What is a Magento to Shopify migration, exactly?
A Magento to Shopify migration is the move of a working webshop, its data, its URLs and its connections, from a self-hosted Magento install to Shopify's hosted platform. It is not a redesign with some copying on the side. The design is the easy part; the risk sits in the data, the redirects and the integrations that quietly keep your business running.
Think of it in three layers. The data layer is products, variants, images, customers, orders, reviews and CMS pages. The visibility layer is every URL google.nl has indexed, plus structured data, sitemaps and the Merchant Center feed. The operations layer is payments, shipping labels, bol.com, your ERP or bookkeeping package, and the emails customers receive.
A migration that handles only the first layer looks fine on launch day and then leaks: traffic drops because old URLs return 404s, orders stop reaching the warehouse, bol.com oversells because stock no longer syncs. That is why we plan all three layers together and write down, before a single product moves, what happens to each one.
The usual starting point is either Magento 1, which Adobe stopped supporting on 30 June 2020, or an older Magento 2 release that is coming out of support. Either way the trigger is the same: the cost and effort of keeping Magento safe has overtaken the value of its flexibility. If you run WooCommerce instead, the WooCommerce to Shopify migration follows a similar logic with different data quirks.
Should a Dutch Magento store move to Shopify at all?
Move when running Magento costs more attention than your business can spare; stay when your store depends on Magento features Shopify cannot reproduce without heavy custom work. There is no universal answer, and a migration team that never recommends staying is selling, not advising.
Adobe publishes a lifecycle policy for Adobe Commerce on Experience League. It gives each 2.4.x release a three-year standard support window from general availability, and lists regular support for 2.4.6 ending on 11 August 2026 and for 2.4.7 on 31 May 2027. You can read the current dates in Adobe's Commerce lifecycle policy. Staying therefore means a planned upgrade every few years, plus hosting, extension updates and security patching in between.
Signs the move makes sense
You are on Magento 1 or an unsupported 2.4 release; every extension update needs a developer; hosting and patching bills keep rising; your team struggles with the admin; and your catalogue, while large, fits a products-with-variants model.
Signs you should pause
Your checkout contains bespoke logic, such as quote-to-order flows or configurators pricing thousands of combinations; you rely on multi-source inventory with rules no app replicates; or your Magento install is also a B2B portal with account hierarchies you cannot simplify.
The middle path
Some Dutch merchants move the consumer shop to Shopify and keep, or rebuild as a separate portal, the trade side. Our B2B webshop development page covers that split in detail.
What data can you migrate from Magento to Shopify, and what stays behind?
Products, variants, images, collections, customers, order history, discount codes, blog posts and CMS pages can all be moved from Magento to Shopify. Customer passwords cannot: Magento stores them as one-way hashes that Shopify cannot read, so migrated accounts arrive inactive and customers either accept an activation email or sign in with Shopify's one-time email code, depending on the account type you choose.
The order of the import matters. Products go first because orders refer to them. Customers go second so that orders can attach to the right person. Historic orders go last, and they arrive as a record of what happened rather than as live orders that trigger emails, payments or fulfilment. We switch notifications off during import so nobody receives a confirmation for a parcel sent in 2021.
- Moves cleanly: simple products, images, SEO titles and descriptions, customer names and addresses, tags.
- Moves with rework: configurable products, custom attributes, tier prices, product reviews, gift cards.
- Moves only as history: past orders, credit memos, invoices; useful for reference and customer accounts, not for reprocessing.
- Does not move: customer passwords, Magento-only extension data, cron-driven logic, admin users.
- Should not move: disabled products nobody will sell again, test customers, spam accounts.
A practical note on consent: newsletter subscribers in Magento must arrive in Shopify with their marketing consent status intact. Importing everyone as subscribed would be both a data-protection problem and a deliverability one. We map that field explicitly and show you the counts before and after.
Magento to Shopify migration of product types and attributes
Magento lets you model a product in several ways; Shopify has one model with variants, up to three options per product, and metafields for everything else. Most migration effort in a Magento to Shopify migration goes into translating one model into the other without losing information shoppers use.
