A BigCommerce to Shopify migration moves four kinds of data: the catalog, the customer list, past orders and the URLs search engines already know. The two platforms treat each one differently. Some of it exports cleanly, some has to be rebuilt by hand, and customer passwords cannot be carried across at all.
Everything below was read on 30 October 2026 in the Shopify Help Center, on shopify.dev, on Shopify’s US pricing pages, and in BigCommerce’s support articles, developer documentation and pricing page. All prices are US dollars.
Key takeaways
- Shopify’s free Store Migration app does not list BigCommerce among its eight source platforms, and Shopify’s old BigCommerce import page now redirects to its general migration guide. A BigCommerce store moves by CSV, a third-party migration app or the Shopify API.
- Passwords stay behind. BigCommerce will not export them and Shopify cannot import them. On Shopify’s new customer accounts, shoppers sign in with a one-time code, so nobody has to pick a new password.
- Orders cannot be imported into Shopify by CSV. Shopify’s guide brings in products first, customers second and historical orders last, through an app or the API.
- Shopify allows 2,048 variants per product but only three options. BigCommerce allows 600 SKUs per product and up to 250 values per option, so a product built on four or more options needs restructuring.
- Keep BigCommerce open until the new store has been checked. BigCommerce deletes a cancelled store’s data after 30 days, and it cannot be recovered.
What moves from BigCommerce to Shopify, and how
| Data | Out of BigCommerce | Into Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Products and variants | Products › Export, as CSV or XML, with the Bulk Edit template | Product CSV, a migration app or the API |
| Product images | Files live in WebDAV; their URLs are added to the CSV by hand | Image URLs in the product CSV, up to 250 per product |
| Customers | Customer CSV, without passwords | Customer CSV, up to 15 MB per file |
| Orders | Orders › Export, Default template | A migration app or the API; not by CSV |
| Gift card balances | — | A migration app or the GiftCard API |
| 301 redirects | Settings › 301 Redirects › Export All | Content › Menus › URL redirects › Import |
| Blog posts and pages | — | A migration app or the API; no CSV import |
A dash means the BigCommerce support articles we read describe no export for that data. Ask your migration app which of these it reads straight from the BigCommerce API.
Shopify’s own migration app does not cover BigCommerce
Shopify launched its free Store Migration app in July 2024. It imports products and customers from Square, WooCommerce, Etsy, Wix, Amazon, eBay, Clover and Lightspeed R/X (Vend). BigCommerce is not on that list, and the app does not move orders. The older Store Importer app is no longer available on the App Store, and the Help Center page that used to explain BigCommerce imports now sends visitors to the general Migrate to Shopify guide.
That leaves three routes, usually used together. CSV files handle products and customers. A third-party migration app can also carry orders, reviews and other records; our comparison of the best Shopify migration tools sets four of them side by side, with the data none of them move. The Shopify API covers whatever is left, including gift card balances, which Shopify’s guide sends through either an app or its GiftCard API.
Four decisions to make before the first export
1. Products with more than three options
BigCommerce’s platform limits allow 600 SKUs or variants per product and 250 values per option. Shopify’s ceiling of 2,048 variants per product is higher, but a Shopify product can only have three options. A BigCommerce product sold by size, colour, material and finish has four, so before import it has to be split into separate products, or one of those choices has to be handled outside the variant set.
Shopify’s developer changelog adds a caution: apps that have not moved to its current GraphQL product APIs may give a downgraded or broken experience on products with more than 100 variants. Ask each app you plan to keep whether it handles large variant sets before you import them.
2. Your current URL format
Check Settings › URL Structure in BigCommerce. Its default, SEO Optimized (Short), puts a product at yourdomain.com/product-name. The Long format adds /products/, /categories/ and /pages/ folders, and stores can also use a category-based or a custom pattern. On Shopify, product and collection pages sit under the fixed /products/ and /collections/ paths, so whichever format you use today, nearly every address changes. A shirt at yourdomain.com/blue-linen-shirt becomes yourdomain.com/products/blue-linen-shirt.
3. The cancellation date
BigCommerce’s support article on closing a store says the data is deleted 30 days after cancellation and is unrecoverable from then on. A cancellation has to be requested at least two business days before the next billing date, and the store stays available until the end of the billing cycle. Take every export, the redirect list included, before you cancel, and keep the plan running through the first weeks on Shopify so anything odd can be checked against the original.
4. Which customer accounts Shopify will use
Shopify’s password-based legacy customer accounts are marked deprecated, though no shutdown date is given. New customer accounts sign in with a one-time six-digit code and need no password at all. Turning them on before launch means returning customers type their email address and sign in, rather than being asked to set a password they never wanted to change.
Products and images
Export the catalog from Products › Export in BigCommerce, choosing CSV and the Bulk Edit template, which BigCommerce describes as holding the majority of exportable fields. The same article warns that some product fields do not export at all, so compare a handful of your most complicated products field by field before trusting the file.
Images take extra work. BigCommerce keeps product image files in WebDAV, and its backup guide says their URLs must be added to the CSV by hand. Shopify’s product CSV then takes up to 250 images and 250 tags per product. It does not carry variant metafields, product videos or 3D models, and it cannot create gift cards, so those are moved separately or rebuilt on the new store.
