EloshonSwitching e-commerce platforms can be an excellent decision — moving from Shopify to WooCommerce, leaving Wix for BigCommerce, or building a catalogue from a supplier like BigBuy. But a migration is never just about copying products from one CMS to another.
Every platform has its own CSV column structure, its own rules for variants, its own conventions for categories, and its own export formats. Without conversion, a Shopify file is not usable by WooCommerce, and vice versa.
This guide explains how a modern CSV converter actually works, which platforms and directions are truly supported, what can be migrated, what cannot, and how to prepare 301 redirects properly.
How an e-commerce CSV converter really works
A robust converter does not map a source column directly to a target column. It uses a canonical intermediate format: a neutral internal representation of products, variants, customers, orders and categories.
The pipeline looks like this:
- Source platform — CSV export (Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, BigCommerce, BigBuy) or JSON data (PrestaShop, Shopware).
- CSV parsing — each row is read according to the source structure.
- Canonical intermediate format — data is normalised into a common internal representation.
- Normalisation and conversion — the target platform's rules are applied (column names, variant handling, category structure).
- Destination CSV — a file ready to be imported into the new platform.
The intermediate format is internal to the converter. It is not a CSV column the user has to prepare or fill in.
Platforms and directions actually supported
Not every combination is available. Here are the directions currently supported:
| Source | Destination | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Migration |
| WooCommerce | Shopify | Migration |
| Wix | Shopify | Migration |
| Shopify | Wix | Migration |
| Wix | WooCommerce | Migration |
| WooCommerce | Wix | Migration |
| BigCommerce | Shopify | Migration |
| Shopify | BigCommerce | Migration |
| BigCommerce | WooCommerce | Migration |
| WooCommerce | BigCommerce | Migration |
| Wix | BigCommerce | Migration |
| BigCommerce | Wix | Migration |
| PrestaShop | Shopify | Migration |
| PrestaShop | WooCommerce | Migration |
| PrestaShop | Wix | Migration |
| PrestaShop | BigCommerce | Migration |
| Shopware | Shopify | Migration |
| Shopware | WooCommerce | Migration |
| Shopware | Wix | Migration |
| Shopware | BigCommerce | Migration |
| BigBuy | Shopify | Catalogue import |
| BigBuy | WooCommerce | Catalogue import |
BigBuy is a catalogue source (dropshipping), not a destination. There is therefore no X → BigBuy direction.
What about PrestaShop or Shopware?
PrestaShop and Shopware are supported as sources only. The converter reads JSON from the PrestaShop Webservice and JSON from the Shopware Admin API. It then writes import files for Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix or BigCommerce. It does not perform Shopify → PrestaShop, WooCommerce → Shopware, or any other conversion into PrestaShop or Shopware.
What is handled, platform by platform
Shopify
Source and destination. Handles products, variants, options, tags, categories, images, customers, orders, and some SEO data and metadata depending on the available fields.
WooCommerce
Source and destination. Simple and variable products, variants, SKU, price, stock, weight and dimensions, categories, tags, attributes, images, customers, orders, and some SEO data and metadata are processed.
Wix
Source and destination for products only. Supports products, variants, options, images, collections/categories, SKU, price, stock, weight, brand and visibility.
Important limit: Wix customers and orders are not migrated by this converter.
BigCommerce
Source and destination for products and customers. Orders can be read as a source, but they cannot be imported into BigCommerce by this converter. Handles products, variants, customers, SKU, price, sale prices, stock, images, weight and dimensions, SEO data and some metadata.
BigBuy
Catalogue source only. The converter processes the product catalogue, price, cost, SKU and references, EAN, stock, weight, dimensions, brands, images and categories. A separate category file may be needed to properly resolve category IDs.