Shopify's developer changelog announced that the product variant limit is now 2,048 for all merchants, which removed the old 100-variant ceiling that used to force awkward product splits. The three-option limit remains, so a Magento configurable product with colour, size, length and material needs a decision: combine two attributes into one option, move one into a separate product, or show it as information in a metafield.
Configurable products
Become one Shopify product with variants. The child simple products' SKUs, EAN codes, stock and prices move into the variants, and the parent's URL becomes the product handle we redirect to.
Bundle and grouped products
Shopify has no identical concept. We use a bundles app or Shopify's bundle features where they fit, or rebuild the grouping as a collection with a clear note to shoppers.
Custom attributes
Filterable attributes such as material or frame size become metafields linked to Shopify's search and discovery filters. Purely internal attributes stay in your ERP rather than cluttering the store.
Tier and customer-group prices
Volume pricing and trade prices need either Shopify's B2B features on eligible plans, a pricing app, or a separate trade portal. This is one of the first questions we ask.
We deliver the mapping as a spreadsheet you can read, with one row per Magento attribute and the Shopify field it becomes. You sign off on it before the first import.
How do you keep google.nl rankings during a Magento to Shopify migration?
You keep rankings by making sure every URL Google already knows either still works or permanently redirects to the most relevant new page, and by keeping titles, descriptions, content and internal links as close as practical. Nobody can guarantee rankings through a replatform, but a complete redirect map is the single biggest thing that protects them.
Shopify's Help Center on URL redirects sets out the rules that shape our work. Redirects only fire from URLs that are broken on the Shopify store; a store can hold up to 100,000 redirects, and Plus stores up to 20 million; URLs with query strings may not behave as expected; and redirects are not applied across market subfolders automatically, so each language or region path needs its own.
- Crawl the live Magento store and export every indexed URL from Google Search Console.
- Add URLs that earn backlinks or traffic in your analytics, even if they are old.
- Match each one to the best new Shopify URL: product to product, category to collection, CMS page to page.
- Send retired products to their nearest collection, never all to the home page.
- Import the redirects in batches, then test every row with a crawler after DNS switches.
If a previous migration already cost you traffic, our guide to recovering from a traffic drop after a website migration explains the diagnosis steps.
Dutch URL patterns that need special handling in a Magento to Shopify migration
Magento stores in the Netherlands tend to share a handful of URL habits, and each one needs a deliberate rule in the redirect map rather than a one-to-one copy.
The .html suffix
Magento often ends product and category URLs in .html, for example /heren/jassen.html. Shopify uses /products/ and /collections/ paths without the suffix. Every suffixed URL needs its own redirect row, and Shopify's documentation notes that redirects between the .html and non-.html version of the same path are not supported, so we test those cases specifically.
Store views and language paths
A Dutch store with a Belgian or English store view often uses /nl/, /be/ or /en/ prefixes, or separate domains. On Shopify these usually become Markets with subfolders such as /nl-be/ and /en/, and each old path is mapped to the matching market URL.
Category trees
Magento nests categories: /dames/schoenen/sneakers.html. Shopify collections are flat: /collections/sneakers-dames. We keep Dutch words in the new handles so the URLs still read naturally to Dutch shoppers and in search results.
Layered navigation parameters
Filter URLs such as ?color=12&size=40 rarely deserve their own redirect. If a filtered page earns real traffic, we build a dedicated collection for it and redirect there.
After cutover, we check Search Console's page indexing report weekly for 404s we missed and add redirects the same day.
Re-connecting iDEAL, Mollie and Bancontact after the switch
Your Magento payment extension does not come with you, so the checkout has to be rebuilt on Shopify and tested before launch. For most Dutch merchants there are two routes: Shopify Payments, which offers iDEAL and Bancontact for eligible stores, or keeping your existing Mollie account through Mollie's own Shopify apps, which Mollie lists for methods including iDEAL and Bancontact.
