Migrate Customers and Order History to Shopify

Migrating customers and order history to Shopify is what separates a new store starting from zero from a store that moved with its full memory. Shopify imports customers through a native CSV, while order history needs a specialised tool or the API and is imported as historical records with original dates. Passwords never transfer and are handled with account invites, and marketing consent status moves as is without any expansion. Before launch, email and WhatsApp tools are connected to the new store.

Why order history matters

Many merchants think of products first and forget that a store’s real value lies in its customers. Order history means:

• Customer service. When a customer asks about an order from three months ago, your team sees it in Shopify instead of digging through an old system.
• Returns and warranties. Proof of purchase and its date exist in the new store.
• Customer segments. Who bought more than once, who spent the most, who has not returned in six months; these are the basis of repeat-purchase campaigns and custom audiences on Meta and Google.
• Reporting. Comparing performance before and after the migration with numbers in one place.

That is why we treat customer and order migration as a core item, not an option, in our Shopify migration service.

What customer data Shopify accepts

Shopify’s native customer import file accepts the core fields, and they are cleaned before upload:

Field	Note before import
First and last name	Split a full name into two fields if it is in one
Email	Unique per customer; duplicates fail the row or merge customers
Phone	International format (+966, +971, +962) so SMS and WhatsApp work
Address, city, country	Standard country codes
Accepts email marketing	Yes only for those who actually opted in
Accepts SMS marketing	Yes only for those who actually opted in
Tags	Such as “imported”, “VIP”, “wholesale” for later segmentation
Notes	Only what helps customer service
Tax exempt	For business customers where it applies

What is not accepted: passwords, loyalty point balances (moved through the loyalty app itself) and saved payment cards.

Orders: a specialised tool or the API

Shopify does not import orders through its native CSV, but apps such as Matrixify and the Admin API create orders as historical records. What we make sure of:

1. The original order date, not the import date, so reports stay correct.
2. Linking the order to the customer through the same email used in the customer file.
3. Linking line items to products by SKU where possible, keeping the product name as text for products that no longer exist.
4. Financial and fulfilment status (paid, cancelled, refunded, delivered) as they were.
5. An “imported” tag on every order, so it is easy to exclude from any automation triggered on order creation.
6. Notifications disabled during import, otherwise customers receive thousands of confirmations for old orders.

How many years to move? The practical rule: whatever serves returns, warranties and analysis, usually two to three years, with older data archived outside the store.

Passwords and account invites

Passwords are hashed in the old platform and cannot be transferred to any other platform; this applies to every migration, not just Shopify. You have two options:

• Classic accounts: send account activation invites after launch, in batches starting with active customers so they are not flagged as spam.
• New customer accounts: the customer enters their email and receives a one-time code, with no password at all. This option removes the migration problem entirely and suits customers buying on mobile.

In both cases, a short message on the store and in the first email campaign explains that the store has been upgraded and that the customer’s data and orders are preserved.

Consent and privacy

This is where the most mistakes happen. The rule: consent status is transferred as is. Whoever opted in to email on the old store remains opted in, and whoever did not is not granted consent just because they bought once. The reason is not only technical; personal data protection regulations in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and across the region, and GDPR for European customers, require clear consent for direct marketing and give customers the right to access and delete their data. So we document the source and date of every consent in the import file and provide an easy unsubscribe from the very first message.

WhatsApp consent is separate from email consent and cannot be inferred from it; the details of what is and is not allowed are in WhatsApp marketing consent rules for stores.

Connect email and WhatsApp before launch

The automations that ran on the old store (welcome, abandoned cart, order confirmation, repeat purchase) stop on day one unless they are connected in advance:

• Email: the email tool is connected to Shopify, subscriber lists are synced with the correct consent status, and the core automations are rebuilt. Setup details are in email marketing for Shopify stores in the Gulf.
• WhatsApp: we connect WhatsApp Pilot (whatsapppilot.esafqa.com) to the new store: a floating WhatsApp button, automatic order confirmations with tracking links, and abandoned cart recovery with three scheduled messages and a discount code. The app sends recovery messages only to customers who agreed to WhatsApp marketing in the store, which is consistent with the rule of transferring consent as is.
• Ad audiences: customer segments (repeat buyers, top spenders) are uploaded as custom audiences on Meta and Google after the move, because the new Pixel needs time to gather enough data.

Execution steps within the migration plan

Phase	Action
Before the data freeze	Export customers and orders, clean phones and emails, document consents
During the parallel build	Import customers then orders into the temporary store with notifications off, and review
Switch window	Move the final batch of new customers and orders
After launch	Account invites in batches, connect email and WhatsApp, upload audiences

The full plan with its phases is in the eCommerce migration checklist.

From our experience

In the Luliz migration from Magento to Shopify, order and customer history was a core requirement, so products, customers and orders were transferred after a data freeze, URLs were rebuilt, and Merchant Center, GA4 and the Pixel were reconnected; the move was completed in summer 2025 with no lost products or rankings. Campaigns have run profitably since, and part of that is because customer segments did not start from zero. The technical details for Magento are in migrate Magento to Shopify.

Conclusion

Move your customers and orders, not just your products: customers through a clean CSV with international phone numbers and unique emails, orders as historical records with their dates through a specialised tool or the API with notifications off, passwords through invites or a login code, consent as is without expansion, and email and WhatsApp tools connected before launch. That is how a new store starts with its full memory.

Send us your customer count and the years of orders you want to move on WhatsApp, and we will propose the most suitable transfer method.