Example: Shopify → WooCommerce through the intermediate format
Here is how a few fields actually travel through the converter. The intermediate format is internal; it illustrates the logic, not a file you need to prepare.
| Shopify | Intermediate format | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Handle | handle | No equivalent in the WooCommerce CSV: the URL is set through the permalink (slug) |
| Title | title | Name |
| Body (HTML) | bodyHtml | Description |
| Variant SKU | variants[].sku | SKU |
| Variant Price | variants[].price | Regular price |
| Product Category | categories | Categories |
| Tags | tags[] | Tags |
Each platform then applies its own rules: WooCommerce separates simple and variable products, Wix structures collections differently, BigCommerce has its own categorisation fields. The intermediate format absorbs these differences.
Honest limitations: what does not carry over
No CSV migration preserves everything as-is. The limits to know before starting:
- Customer passwords: never migrated (they are hashed on the source side; users will need to reset their password on the new platform).
- Purchase history: not migrated as data linked to the customer account.
- Customers into Wix: not supported by this converter.
- Orders into Wix: not supported.
- Orders into BigCommerce: not supported (BigCommerce orders are readable as a source only).
- Platform-specific fields: some metadata, custom fields or platform-native data have no equivalent in the target and may be lost or transformed.
- SEO data: partially preserved; some fields (canonical, platform-specific structured data) may need to be reconfigured on the destination side.
301 redirects: preparing the mapping file
When a store changes platforms, URLs almost always change. Shopify uses /products/product-name, WooCommerce typically uses /product/product-name/, and Wix and BigCommerce have their own conventions.
If old URLs do not redirect to the new ones, Google eventually deindexes them and organic traffic drops.
The converter can generate a CSV mapping file between old and new URLs:
| Source URL | Target URL |
|---|---|
| /products/running-shoes | /product/running-shoes/ |
| /collections/shoes | /product-category/shoes/ |
| /products/travel-bag | /product/travel-bag/ |
Note: the converter generates the file required to set up the 301 redirects. It does not perform the HTTP redirect itself on your server — this file then has to be imported into the new platform (Shopify, WordPress plugin, server rules) so that the redirects become effective.
A successful migration in 7 steps
- Export the data from the old platform (products, customers, orders where supported, URLs).
- Back up the original exports before any modification.
- Analyse the structure of the source columns and spot the sensitive fields (variants, categories, multiple images).
- Convert the CSVs through the converter, which applies canonical normalisation and produces the target files.
- Generate the 301 redirects file from the old and new URLs.
- Import and verify the data on a test store or in draft mode before going live.
- Switch the store, import the redirects file into the new CMS, and check key pages plus the checkout flow.
CSV e-commerce migration FAQ
Can I migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce with a CSV?
Yes. Shopify products, variants, categories, tags, customers and orders can be converted to the WooCommerce format through the canonical intermediate representation.
Is WooCommerce to Shopify supported?
Yes, under the same conditions. Customer passwords remain non-transferable (a universal technical limit).
Can I migrate Wix to Shopify?
Yes, for products, variants, options, images and categories. Wix customers and orders are not migrated by this tool.
Can I migrate BigCommerce to WooCommerce?
Yes, for products and customers. BigCommerce orders are readable as a source but cannot be re-imported into BigCommerce with this tool.
Can I use BigBuy as a destination?
No. BigBuy is a catalogue source, not a target e-commerce platform.
Is PrestaShop supported?
Yes, as a source. The converter reads the JSON from the PrestaShop Webservice and produces import files for Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix or BigCommerce. PrestaShop is never a destination; the same applies to Shopware, read from the JSON of its Admin API.
Are 301 redirects really necessary?
They are strongly recommended whenever URLs change. Without them, old links indexed by Google return 404 errors and organic traffic drops quickly.
Change platform without starting from scratch
A clean e-commerce migration rests on three pillars: complete exports on the source side, a conversion that normalises structures through an intermediate format, and a 301 redirects file prepared before the switch.
With the right tools, transferring several thousand products, variants, customers and categories between Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, BigCommerce, or from a BigBuy catalogue, becomes a controlled operation rather than a risky project.
To understand what silently gets lost in a migration (variants, linked images, marketing consent, order numbering) and how Eloshon Converter handles it, see also How to migrate products, customers and orders without silent data loss.