Moving an online store from Volusion to Shopify can be a challenging thing. But the move is necessary.
Volusion’s outdated infrastructure and lack of flexibility are like an antic house – quaint but impractical. On the other hand, Shopify is sleek, customizable and has an amazing support team.
A successful migration from Volusion to Shopify is more than just dragging and dropping files from one platform to another. Data must be transferred correctly, URLs must be redirected, and design elements must be reconfigured to fit into Shopify’s modern framework.
If you skip any of these steps, your once-thriving store will turn into a graveyard of broken links and missing product descriptions. It’s not hard, but it requires precision and a little patience.
Thus, following a methodical approach discussed below saves time, frustration, and the embarrassment of sending an entire email campaign to the wrong email addresses.
1. Export Data
No one enjoys manual data entry, yet skipping the data export step or rushing through it leads to missing products, broken customer records, and orders that vanish into the ether.
Volusion offers export tools that help extract key data like products, customers, and order history. Spreadsheets will become an unlikely tool during this process, and their columns of endless numbers may lose aesthetic value.
Once the data is extracted, it needs to be formatted to fit Shopify’s import requirements.
Shopify is forgiving in many ways, but it doesn’t tolerate improperly structured data. Customer emails must be assigned to the correct fields, product images should link to the right SKUs, and old order details need careful verification.
Forgetting to cross-check a few numbers could mean losing important data of your most loyal customers.
After formatting, the actual Volusion to Shopify migration takes place. Shopify’s import tools make it seem deceptively easy, but errors always lurk beneath the surface. Duplicate entries, missing descriptions, and incorrectly mapped categories need to be caught early.
A quick quality check ensures that every client’s information is correctly captured.
Nevertheless, if you find doing all this challenging, hire the migration services offered by a reputable company to migrate Volusion to Shopify. Such companies have a team of certified Shopify experts who can handle all the migration-related work for you.
2. Redirect URLs to Avoid Losing Traffic
A store without proper redirects is like an old diner where the menu does not align with what is offered.
Customers expecting to land on familiar product pages will instead face errors, and search engines won’t know what to do with the sudden shift in structure. Google is likely to notice the mismatch of things and penalize sites that leave visitors stranded.
Volusion and Shopify handle URLs differently, meaning every link must be mapped correctly. A structured approach to URL redirects ensures that customers clicking an old Volusion link arrive at the right Shopify page instead of an internet void.
Shopify has built-in redirect tools, but manually checking high-traffic pages prevents costly mistakes.
Testing redirects before going live avoids mass confusion. Clicking through product links, categories, and blog posts reveals any inconsistencies. Discovering broken links after the migration could be an unpleasant surprise at an inconvenient time.
3. Rebuild the Store Design to Match or Improve Branding
A store’s design isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about function. Volusion’s themes often feel like relics of the early 2000s, while Shopify provides sleek, modern designs. Simply copying the old look isn’t always the best move. Instead, the migration is an opportunity to refresh the store’s appearance and improve user experience.
Shopify’s themes offer a level of flexibility Volusion never did. Customizing the theme requires balancing brand identity with modern expectations. Fonts need to be readable, product pages should load quickly, and checkout flows must feel seamless.
If customers have to click through five pages just to buy a single item, they won’t make it to checkout—they’ll leave.
Product images also need to be optimized. Shopify favors high-resolution images, but large file sizes slow loading speeds. A balance between quality and performance prevents customers from waiting for images to load for extended durations.
4. Test Everything Before Launch
Nothing destroys confidence faster than a broken checkout page. Customers are willing to put up with many things—delayed shipping, slight price increases, the occasional glitch—but a dysfunctional checkout process sends them running.
Thus, testing the store before launch arrests these issues before customers experience them.
Payments must be processed correctly, discount codes should apply without causing system meltdowns, and mobile responsiveness needs to be flawless. Most customers browse on their phones, and a site that looks perfect on desktop but broken on mobile is awful. Shopify’s preview mode allows testing before going live, and placing a few test orders ensures that money flows in the right direction.
