The Predictable Failures of Platform Migration
Migration problems are surprisingly consistent across projects. The same issues surface whether you are migrating from Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or a custom platform. Knowing what breaks allows you to test specifically for these issues before launch.
This article catalogs common failure points so you can prevent them rather than discover them in production.
Integration Failures
Integrations break most frequently because they are often complex, customized, and dependent on platform-specific APIs.
ERP and inventory systems
Your ERP integration was built for your old platform's data model and API. It will not work with Shopify without modification or replacement.
Common issues:
- Order data structure differs between platforms
- Product identifiers do not match
- Inventory sync direction and timing changes
- Custom fields used for ERP data do not exist in Shopify
Plan for full integration rebuild or significant modification. See Shopify integrations.
Shipping and fulfillment
Shipping integrations that calculated rates or generated labels on your old platform need Shopify equivalents. Carrier-specific connections, custom shipping rules, and fulfillment provider integrations all require attention.
Email marketing
Your email platform's integration needs updating. Automated flows triggered by platform events must be reconnected. Customer segments based on old platform data may need rebuilding.
Payment processors
If you use a payment processor other than Shopify Payments, verify it is available and configured correctly. Subscription billing integrations particularly need testing.
Data Issues
Data problems often appear clean in exports but break during import or display.
Customer passwords
Shopify cannot import customer passwords. Customers must reset their passwords after migration. Plan communication around this, typically a "welcome to our new site" email with password reset instructions.
Some teams enable Shopify's customer invite feature to trigger password creation for migrated customers.
Order history
Shopify cannot natively import historical orders. Third-party tools and API scripts can create order records, but they appear differently than native orders. Decide how important historical order visibility is for customers.
Product data inconsistencies
Data that looked fine in exports may have issues:
- Special characters that encode incorrectly
- HTML formatting that Shopify renders differently
- Image URLs that become inaccessible after migration
- Variant structures that exceed Shopify limits
Customer data formatting
Address formats, phone numbers, and names may have validation issues. International addresses particularly cause problems if your old platform was more permissive than Shopify.
Checkout Issues
Checkout is where revenue happens. Problems here directly impact conversion.
Payment method availability
Payment methods available on your old platform may not be available on Shopify, or may require different configuration. Test all payment methods customers expect to use.
Checkout customizations
Custom checkout modifications from your old platform do not translate. Shopify's checkout is standardized on non-Plus plans. Shopify Plus offers checkout extensibility, but customizations still need rebuilding.
Discount and promotion rules
Complex discount logic may not map to Shopify's native discounting. Test your promotional scenarios thoroughly:
- Tiered discounts
- Bundle pricing
- Customer-specific discounts
- Discount stacking rules
Shipping rate calculations
Shipping rules from your old platform need recreation in Shopify. If you used complex logic for rate calculations, verify Shopify can replicate it or use a rate calculation app.
Tax calculations
Tax settings need verification for each jurisdiction you serve. If you use tax automation services like Avalara or TaxJar, configure and test the integration.
Frontend Issues
Visual and functional problems that customers encounter directly.
Mobile experience
Your new theme may behave differently on mobile. Test thoroughly across devices, particularly checkout and product pages where conversion happens.
Navigation and filtering
Collection filtering relies on product tags and option values. If these are inconsistent post-migration, filtering breaks or produces confusing results.
Search functionality
Shopify's native search differs from what you may have had. If your old site had sophisticated search with faceting, typo tolerance, or synonym handling, evaluate whether native Shopify search or a search app is needed.
Content rendering
Migrated content may render differently. Rich content blocks, embedded videos, and interactive elements from your old CMS often need recreation in Shopify's editor or via metafields.
SEO Issues
SEO problems may not surface immediately but cause long-term traffic loss.
Missing redirects
The most common SEO failure. URLs that ranked or had backlinks return 404 instead of redirecting. Monitor Search Console for 404 spikes post-launch.
Metadata loss
Page titles and meta descriptions that were not migrated result in generic or missing SEO data. Verify metadata appears correctly on key pages.
Canonical issues
Shopify generates canonical tags automatically, but they may point to unexpected URLs if your structure differs from defaults. Verify canonicals are correct.
Structured data
Schema markup from your old site does not migrate. If you relied on rich snippets for products, reviews, or FAQs, ensure your new theme or custom development includes appropriate structured data.
Operational Issues
Backend problems that affect how your team works.
Staff workflow changes
Shopify's admin works differently than your old platform. Staff may struggle with new workflows for order processing, inventory management, and customer service. Plan training before launch.
Report discrepancies
Historical data does not migrate perfectly. Reports comparing periods before and after migration may show discontinuities. Document what data exists where.
App compatibility
Apps installed on Shopify may conflict with each other or with your theme. Test app combinations before launch, particularly apps that modify checkout, cart, or product pages.
Prevention Through Testing
Most of these issues are preventable with comprehensive testing.
Test environment
Use a development store or preview environment for full testing before launch. Import real data, connect real integrations, and run through real scenarios.
Test plan coverage
Your test plan should cover:
- Every payment method
- Every shipping destination type
- Every discount scenario
- Every customer type (guest, registered, B2B if applicable)
- Every integration handoff point
- Sample products from each category type
- Mobile and desktop experiences
Rollback planning
Have a plan to revert to your old platform if critical issues emerge post-launch. The ability to rollback reduces pressure and allows more thorough issue resolution.
Working with LiftKit Digital
LiftKit Digital has seen these failures across dozens of migrations. We build test plans that cover known failure points and catch issues before they affect customers.
For migration planning and execution, see Shopify migration. To discuss your migration, get in touch.