Keeping Mollie can make sense when your finance team already reconciles payouts in Mollie, or you use methods only Mollie offers you. Moving to Shopify Payments keeps everything in one admin. Shopify may charge an extra transaction fee on orders not processed by Shopify Payments, depending on plan, so we put both options side by side in the plan rather than decide for you.
Timing is the other factor. The iDEAL scheme is being phased into Wero: EPI Company and the major Dutch banks announced a co-branded iDEAL | Wero logo from early 2026, with a gradual move to Wero after that. A migration is a good moment to make sure your new checkout, footer icons and payment FAQ use the current naming.
- Refunds for orders placed on Magento before cutover stay in the old payment account; we note how your team handles them.
- Webhook URLs pointing at Magento are removed so the old store stops receiving payment updates.
- Real low-value orders are placed with each method on the new checkout, then refunded.
- Payouts are checked against your bank before the old gateway is switched off.
Adding iDEAL to something other than a webshop, such as a portal or app? That is a separate job, covered on our iDEAL payment integration page.
bol.com, ERP and feed connections: what breaks in a Magento to Shopify migration
Every system that talked to Magento stops the moment Magento switches off, so each connection is listed, replaced and tested before cutover. In Dutch stores the usual list is bol.com, a bookkeeping or ERP package such as Exact Online or AFAS, a shipping platform, Google Merchant Center and sometimes a feed tool for comparison sites.
For each connection we answer three questions. Is there a maintained Shopify app that does the same job? Does the app handle your specific case, such as multiple warehouses or bol.com fulfilment? And who owns it afterwards? Where an app fits, we install and configure it under your account. Where it does not, we build a small integration against Shopify's Admin API and the other system's API, which is custom work from US$900.
bol.com
Overselling is the risk. During cutover, stock must come from one source only. We pause the Magento extension, switch the Shopify connection on, and reconcile offer stock before bol.com orders resume. The bol.com API integration page covers the options.
Exact Online, AFAS, Moneybird
Order and invoice sync is rebuilt against Shopify. We run the first week's orders in parallel with a manual check so your bookkeeper sees nothing duplicated or missing.
Google Merchant Center
Shopify's Google channel generates a new feed. Product IDs may change, so we check that Shopping campaigns pick up the new items rather than showing disapprovals.
Shopify or Shopify Plus after Magento: which plan fits?
Most Dutch stores leaving Magento fit a standard Shopify plan; Shopify Plus is worth it when you hit specific limits, not because you used to run an enterprise platform. If your Magento 2 set-up was sized for growth that never came, the move is a chance to right-size.
Plus tends to earn its fee in a few situations: you need more than 100,000 redirects, which the Help Center lists as the standard store limit; you want several expansion stores under one organisation, for example a separate Belgian or German shop; your B2B side needs company accounts and price lists at scale; or you want deeper checkout customisation. Shopify's plan comparison pages list the current feature split, and it changes, so we check them for your case at quote time.
- Under a few thousand SKUs, one or two Markets, consumer orders only: a standard plan is usually enough.
- Large catalogue with a long history of URLs: count your redirects first; this alone can decide it.
- Separate trade customers with negotiated prices: compare Plus B2B, a pricing app and a separate portal.
- Several brands or countries run as separate stores: Plus organisation features are designed for this.
We do not resell Shopify plans and we are paid the same whichever plan you choose, so the recommendation has no commission behind it. For headless or Plus-specific work, see our Shopify Plus developer page.
How long does a Magento to Shopify migration take?
A typical Magento to Shopify migration for a Dutch store takes 5–8 weeks from signed plan to cutover; one with rebuilt ERP or bol.com integrations sits closer to the custom work range of 6–12 weeks. The longest waits are rarely technical: they are decisions about which products, customers and features are worth moving.
We split the work into phases with a clear output each, so you always know what has been done and what is waiting on you.
- Week 1, audit: data counts, extension list, URL export, integration inventory, plan and mapping draft.
