Question 1

How long does a Shopify migration take?

Accepted Answer

Fourteen to twenty-six weeks end-to-end for $5M-$50M DTC brands replatforming onto Shopify Plus. Enterprise brands ($50M+) take twenty-six to fifty-two weeks. The timeline includes two to four weeks of discovery, eight to sixteen weeks of build, and four to eight weeks of post-launch stabilisation.

Question 2

How much does a Shopify Plus migration cost?

Accepted Answer

Sixty thousand to two hundred and twenty thousand dollars for $5M-$50M DTC brands. Enterprise brands ($50M+) typically spend $220K-$700K+. Tool subscriptions are a small fraction (under $5K-$15K); agency engineering, project management, and SEO discipline make up the bulk of the cost.

Question 3

Will SEO survive a Shopify migration?

Accepted Answer

Yes, with proper discipline. Brands that follow the playbook — documented redirect map covering every indexed URL, validated against Search Console before launch, monitored daily for the first eight weeks post-launch — consistently see no meaningful organic traffic drop. Brands that skip steps lose 30-60% of organic in weeks 1-8.

Question 4

Should we use Cart2Cart or LitExtension for our Shopify migration?

Accepted Answer

Functionally comparable. The decision is engagement model: Cart2Cart leans self-service, LitExtension offers a vendor-managed migration tier. Brands without in-house developers usually benefit more from LitExtension's managed-service tier; brands with technical capacity usually find Cart2Cart's self-service is sufficient.

Question 5

How do customer passwords migrate to Shopify?

Accepted Answer

They do not. Shopify cannot accept hashed passwords from other platforms, so every migrated customer must reset on first login. The customer record migrates (email, name, address, order history) but the password specifically does not. The operator problem is managing the customer comms around the reset.

Question 6

What is the best Shopify migration tool?

Accepted Answer

There is no single best tool. Cart2Cart, LitExtension, and Next-Cart are functionally comparable for the automated catalog and customer seed load. Matrixify handles reconciliation and custom-field work that the automated platforms miss. Most $5M+ migrations use both — automated platform plus Matrixify — rather than picking one tool.

Question 7

Do I need an agency for a Shopify migration?

Accepted Answer

Above $10M brand size, partner-led is the default. Below $10M with an in-house developer, internal-led is feasible — and usually slower than expected by a factor of two. The decision is less about whether to bring in a partner and more about which partner shape fits the complexity profile.

Question 8

How do we avoid double-billing during a Shopify migration?

Accepted Answer

Define a hard "stop charging on source, start charging on target" date and sequence the cutover accordingly. Disable source-platform billing first, validate the disable, then enable on Shopify. Coordinate with the payment processor (Stripe, Braintree) two to four weeks in advance. Monitor the first post-migration cycle in real time.

Question 9

Should we migrate to Shopify or Shopify Plus?

Accepted Answer

Shopify Plus for $5M+ DTC brands. The Plus tier unlocks B2B Edition, multi-store, advanced checkout extensibility, dedicated launch support, and the higher rate limits real $5M+ operations need. Standard Shopify covers smaller brands well but consistently runs out of headroom for the brand size this site is written for.

Question 10

How long does post-migration stabilization take on Shopify?

Accepted Answer

Four to eight weeks for $5M+ DTC brands. Week 1 absorbs the customer-comms spike from password resets and app-flow changes. Weeks 2-4 close the redirect-map gaps and the in-flight RMAs. Weeks 4-8 handle the first month-end close and the analytics stabilisation. Brands that scope stabilisation explicitly fare better than brands that treat launch as the endpoint.

Question 11

How do we migrate gift cards to Shopify?

Accepted Answer

Gift cards migrate via Matrixify with original balance, original code, and expiration intact. Customer comms before launch explain the new redemption flow. The most common failure is balance drift between source and Shopify if the cutover window has redemptions in flight — pause gift-card redemptions on the source platform 24-48 hours before cutover to prevent it.

Question 12

How do we migrate discount codes to Shopify?

Accepted Answer

Discount codes migrate via Matrixify or directly through Shopify's Discount API. The code, value, type, and basic conditions migrate cleanly. Complex stacking rules, customer-segment-specific discounts, and conditional logic may need Shopify Functions re-implementation for full parity. Plan the rules audit before the load.

Question 13

How do we migrate custom fields to Shopify metafields?

Accepted Answer

Custom fields migrate to Shopify metafields via Matrixify. Define the metafield schema first (namespaces, keys, types) before loading data. Then map source-platform fields to Shopify metafield definitions and run the bulk load. The storefront templating must reference the migrated metafields to surface them in the UI; without that step, the data is loaded but invisible.

Question 14

How do we migrate Klaviyo flows to Shopify?

Accepted Answer

Klaviyo flows do not strictly migrate — the Klaviyo account stays with the brand, and the Shopify integration switches from source platform to Shopify. Each flow trigger needs re-wiring to the equivalent Shopify event because the event schemas differ. Test flows on staging via synthetic events before going live; broken flows post-launch represent missed revenue, not visible errors.

Question 15

Does Shopify Plus support multi-currency for international DTC?

Accepted Answer

Yes, natively via Shopify Markets. Plus brands can present prices, accept payment, and configure tax in multiple currencies and locales from a single Shopify store. Shopify Markets handles the geo-routing, currency conversion, locale switching, and per-market tax configuration. Migration must explicitly configure Markets to match the brand's international footprint.

Question 16

How do we plan a Shopify migration launch weekend?

Accepted Answer

Run on a documented runbook with explicit sequencing, named owners per step, validation checkpoints at each phase, and clear rollback triggers if validation fails. The launch is typically Friday evening to Sunday afternoon to absorb cutover risk during the lowest-traffic window. Real-time monitoring covers the 72 hours immediately post-launch.

Shopify migration answers