PrestaShop to Shopify Migration for Swiss Merchants: Data, Tools, ROI

Migrating from PrestaShop to Shopify makes sense when the cost of running an open-source platform starts eating into margins that should be funding growth – and for many Swiss merchants, that tipping point arrives sooner than expected.

This guide focuses on what’s genuinely specific to a PrestaShop-to-Shopify migration. For the general migration process and cost structure, see our Shopify Migration guide.

Why PrestaShop merchants switch

The core issue is ownership of complexity. Every security patch, server update, and performance fix lands on your team. Shopify handles all of that – including PCI DSS Level 1 compliance – on your behalf.

PrestaShop’s module ecosystem compounds this. Modules vary wildly in quality, and years of accumulated legacy modules frequently conflict with each other. Upgrades become risky and expensive. Shopify’s app store is better-vetted, with far more predictable behaviour.

The combination system – PrestaShop’s equivalent of product variants – also becomes unwieldy at scale. It supports unlimited combination attributes per product; Shopify caps variants at three option types. That gap creates real work during migration, and it’s the most underestimated challenge on a PrestaShop project.

PrestaShop’s native multistore feature is powerful on paper but complex to manage in practice. Shopify Markets offers a far more intuitive approach to multi-region and multi-language selling – especially relevant for Swiss merchants covering DE/FR/IT.

The switch makes the most sense when:

• Your team spends meaningful time on hosting, updates, and module maintenance rather than growth
• You lack in-house PHP/PrestaShop expertise and depend on external developers for routine changes
• You’re scaling internationally and need multi-currency, multi-language, and multi-market features without a custom module stack

It’s harder to justify if your store has deeply customised modules, complex B2B pricing logic, or if your current setup works reliably and your margins are tight.

What makes this ecommerce migration different

The migration process is similar to the BigCommerce to Shopify migration and follows an eight-phase structure: Audit & Planning → Store Setup → Theme Development → Data Migration → Apps Setup → QA & Testing → SEO Preparation → Launch & Monitoring.

Here’s what makes a PrestaShop to Shopify migration distinct from other migrations:

Data structure differences matter more here than in most migrations. PrestaShop uses hierarchical categories; Shopify uses flat collections. Nested navigation needs to be manually recreated post-migration. PrestaShop’s single order status field also maps to Shopify’s separate payment and fulfillment status fields, which requires explicit mapping during import.

The combination system is the most technically distinctive challenge. Products with more than three attribute types need to be restructured before import – either by consolidating attributes or splitting products. Running a demo migration first with tools like Prestify or Cart2Cart is a smart way to spot these issues early.

Translation data doesn’t migrate automatically. Plan for a manual translation setup phase in Shopify Markets, or use Langify or Weglot to rebuild multilingual content. For Swiss stores covering German, French, and Italian, Langify gives the most control. Shopify’s native Translate & Adapt is free but limited to two automatic translations – manual translations are unlimited.

Related: we published an article on the best translation apps for Shopify.

PrestaShop themes can’t be ported to Shopify. A new theme must be built from scratch using Shopify’s Liquid templating language and JavaScript. Most merchants treat this as an opportunity to modernise the storefront – which is the right call.

What migrates, what doesn’t, and what needs work

Most core data transfers cleanly: products (titles, descriptions, images, variants, SKUs, prices, inventory), customer accounts, order history, collections, blog posts, pages, and basic discount codes.

Several things require extra planning:

• Product combinations with more than 3 options need restructuring before import.
• Discount rules – simple codes transfer fine; tiered discounts, cart rules, and group-based pricing need rebuilding via Shopify apps or Shopify Functions (Plus only).
• Loyalty points history doesn’t map to Shopify natively – plan a fresh start with Smile.io or LoyaltyLion and communicate the change to customers in advance.
• Multistore setups require careful mapping to Shopify Markets or separate stores.
• Group-based pricing – basic “VIP gets 10% off” logic is now replicable natively in Shopify. Complex scenarios like fixed product-level prices per group or tiered wholesale pricing still require Shopify Plus B2B Catalogs or apps like Wholesale Club.

Not migratable: URL structures (a comprehensive 301 redirect map is non-negotiable) and customer passwords. Due to encryption, customers log in via OTP after migration – plan a communication campaign before launch.

Migrating directly to Shopify Plus

If you’re moving directly to Shopify Plus rather than standard Shopify, several additional capabilities are worth planning for from day one.

Checkout Extensibility lets you add custom fields, upsells, loyalty point display, and complex discount logic directly in checkout – without modifying core checkout code. This is particularly relevant if your PrestaShop store had custom checkout logic that otherwise can’t migrate.

Higher API rate limits matter significantly for shops with ERP or PIM integrations.

Costs, tools, and Swiss-specific configuration

Agency fees for a PrestaShop to Shopify migration typically start around CHF 5,000 and can go up to more than CHF 50,000 for complex migrations with ERP integrations, custom functionality, and full theme development.

Shopify subscriptions begin at CHF 25/month, while Shopify Plus starts from CHF 2000/month.

One cost that’s routinely underestimated: PrestaShop stores with large combination catalogues require significant upfront data restructuring before migration can begin. Build this into your project timeline specifically – it’s not something you can skip.

For the actual data transfer, Matrixify gives granular CSV-based control over products, customers, orders, and metafields. Running theme development and data migration as parallel workstreams is the most efficient project structure.

Swiss-specific configuration needs to be handled from day one. Swiss VAT (MWST) must be manually set up in Shopify. TWINT – one of the most popular payment methods for Swiss customers – is now natively available through Shopify Payments.

Related: To dive deeper into Swiss-specific configurations for your migration to Shopify also read our Odoo to Shopify migration article.

Is the migration worth it?

The switch pays off fastest when PrestaShop maintenance costs – hosting, modules, developer time – are consistently eating into your margins without delivering growth. Teams that can’t make basic storefront changes without filing a developer ticket get the fastest ROI.

It’s harder to justify if your store has complex combination catalogues, deeply custom pricing logic, or heavy B2B workflows. If your current setup works reliably and your margins are tight, the upfront investment needs a clear ROI case before committing.

Done right, a PrestaShop to Shopify migration reduces overhead, improves checkout conversion, and lets your commercial team move independently of technical dependencies.
As an experienced Shopify agency with deep knowledge of Swiss payment configuration, MWST setup, and data migration, we handle the complexity so you don’t have to – from audit to go-live. Get in touch to discuss your project.