Customers and passwords
BigCommerce exports customers to CSV without their passwords; its backup article explains that exporting them would breach its PCI compliance terms. Shopify’s Help Center confirms the other half: passwords from another online store cannot be migrated with a CSV. Each customer file can be up to 15 MB, and a customer CSV cannot bring any order information with it.
On new customer accounts this costs the shopper nothing: they enter an email address, receive a code and are signed in. Stores that stay on legacy accounts have to invite each customer to set a new password, which is worth a short, plain email on launch day.
Order history
Shopify can export orders as a CSV file but cannot import them that way. Its migration guide sets the sequence: products first, then customers, then historical orders, brought in through a migration app or the API. Following that order means each imported order has a product and a customer record waiting for it. On the BigCommerce side, orders leave through Orders › Export with the Default template.
Redirects: where rankings are kept or lost
Every BigCommerce URL that has earned a link or a ranking needs a 301 redirect to its Shopify equivalent from launch day. Build the map from a crawl of the live store together with the product, category and page exports, so nothing depends on memory.
BigCommerce’s existing redirects export from Settings › 301 Redirects with Export All, as a five-column CSV. That file leaves out the HTTP-to-HTTPS redirects BigCommerce creates on its own, and it holds no wildcard rules because BigCommerce does not support them. Where an old redirect points at a page that is itself moving, send it straight to the final Shopify URL rather than stacking one redirect on top of another.
Shopify imports redirects from a CSV with “Redirect from” and “Redirect to” columns, under Content › Menus › URL redirects. The redirect limit is 100,000 per store; Shopify Plus stores get 20 million. Two rules catch people out: a redirect only fires from a URL that is broken on the Shopify store, and Shopify will not redirect away from its fixed paths, such as /products, /collections and /collections/all.
Launch week
- Place test orders with every payment method, shipping zone and discount before the domain moves.
- Point the domain at Shopify, then crawl the full list of old URLs and confirm each one returns a single 301 to a live page.
- Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console and watch its pages report for 404s over the next few weeks.
- Keep the BigCommerce plan active until product counts, customer counts, order history and redirects have all been checked against it.
What the two platforms cost while you switch
Budget for a stretch of paying both platforms, because BigCommerce has to stay open until the Shopify store has been checked. On Shopify’s US pricing page on 30 October 2026, yearly billing put Basic at $19, Grow at $49 and Advanced at $299 a month, monthly billing at $25, $65 and $399, and Shopify Plus started at $2,300 a month. BigCommerce’s pricing page the same day listed Core at $29, Growth at $79 and Scale at $299 a month billed annually ($39, $105 and $399 billed monthly), with Performance starting at $1,499 monthly under an annual contract.
For the agency side of the budget, our Shopify migration cost guide breaks prices down by platform and store size. If you are still deciding whether to leave, our Shopify vs BigCommerce comparison covers BigCommerce’s 2026 sales limits and payment provider fee.
When to get help
A store with a few hundred simple products and a short URL list can move with CSV files and a migration app. Large variant sets, years of order history, B2B price lists, gift card balances or a long redirect map each need a plan of their own. Our platform migration team runs BigCommerce to Shopify moves end to end: the data, the redirect map, the switch to new customer accounts and checks on both sides of launch.
FAQ
Can Shopify’s Store Migration app import from BigCommerce?
No. On 30 October 2026 its App Store listing named eight source platforms, Square, WooCommerce, Etsy, Wix, Amazon, eBay, Clover and Lightspeed R/X, and BigCommerce was not one of them. A BigCommerce store moves by CSV, a third-party migration app or the Shopify API.
Will customer passwords transfer from BigCommerce to Shopify?
No. BigCommerce does not export passwords and Shopify cannot import them. On Shopify’s new customer accounts, customers sign in with a one-time code and never need a password; on legacy accounts, each customer is invited to set a new one.
Can I import BigCommerce orders into Shopify?
Not with a CSV file, because Shopify’s order CSV is export only. Historical orders come in through a migration app or the API, after the products and customers they refer to have been imported.
How do I keep my Google rankings when moving from BigCommerce to Shopify?
Give every old URL a 301 redirect to its new Shopify address from launch day. Import the redirects as a CSV under Content › Menus › URL redirects, remember that a redirect only fires from a URL that is broken on Shopify, and crawl the old list once the domain has moved.
When should I cancel my BigCommerce store?
Only after the Shopify store has been checked against it. BigCommerce deletes a cancelled store’s data after 30 days with no way to recover it, and cancellation must be requested at least two business days before the next billing date. Export everything, the redirect list included, first.
Sources: Shopify’s Store Migration app listing, the Shopify Help Center on migrating to Shopify, CSV files, product CSVs, importing customers, customer accounts, URL redirects, variants and gift cards, Shopify’s variant limit changelog, Shopify’s US pricing and Plus pricing pages, and BigCommerce’s support articles on exporting products, importing and exporting customers, backing up a store, URL structure, 301 redirects, cancelling a store and platform limits, plus BigCommerce pricing, all read on 30 October 2026. Both platforms change their tools, limits and prices, so check the current pages before you start.
