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Migrating from PrestaShop to WooCommerce

PrestaShop is a dedicated e-commerce architecture by design. WooCommerce is a plugin that extends WordPress, a general-purpose CMS. That structural difference changes what a migration transfers cleanly and what it forces you to rebuild.

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A dedicated architecture versus an extended CMS

PrestaShop was designed from the outset for e-commerce, with dedicated tables for products, variations and orders. WooCommerce, by contrast, is a plugin that adds selling features to WordPress: the shop shares its database and application core with the rest of the site, content pages and theme included. This has a direct consequence on data structure: WooCommerce products are themselves a WordPress content type, stored in wp_posts like blog posts, with their specific information (price, stock, variations) attached as metadata.

The catalogue transfers via a CSV import: WooCommerce offers native CSV import and export, found under Tools > Import. Customers and basic orders also transfer, but the mapping between PrestaShop variations and WooCommerce product variations needs checking, since the two systems don’t combine attributes the same way.

Customer accounts need particular attention on one point: passwords are hashed differently between platforms, and an import can’t carry over a password that WooCommerce can actually use as-is. In practice, every customer has to reset their password on first login to the new shop, which needs planning for in how the switch is communicated.

What doesn’t transfer as-is

  • The mapping between PrestaShop variations and WooCommerce product variations: attribute combination logic differs between platforms
  • PrestaShop payment or shipping modules, which have no automatically installed WooCommerce equivalent
  • Pricing rules and promotions specific to a particular PrestaShop module
  • Product URLs, whose structure changes and which must be redirected to the new WooCommerce addresses

How I run this migration

  1. PrestaShop catalogue audit

    I measure the number of SKUs, presence of variations and specific pricing rules or promotions to reproduce on WooCommerce.

  2. CSV export then import on a test environment

    The catalogue is exported from PrestaShop, adapted to the format WooCommerce expects, then imported via Tools > Import on a test WordPress install.

  3. Manual check of variations

    I check a sample of product sheets with variations to make sure the mapping to the original attributes is correct.

  4. Choosing payment and shipping modules

    Equivalent payment gateways and carriers are found in the WooCommerce ecosystem and tested in test mode before going live.

  5. Setting up redirects

    Old PrestaShop product URLs are 301-redirected to their new WooCommerce addresses before the switch.

  6. Final switch

    The domain only points to the WooCommerce shop once the catalogue is checked, payments tested and redirects live.

Related reading

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Frequently asked questions

Is WooCommerce’s native CSV import enough for the whole catalogue?
It’s enough for standard fields (name, price, description, categories), but PrestaShop variations need the file adapted before import, since variation logic differs between the two platforms.
Do my PrestaShop payment modules work under WooCommerce?
No, no PrestaShop module installs automatically on WooCommerce. I look for the equivalent payment gateway in the WooCommerce ecosystem and test it in test mode before the switch.
Why do my WooCommerce products appear in the same database as my blog posts?
Because WooCommerce is a plugin that extends WordPress: products are a WordPress content type like posts, stored in wp_posts. That’s a structural difference from PrestaShop, not a fault.
Will I lose my rankings when switching platforms?
Product URLs change structure between PrestaShop and WooCommerce. I set up 301 redirects to the new addresses before the switch to preserve existing rankings.
How long does a catalogue migration take?
It depends on the number of SKUs and whether variations or specific modules are involved. A simple catalogue migrates in a few days, one with many variations needs more manual checking.

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