Shoptet to Shopify migration

The typical trigger is cross-border expansion from CZ/SK into Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary or wider EU markets. Shoptet is built around the Czech and Slovak market: its add-ons, payment and shipping partners and support focus there. Shopify offers a global app ecosystem, Shopify Markets for selling in several countries from one store, and more freedom in theme design through Liquid.

It is not always the right move. If most revenue stays in Czechia and Slovakia and the store depends on Heureka, Czech carriers, cash on delivery and a Czech ERP, Shoptet may still be the cheaper platform to run, because on Shopify each of those needs an app, a connector or custom work. We map those costs in the assessment.

Shoptet is a closed SaaS platform with no database access. Data comes out through its CSV and XML exports for products, orders and customers, and through its API where your plan provides access. What each export contains depends on the plan, the add-ons in use and how fields were filled over the years, so the audit starts with a full export and a check of what is missing: product parameters, variant-level data, related products, custom texts, order detail and customer consent fields.

We also collect the live URL set by crawling the store, because Shoptet's export does not tell you everything search engines have indexed. Data that cannot be exported is identified early and rebuilt, archived or dropped by agreement.

Shoptet products with variants map to Shopify products with variants, but Shopify allows up to three option dimensions per product. Shoptet variant parameters beyond that, or parameters used only for filtering and product information (material, brand line, compatibility), move into Shopify metafields and are connected to Shopify's Search & Discovery filters where needed.

Shoptet uses a category tree, and products can sit in several categories. Shopify has no native category tree: it uses collections, manual or automated by rules such as tags, vendor or product type, and navigation menus that recreate the hierarchy visually. We rebuild the tree as collections plus menus.

Czech product names and descriptions come over as the default language content. Handles are generated consistently from the product names without diacritics, and the old-to-new URL pairs are stored for the redirect map. Images are transferred at full resolution with alt text.

Customer records, billing and shipping addresses, company details (IČO and DIČ for business customers) and newsletter consent are imported into Shopify. Consent is carried over exactly as recorded, which matters under GDPR.

Passwords cannot be migrated. Shopify does not accept password imports from another platform, so customers set a new password or sign in through Shopify's customer accounts after launch. We plan the activation message and its timing with you, in the customer's language.

Order history is imported as historical orders linked to customers, with items, prices, VAT, shipping, payment method and status, and the original Shoptet order number kept as a reference. Notifications are suppressed during import. Invoice documents generated by Shoptet stay as archived records; Shopify does not re-issue them.

Shopify uses fixed URL prefixes: /products/{handle}, /collections/{handle}, /pages/{handle} and /blogs/{blog}/{handle}. Shoptet paths do not follow these patterns, so practically every indexed URL changes and needs a 301 redirect. We confirm the real Shoptet URL patterns from a crawl rather than assuming them, then build the map from crawl data, Search Console, the XML sitemap and backlinks.

The map covers products, variant URLs where they exist, categories, articles, static pages, manufacturer pages and filter or parameter URLs that earned traffic. Redirects are added in Shopify admin under URL redirects (or imported in bulk) and apply when the old path no longer exists on Shopify, which is the case for Shoptet paths.

Before launch we test the map on the new store; after launch we crawl again, submit the sitemap and monitor Search Console coverage for the Czech and Slovak properties. Redirects protect URL continuity and existing link value; they cannot guarantee rankings, and we do not promise them.

This is where Shoptet-to-Shopify projects are won or lost. Product feeds for Heureka and Zboží.cz, often including delivery times, categories and CPC settings, are generated by Shoptet. On Shopify they come from a feed app or a feed-management tool, and the category mapping, availability logic and Heureka review integration (Ověřeno zákazníky) need to be rebuilt and validated before launch.

Czech and Slovak carriers such as Zásilkovna (Packeta), PPL, DPD, Česká pošta and Balíkovna need Shopify apps or custom integration for rates, pickup-point selection at checkout and label printing. Pickup-point selection in Shopify's checkout depends on the app and the Shopify plan, so we test the exact flow. Cash on delivery is available as a manual payment method, but a COD surcharge usually needs an app. Local payment gateways must be checked for Shopify support.

Shoptet issues invoices natively. Shopify does not produce Czech tax documents in the expected format on its own, so invoicing moves to an invoicing app, an online invoicing service or your ERP. ERP and warehouse connections (for example Pohoda or Money S3) need a Shopify connector or middleware. We list every integration, confirm the replacement and test it end to end on staging with real orders.

Shoptet stores that sell in several languages or currencies usually run language versions or separate projects per country. Shopify Markets groups countries into markets with their own currency, pricing, languages and domain or subfolder (for example /sk or a separate .de domain). Translations are managed through Shopify's Translate & Adapt app, CSV import or a translation app, and Shopify outputs hreflang for published languages and markets, which we verify after launch.

We design the market structure before migrating: which countries share a market, whether prices are fixed per market or converted, how VAT-inclusive prices are shown, and how existing Slovak or other foreign-language URLs redirect into the new structure.

Audit: full Shoptet exports, crawl, add-on and integration inventory (feeds, carriers, payments, invoicing, ERP), and the target market plan. Mapping: a signed-off data map for products, parameters, categories, customers, orders, content, URLs and integrations.

Trial migration: a complete import into the Shopify store with counts compared against Shoptet and a hand check of edge cases: products with many variants, sets, items without stock, business customers, orders with discounts. Feeds and carrier flows are tested on the trial data. Automation compares; a person approves. Sign-off: you test storefront, checkout, emails, invoices and admin work.

Launch: a short freeze on Shoptet, delta migration of new orders, customers and stock, domain switch, redirect activation, feed switch and live test orders. Post-launch QA: redirect crawl, Search Console, feed validation in Heureka and Zboží.cz, order-to-invoice-to-ERP checks. Keep the Shoptet account active until exports are archived and the new flows are confirmed.

Passwords do not transfer. Shoptet add-on data may not be exportable. Some local services (carriers, gateways, invoicing formats) depend on third-party Shopify apps whose quality and pricing vary, and a few may require custom development. Shopify's three-option variant model changes how complex Shoptet products are structured. Running costs change from one Shoptet plan to a Shopify plan plus several apps, which should be priced before the decision.