Track every step of your Shopify Markets migration.
Migrating from multiple Expansion Stores to a single Shopify Markets store has a strict sequence. This checklist breaks it down into 4 phases and 19 steps so you can track progress, stay on order, and avoid the mistakes that break most consolidations.
FAQs
The migration follows 4 phases: first lock the foundation (disable notifications, create data structures, set up infrastructure, create locations); then migrate your data in sequence (products, assets, collections, pages, metaobjects, navigation); then handle the operational layer (redirects, customers, orders, gift cards, discounts, draft orders, delta sync); and finally go live (domain cutover, store shutdown, re-enable notifications). The sequence is non-negotiable: skipping steps causes data loss, broken redirects, and order attachment failures.
Shopify generates new product and variant IDs every time products are imported into a new store. If you migrate orders before products, the orders will reference legacy IDs that no longer exist in the consolidated store, causing them to appear with missing product history. You must complete product migration and document the old-to-new ID mapping before importing any orders.
The timeline depends on the number of stores, catalog size, order history volume, and app complexity. Most consolidations take between 4 and 12 weeks from planning to go-live. The pre-migration planning phase (architecture inventory, target Markets setup, and freeze window definition) typically takes 1 to 2 weeks. Data migration and validation take the longest. Domain cutover itself is a matter of hours, but only after all prior phases are complete.
No. Customer records migrate, but customer accounts do not. Passwords are never transferred between Shopify stores. If you use legacy customer accounts, customers will need to reset their passwords after migration. If you switch to New Shopify Customer Accounts (email-based login with one-time codes) before migrating, customers can access their order history immediately after consolidation without any password reset.
