WooCommerce to Shopify Migration Case Study

How Erre Esse moved to Shopify and took control of its online store

Erre Esse wanted an online store its team could confidently manage themselves. We migrated approximately 450 products from WooCommerce to Shopify, rebuilt the navigation and collection structure, and provided practical training using the boutique’s own store.

The project combined an SEO-focused migration with improvements to fulfilment, customer emails and everyday merchandising. The new store was confirmed live on 11 September 2026.

~450

Products migrated

From WooCommerce to Shopify

1,183

Active email subscribers migrated

Aligned with existing Shopify customer records

695

Legacy URLs redirected

Connecting existing links to the new Shopify store

The client

An established Carlow boutique ready for more independence

Erre Esse is an independent fashion boutique in Carlow with more than 20 years in business. Its customers value a carefully selected mix of designers, seasonal styles and personal service, both in store and online.

Ireland is its primary market, with customers also served in the UK and European Union. Designers such as Essentiel Antwerp are an important part of its offering and existing search visibility.

Client: Erre Esse

Industry: Designer womenswear

Location: Carlow, Ireland

Platform: WooCommerce to Shopify

Catalogue: Approximately 450 products migrated

Launch confirmed: 11 September 2026

Services: Store migration, site architecture, collection SEO, integrations and training

The challenge

Making everyday merchandising easier while protecting search visibility

The team wanted to upload products, change prices, run promotions and introduce designers without needing outside help for routine updates. A busy fashion catalogue made that independence particularly important.

The existing navigation relied heavily on season codes such as AW26. We replaced these with clearer shopping categories and a more consistent structure for clothing, designers, accessories and clearance. Existing search visibility for the boutique and key designers needed attention throughout the transition.

Site search and customer order notifications also needed improvement. The new store had to make shopping easier and give the team a more practical way to manage orders and communicate with customers.

Move Erre Esse to Shopify with the aim of protecting valuable existing search visibility, establishing a clearer foundation for organic growth and enabling the team to manage everyday store operations confidently.

Our approach

01. Coordinate the data migration and launch

Our team used Matrixify to migrate products, customer records, orders and existing content. An initial import provided the data needed to build the Shopify store while the WooCommerce store continued trading.

A second import shortly before launch brought the catalogue up to date. We coordinated a pause on catalogue changes and worked with Ann Marie on stock checks after launch to reconcile inventory across online and in-store sales.

02. Rebuild the structure around how customers shop

We rebuilt the homepage and organised navigation around clothing types and designers, replacing internal season codes. Collection filters made larger ranges easier to browse, while collection pages received updated titles, meta descriptions, headings and copy.

We created 695 redirects to connect legacy URLs with the new store and submitted the Shopify sitemap to Google Search Console. Product SEO remained with Erre Esse, supported by training for its frequently changing catalogue.

03. Simplify operations and train the team

We connected DPD so the team could process orders and print labels from Shopify, configured customer notifications and introduced Judge.me product reviews. We also aligned Mailchimp records with Shopify’s customer database, preserving customer data and importing 1,183 active subscribers.

Store-specific Loom videos and written guides helped the team learn everyday tasks, from adding products and designers to updating collections, prices and navigation. Training also covered order processing and image optimisation.

The results

A store the team can manage, with stronger foundations for growth

Ann Marie is now uploading products, changing prices and sending newsletters herself. The team has practical training resources to revisit as it learns, with ongoing support available.

Fulfilment and email marketing are managed more centrally in Shopify. Removing the approximately €100 monthly Mailchimp subscription reduced a recurring cost while introducing customer communication automations the store had not previously used.

The store launched ahead of the client’s recalled mid-September target. Search Console monitoring and Ahrefs audits continue as part of post-launch support, with indexing issues reviewed and addressed as they arise. Longer-term organic performance will need to be assessed once sufficient comparable data is available.

A complete Shopify store, with years of customer and order history carried across

We built Erre Esse’s complete Shopify store and shopping experience, migrating its catalogue, customer records and order history while rebuilding navigation and collections.

We imported approximately 450 products, over 2,000 customer records and 6,400 orders, mapped 85 collections and created 695 redirects linking legacy URLs to the new Shopify store.

We also recreated 121 gift cards in Shopify and emailed them to customers, helping carry existing customer commitments across the transition. A new product feed was set up and submitted to Google Merchant Centre.

Source: Shopify redirect export supplied on 5 October 2026. Contains 695 unique source URLs mapped to destination URLs.

Early search visibility is being recorded

The supplied Search Console Insights screenshot reports approximately 1,650 clicks and 14,200 impressions for its displayed last-28-days period.

A reliable pre-migration baseline was unavailable. These figures provide an early reporting snapshot; the displayed previous-period zeros must not be interpreted as evidence of growth from zero. The rolling period may also include days around the migration.

Source: Google Search Console Insights screenshot supplied on 4 October 2026, displaying the last 28 days. Figures are rounded. No verified pre-migration comparison is available.

Client perspective

Move to Shopify with a clear plan for SEO and your team

Planning a move from WooCommerce to Shopify? We can help coordinate the migration, prioritise valuable existing pages, improve your store structure and equip your team to manage the new store. Talk to Oglesby Media about your catalogue, timeline and goals.

Discuss your project Explore Shopify SEO services