- Weeks 2–3, build: Shopify store configured, theme adapted, first full test import on a development store.
- Weeks 3–5, connect: payments, shipping, bol.com, ERP and Merchant Center set up against the test data.
- Weeks 4–6, rehearse: second import, redirect import, full test orders, your team's walkthrough.
- Cutover week: order freeze window, delta import of new orders and customers, DNS switch, redirect crawl.
- 30 days after: Search Console monitoring, integration checks, small fixes.
Avoid cutting over in the weeks before Sinterklaas or during a big sale. A quiet Tuesday night in February is a far better launch slot than a Friday in late November.
How much does a Magento to Shopify migration cost in the Netherlands?
With BtechWaleTech, a Magento to Shopify migration starts from US$750, integration rebuilds start from US$900, and care after the two free months starts from US$120/mo. Dutch agencies and freelancers quote across a wide range for the same job; the spread comes from local rates, how much design is included, and how many integrations they assume.
Whoever you ask, the same factors move the number:
- Product count, attribute sets and how many configurable products need remodelling.
- Years of order history you want visible in customer accounts.
- Number of store views and languages, and who supplies Dutch, Flemish or English copy.
- Custom Magento features that need an app, a Shopify Function or custom code.
- Integrations: bol.com, ERP, bookkeeping, warehouse, loyalty, reviews.
- Theme: adapting a paid theme versus recreating a bespoke Magento design.
- The size of the redirect map, especially for stores with years of blog and CMS content.
Look at the running costs too. Magento's licence may be free on Open Source, but hosting, patching and extension renewals are not; Shopify replaces those with a monthly plan and app subscriptions. Our webshop cost guide for the Netherlands helps you compare year one on both sides.
Magento to Shopify migration cutover: switching a Dutch store in one evening
In a Magento to Shopify migration, cutover is the short window where orders stop on Magento and start on Shopify. Done well it is a few quiet hours; done badly it is a weekend of double orders and angry emails. The trick is rehearsal: by cutover day, every step has already run at least once on test data.
Plan the DNS move as carefully as the data. We lower the TTL on your domain records several days ahead so the switch spreads quickly on the night, and your domain stays at your own registrar throughout.
- Evening before: final content freeze on Magento; no new products or price changes.
- Hour 0: maintenance notice on Magento or checkout disabled; last orders exported.
- Hour 1: delta import of orders and customers created since the rehearsal.
- Hour 2: redirects confirmed, Shopify password page removed, DNS pointed at Shopify.
- Hour 3: test orders with iDEAL and cards; bol.com and ERP connections switched on.
- Next morning: redirect crawl, Search Console sitemap submitted, first orders checked in the ERP.
Magento stays available read-only on a separate address for as long as you want, so your team can look up an old order or credit memo. You decide when the server is switched off.
Running a Magento to Shopify migration with a team in India from the Netherlands
A migration suits remote work well because most of it is data and configuration, and the few moments that need everyone at once can be scheduled. India Standard Time is 3.5 hours ahead of the Netherlands in summer and 4.5 hours in winter, so our afternoon and evening line up with your late morning and afternoon.
Hours and cutover timing
Calls sit between roughly 10:30 and 16:00 Dutch time. Cutover usually happens in a Dutch late evening, which is after midnight for us; we plan for that deliberately and agree the slot in writing.
How we talk
WhatsApp any day of the week for questions, a weekly video call on Teams, Meet or Zoom, and a shared migration sheet where each decision is logged with a date.
Payments and contract
The plan is quoted in USD and paid by Wise, bank wire or PayPal in milestones tied to phases. Nothing is billed before you approve the written quote, and our terms cover the general points. Invoices come from India.
Your first two weeks
Days 1–2: read-only admin and database export access, URL export from Search Console. Days 3–7: data audit, extension and integration inventory, mapping draft. Days 8–10: development store created in your name with a first sample import you can click through.
For a broader look at working offshore, read our guide to outsourcing web development to India.
