How to Migrate WooCommerce Products from One Store to Another

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Moving a WooCommerce catalog from one store to another comes up more often than many store owners expect. You may be rebranding to a new domain, splitting a store by region, switching hosting providers, or preparing a staging site that will eventually replace the live store.

Whatever the reason, your products, prices, images, categories, attributes, and variations need to make the move intact.

Recreating a catalog manually becomes unrealistic once you move beyond a small number of products. Every SKU, attribute, category, price, and image would need to be rebuilt individually, and it is easy to lose details such as stock status or product metadata along the way.

Editor’s Note: This guest contribution has been reviewed and edited by BosonHub Digital Development. WooCommerce includes its own built-in CSV product importer and exporter; this guide specifically covers the workflow available through WebToffee’s Product Import Export plugin. Contributor-provided promotional links to WebToffee are marked sponsored and nofollow. BosonHub is not affiliated with WebToffee.

One option for handling this type of transfer is the WebToffee Product Import Export plugin for WooCommerce. It allows product information to be exported from the source store into a portable file and then imported into the destination WooCommerce installation. It allows product information to be exported from the source store into a portable file and then imported into the destination WooCommerce installation.

The free Product Import Export for WooCommerce plugin supports simple, external/affiliate, and grouped products along with standard product data and CSV files. More complex product types and advanced migration features are available in the premium version.

This guide walks through the migration workflow, from exporting your products to importing them into the new WooCommerce store.

Why Migrate WooCommerce Products With a Plugin?

No Manual Re-Entry

Products can be transferred in batches instead of manually rebuilding every product field.

Depending on your configuration and plugin version, data such as product names, prices, descriptions, images, attributes, stock information, categories, and tags can be included in the migration.

Better Data Consistency

Using an export and import process reduces the opportunity for mistakes caused by manually recreating SKUs, prices, categories, stock status, and other product information.

Custom fields and specialized metadata may require additional configuration or the premium version of the plugin.

Works Across Separate WooCommerce Installations

The source and destination stores do not need to share the same domain or hosting environment.

You can move data between separate WordPress installations, which makes this approach useful for migrations, redesigns, hosting changes, and store reorganizations.

Repeatable Process

Your exported file also gives you a record of the catalog data that was transferred.

If you need to troubleshoot the import or repeat part of the migration, you still have the source data available.

Suitable for Larger Catalogs

Filtering, column mapping, and batch-processing options can make this approach useful whether you are moving a relatively small store or a catalog containing thousands of products.

Export Products From Your Old WooCommerce Store

Start with the store you are migrating away from. The first part of the process is getting the product catalog into a portable file.

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

From the source store’s WordPress dashboard:

  1. Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
  2. Search for Product Import Export for WooCommerce.
  3. Click Install Now.
  4. Click Activate.

If you are using the premium version, download the plugin ZIP file supplied by WebToffee and install it through Plugins > Upload Plugin instead.

Step 2: Select Product as the Post Type

Navigate to:

WebToffee Import Export (Basic) > Export

Select Product as the post type and continue to the export-method selection screen.

Step 3: Choose an Export Method

The plugin provides multiple ways to create an export:

  • Quick Export uses the default settings and is appropriate for a straightforward catalog when you want to export the available product data without additional filtering.
  • Advanced Export provides additional control over which products and fields are included.

For a migration, Advanced Export can be useful because it allows you to review the data before moving it to the new store.

Step 4: Filter Your Export Data

You can narrow down which products are included in the export.

Available filtering options may include:

  • Total number of products — Limit the number of products exported.
  • Products — Select individual products.
  • Stock status — Filter products based on availability.
  • Categories and tags — Export particular sections of your catalog.
  • Product status — Select published, draft, private, or other product statuses.

These controls are particularly useful if you are moving a catalog in stages rather than migrating everything at once.

Step 5: Map and Reorder Export Columns

Review the fields that will be included in your export.

Depending on the plugin version and available fields, you can:

  • Rename column headers.
  • Reorder columns.
  • Deselect columns that are not needed.
  • Review product fields, taxonomies, and attributes.

If your store relies heavily on custom fields or hidden metadata generated by other plugins, confirm that your version of the migration tool supports that data before beginning the final migration.

Step 6: Configure Advanced Options and Export

Before creating the final file, review the advanced export settings.

Export file name: Use a descriptive filename, preferably including the date.

