For a Shopify Plus migration, open the prepared replacement Online Store after its data, checkout, domain and operating handoff pass recorded checks. This guide starts after imports and URL mapping. The stop-write window and reconciliation record below are proposed working procedures that your team must implement with its chosen migration method.
The scope is a prepared DTC Online Store. Shopify's Plus launch checklist treats B2B and subscriptions separately; those flows need their own acceptance before a migration involving them is approved.
Record the evidence that permits a launch
Create one release record with the source store, destination store, intended domain, decision owner and the timestamp of each check. Give every failed item an owner and a next action. An untested item stays pending.
- Catalog: compare a representative product's variant, price, weight and inventory against the approved source snapshot; also verify that customers can buy it. Shopify identifies missing details, unpublished imports and failed variants as migration checks in its migration guide.
- Customer access: test the intended account journey. Shopify's migration checklist notes that encrypted customer passwords do not migrate with customer records. Plan the customer instructions accordingly.
- Operations: name who handles existing orders, new orders, inventory changes and payment exceptions during the switch. Record which system each person will use.
Approve opening only when the checks below have evidence and the decision owner has accepted the remaining exceptions. Keep the new storefront private while resolving a blocking item.
Test checkout while the replacement store is private
For a prepared store using Shopify Payments, choose a paid plan and complete Payments setup first; regional requirements can affect access to test mode. In the desktop admin, go to Settings > Payments > Manage, select Enable test mode, and Save. Shopify cautions against enabling test mode on a store already in production. Before testing, deactivate automatic fulfillment and avoid purchasing shipping labels. Use the documented successful and failed test-payment details from Testing Shopify Payments.
Record a test order's ID, device, destination, cart and expected result. Exercise the intended customer-account and discount paths, payment success and failure, shipping charges and tax calculation. Check the resulting order, notification and planned fulfillment flow. Shopify describes these scenarios in Processing a test order. Test notifications with an address you can receive mail at when delivery is part of the check.
A dev store cannot be tested with real transactions. A real-provider purchase used for testing can incur fees even if canceled and refunded; use the provider's applicable terms. These limits are also covered in the test-order guide.
For another payment provider, record its own test and live-switch instructions. Shopify Payments results do not certify that provider's order flow.
Save the result as a simulation: test orders do not appear in payouts or reports. Before admitting paying customers, return to Payments > Manage, clear Enable test mode, and Save. Verify the saved setting. Shopify Payments testing guidance requires deactivating test mode to capture real payments.
Resolve test fulfillment records before restoring automation. Shopify advises canceling the test fulfillment or order before reactivating an automatic fulfillment service; see the test-order considerations.
Close old-store writes and reconcile the final changes
Shopify's Plus launch checklist defines a delta migration as transferring data added after the initial migration cutoff. It also suggests deactivating the old checkout during DNS propagation, when visitors can reach different stores. Plan that control using the old platform's documented method and verify that it took effect.
Use an agreed stop-write window to prevent the last import from missing changes made on the old system. This is an operating recommendation; your migration tool must support the data you intend to transfer. Define which channels and integrations can still create orders, refunds or stock changes, and assign someone to stop or account for each feed.
- Record the actual cutoff time and the source snapshot or export reference. Keep access to the source records and configuration needed to investigate differences.
- List changes after the earlier accepted snapshot. Match records using the identifiers supported by your migration method; retain the source-to-destination mapping.
- Separate orders that remain with the old fulfillment team from records being transferred. Give every open order one accountable owner before opening the new store.
- Recheck transferred data and reconcile inventory using the same product, location, quantity definition and snapshot time. Explain differences before making stock available for purchase.
The following is a hypothetical decision record, not a merchant test or a Shopify import schema:
| Check | Observed difference | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Open-order handoff | Two old-store orders remain open; only one has an assigned fulfillment owner | Hold until both have owners |
| Inventory at the same location | Source snapshot: 10 units; two later sales; destination still shows 10 | Hold and reconcile the two sales and any other stock changes |
| Final import | An intended transferred record is rejected | Resolve or document an approved handling route before opening |
Do not assume that changing the domain reconciles orders or inventory. The launch decision needs the completed comparison and a named person who accepts its result.
Retain a deliberate data backup before launch. The Plus checklist asks merchants to consider a manual or app-based backup; a reconciliation worksheet is not that backup.
Connect the domain and inspect its actual readiness
For a third-party domain connected manually, the documented records are A 23.227.38.65, AAAA 2620:0127:f00f:5::, and the www CNAME shops.myshopify.com.. Save them with the DNS provider, then use Settings > Domains > Connect existing domain, enter the domain without www, and complete the connection. Review Shopify's manual connection instructions for conflicting records and provider requirements. A valid regional A-record variation can appear after connection.
Inspect the domain's connection details and open the intended storefront over HTTPS. Shopify says full connection can take up to 48 hours; schedule against observed connection and certificate readiness rather than treating that figure as a launch deadline. The same domain guide explains the connection checks.
Check the previous platform's domain-release requirements: an existing connection might cause certificate errors, as noted in the migration guide. Keep URL mapping and redirect verification in their separate acceptance record.
Open access and hand off the first real order
Confirm that the final reconciliation is accepted, the domain works, and payment test mode is off. In the desktop admin, go to Online Store, click Private, select Public, and click Update. On a first launch, the control can display Launch store. The reverse Public > Private > Update path controls storefront access. See Shopify's store-access instructions.
Use a fresh visitor session on desktop and mobile to check the intended domain, visible products and checkout access. Record what was observed and when. These are proposed release checks; access mode does not replace the data and payment checks above.
Assign a person to follow the first genuine order through the order record, payment provider and agreed fulfillment route. Record the payment outcome, inventory handling, notification and fulfillment owner. Keep that order separate from the simulation results. Finish the handoff when the operating team can trace the order and knows where to resolve an exception.
If a blocking problem appears after opening, use the agreed incident plan: stop promotion, decide who pauses each receiving channel, and preserve the new orders, payments and stock changes before approving a correction or return plan. A domain change alone is not an automatic rollback of those business events.