BigCommerce to WooCommerce Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide for a Seamless Transition

Business Apr 23, 2025 21 Add to Reading List

If your current eCommerce store runs on BigCommerce but you’re feeling limited by its proprietary setup or monthly pricing, you’re not alone. Many online sellers eventually outgrow BigCommerce and look toward more flexible, cost-effective solutions like WooCommerce. With its open-source nature, deep customization options, and robust plugin ecosystem, WooCommerce offers a powerful platform to grow your business.

But before you take the leap, it’s essential to understand the BigCommerce to WooCommerce migration process. This step-by-step guide will help you move your store safely and efficiently while minimizing downtime and avoiding data loss.

Why Migrate from BigCommerce to WooCommerce?

BigCommerce is a reliable platform—but WooCommerce brings some key advantages:

Cost Control: WooCommerce is free to use, and you pay only for hosting and plugins you choose.
Customization: Thousands of plugins and themes offer limitless design and functionality options.
Open-Source Freedom: You own your store and data, with no platform lock-in.
SEO Capabilities: WordPress (which powers WooCommerce) is highly SEO-friendly.
Scalability: WooCommerce scales with your business—from small shops to enterprise-level solutions.

If you’ve decided to migrate BigCommerce to WooCommerce, here’s how to do it step by step.

Step 1: Plan Your Migration

Before jumping into the technical process, define what needs to be migrated and your expected outcomes.

What Should You Migrate?

Products (titles, SKUs, images, descriptions)
Categories and tags
Customer accounts
Orders and order history
Coupons
Blog content (if applicable)
CMS pages (About Us, Contact, etc.)

List your current store features, apps, and functionalities so you can find WooCommerce equivalents during or after the move.

Step 2: Set Up Your WooCommerce Store

To import BigCommerce to WooCommerce, you first need a WooCommerce-ready website.

What You'll Need:

Hosting: Choose a reliable WordPress host (e.g., SiteGround, Bluehost, WP Engine).
Install WordPress: Most hosts offer 1-click WordPress installation.
Install WooCommerce: From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New > search for “WooCommerce” and install.
Choose a Theme: Pick a WooCommerce-compatible theme to match your branding.
Install Key Plugins: Add any plugins required for SEO, security, backups, etc.

Step 3: Backup Your BigCommerce Store

Before migrating, ensure your data is safe.

Use BigCommerce’s native export tool to download CSVs of products, customers, and orders.
Save product images and media files.
Back up any custom scripts, theme files, or design assets.

If something goes wrong during the migration, you’ll have all your data safe and retrievable.

Step 4: Use an Automated Migration Tool

Manually moving data is time-consuming and prone to errors. For a streamlined BigCommerce to WooCommerce migration, consider using automated tools such as:

Cart2Cart
LitExtension
FG BigCommerce to WooCommerce (WordPress plugin)

Benefits of Automation:

No technical skills required
Minimal store downtime
Accurate transfer of data (products, orders, customers, etc.)
Optional add-ons (like SEO URLs or image migration)

How It Works:

Connect Your Stores: Enter the URLs and credentials for your BigCommerce and WooCommerce stores.
Select Data to Migrate: Choose what you want to move—products, orders, customers, etc.
Run a Demo Migration: This tests how the data will be transferred.
Start Full Migration: When satisfied, begin the full data transfer.

These tools typically cost between $69 and $500 depending on store size.

Step 5: Verify and Clean Your Data

Once you import BigCommerce to WooCommerce, carefully review everything:

Check that all products are displaying correctly.
Verify customer accounts and order history.
Review categories, tags, and URLs for accuracy.
Ensure product images are properly linked and displayed.

Manually adjust any broken links or formatting issues during this phase.

Step 6: Set Up Functional Equivalents

Your BigCommerce store might use specific features or apps that don’t directly translate to WooCommerce. Now’s the time to find WooCommerce versions.

Common Replacements:

Product filters: Use “WOOF – WooCommerce Products Filter”
SEO tools: Use “Rank Math” or “Yoast SEO”
Email marketing: Use “MailPoet,” “Klaviyo,” or “Mailchimp for WooCommerce”
Analytics: Integrate Google Analytics with “MonsterInsights” or similar tools
Shipping & Tax Plugins: Use “WooCommerce Shipping” or “TaxJar”

WooCommerce’s large plugin ecosystem means there’s usually an alternative for most BigCommerce features.

Step 7: Test Your WooCommerce Store

Before going live, thoroughly test your new WooCommerce site.

What to Check:

Checkout process (test with live and sandbox payment)
Product page display and cart functionality
Search and filter options
Customer login and registration
Mobile responsiveness
Site speed and performance

Use a staging site if you want to test without affecting your live domain.

Step 8: Redirect URLs and Preserve SEO

Preserving your SEO rankings is critical when switching platforms. Use 301 redirects to send users and search engines from old BigCommerce URLs to the new WooCommerce ones.

How to Set Up Redirects:

Use the “Redirection” plugin in WordPress
Create a list of old URLs and their new equivalents
Set permanent (301) redirects to ensure SEO value transfers

Also, resubmit your sitemap to Google Search Console to speed up reindexing.

Step 9: Launch Your WooCommerce Store

Once everything looks good:

Update your DNS settings to point your domain to your new host.
Announce the relaunch via email or social media.
Monitor traffic, performance, and sales for the first few days.

If you run into issues, keep your backups and BigCommerce store intact temporarily for quick fixes.

Step 10: Post-Migration Maintenance

After the BigCommerce to WooCommerce migration, plan for regular store maintenance:

Backup your site weekly (or daily if you run a high-volume store)
Update plugins, themes, and WooCommerce core
Monitor performance with tools like GTMetrix or Google PageSpeed Insights
Continue optimizing for SEO and customer experience

What If You Need to Reverse Migrate?

While rare, some users later decide to migrate WooCommerce to BigCommerce due to scalability or preference for a hosted solution. Most migration tools offer both directions, but WooCommerce to BigCommerce is often more complex due to WooCommerce's flexible data structure. Always test migrations before committing to a switch.

Final Thoughts

Migrating from BigCommerce to WooCommerce may seem daunting at first, but with the right plan, tools, and support, it can be a smooth and rewarding transition. The key is preparation: know what to move, how to move it, and how to verify your new store's performance post-launch.

Whether you want to migrate BigCommerce to WooCommerce for flexibility, better SEO, or cost savings, this step-by-step guide gives you a reliable roadmap for a successful transformation.