For example:

woocommerce-products-2026-08-17.csv

Batch size: Very large catalogs may need to be processed in smaller batches to avoid server timeouts.

Once the settings are ready, click Export and download the resulting file.

Import Products Into Your New WooCommerce Store

Switch to the destination WooCommerce website.

Before starting the import, keep the old website — or at least its media files — accessible until you confirm that the migration is complete.

If product images are being imported from their existing URLs, those original image files must still be reachable during the process.

Step 1: Install the Plugin on the New Store

Install the same Product Import Export plugin on the destination WordPress website.

Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin, search for the plugin, install it, and activate it.

Step 2: Choose an Import Method and Upload Your File

Navigate to:

WebToffee Import Export (Basic) > Import

Select Product as the post type.

The available import options include methods such as:

  • Quick Import — Useful when the file was exported using the same plugin and has not been substantially modified.
  • Advanced Import — Provides greater control over file settings, field mapping, and other import options.

For a migration, reviewing the advanced settings can help prevent unexpected field-mapping problems.

Upload the CSV file you exported from the original store and verify that the delimiter matches the format used by your file.

Step 3: Map the Import Columns

WooCommerce fields with matching column names may map automatically.

Review each field before beginning the import. For anything that does not match automatically, select the appropriate WooCommerce destination field manually.

If you expect to repeat the same import process, saving your configuration as a template can make future imports easier.

Step 4: Configure Advanced Import Options

Before running the full import, review several important settings.

Matching Field

SKU is often the safer matching value when moving products between separate WooCommerce installations.

The new website does not necessarily share the same internal WordPress product IDs as the old store, while properly maintained SKUs are designed to identify the same products across systems.

Update Existing Products

Enable this when products already exist in the destination store and you want the import process to update them rather than create duplicates.

Batch Size

For a large migration, begin conservatively. Running a smaller test batch first allows you to verify that fields, products, categories, and images are being imported correctly before processing the entire catalog.

When the settings are ready, begin the import.

Step 5: Review the Import Results

After the import completes, review the results carefully.

Check:

  • Number of products imported.
  • Number of products updated.
  • Products that were skipped.
  • Any rows that generated errors.
  • Product images.
  • Categories and tags.
  • Prices.
  • SKUs.
  • Stock status.
  • Product attributes.

If some rows fail, review the import log before rerunning the entire migration. Often, the problem can be corrected in only the affected rows of the CSV file.

Need More? What the Premium Version Adds

The free plugin can handle straightforward migrations involving supported product types and standard product information.

The premium Product Import Export plugin adds capabilities for more involved WooCommerce migrations.

More Product Types

The premium version supports additional WooCommerce product configurations beyond the product types available in the free version, including variable products and other more complex product structures.

Additional File Formats and Sources

Advanced versions support additional file formats and import/export options beyond a basic CSV workflow.

Depending on the current plugin version, these may include formats such as:

  • XML
  • TSV
  • XLS
  • XLSX

FTP and SFTP Transfers

For stores that regularly exchange product data, remote file transfers can reduce the need to manually download and upload migration files.

Scheduled Automation

Scheduled imports and exports can be useful when two stores need to operate simultaneously for a period of time or when product data must be synchronized repeatedly.

Custom Fields and Metadata

Stores using third-party WooCommerce extensions frequently contain additional metadata.

Premium migration tools provide additional capabilities for handling custom fields and metadata created by other plugins.

Wrapping Up

Moving a WooCommerce catalog from one website to another is much easier when the product data is handled systematically.

The basic workflow is:

  1. Export products from the source store.
  2. Review your filters and field mapping.
  3. Import the file into the destination store.
  4. Match products using reliable identifiers such as SKUs.
  5. Run a small test before processing the entire catalog.
  6. Verify product information and images after the import.

If your migration involves more than products — such as orders, coupons, customer accounts, or other WooCommerce data — WebToffee also offers an Import Export Suite for WooCommerce designed to handle multiple types of WooCommerce data from one toolset.

Regardless of the migration method you choose, always create a current backup before making large-scale changes to a WooCommerce store.

Need Help With a WooCommerce or WordPress Website?

Migrating products is only one part of moving or rebuilding an online store. BosonHub works with businesses to build, migrate, maintain, and improve WordPress and e-commerce websites.

Whether you are moving an existing WooCommerce store, rebuilding an aging website, or need help troubleshooting a complex WordPress setup, we can help.

Explore BosonHub Web Design Services or learn more about our website maintenance and support services.