Your Magento database, customer data and ownership during the migration
A Magento export contains names, addresses, order history and sometimes phone numbers of your customers, so it is personal data under the AVG and deserves the same care as your live store. You stay the controller; the team handling the export acts on your instructions.
India does not currently hold an adequacy decision from the European Commission, which appears on the Commission's own list of adequacy decisions. Transfers of personal data to a processor in India are therefore usually covered by a processing agreement and Standard Contractual Clauses. Ask us to include that paperwork in the quote; your own lawyer should review and sign off the wording, because we do not give legal advice.
- We work on exports you create and share, not by copying your whole server.
- Customer data is used only for the import and deleted from our side after cutover, as agreed in writing.
- The Shopify store, domain, apps and Mollie or Shopify Payments account are in your business name from day one.
- Theme code and any custom integration code are handed over with a short README.
- You can revoke staff access to Shopify and remove database credentials at any time.
For the wider privacy picture on a Dutch site, including cookie consent after the move, see GDPR-compliant website development.
Magento to Shopify migration risks and red flags when choosing who does it
The biggest migration risks are invisible on launch day: missing redirects, orphaned integrations and data that looks right but is wrong in detail. The warning signs usually appear in the first proposal you receive.
- The quote does not mention redirects, or covers only product URLs.
- No rehearsal import is planned; everything happens once, on the live night.
- Nobody asks what your Magento extensions do before promising they will be replaced.
- Customer passwords are promised to transfer as they are.
- Newsletter consent is not mentioned when importing customers.
- The development store or apps sit under the supplier's own account with no transfer date.
- A plan that switches bol.com and the webshop at different times with no stock owner in between.
- Promises of higher rankings on google.nl because the new platform is faster.
A careful team answers each point in writing without being asked. If you already hold a proposal from someone else, feel free to use this list to question it; you do not need to hire us to use it.
Worked example: a hypothetical Eindhoven bike-parts shop on Magento 2.4.5
Say a bike-parts shop near Eindhoven runs Magento 2.4.5 with about 3,000 SKUs, a Dutch and a Belgian store view, a Mollie extension, a bol.com connector and nightly order exports to Exact Online. Its hosting partner has warned that the version is out of support and an upgrade would need several extensions replaced anyway.
The audit finds 700 disabled products that have not sold in years, configurable products with four attributes (size, colour, axle standard, material), and around 9,000 indexed URLs including old blog posts. The plan: drop the dead products, move material into a metafield so each product keeps three options, bring over two years of orders, set up Markets for nl-NL and nl-BE, keep Mollie through its Shopify app because finance already reconciles there, and rebuild the Exact Online and bol.com links.
That Magento to Shopify migration would be quoted from US$750 plus integration work from US$900, itemised line by line, over roughly seven weeks. Two rehearsal imports, a redirect file of several thousand rows, and a cutover on a weekday evening in a quiet month. After launch, thirty days of Search Console checks.
The shop owns every account and keeps the Magento database export. This scenario is illustrative, not a past client or a promised result.
Magento to Shopify migration checklist for Dutch merchants
Use this list to brief anyone quoting your Magento to Shopify migration, including us. If a proposal leaves an item blank, ask about it before signing.
- Full URL export from Search Console and a crawl of the live Magento store.
- List of every installed extension and what it actually does for you.
- Decision on how many years of orders to migrate.
- Product model: which attributes become options, which become metafields.
- Customer import plan, including newsletter consent and activation emails.
- Payment route chosen: Shopify Payments or Mollie app, with fees checked.
- Owner for stock during cutover across webshop and bol.com.
- ERP, bookkeeping and shipping connections listed with a replacement for each.
- Redirect file for products, categories, CMS pages, blog and every store view.
- Rehearsal import date and cutover date outside peak season.
- Accounts in your business name: Shopify, domain, apps, payments.
- Post-launch plan: who checks 404s, feeds and orders for the first month.
Send the list back with your store URL, and we reply with an itemised plan in about two working days. The Netherlands overview lists every other service we provide to Dutch businesses.