Catalogue Architecture
Part of Replatforming an online store
Exporting products, customers and order history
Plan separate product, customer and order exports, check import limits, and reconcile the records after transfer.
Export products, customers and orders as separate datasets, then check what the destination can import and use. Before a store move, decide which records must appear in the new admin, which can stay in a searchable archive, and how staff will match old identifiers to new ones.
Specify the transfer
For each dataset, record source, destination, owner, format, import route and comparison check. Set a cut-off time and a method to capture changes made after the first export.
| Dataset | Preserve or account for | Check after transfer |
|---|---|---|
| Products | Saleable item, SKU, price, options and status | A difficult variant displays and orders correctly |
| Inventory | Quantity by the location or system that owns it | Available quantity agrees with that source |
| Images and files | Required media and its product association | Files still load after the old store is retired |
| Customers | Profile, addresses and supported account fields | Sample profiles match without unwanted duplicates |
| Orders | Lines, totals, dates, payment and fulfilment states, original identifier | Staff can find and interpret a past purchase |
List custom fields and app-managed data separately. A column in an export does not mean the destination imports or displays it. Record any account feature that needs separate migration or reset, such as sign-in or customer-visible order history.
Check the tools at both ends
Before choosing an export or import route, check the destination documentation for product, inventory, customer and order capabilities. Verify how product images transfer, whether inventory is recorded by location, which customer fields are supported, and whether historical orders can be imported.
WooCommerce includes a built-in product CSV tool. Check its documented schema and review the saved CSV before importing. WooCommerce documents separate extensions for customer and order CSV exports and imports; confirm the installed extension, format and field mapping before promising a transfer, because these are not features of the core product CSV tool.
Key Export and Import Requirements by Platform
- WooCommerce Product CSV
- Built-in tool; check documented schema at https://woocommerce.com/document/product-csv-importer-exporter/
- Shopify Product Export
- Supported via admin; includes inventory and image handling
- Shopify Customer Export
- Available in admin; supports address and account data
- Shopify Order Export
- Historical orders can be exported and imported with care
Compare records after a sample import
Start with a simple product, a variant with its own SKU, a product with several images, a customer with more than one address, and an order with several lines or a refund. Compare each source record with the destination's product page, customer view and staff order view. Record missing fields and mapping corrections.
Keep an old-to-new identifier crosswalk. If the destination assigns a new internal ID, preserve the original order number or another retrievable reference. Check whether historical orders enter a live fulfilment queue or cause notifications. WooCommerce's import-suite documentation warns that repeated uploads can result in duplicate order records, so check for duplicates before importing again.
WooCommerce's order import suite can map orders to existing users and order items to existing products by SKU or product_id. Verify the referenced records and mappings before importing orders. After the first run, capture and reconcile records created during the change window.
Keep export files accessible only to people who need them, and assign a retention owner; customer addresses and purchase history may be present. Sign off when staff can find and understand the agreed records and know where to look for exceptions that remain in an archive.
