Migration of an e-shop to a new platform is a nightmare for many owners. The concerns about this step are completely natural – after all, it involves a huge amount of data, and losing it can be a big problem, whether it’s products, orders, customer data, SEO, or payments. The good news is that if you prepare for the migration systematically, you can handle it without major complications.
That’s why, in cooperation with experts from Upgates and Artexe, we’ve prepared a practical step-by-step checklist that you can use regardless of whether you’re switching to an open-source solution, boxed e-shop, or a custom system.
Black Friday and Christmas are coming
Migration of an e-shop is not something that can be done in one or two days, and starting it during the season might not be ideal. However, our checklist also includes steps that won’t limit your e-shop’s operation – on the contrary, they can make the post-season migration easier.
What can you do before the season?
There are several agencies on the market that you can contact regarding migration. One of them is Artexe, which has extensive experience with migrations and will prepare a price offer for you free of charge.
Before the season, you can also:
- Create a list of functionalities that are key for you
- Perform an SEO audit and a map of URL addresses
- Export data for backup
- Select design proposals for the new e-shop as well as its content
- Create a plan of necessary integrations and connections
Thanks to these steps, you’ll have a large part of the work done before the season, and the migration itself will go more smoothly and quickly.
Complete checklist for easier e-shop migration
Preparation for migration
Tip: At this stage, a clear Excel spreadsheet can help, where you’ll have everything written down and can check whether you haven’t forgotten anything.
- Define key functionalities – what your e-shop must definitely be able to do
- Perform an SEO audit – URL addresses, metadata, sitemap, website structure
- Consult technical details with your provider or developer
- Define necessary connections to applications, plugins, or external services
Export data from the old platform
- Archive data such as products, stock levels, prices, categories, customers – their emails and purchase history, orders, blogs, CMS pages, or translations. Even if you decide not to upload some of the data, it’s always useful to have them archived and safely stored.
Import data into the new system
- Import products, images, and categories
- Import customers – without passwords – generate new ones
- Import content – blogs, text pages, translations, ...
Design of the e-shop
Tip: Nowadays, customers prefer shopping from phones or tablets, so make sure your e-shop is optimized for these devices and shopping is easy and intuitive.
- Select an available template or create a custom design
- Set the color palette, fonts, and logo so that everything matches your brand
- Adjust key parts – product page, cart, categories, or blog
- Test on phones and tablets
Setting up functionalities and integrations
- Payments (GoPay, Upgates Pay, CardPay, Stripe, ...)
- Shipping or personal pickup
- Automation of dispatch (e.g. integration with the Chameleoon app)
- Order process and emails
- Creating and customizing order statuses
- Emails – e.g. payment or transaction confirmation, registration, invoicing, or order
- Check templates and their translation into different languages
- Integration with a newsletter platform – e.g. Ecomail
SEO, analytics, and redirects
- Maintain URL addresses (if possible) and set up 301 redirects to new URLs
- Optimize metadata, ALT tags, upload sitemap.xml, and edit robots.txt
- Implement GA4/Google Tag Manager, Meta Pixel, and CAPI
- Set conversions, events, and goals
Testing and launch
- Test the entire purchasing process, including payment
- Check how the e-shop displays on different devices
- Check prices, VAT, and emails
- Create a test order for each available payment method
- Check website and form speed
- Check the connection of all URLs and 301 redirects
- Verify customer email communication
- Verify access to administration
- Redirect the domain and turn off test mode
- Inform customers (e.g. via newsletter)
Post-launch monitoring
- Monitor the operation of transactional emails and their delivery
- Track 404 errors and redirects
- Check proper functioning of GA4, CAPI, and e-commerce tracking
- Perform a quick SEO audit 7 and 30 days after migration
- Check indexing in Google Search Console
- Optimize your e-shop based on statistics and UX
Migration of an e-shop is a demanding process, but with a good plan, it can be handled without unnecessary stress. The checklist will help you keep everything under control and not forget key steps – from data export to SEO and post-launch monitoring.