11 Degrees

Complex migration from THG Ingenuity

For 11 Degrees, we undertook a complex migration from the THG Ingenuity platform to a foundational headless solution on Shopify Plus, designed to support their ambitious plans for international growth. This new platform provides the flexibility and scalability the business needs to expand globally, while ensuring a seamless shopping experience. To further enhance content control, we integrated Sanity as the content management system, giving the 11 Degrees team the power to manage and update their site effortlessly as they continue to evolve.

Our Migration Steps

Step 1: Setting Up Your Shopify Store

Begin by creating a Shopify account, selecting the plan that best suits your business requirements. This is the first step in configuring your new eCommerce environment. When it comes to design, Shopify offers several flexible options: you can choose a pre-existing theme that aligns with your brand, customise a theme to better fit your needs, or even develop a custom theme from scratch if your minimum viable product (MVP) demands a unique storefront. Additionally, install the essential apps that will replicate or enhance the functionalities you utilised on THG.

Step 2: Data Migration

Migrating data from THG to Shopify involves more than a straightforward export and import due to the differences in platform structures. Typically, data extracted from THG won't align perfectly with Shopify's requirements, necessitating a crucial step of data cleansing and mapping. This process ensures that your crucial business data—like product catalogues, customer information, and historical transactions—adheres to Shopify's format, optimising functionality in your new environment. It involves assessing the data for accuracy, filling gaps, correcting errors, and reformatting data to match Shopify’s data fields, a vital step to avoid issues post-migration and ensure seamless integration into your new system.

Step 3: Configure Shopify Features

Configuring your Shopify store involves several critical features to ensure it meets global business standards and maximises functionality. Start by setting up internationalisation features, allowing your store to cater to different languages and currencies, thus expanding your market reach. For SEO, implement a detailed migration strategy to maintain your current search engine rankings, including setting up 301 redirects and updating meta descriptions. Optimise your store for speed to enhance user experience and reduce bounce rates. Integrate global payment gateways that support multiple payment methods to facilitate international transactions. Additionally, consider Shopify's B2B capabilities if you're serving wholesale customers, ensuring you can manage bulk orders and special pricing efficiently. These steps will help establish a robust foundation for your Shopify store, making it competitive and scalable in the global market.

Step 4: Final Testing and Launch