Table of Contents
- Why Convert Your Shopify Theme to WordPress?
- Challenges of Shopify to WordPress Migration
- How Can You Convert the Shopify Theme to WordPress?
- How to Manage Shopify to WordPress Theme Conversion?
- Can You Convert the Shopify Theme to WordPress By Yourself?
- How to Hire an Agency That Can Convert Your Shopify Theme to WordPress?
- Conclusion
- How WPPRO can help convert Shopify to WordPress?
Thinking of moving from Shopify to WordPress? You’re not alone.
At WPPRO, we work closely with eCommerce brands frustrated with Shopify’s rising costs and limitations. We specialise in both WordPress and Shopify development, so we know the landscape inside out.
Let’s be honest: Shopify isn’t cheap. It feels affordable at first, but costs add up fast.
You could end up paying annually around $840 to $3600 just to manage a simple eCommerce store.
It can quickly eat into your profit.
And we all know eCommerce is a very competitive space, where you’re often running on thin profit margins.
That’s not all, there’s the issue of limitations. Shopify themes are difficult to customise, and there aren’t as many plugins or the flexibility to manage your site exactly the way you want.
For many eCommerce stores that have outgrown Shopify, switching to WooCommerce on WordPress makes sense.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through exactly how to convert your Shopify theme to WordPress, step by step.
Let’s get into it.
Why Convert Your Shopify Theme to WordPress?
When you move from Shopify to WordPress, chances are you’ll want to keep your Shopify website’s look and feel.
And there are plenty of good reasons for that.
1. Familiar Design for Customers:
When you switch from Shopify to WooCommerce, keeping the same existing theme helps your customers recognise your brand.
The colours, layout, and overall look are part of your visual identity. Changing them can confuse returning customers and reduce brand recall.
2. Avoid Customer Confusion
If you change the design too much, it might feel like a completely different website.
That can lead to hesitation, or even trust issues.
Keeping your old custom theme reduces this risk and ensures a smooth transition between the two platforms.
3. Tested and Optimised Theme:
Your current Shopify theme has likely been tested and tweaked over time. You already know how people use your site what they click, what they ignore, and what gets them to buy.
Keeping the same theme means you don’t lose the CRO work you’ve already done. You won’t need to re-test everything from scratch.
4. Retain Familiar Buyer Journeys:
Your customer journey on Shopify has been refined over time. Visitors know how to browse, where to find products, and how to check out.
That entire flow is familiar and optimised.
Keeping the same design on WordPress ensures that nothing disrupts the buyer experience.
5. Faster Migration Process:
Recreating your Shopify theme on WordPress is much easier than starting from a blank canvas.
You already know what works, so you don’t need to waste time deciding on a layout or look.
With the right tools like WP Shopify or a migration tool, you can move faster. Focus on migrating your Shopify data, not designing a brand-new theme.
6. Reduced Development Time:
Building a custom theme from scratch takes time. There’s a lot of back-and-forth between design and development.
By reusing your old theme, you skip that phase entirely.
That means a faster launch, fewer decisions, and more time to focus on things like third-party plugins, SEO, and inventory management.
In short, keeping your previous Shopify theme when you migrate to WordPress:
- Ensures brand consistency
- Protects your existing CRO gains
- Makes your migration smoother and faster
It also means less time spent on design and more time focused on what really matters, growing your WooCommerce store.
Read More: WooCommerce vs Shopify – eCommerce Store Comparison Cost
Challenges of Shopify to WordPress Migration
1. Different Programming Languages
Shopify uses Liquid, which is based on Ruby. WordPress runs on PHP.
That’s a fundamental difference. The backend logic works in completely different ways on the two platforms.
Converting a theme isn’t just copying and pasting code. You need to restructure it for PHP, making sure the theme works seamlessly within the WordPress dashboard and structure.
To convert a theme properly, you’ll need deep knowledge of both languages. Otherwise, it can become a daunting task and lead to a broken or poorly optimised new website.
2. Design Conversion Process
Even if you know how to code, design conversion is a big step.
First, you need to extract all the design elements from your Shopify theme. This usually means recreating it in Figma or another design tool to serve as a reference.
Once that’s done, the next step is turning your design files into actual WordPress templates.
This means writing PHP to match your old Shopify layout, structure, and style.
It’s a detailed process that takes time, especially if you’re trying to retain the original web design and make it look identical to the Shopify version.
3. Dealing with Custom Features
Many Shopify apps or built-in features won’t transfer over directly.
To recreate these features on WordPress:
- You’ll need to rebuild them using PHP
- You may have to find third-party plugins that match the Shopify functionality
- Some features may require full custom development
For example, displaying Shopify products dynamically, exporting order data, or managing checkouts might require both a plugin and extra coding work.
