REPLATFORMING GUIDE
Magento to Shopify Plus.
A practical guide for mid-market merchants planning a replatforming.
Mid-market manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are leaving Adobe Commerce (Magento) for Shopify Plus. The reasons are operational: infrastructure costs, upgrade fatigue, developer dependency, and a B2B feature gap that Shopify Plus has closed. This guide breaks down what's driving the shift, what to plan for, and how to run a migration without losing operational continuity — written by a team with 60 Magento implementations behind them.
WHY THE SHIFT IS HAPPENING
Why the shift is happening.
This isn't anti-Magento content. Adobe Commerce remains a capable platform for enterprises with dedicated technical teams and complex customization requirements. But for mid-market manufacturers, distributors, and retailers — especially those without a full-time Magento dev team — the operational weight of the platform has become harder to justify against Shopify Plus's native capabilities and lower maintenance overhead.
Total cost of ownership
Magento's infrastructure costs — hosting, security patching, performance tuning, upgrade cycles — compound annually. Whether you're on self-hosted Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce Cloud, the operational overhead is significant. Shopify Plus eliminates infrastructure management entirely with a flat, predictable cost structure.
B2B feature parity
Shopify's native B2B — Company Accounts, Catalogs, Price Lists, B2B Checkout — now covers what previously required Magento B2B Edition plus heavy customization. The gap has closed. For most mid-market B2B operations, Shopify Plus delivers equivalent capability with dramatically less maintenance.
Upgrade fatigue
Magento 2 upgrade cycles are expensive and disruptive. Each major version introduces breaking changes that ripple through custom modules and integrations. Shopify ships improvements continuously without merchant-side upgrade work — no version migrations, no extension compatibility testing, no downtime windows.
Developer dependency
Magento's PHP architecture requires specialized developers for routine changes. Theme modifications, module updates, performance optimization — all require Magento-specific expertise that's increasingly expensive and hard to source. Shopify's admin, Liquid templates, and app ecosystem give merchants more operational autonomy for day-to-day commerce operations.
None of this means every Magento merchant should migrate. But if you're already weighing it, these are the dynamics behind the trend.
CREDIBILITY
60 Magento projects. We know what you're leaving.
Before Shopify Plus, our founder Rudy Abitbol spent over a decade delivering Magento implementations — 60 projects across manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Custom modules, multi-store setups, B2B pricing logic, ERP integrations, Magento 1 to 2 upgrades. We've seen what Magento does well, where it breaks down at mid-market scale, and which patterns translate cleanly to Shopify Plus versus which ones need rethinking.
That depth matters because most agencies pitching Magento-to-Shopify migrations learned Shopify first and Magento second. We learned them in the other direction — which means we understand the assumptions baked into your Magento setup and can plan around them, not through them.
Husky Boutique
Four distinct buyer experiences on Shopify Plus — consumers, schools, enterprises, corporate programs — replacing a one-size-fits-all custom build. First-year Shopify Plus B2B launch with ServiceCentre ERP integration.
Read case study → MAGENTO · RETAIL · ECOMMERCE AUDITBicycles Quilicot
Montreal's oldest bike shop — 7 locations, 350+ brands, 10,000+ products on Magento. We delivered the eCommerce audit and the Magento-to-Shopify Plus migration roadmap.
Read case study →MIGRATION READINESS
Before you migrate, assess these eight areas.
A clean migration starts with an honest readiness assessment. These are the eight areas we audit before scoping any Magento-to-Shopify migration.
Custom modules and business logic
Which Magento modules are truly custom vs. off-the-shelf extensions? Custom business logic built in PHP needs to be re-architected — into B2B Protocol, Shopify Functions, or middleware. This is the most important scoping exercise in any Magento migration.
Catalog and pricing complexity
Multi-website, multi-store, shared catalogs, tier pricing, customer group pricing. Shopify handles most patterns natively through Catalogs and Price Lists; some edge cases — particularly complex tier pricing with quantity breaks across customer segments — need B2B Protocol.
ERP integration architecture
How does your Magento instance talk to your ERP? Direct API calls, middleware layer, scheduled sync jobs? Document every data flow. Plan the ERP integration as a peer workstream to the platform migration, not a sub-task.
