We migrated Ottotiles.com and Ottotiles.uk from WooCommerce to Shopify with zero data loss, zero SEO impact, and no operational downtime.
The Business
Otto Tiles operates two independent eCommerce stores serving customers in the UK and the US. Over time, both stores had grown organically on WooCommerce, accumulating a significant amount of product data, customer records, historical orders, and supporting content.
While WooCommerce supported the business in its earlier stages, it gradually became harder to manage as complexity increased. Plugin dependencies multiplied, performance became less predictable, and maintaining consistency across two regional storefronts required more effort with each passing year.
At that point, the decision to migrate wasn’t about redesigning the brand or changing how the business marketed itself. It was about stability. Otto Tiles needed a platform that could support its scale reliably, reduce ongoing maintenance overhead, and provide a clean foundation for future growth.
They partnered with Optimum7 to lead a controlled migration of both live stores to Shopify, with a strong emphasis on accuracy, continuity, and long-term maintainability.
The Objective
The objective of this project was straightforward in concept but high-stakes in execution: migrate two live, revenue-generating WooCommerce stores (UK and US) to Shopify while protecting business continuity across every critical layer of data, SEO, and operations.
For Otto Tiles, success was defined by three non-negotiables:
Zero loss of historical data (orders, customers, products, and supporting content)
Zero negative impact to SEO performance (preserving legacy URLs, rankings, and indexation)
Zero downtime or instability during and after launch (ensuring both stores remained reliable from day one)
This was not a redesign initiative or a marketing shift. It was a platform foundation project aimed at exiting WooCommerce cleanly and launching on Shopify with a stable architecture that could support long-term growth without carrying over technical debt.
Key Business Challenges
Migrating two mature storefronts introduced real business risk, especially given the volume of historical data and the fact that both sites were actively generating revenue.
1. Migrating Two Live Stores Without Disruption
Both stores were in daily use, meaning the migration had to be executed without interrupting order processing, customer journeys, or internal workflows. Even minor launch issues would have an immediate downstream impact.
2. Preserving Large Volumes of Historical Data Accurately
The migration required full integrity across a large dataset, including:
3,039 historical orders
1,541 customer records
~285 shared products with significant overlap between the US and UK catalogs
Accuracy mattered beyond “import success”; any mismatch could create reporting gaps, customer service complications, or fulfillment errors.
3. Protecting Existing Search Visibility
Both stores had established organic traffic anchored to legacy URL structures. Redirects needed to be comprehensive, not partial, to prevent ranking loss, broken links, and disrupted customer acquisition funnels.
4. Rebuilding Two Storefronts With Consistency and Independence
The UK and US stores needed to remain consistent in layout, navigation, and usability, while still operating independently with different payment providers, shipping rules, and tax logic. The challenge was building alignment without forcing a rigid one-size-fits-all structure.
5. Managing Scope Expansion Without Compromising Stability
Additional requirements emerged mid-project, including product calculation logic and customer segmentation needs. These had to be evaluated through a stability lens to ensure essential enhancements were delivered without introducing risk to launch quality.
The Strategic Challenge
The real challenge wasn’t the migration itself; it was control.
Otto Tiles needed to leave WooCommerce without carrying over fragile configurations, plugin-driven dependencies, SEO exposure, or data inconsistencies. At the same time, the Shopify build couldn’t become overly complex, because complexity would reduce maintainability and make future iterations harder.
Optimum7’s role was to balance speed with discipline, moving efficiently while maintaining strict control over:
Data integrity and validation
SEO preservation through comprehensive redirect logic
Operational readiness across two independent storefronts
Every decision was made with long-term continuity in mind, ensuring Otto Tiles launched on Shopify with a platform foundation that was stable, scalable, and built to support growth without rework.
The Strategy
Optimum7 executed the Otto Tiles migration using a risk-first, control-driven strategy designed to eliminate uncertainty before execution and protect platform stability throughout the transition. Given that both the UK and US stores were live, revenue-generating environments, every phase of the migration was planned to reduce exposure, preserve continuity, and ensure reliability at launch.
Rather than treating this as a single technical task, the strategy was built around layered risk mitigation, addressing data integrity, SEO preservation, storefront consistency, and operational readiness in parallel.
Discovery & Risk Mapping
Discovery was approached as a preventative planning phase, not a procedural step.
Both WooCommerce environments were audited in detail for understanding:
How product data was structured and where overlaps existed between regions
Which content pages and categories were tied to specific URL paths
How historical orders and customer records were stored and linked
Where Shopify’s native structure would require adjustments
This upfront analysis surfaced migration risks early and allowed Optimum7 to define a controlled rollout plan based on known constraints, rather than assumptions discovered mid-migration.
Data Migration & Normalization
The guiding principle for data migration was simple but uncompromising: everything had to be migrated accurately and remain usable after launch.
Across both storefronts, Optimum7 migrated:
3,039 historical orders, including full order details
1,541 customer records with account data
~285 shared products, including attributes, images, variants, and metadata
All data was normalized to align with Shopify’s native structure. This ensured that the resulting catalogs were not only complete but also clean, consistent, and easy to manage going forward without introducing workarounds or structural debt.
