not need to travel to the new store.
Products, options and modifiers
This is the main technical difference. BigCommerce distinguishes between options that create variants and modifiers that add information or price without creating variants, and it allows many combinations. Shopify supports a maximum of 3 options per product and up to 2048 variants, so the most complex products have to be reviewed one by one.
There are three usual solutions: regroup options to stay within the limit, split a product into several related ones or move to metafields whatever does not need to be a variant. Modifiers such as “engraving text” or “gift note” are handled with line item properties in the product form, which travel with the order.
BigCommerce custom fields become Shopify metafields. Well defined, they let you show specifications on the product page, power Search & Discovery filters and let your team edit them in the admin without touching the description text.
Customers, orders and price lists
Customers are imported with their details and addresses, but without passwords: no migration to Shopify can move them. Shopify's current customer accounts work with email and a one-time code, so customers do not need to create a new password.
Historical orders are migrated with a migration app or a script via the API, so customers see their history and you keep the data for reports. If you worked with customer groups and group pricing, in Shopify that is handled with native B2B: up to 3 catalogs on Basic, Grow and Advanced, and unlimited on Plus.
- Customers with addresses, without passwords
- Historical orders via app or API
- Customer groups to B2B companies and catalogs
- Custom fields to metafields
- Coupons and discount rules reviewed one by one
Integrations and apps
Every BigCommerce app or integration needs its Shopify equivalent. Some ERPs and logistics tools have connectors for both platforms; others force you to switch provider or build a custom integration. Check this at the start, because it is what can stretch a project the most.
Before installing apps, check what Shopify handles natively: Flow for automations, Bundles for product bundles, Markets for international selling, Shopify Messaging for abandoned cart and welcome emails. Fewer apps means a faster store and fewer monthly fees.
URLs and 301 redirects
BigCommerce allows fairly free-form URLs for products and categories. Shopify uses a fixed structure with /products/, /collections/, /pages/ and /blogs/. That means you need a 301 redirect for every URL that has traffic or links.
Pull the URL list from the current sitemap, cross it with Search Console to identify the ones bringing the most traffic and prepare the redirect map in a spreadsheet. Shopify lets you import redirects by CSV from the URL redirects section of the admin. Keep the titles and meta descriptions of ranking pages as well.
Design and launch
BigCommerce themes cannot be used in Shopify. The design is built as an Online Store 2.0 theme with editable sections. You can keep the visual identity and take the opportunity to improve the product page, collections and cart.
Launch with a tested store: real purchases with every payment method, taxes and shipping reviewed, customized transactional emails, redirects checked and analytics connected. Then watch 404 errors and organic traffic during the first weeks.
Plan the last-minute order sync too. Between the final export and the domain switch, the old store may keep receiving purchases, so run a final import of new orders and customers right before pointing the domain to Shopify.
Common mistakes in this migration
The most frequent one is underestimating complex products. A store with many modifiers and pricing rules can need more modeling work than the rest of the migration combined. Solve those cases first, with a few test products, before importing the full catalog.
The second is replicating in Shopify the same set of apps you had on BigCommerce. Many of those apps covered features Shopify already includes, and others can be replaced with small theme developments. The third is forgetting the URLs of images and downloadable files linked from outside, such as PDF spec sheets that receive traffic.
- Test the most complex products first
- Do not replicate apps without checking native features
- Include PDFs and linked files in the URL map
- Run a final order import before the switch
Frequently asked questions
Can old BigCommerce orders be migrated?
Yes, with a migration app or a script via the API. That way customers see their history and you keep the data for reports.
What if I have products with more than 3 options?
Shopify supports up to 3 options per product. Options are regrouped, the product is split or information is moved to metafields or line item properties.
Will customers have to create a new password?
No. Passwords are not migrated, but Shopify accounts work with email and a one-time code, so customers sign in with just their email.
Will I lose Google rankings?
With a complete 301 redirect map and the content of ranking pages intact, the impact is usually small and temporary.