Convert2Content

Guide

Export WooCommerce products and import them into Shopify

A product CSV moves the catalog. It does not move orders, customers, or the theme. Do this while the WooCommerce site is still online, because Shopify downloads product images from the URLs in the file.

1. Export from WooCommerce

  1. In WordPress admin, open Products → All products.
  2. Click Export at the top of the screen.
  3. Choose which columns to include. For a full catalog, export all columns, and add meta for SEO, barcodes, or cost if you use those plugins.
  4. Generate the CSV and save it. Do not open it in Excel and save it again unless you export as CSV UTF-8. Excel can rewrite quotes, line breaks, and accented characters.

The official column list is in the WooCommerce product CSV documentation. WebToffee and WP All Export files also work in Convert2Content. If a header is unusual, the Columns tab can point it at the right Shopify field.

Columns worth including

  • Name, description, short description, SKU, and published status.
  • Regular price, sale price, and stock. Sale start and end dates are noted, but Shopify’s CSV cannot store a schedule.
  • Images. These must be full http or https links. Shopify fetches them during import.
  • Categories, tags, and brands.
  • Attributes used for variations, such as size and color, and the variation rows themselves. Export the variable parent and its variations together. See the variable products guide.
  • Weight, and the GTIN / UPC / EAN / ISBN column if you use barcodes.
  • Yoast, Rank Math, or All in One SEO title and description meta if you want those search fields.
  • Cost of goods meta if you want Cost per item filled in.

2. Convert the file

Open the Convert2Content converter and drop the CSV in. You will see the detected export type, any known plugins, a Shopify admin-style preview, and notes about rows that need a decision.

  • Leave the status as drafts unless you have already checked a few prices and you want published products to stay published.
  • Type a vendor if products have no brand. Shopify uses the vendor as the brand name on the product.
  • Open Columns if a title, price, or image column was not detected.
  • External products are left out by default. Grouped products are imported without their child links. Downloadable files are not attached.

Download the Shopify CSV and import that file. Do not round-trip it through Excel.

3. Import into Shopify

  1. In Shopify admin, go to Products.
  2. Click Import, then Add file, and choose the CSV you downloaded.
  3. Leave “Overwrite products with matching handles” off the first time. That setting replaces existing products that share a handle.
  4. Start the import. Image downloading can take a while on a large catalog. Leave the old site online until it finishes.
  5. Open Products and filter by Draft. Check a simple product, a product on sale, and a product with variants.

Shopify’s own notes on column names and failed imports are in Import products with a CSV and common CSV import problems. For converter-specific failures, see Shopify CSV import errors. The file Convert2Content builds uses Shopify’s product export headers, including Handle, Variant Price, Variant Grams, and Status.

After the import

  • Set up taxes and shipping in Shopify. Tax classes and shipping classes from WooCommerce are not in the file. Variants are only marked taxable or not.
  • Recreate subscriptions, product add-ons, and related products with Shopify apps. Those fields do not have a place in the product CSV.
  • Upload downloadable files separately. The product row is imported, the file is not.
  • Check handles before you share links. The handle becomes the product URL. Two products with the same name get a unique handle, such as mug-2.
  • Add URL redirects from old WooCommerce paths such as /product/slug/ to Shopify’s /products/slug if you care about existing links.
  • Publish drafts when the prices, options, and images look right.

If Shopify rejects the file

  • A header Shopify does not know will fail the import. This converter only writes documented product columns, plus Collection when you ask for it.
  • Files over 15 MB are rejected. Split the WooCommerce export and convert each part.
  • More than three option names cannot be stored as separate options. Extra options are combined into Option 3, and the preview says so.
  • Image errors usually mean the URL is not public, or the WooCommerce site was taken down before Shopify finished downloading.

More detail

Convert a product CSV