Moving from Wix to Shopify: Things to Consider

Wix to Shopify: The Complete Migration Guide

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So, you’ve built your business on Wix, and it’s served you well. But now, you’re eyeing the horizon, and that horizon looks a lot like Shopify. You’re not alone. Many growing e-commerce brands find themselves at this exact crossroads, ready to level up their online store. The process of migrating from wix to shopify can feel daunting, but it’s a strategic move that can unlock new levels of growth, scalability, and e-commerce power.

Whether you’re looking for more robust sales features, a larger app ecosystem, or a platform built from the ground up for commerce, this guide is for you. We’ll walk you through everything you need to know to successfully transfer wix site to shopify, covering the methods, the challenges, and the step-by-step process to ensure a smooth transition. Let’s get your business ready for its next big chapter.

Table of Contents

Should I Switch From Wix to Shopify?

Before diving into the “how,” let’s address the “why.” Wix is a fantastic website builder, especially for portfolio sites, blogs, and small businesses. However, when a business’s primary focus is selling products online, Shopify’s specialized e-commerce architecture often provides a significant advantage. This is the main reason entrepreneurs decide to switch from wix to shopify.

When comparing wix vs shopify, the key difference lies in their core purpose. Wix is a website builder with e-commerce features added on, while Shopify is an e-commerce platform with website-building features. This fundamental distinction is why is shopify better than wix for serious sellers.

Key advantages of Shopify for e-commerce include:

  • Scalability: Shopify is built to handle high-volume sales and traffic without a hitch, supporting businesses from their first sale to millions in revenue.
  • Advanced E-commerce Tools: You get access to superior inventory management, detailed analytics, multi-channel selling capabilities, and abandoned cart recovery features right out of the box.
  • App Store: The Shopify App Store is a vast ecosystem of thousands of apps specifically designed to extend your store’s functionality, from marketing automation to complex shipping logistics.
  • Payment Gateways: Shopify Payments simplifies transactions, and the platform integrates with over 100 other payment gateways worldwide.
  • Dedicated Support: Shopify offers 24/7 expert support focused entirely on helping you sell more effectively.

While some users occasionally consider a migrate from shopify to wix or a shopify to wix migration, the much more common path for ambitious e-commerce brands is the one you’re considering now. The decision for changing from wix to shopify is typically a strategic one aimed at long-term growth and operational efficiency. If you feel you’ve outgrown Wix’s e-commerce capabilities, it’s a strong signal that it’s time for the move.

Pre-Migration Checklist: Preparing for the Move

A successful wix to shopify migration starts with careful preparation. Before you begin the technical steps of moving from wix to shopify, work through this checklist to ensure you have everything you need.

  1. Back Up Your Wix Site: Although you’ll be recreating much of your site, it’s crucial to have a complete backup. Manually export all your products, customer data, and orders into CSV files. Copy and paste your page content (About Us, Contact, Policies) into a separate document.
  2. Audit Your Content: Review all your Wix pages. Decide what is essential to move from wix to shopify and what can be left behind. This is a great opportunity to streamline your site content and navigation.
  3. Gather Your Assets: Collect all your high-resolution product images, brand logos, banners, and other visual assets in an organized folder. This will make redesigning your Shopify store much easier.
  4. Map Your URLs: Create a spreadsheet of your current Wix URLs. This will be critical later for setting up 301 redirects to preserve your SEO rankings.
  5. Review Your Wix Apps: Make a list of the apps you use on Wix. Search the Shopify App Store for equivalents or better alternatives to replicate the functionality you rely on.

How to Migrate From Wix to Shopify: A Step-by-Step Guide

Ready to make the switch? This section details how to migrate wix to shopify methodically. Following these steps will help you convert wix to shopify with confidence.

Step 1: Set Up Your New Shopify Store

Before you can move your data, you need a destination. Head over to Shopify.com and sign up for a free trial. During the initial setup, you’ll choose a store name and answer a few questions about your business. Don’t worry too much about the details; you can change almost everything later. Once you’re in, take some time to familiarize yourself with the Shopify dashboard.

Step 2: Choose Your Migration Method

There are three primary ways to transfer from wix to shopify. The best option depends on your budget, technical comfort, and the complexity of your store.

  • Manual Migration: This is the wix to shopify migration free option. It involves manually exporting data (products, customers, orders) from Wix via CSV files and then importing them into Shopify. You will also need to copy and paste all of your page content. This method gives you full control but can be very time-consuming for stores with many products or orders.
  • Automated Migration Apps: Services like Cart2Cart can automate the process. These apps connect to both platforms and handle the data transfer for you. This is the most popular method as it saves a tremendous amount of time and reduces the risk of human error. If you’re looking for a reliable solution, researching cart2cart wix to shopify is a great starting point.
  • Hire a Shopify Expert: For a completely hands-off and guaranteed professional result, you can hire a Shopify Expert. They will manage the entire migrate wix to shopify process, from data transfer to design and setup, ensuring a seamless transition.

Step 3: Migrate Your Products and Data

This is the core of the transfer wix store to shopify process. How you do this depends on the method you chose in the previous step.

If you are doing it manually, you’ll need to export products from wix to shopify.