Extension stack rationalization
Most Magento stores run 30–80 extensions. Audit each one: replaced by native Shopify functionality, replaced by a Shopify app equivalent, or requires custom development via B2B Protocol. Expect to shed 40–60% of the stack — many Magento extensions solve problems Shopify handles natively.
SEO equity and URL structure
Magento's URL rewrites, layered navigation URLs, and CMS page structures differ significantly from Shopify's URL patterns. A complete redirect map covering products, categories, CMS pages, and filtered navigation URLs is mandatory. Plan it before migration, not after launch.
Customer and order data migration
Customer accounts, order history, B2B company accounts, custom attributes, saved addresses, wishlists. Each data domain has its own migration pattern and validation approach. B2B company hierarchies require particular attention.
Multi-store and multi-website
Magento's multi-website architecture doesn't map 1:1 to Shopify. Plan which stores consolidate into a single Shopify Plus instance, which become separate instances, and which use Shopify Markets for international. This decision cascades into every other migration workstream.
Performance and infrastructure
Moving from self-hosted (or cloud-hosted) Magento to fully managed Shopify Plus eliminates server management, security patching, and performance tuning. Plan the DNS cutover, CDN transition, and any custom server-side logic that needs to move to Shopify Functions or external services.
MIGRATION TIMELINE
Typical timeline.
A standard mid-market Magento-to-Shopify Plus migration runs 12–24 weeks depending on custom module complexity, multi-store architecture, ERP integration scope, and data volume. Below is the typical phasing.
Discovery & readiness assessment
Module audit, extension rationalization, gap analysis, scope finalization, redirect strategy.
Build & integration
Theme build, B2B configuration, ERP integration, custom module replacement via B2B Protocol.
Data migration & QA
Products, customers, orders, B2B accounts, pricing migration. End-to-end testing across buyer segments.
Soft launch
Controlled cutover to selected accounts. Monitor, iterate, validate order flows and integrations.
Full launch & decommission
Full migration, Magento decommission, DNS cutover, post-launch support and monitoring.
B2B activation can run in parallel with the migration build, or as a follow-on engagement after launch. Once you're on Shopify Plus, B2B Launch activates native B2B — or B2B Protocol for complex operations.
COMMON PITFALLS
What goes wrong — and how to avoid it.
Reproducing Magento complexity 1:1
The biggest pitfall. Not every custom module needs to exist on Shopify. Years of Magento development accumulate inherited complexity — custom modules built for edge cases that no longer apply, workarounds for platform limitations that Shopify doesn't share. Separate necessary complexity from inherited complexity before you start building.
Underscoping the ERP integration
Teams budget for the platform migration but underestimate ERP integration as a separate workstream. Real-time pricing, inventory sync, and order flow into ERP is often where the budget overrun happens. Scope it as a peer to the platform migration, not a sub-task.
Ignoring the multi-store question
Magento multi-website does not equal Shopify Markets. If you're running multiple Magento websites or store views, the consolidation strategy needs to be planned before migration, not during. The wrong architecture decision here compounds into every other workstream.
Skipping the soft launch
Mid-market migrations with significant B2B operations should always run a soft launch phase before full cutover. A controlled rollout to 5–10 customers surfaces real-world issues that QA misses — particularly around ERP integration, pricing accuracy, and buyer-specific catalog visibility.
WHY US
Why work with Human After All on this migration.
60 Magento projects, now on Shopify Plus
We migrated ourselves. Our founder Rudy Abitbol delivered 60 Magento implementations over 18+ years before transitioning to Shopify Plus. The migration plan we deliver isn't theoretical — it's based on 60 implementations on the side you're leaving.
Operator-led, not just technical
18+ years operating B2B commerce for manufacturers and distributors. Most agencies pitching Magento-to-Shopify migrations learned Shopify first and Magento second. We learned them in the other direction — which means we plan migrations around business continuity, not just data fidelity.
B2B Protocol bridges the gap
Where Shopify Plus native doesn't cover your Magento-era workflows, B2B Protocol — our 13-module accelerator — picks up. Custom buyer portals, ERP-driven pricing, multi-segment routing. Same team, same methodology, no second-vendor handoff.
NEXT STEP
Planning a Magento migration?
A discovery call is the right starting point. We'll review your current Magento setup, map the migration risk profile, and align on scope, sequencing, and timing. No assessment fee. No pressure to commit.
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