BigCommerce to Shopify Migration Services

BigCommerce to Shopify
Migration Services

Run by an agency that builds on both platforms —
so the advice about whether to move isn’t shaped
by what we happen to sell.

Schedule Your Call

We have been building on BigCommerce since 2010 and on Shopify for years alongside it. That is an unusual position from which to sell this migration, and it is the reason this page opens by asking whether you should make it.

Plenty of BigCommerce to Shopify moves are correct. Plenty are a store solving an operational problem with a platform change, which is expensive and doesn’t work.

When the move makes sense

You need a specific app. The most legitimate reason. Shopify’s app ecosystem is larger, and if the thing your business depends on exists there and not on BigCommerce, that’s a real argument.

Your team already knows Shopify. Operational familiarity compounds. A team that can merchandise confidently is worth more than a marginally better platform they fight.

Multi-channel is central. Shopify’s channel tooling — POS, social, marketplaces — is genuinely ahead, and if you sell meaningfully outside your own storefront that gap matters daily.

When it usually doesn’t

“We’ve hit platform limits.” Worth testing before acting. Most limits merchants hit are configuration rather than platform, and the ones that are real — BigCommerce’s documented limits — have Shopify equivalents that are frequently tighter, not looser.

“The storefront feels dated.” That’s a theme problem, and rebuilding a theme costs a fraction of a migration. You can have a new storefront on your current platform in weeks.

You run B2B on customer groups and price lists. This is the one that most often reverses the decision. BigCommerce does B2B natively; on Shopify you need Plus and probably apps. Price that properly before committing.

What breaks in this specific migration

Options and modifiers. BigCommerce separates variant options from modifiers — things that change price or behaviour without creating a SKU. Shopify has no direct equivalent. Modifier-heavy catalogs need remodelling, usually as line item properties or an app, and this is the most common source of surprise.

Customer group pricing. If pricing logic lives in customer groups, it has to be rebuilt against Shopify’s model.

Every URL. Shopify enforces /products/ and /collections/ prefixes, so your URL structure changes wholesale whether you like it or not. This makes the redirect map the deciding factor rather than a detail.

Page Builder content. Custom widgets and Page Builder layouts have no Shopify equivalent and need rebuilding as sections.

What we do

Build the redirect map from a live crawl — not the sitemap — covering every URL that has traffic, impressions or links, verified in both trailing-slash forms before launch.

Remodel options and modifiers onto Shopify’s variant structure, with a trial migration early so the awkward products surface while decisions are still cheap.

Rebuild B2B where it applies, with an honest assessment of parity first.

Build the storefront as an Online Store 2.0 theme your team can merchandise without a developer.

Record the baseline — traffic, rankings, conversion — before launch, so afterwards you are measuring rather than arguing.

And if you should stay

We will say so. We are one of the longest-running BigCommerce agencies and we would rather keep you well-served where you are than run a migration that solves nothing.

Schedule Your Call

More on how we run migrations on the ecommerce migration services page. Moving the other direction? See Shopify to BigCommerce. Still deciding? Shopify vs BigCommerce is the honest comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should we actually move from BigCommerce to Shopify?
Sometimes. The good reasons are usually operational rather than technical: a specific app ecosystem you need, a team that already knows Shopify, or multi-channel selling where Shopify's tooling is genuinely ahead. The reasons that don't survive scrutiny are "BigCommerce feels dated" and "we've hit platform limits" — the second is worth testing, because most limits people hit are configuration rather than platform. We build on both, so we have no stake in the answer.
What does BigCommerce do that Shopify doesn't?
Native B2B is the main one. Customer groups, price lists, quantity breaks and purchase orders are built in on BigCommerce rather than assembled from apps, and merchants moving to Shopify frequently discover they need Plus plus several apps to reach parity. Faceted search and large-catalog handling are also stronger natively. Neither is a reason to stay on its own, but both belong in the comparison before the decision rather than after it.
What breaks in this migration specifically?
Option and modifier structures. BigCommerce distinguishes between variant options and modifiers, which affect price or behaviour without creating a SKU. Shopify has no direct equivalent, so modifier-heavy catalogs need remodelling — often as line item properties or an app. Customer groups are the other one. If you use them for pricing, that logic needs rebuilding on Shopify, and on Plus if it's B2B.
Do our URLs change?
Yes. Shopify enforces its own URL prefixes — /products/, /collections/ — so essentially every product and category URL changes, regardless of what you had before. This makes the redirect map non-optional rather than a nice-to-have. Every URL needs a mapped destination, built from a crawl of the live store and verified before launch.
What happens to our B2B setup?
It needs rebuilding, and it needs pricing before you commit. Shopify's native B2B lives on Plus and has improved substantially — company profiles, catalogs with customer-specific pricing, payment terms. Where it still strains relative to BigCommerce is deep quantity-break logic and quote-to-order workflows. If those are central to how you sell, the honest comparison might conclude you should stay.