  1. In your Wix dashboard, navigate to the “Store Products” section.
  2. Select all your products and find the option to export them as a CSV file.
  3. In your Shopify dashboard, go to “Products” and click “Import.”
  4. Upload the CSV file you downloaded from Wix. Shopify will guide you through mapping the columns from your Wix file to the corresponding fields in Shopify.

This same CSV export/import process can be used for your customer lists and order history. If you’re wondering how to import products from wix to shopify seamlessly, an automated app is often the most straightforward way.

Step 4: Move Your Website Content

Product data is just one part of the puzzle. You also need to transfer wix website to shopify. This includes your static pages like “About Us,” “Contact Us,” “FAQ,” and your privacy policy.

Unfortunately, this is almost always a manual process.

  1. Open a page on your live Wix site.
  2. Copy the text content.
  3. In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Pages and click “Add page.”
  4. Paste the content into the editor and format it as needed.
  5. Repeat this for all the essential pages you identified in your pre-migration audit.

Step 5: Design Your Shopify Store

One of the most common questions is how to transfer wix template to shopify. The direct answer is: you can’t. Wix and Shopify are different platforms with their own proprietary theme structures. You will need to choose and customize a new theme from the Shopify Theme Store.

This is a chance for a fresh look!

  • Browse the Shopify Theme Store: There are excellent free themes and a wide selection of premium themes with more advanced features.
  • Customize Your Theme: Use Shopify’s intuitive theme editor to add your logo, change colors and fonts, and set up your homepage layout.
  • Recreate Your Navigation: In Online Store > Navigation, set up your main menu and footer menu to replicate your site’s structure.

Step 6: Configure Core Store Settings

Before you can go live, you need to configure the backend of your store. In your Shopify dashboard, go to Settings and work through each section:

  • Payments: Set up Shopify Payments or connect your preferred third-party payment gateway.
  • Shipping and delivery: Configure your shipping zones, rates, and carriers.
  • Taxes: Set up tax collection rules based on your business location and where you sell.
  • General: Confirm your store’s name, address, and currency.

Step 7: Transfer Your Domain to Shopify

Your domain is your online address, and managing the switch correctly is crucial. The question of how to move domain from wix to shopify has two possible answers: transferring or connecting.

  1. Transferring Your Domain: This means you move domain from wix to shopify completely. Shopify becomes your new domain registrar, and you’ll manage billing and settings directly within your Shopify admin. This is often the cleanest solution.
    • How to transfer domain from wix to shopify: First, unlock your domain in your Wix account. You will also need to get an authorization code (EPP code) from Wix. Then, in Shopify, go to Settings > Domains and initiate the transfer, providing the authorization code when prompted. The domain transfer from wix to shopify can take several days to complete.
  2. Connecting Your Domain: If you prefer to keep your domain registered with Wix (or another provider), you can simply point it to your Shopify store. This is done by changing the DNS records (specifically the A record and CNAME record) in your Wix account to point to Shopify’s servers. The process to connect wix domain to shopify is usually faster than a full transfer.

The final wix to shopify domain transfer is a critical step in the how to change from wix to shopify process.

Step 8: Post-Migration Checks and Go-Live

You’re almost there! Before you cancel your Wix plan and announce your new store, perform these final checks:

  • Place a Test Order: Go through the entire checkout process to ensure payments, shipping calculations, and order notifications are working correctly.
  • Set Up 301 Redirects: Remember that URL spreadsheet you made? Now is the time to use it. In Shopify (Online Store > Navigation > URL Redirects), create a 301 redirect for every old Wix URL to its new Shopify equivalent. This tells search engines where the content has moved and is essential for preserving your SEO.
  • Review Everything: Click through every page, link, and product on your new site. Test it on both desktop and mobile devices.
  • Go Live: Once you are confident everything is perfect, you can choose a Shopify plan and launch your store!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it easy to switch from wix to shopify?
The ease of the switch depends on your technical skills and the complexity of your site. For a small store, a manual migration can be straightforward but time-consuming. For larger stores, using an automated migration app makes the process significantly easier. While it requires careful planning, the step-by-step process outlined above is manageable for most store owners.

Can I transfer my wix website to shopify?
Yes, you can. The process involves migrating your data (products, customers, orders) and content (pages, blog posts), and then setting up your domain to point to your new Shopify store. However, you cannot transfer your Wix design or template directly; you will need to choose and customize a new theme on Shopify.

How long does it take to transfer domain from wix to shopify?
A full domain transfer from wix to shopify can take up to 7 days, though it’s often completed within 2-3 days. This timeline depends on how quickly Wix releases the domain. If you simply connect your existing domain by changing DNS records, the changes can propagate much faster, sometimes within a few hours.

Why is Shopify better than Wix for e-commerce?
Shopify is purpose-built for e-commerce. It offers more powerful built-in sales tools, superior inventory management, better scalability for high-volume stores, and a much larger ecosystem of apps specifically designed to help merchants sell more. While Wix is a great general website builder, Shopify is the more robust and specialized platform for serious online selling.

Can I move my domain from Wix to Shopify?
Absolutely. You have two options: you can transfer the domain registration entirely to Shopify, making them your new registrar, or you can keep the domain registered with Wix and simply connect it to your Shopify store by updating its DNS settings. Both are common and effective methods.