You’ll also have to consider how to migrate Shopify content, such as product data, via a CSV file, and ensure it integrates well with WooCommerce.
It’s important to understand the do and don’t of website migration before you get on with it.
How Can You Convert the Shopify Theme to WordPress?
Converting your Shopify theme to WordPress isn’t an easy task, especially if you lack technical knowledge.
However, with the right approach, you can transfer your Shopify design to a new WooCommerce setup.
Here’s a clear, step-by-step process to help guide you through it.
Step 1: Create a WordPress-based Website
- Buy a hosting plan from a provider like SiteGround, Bluehost, or WP Engine. This is where your new WordPress website will live.
- Install WordPress using your hosting provider’s one-click installer. This usually takes just a few minutes.
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard using the login credentials provided.
- Choose a starter theme (optional) or plan to upload a new WordPress theme later that matches your Shopify design.
- Update your domain settings so that your existing store’s domain now points to your new WordPress website.
- At this point, your new site is live and ready for the next step.
Step 2: Backup Your Shopify Store
- Log in to your Shopify admin panel.
- Go to Products → Export, and download your product data as a CSV file.
- Repeat this for Customers, Orders, and other important data.
- Also, download all product images, homepage banners, and any other visual content.
- Use a plugin like “WP All Import” or “WP Shopify” to assist with data migration later.
- Save all files in one folder.
Step 3: Customise Your WooCommerce Website
- Take screenshots of your Shopify site to reference later.
- Use a design tool like Figma, Adobe XD, or even Canva to recreate the layout and style.
- Focus on Header and navigation layout, homepage sections (e.g. hero image, featured products), product page layout as well as fonts, colours, and button styles
- If you’re not a designer, consider hiring one to recreate your Shopify design for use in WordPress.
- This will be your visual blueprint to build a new design that looks like your old site.
Step 4: Develop the Front-End Theme
- Give your design to a developer or agency that specialises in WordPress theme development.
- The theme will be coded using HTML, CSS, PHP, and optionally JavaScript.
- Make sure the developer builds the theme to match your Shopify layout exactly and integrates the WooCommerce plugin.
- If you’re using a page builder (see next step), you can ask them to build it using the builder’s blocks instead of custom code.
Step 5: Set Up Page Builders
- Install a page builder plugin like Elementor, Beaver Builder, or Divi.
- These let you update the site using drag-and-drop functionality without any coding.
- Start with the homepage sections, then update the product layouts and the landing pages for sales or promos.
- This gives you more customisation without needing to call a developer every time.
Step 6: Import Shopify Data into WooCommerce
- Set up payment gateways, shipping methods, and tax rules inside WooCommerce.
- Install the WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress site.
- Use tools like WP All Import, Cart2Cart, or WP Shopify to import products (from your CSV file), product images, categories and tags
- After import, double-check that prices, SKUs, descriptions, and stock levels are correct.
- Test a few product pages to make sure everything looks right.
Step 7: Optimise Your Site for Performance and SEO
- Install WordPress plugins like Rank Math or Yoast for SEO optimisation, Google Site Kit for Analytics and Search Console and LiteSpeed or WP Rocket for speed and caching.
Step 8: Set Up Domain Migration and Redirects
- If you haven’t yet, update your domain DNS to point to the new site.
- Use a plugin like “Redirection” to set up 301 redirects from your old Shopify URLs to the new WordPress URLs. This is crucial to avoid broken links and data loss on your website.
- Test your redirects using tools like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console.
Step 9: Final Testing Before Launch
- Go through your new site on desktop, tablet, and mobile.
- Test the add to cart, checkout and payment gateways and contact forms
Read More: 50+ Best WordPress eCommerce Themes For 2024
How to Manage Shopify to WordPress Theme Conversion?
If You Have Coding Skills
If you’re proficient in both Liquid and PHP, you can attempt the conversion yourself. Here’s how:
- Step 1: Extract the Theme Details: Start by carefully analysing your Shopify theme. Break it down into components and note how each part functions (header, footer, product pages, etc.).
- Step 2: Convert Design to Figma (or any design tool): This step involves taking the Shopify theme and recreating it visually in Figma. You’ll use this as a blueprint to create the corresponding elements in WordPress.
- Step 3: Recode in PHP: Now comes the challenging part. Converting your Figma designs into PHP code. This involves creating WordPress templates for each page, styling them with CSS, and ensuring the site works seamlessly.
- Step 4: Test and Optimise: Once the initial conversion is done, you’ll need to rigorously test your site to ensure all features work properly and that the web design looks consistent across devices.
