Magento to Shopify Plus Migration: The Benefits and Drawbacks

Magento to Shopify Plus Migration: The Benefits and Drawbacks

If you are thinking about migrating from Magento to Shopify Plus here's everything you need to know.

You may have noticed a few of your much-loved brands have drastically changed their stores over the years. Many big, international brands have been migrating from Magento to Shopify Plus due to features on offer with Shopify Plus that scaling brands need.

After helping a few clients of our own to migrate from Magento to Shopify, we take a deep dive into why Shopify Plus is becoming the preferred platform.

Magento to Shopify Plus Migration: Why have ecommerce brands been moving to Shopify Plus?

Over the last few years, there has been a big uptake in brands migrating from Magento to Shopify Plus. This largely came as a result of Magento 1 coming to the end of its life in June 2020. During this time, some brands moved over to Magento 2 (also known as Adobe Commerce), but many looked to Shopify Plus and the wealth of potential growth and scalability features this platform offers. 

Because Shopify Plus is designed to withstand high volumes of traffic and purchases - brands of all sizes have seen a staggering amount of success when migrating. Let's look at more reasons driving Magento to Shopify Plus migrations.

the differences between magento and shopify infographic

11 reasons why most brands choose to migrate from Magento to Shopify Plus:

We have written a broader decision making guide on Shopify vs Magento, but below are 11 specific reasons why brands that have been on Magento, are opting for Shopify Plus:

  1. Cost of ownership
  2. Security
  3. Launch time
  4. Patching and upgrades
  5. Scaling with Shopify Plus
  6. Integrations
  7. 99.9% uptime with Shopify Plus
  8. Ease of use
  9. Design
  10. Automation
  11. 24/7 support with Shopify Plus

Cost of ownership: Magento has become more expensive and when compared to Shopify’s low cost of ownership, for many brands it makes sense to migrate to Shopify Plus. Shopify Plus has a lower total cost of ownership than Magento by roughly 50% over a period of around three years.

Security: Shopify comes pre-configured to be PCI compliant. You’ll immediately comply with PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication if you use a 3-D Secure checkout.

Launch time: Traditional platform migration times of 6 to 12 months are arduous. You can get there in less than three months with Shopify Plus.

Patching and upgrades: On Magento, constant patching and security upgrades can waste a lot of time and money. It’s all taken care of for you with Shopify Plus.

Scaling with Shopify Plus: Shopify Plus scales with your brand, whether you’re dealing with high traffic or sophisticated operations. For most brands, this tends to be much easier with Shopify Plus.

Integrations: You can quickly integrate Shopify into your existing tech stack thanks to its ecosystem of pre-built integrations. Powerful APIs make it really simple to link your company system and tools.

99.9% uptime with Shopify Plus: The engineering team at Shopify works around the clock to ensure that your website is available when you need it most.

Ease of use: For most brands, Magento can feel a little dated and the technology can slow down brand growth, depending on company setup and how your team handles your site. Shopify Plus will relieve your business and website team of a lot of stress.

Design: You can design and develop whatever your brand requires with Shopify’s fully customisable storefront.

Automation: Shopify’s automation features, including Flow, Scripts, and Launchpad, are quite powerful. They’re designed to save time and money for your team.

24/7 support with Shopify Plus: When you need help, Shopify’s support team is available. Consider customer service that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by phone, email, and chat.

Want to learn more about migrating from Magento to Shopify Plus? Book a quick chat with us:

magento to shopify migration session

Magento to Shopify Plus Migration Drawbacks

There are so many reasons for brands migrating from Magento to Shopify Plus, but with such a big move it can be a really daunting task, especially if you’ve been using Magento for years. Here are some drawbacks that you should consider before making the switch.

Protecting your site rankings: One thing to keep in mind when migrating from Magento to Shopify Plus is your SEO. Shopify has a strict URL structure, so it’s important to map out and redirect all of your pages.

International stores: When moving from Magento to Shopify Plus you’ll need to split your international stores into multiple. There are a few ways that you can configure your Shopify store to sell internationally:

  • Single Store with Multi-Currency: This is one of the easiest options for both merchants and customers
  • Multi-Region Stores: for example website.com, eu.website.com, ca.website.com

Contracts: Another hold up when considering a platform migration are your contracts. How long do you have left with your current host? Do you have the resources to keep your Magento site live whilst your new Shopify store is being built?

READ: If you’re having a hard time choosing between Magento and Shopify we’ve put together a guide on Shopify vs. Magento: A Decision Making Guide

Should I move from Magento to Shopify Plus?

Every brand is different and what eCommerce platform you use totally depends on your business, setup and internal capabilities. Brands that prefer to keep things a bit more simple and have an all-in-one supportive platform will feel so comfortable with the scalability and sophisticated capabilities of Shopify Plus.

There are so many big international brands taking advantage of what Shopify Plus has to offer after making the switch from Magento. As a Shopify design and development agency, we help brands around the world with their eCommerce stores, whether it’s upgrading to Shopify Plus, migrating from another platform to Shopify or development work, we strive to go above and beyond without fail.

If you’re sold on Shopify Plus and you’re ready to make the move, book your free strategy session with us:

book shopify strategy session

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James McManus

James McManus

Shopify Growth Consultant

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