Quick summary
WordPress exports, serialized meta, subscription plugins, and permalink patterns need WooCommerce-specific steps — this checklist covers them.
Key takeaways
- Export products with meta intact — not bare CSV only.
- Map Yoast/RankMath fields and category URL patterns.
- Plan subscription plugin → Recharge/Skio migration path.
- Validate tax for US states, UK VAT, AU GST on staging.
This checklist covers WooCommerce-specific gotchas that generic Shopify guides miss — WordPress user tables, serialized meta, subscription plugins, and permalink structures.
Pre-migration exports
- Products via WooCommerce export or WP-CLI with meta intact
- Customers including billing/shipping meta and marketing opt-in status
- Orders with line items, taxes, coupons, and refund history
- Media library URLs mapped to CDN or S3 sources
- Plugin inventory: subscriptions, bundles, wholesale, ACF fields
Data normalisation
- Resolve duplicate SKUs and orphaned variations
- Map attributes to Shopify options and metafields
- Convert bundled products to Shopify bundles or line-item apps
- Document subscription billing cycles for Recharge/Skio migration
WordPress-specific SEO
- Export Yoast/RankMath titles and descriptions
- Map /product-category/ URLs to Shopify collections
- Redirect blog posts under /blog/ or root slugs
Staging QA scenarios
- Guest checkout and account checkout in each currency
- Discount codes, gift cards, and free shipping thresholds
- Tax-exempt B2B orders with PO numbers
- Subscription signup and management portal
- Return/refund workflow and ERP sync confirmation
- Email notifications (order confirm, shipping, abandoned cart)
Launch validation
- Test checkout with Stripe/PayPal credentials per region
- Verify tax settings for US states, UK VAT, AU GST
- Confirm ERP sync on test orders before DNS cutover
- Run pre-launch crawl diff against redirect map
- Document sign-off from merchandising, CS, finance, and IT
Common mistakes on this topic
- Ignoring serialized WordPress post meta in exports.
- Assuming /product-category/ maps automatically to /collections/.
- Migrating without testing WooCommerce coupon logic equivalents on Shopify.
Questions about this topic
Do I need WP-CLI for large catalogs?
Above ~5,000 SKUs, API or WP-CLI exports with retry logic beat fragile admin CSV downloads.
What about ACF custom fields?
Map to Shopify metafields with namespace strategy — document in audit before import.
Audit your WooCommerce store
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