If You Can’t Code or Don’t Have Time
If you lack the technical skills or simply don’t have the time to handle the conversion yourself, hiring an agency is a smart move.
- Expect Costs: Converting a Shopify theme to a WordPress theme is considered custom design work. Agencies typically charge anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 AUD, depending on the complexity of your Shopify store and the level of customisation required.
- Agency Process: The agency will handle everything for you, from extracting your Shopify theme details to coding them into a functional WordPress theme. They’ll ensure all custom features are replicated, and the design matches your brand identity perfectly.
- Quality Assurance: A good agency will also handle testing and quality assurance checks to make sure everything works as expected on the WordPress platform. This allows you to focus on running your business while they take care of the technical work.
If speed is a concern on your Shopify site, check out our guide on how to increase Shopify store speed before switching!
Can You Convert the Shopify Theme to WordPress By Yourself?
Converting a Shopify theme to WordPress is particularly challenging for beginners. If you have a background in development and the time to dedicate to building a theme from scratch, it’s possible but quite intricate. The primary difficulty lies in the backend.
Shopify offers certain built-in features that aren’t readily available on WordPress. To replicate these features, you’ll need to either install plugins or develop custom functions on your WooCommerce site.
The question then becomes: can you convert the Shopify theme to WordPress by yourself?
The answer depends on your skills and confidence. If you know how to code, have the time to dedicate to the project, and are familiar with all the features of your Shopify store, then yes, you can undertake the conversion yourself.
However, this means not only handling the design but also replicating the functionality of your Shopify store in WordPress. This will require understanding how to work with PHP, customising WordPress to fit your needs, and ensuring all features operate as they did in Shopify.
If, on the other hand, you’re not confident in your ability to replicate the Shopify theme and its features in WordPress, it’s better to seek help.
Hiring an agency or a freelancer who specialises in WordPress development might be the best option. If its a one time job, hiring a web developer will also do the job.
If you are a business in Sydney or Melbourne, reach out to our WooCommerce developers in Sydney and Melbourne.
How to Hire an Agency That Can Convert Your Shopify Theme to WordPress?
When hiring an agency, do your homework.
Check their portfolio to see if they’ve successfully converted Shopify themes to WordPress. Ask how many themes they’ve worked on and what types of eCommerce designs they’ve replicated.
You don’t want your website to be an experiment. You need a team that knows exactly what they’re doing.
We’ve been developing WordPress websites and converting Shopify themes to WordPress for years. We understand the common challenges that small businesses and online stores face during the process.
Even after launch, issues like downtime, slow speed, or broken features can happen. That’s why many agencies (including us) offer post-launch maintenance to fix any problems quickly.
Before migrating, make sure you understand the difference between Shopify and Shopify Plus as it can affect your migration strategy. Read the full breakdown!
Things to Consider when Choosing a Web Agency for Shopify Theme Conversion:
- Check their previous designs: Focus on agencies with experience in eCommerce, especially those that have worked on Shopify to WordPress conversions. Their past work is a good indicator of how well they can handle your project.
- Ask about pricing: The cost typically ranges from $15,000 to $50,000 AUD, depending on your website’s complexity. Simpler Shopify websites will cost less, but if your website requires more development hours, expect higher fees.
- Review their developers’ skills: During your discussions with the agency, ask about their developers’ expertise. What types of projects have they handled before? If they’ve worked on eCommerce sites, that’s a good sign. However, make sure to clarify in which markets or regions they have experience.
Read More: How to Migrate from Webflow to WordPress
Conclusion
Converting a Shopify theme to WordPress is challenging but possible. Experienced developers can do it themselves using our step-by-step guide. Others should consider hiring freelancers or agencies.
The shift from Shopify to WordPress is a logical one, especially if they are paying thousands for website hosting. This shift will potentially increase the sales and operational efficiency of the eCommerce store.
Whether you DIY or outsource the conversion of a Shopify to WordPress theme, you now have the information at hand to help you get started.
How WPPRO can help convert Shopify to WordPress?
WPPRO can assist businesses in smoothly converting Shopify stores to WordPress by providing expert WordPress migration services tailored to specific business needs. We ensure that all product data, customer information, and design elements are seamlessly transferred while maintaining the website’s functionality.
We don’t just migrate your store. We rebuild it for speed, flexibility, and long-term growth. As experts in both WordPress and Shopify development, we know how to get it right, the first time. No restrictions. No hidden costs. Just high-performance eCommerce built for your goals.
Need Shopify migration from another platform?
We provide Shopify migration services from all platforms, whether you’re on Wix, BigCommerce, Magento, or anything else, we’ve got you covered.
