Migrating from Shopify to BestWebby

Before you start

Shopify migration is designed to run in parallel with your live Shopify store. Your Shopify store stays active throughout migration — you switch DNS to BestWebby only when you're ready. Typical migration time: under 30 minutes for stores with up to 5,000 products.

What migrates:

• Full product catalog (images, variants, SKUs, descriptions, tags)
• Customer records (name, email, address, purchase history)
• Historical orders (for reporting and customer lookup)
• Collections (mapped to BestWebby categories)

What doesn't migrate automatically:

• Shopify-specific apps or integrations (Klaviyo flows, custom apps)
• Discount codes and gift cards (need manual recreation)
• Shopify Payments account balance (this is separate from BestWebby)

Step 1: Generate your Shopify access token

In your Shopify admin:

1. Go to Apps → Develop apps
2. Create a new app called "BestWebby Migration"
3. In Configuration, grant read permissions for: Products, Customers, Orders, Collections
4. Generate an API access token

Copy the access token — you'll need it in the next step.

Step 2: Run the import in BestWebby

In BestWebby dashboard:

1. Go to Products → Import → Shopify
2. Enter your Shopify store URL (e.g., mystore.myshopify.com)
3. Paste the access token
4. Click "Verify connection" — BestWebby will show you a preview of what it found
5. Click "Start import"

BestWebby imports in parallel batches. A store with 1,000 products typically completes in 5-10 minutes. Products over 5,000 may take 20-30 minutes.

You'll receive an email when the import is complete.

Step 3: Review and configure

After import:

1. Review products: Check that images, variants, and pricing look correct. Pay special attention to products with multiple variants (size/color) — they often have the most data complexity.
2. Map categories: Shopify collections become BestWebby categories. Review the mapping and adjust if needed.
3. Set up AI content: BestWebby can regenerate product descriptions in your brand voice if you want to improve on your existing copy.
4. Configure pricing floors: If you're enabling the AI pricing engine, set your price floors per product or category before activation.

Step 4: Configure your storefront

Set up your storefront design (Settings → Storefront → Design) before switching DNS, so the storefront is ready to go live when you make the switch.

Connect your domain to BestWebby (Settings → Domains → Add domain) and verify ownership via DNS CNAME. Do not update your A record yet — just verify ownership.

Step 5: Test before switching

In BestWebby, every storefront has a preview URL (yourstore.bestwebby.app). Test the full purchase flow:

• Product pages load correctly
• Add to cart works
• Checkout completes with a test payment
• Order confirmation email arrives

Run through at least 5 representative product types to confirm edge cases (products with many variants, digital products, subscription products).

Step 6: Switch DNS (go-live)

When you're ready to go live:

1. Update your domain's A record to point to BestWebby's IP
2. SSL certificate will be issued automatically within 5 minutes of DNS propagation
3. BestWebby begins serving traffic from your domain

Most DNS providers propagate changes within 15-60 minutes. During that window, some visitors may still see Shopify and others may see BestWebby — this is normal and your store remains active throughout.

Step 7: Post-migration checklist

• Cancel your Shopify subscription (do this 24 hours after DNS switch to confirm everything is stable)
• Update any external links to your store (Google Merchant Center, email footers, social bios)
• Set up redirects for any URLs that changed structure
• Connect your marketplaces (Amazon, Etsy, etc.) in BestWebby
• Configure your team members and employee PINs for POS

Troubleshooting

Products imported with wrong images: Re-run the image import from Products → Import → Images Only. This uses the Shopify CDN URL directly.

Customer records missing: If your Shopify customer list is large (10,000+), the import may have timed out. Re-run the import and select "Customers only" to resume.

Orders showing wrong status: Historical Shopify order statuses may not map 1:1 to BestWebby statuses. Review the status mapping in Settings → Import → Status mapping.

Need help? Contact support at [email protected] with your import job ID (visible in the import history page).