SEO Preservation & Redirect Mapping
SEO preservation was treated as a core migration layer, not a post-launch checklist item.
Every legacy URL across products, categories, and content pages was mapped and redirected using comprehensive 301 redirect logic. This ensured:
No broken links
No indexing disruptions
No loss of organic visibility
Search engines and users were automatically routed to the correct Shopify pages, allowing both stores to transition platforms without sacrificing discoverability or inbound traffic.
Content & Page Migration
All informational and policy pages were migrated from WordPress and WooCommerce to Shopify, including the About pages, shipping policies, and supporting content.
Each page was reviewed to ensure:
Accurate transfer of text, images, and embedded elements
Proper formatting within Shopify’s content framework
Validation of internal links to prevent broken navigation paths
This ensured a seamless customer experience across the new platform, with no content gaps or usability issues.
Template Design & Implementation
A unified design system was implemented across both storefronts to maintain visual consistency while allowing for independent regional operations.
A complete Figma design was created and reviewed across multiple feedback cycles before development began. Theme selection was guided by performance, scalability, and day-to-day usability rather than aesthetics alone.
Navigation structure, layout behavior, and UI patterns were implemented according to approved designs and tested across devices. Within Shopify’s native capabilities, Optimum7 added conversion-supportive elements such as:
Clear primary and secondary CTAs
Sticky action elements where appropriate
Soft add-to-cart interactions
Trust-building visual cues
All enhancements remained platform-native to preserve performance, maintainability, and upgrade compatibility.
Store Configuration & Operational Readiness
Both Shopify environments were fully configured to support live operations, including:
Payment providers
Shipping rules and zones
Tax settings
Notification workflows
Regional operational configurations
End-to-end testing confirmed that orders could be placed, processed, and communicated reliably across both the UK and US stores from day one.
Scope Expansion & Stability Protection
Midway through the project, additional requirements were introduced, including:
A static product calculation feature for square footage, box quantities, and tile coverage
Migration of customer segmentation data
To protect launch stability, these enhancements were evaluated through a risk lens. Non-critical items were intentionally deferred to post-launch, allowing the core migration to remain controlled, predictable, and reliable.
This approach ensured that added functionality did not compromise platform stability or delivery quality.
Third-Party Integration Strategy
Third-party tools were introduced selectively, based on clear operational value rather than convenience:
Yotpo / Google Reviews for structured product reviews
Gorgias for customer support workflows
Calendly for appointment scheduling
Trustpilot for trust reinforcement
A curated social media feed was also integrated to showcase real-world installations and brand imagery, maintaining visual continuity without pulling users off-site.
Strategic Outcome of the Approach
By prioritizing risk control, platform-native execution, and disciplined scope management, Optimum7 delivered a migration strategy that protected Otto Tiles’ business while setting up both stores for long-term scalability.
The result was not just a successful platform transition but a stable, future-ready commerce foundation built to support continued growth across both markets.
Results
The migration of Otto Tiles’ UK and US stores from WooCommerce to Shopify was completed successfully, with no critical data loss, no disruption to organic search visibility, and no operational downtime during or after launch.
Rather than a simple platform switch, the project delivered a clean, stable eCommerce foundation that protects day-to-day operations while enabling long-term growth across both markets.
Key Outcomes
Complete Data Continuity All historical orders, customer records, and product data were migrated with full accuracy, preserving reporting integrity and ensuring uninterrupted customer service and fulfillment workflows.
SEO Preservation at Scale Comprehensive 301 redirect implementation protected existing URL structures and organic rankings, preventing traffic loss, broken links, or indexing issues across both regional sites.
Standardized, Maintainable Architecture Product data, content pages, and templates were rebuilt using a consistent, platform-native structure, reducing complexity and eliminating long-term technical debt.
Transaction-Ready Shopify Stores Both the UK and US storefronts launched fully configured, with payments, shipping, taxes, and notifications validated to support live transactions from day one.
Reduced Platform Fragility The new Shopify environments significantly reduced dependency on plugins and custom fixes, resulting in a more reliable, maintainable system.
Business Impact
With Shopify in place, Otto Tiles now operates on a more resilient and scalable commerce platform.
Day-to-day operations are simpler, administrative overhead is lower, and internal teams spend less time managing platform issues and more time supporting growth initiatives. The business is no longer constrained by fragile configurations or maintenance-heavy dependencies.
Just as importantly, the new foundation supports:
Ongoing SEO and content initiatives
Future marketing and customer engagement efforts
Expansion across regions without revisiting core platform decisions
Strategic Outcome
The result is not just two Shopify storefronts but a controlled, future-ready eCommerce infrastructure.
By prioritizing data accuracy, SEO preservation, and disciplined execution, Optimum7 enabled Otto Tiles to transition platforms without disruption while positioning the business for long-term operational efficiency, flexibility, and growth across both the UK and US markets.
Fill out the form to request a Custom Marketing or Conversion Optimization Strategy for your Website.
Let's Talk
A digital marketing strategy is the path to profitability. Optimum7 can help you set the right goals, offer and implement creative and technical strategies, and use data and analytics to review and improve your business’s performance.
