Why merchants move off Shoptet
Shoptet is a solid, easy-to-run platform for CZ/SK merchants, but it's regionally focused - its app marketplace, payment and shipping integrations and multi-currency/multi-language tools are built primarily around that market. Merchants expanding beyond Czechia and Slovakia often find Shopify's global app ecosystem, its native multi-currency and multi-language tooling through Shopify Markets, and its broader third-party integration base a better fit for cross-border growth.
Design flexibility is another common driver: Shoptet's theme customization is more constrained than Shopify's Liquid-based theme system, so merchants wanting a highly custom storefront design or deeper checkout customization (available to Shopify Plus merchants) often find Shopify gives them more room to build exactly what they want.
Getting data out of a closed platform
Unlike open-source platforms where you can query the database directly, Shoptet doesn't give direct database access - product, order and customer data has to come out through Shoptet's export tools (CSV/XML exports) and its API. That means the migration's data-extraction step depends on what Shoptet's export and API surface actually exposes, and any data that isn't accessible through those channels (certain custom fields, historical order metadata) needs to be identified early, since it can't simply be pulled from a database dump the way it can from a self-hosted platform.
Product data, categories and variants
Shoptet's product model, like most SaaS platforms, uses parameters/variants for product options such as size or color. Mapping these onto Shopify's variant system (capped at three option dimensions) is usually more direct than migrating from a platform with an arbitrary custom-attribute model, though any Shoptet parameters used more for descriptive filtering than true variants are better placed in Shopify metafields. Shoptet's category structure also needs review against Shopify's flatter, collection-based model rather than being copied as a literal tree.
URLs, localization and apps
Shoptet URLs follow platform-specific conventions and need to be mapped to Shopify's fixed patterns (/products/{handle}, /collections/{handle}). Each relevant indexed page needs an agreed destination and, when its address changes, a 301 redirect to preserve URL continuity and reduce avoidable SEO risk. If the store sells in multiple languages or currencies, the target Shopify Markets setup must be designed and tested because it differs from Shoptet's localization. Shoptet marketplace apps and integrations (payment gateways, shipping carriers, marketing tools) also need individual evaluation against Shopify's ecosystem to confirm an equivalent exists or a custom build is needed.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get my product and order data out of Shoptet?
Through Shoptet's CSV/XML export tools and its API - there's no direct database access since it's a closed SaaS platform. We identify early which data types are actually exportable and flag anything that isn't before scoping the migration.
Will my Shoptet URLs redirect automatically to Shopify?
No. Shopify's URL structure is fixed and different from Shoptet's, so every indexed Shoptet URL needs an explicit 301 redirect to its Shopify equivalent, which matters especially for CZ/SK search visibility built up over time.
Can Shopify handle multi-language and multi-currency selling like Shoptet does?
Yes, through Shopify Markets, but it's configured differently from Shoptet's built-in localization - it needs to be set up deliberately to replicate your existing multi-market setup rather than assumed to work the same way out of the box.
Why move from Shoptet to Shopify if both are hosted SaaS platforms?
The usual drivers are reach and flexibility rather than hosting burden - Shopify's global app ecosystem, broader payment and shipping integrations for cross-border selling, and more theme and checkout customization options for stores that have outgrown Shoptet's more regionally-focused toolset.