Magento to Shopify Migration in the UK: VAT, Payments, Delivery and SEO (2026)

Many UK retailers built their online shops on Magento, and many are now deciding what to do next as support for older versions runs out. The technical side of a move to Shopify is the same everywhere. What's different in the UK is the set-up around it: VAT, the payment and delivery options UK shoppers expect, marketing consent, and selling to the EU after Brexit. This guide covers each one, using Adobe's, Shopify's, GOV.UK's and the ICO's own pages.

The short answer: a Magento to Shopify migration usually takes 4–6 weeks for a small store, 6–10 weeks for a mid-size store and 3–6 months for an enterprise or B2B store. For a UK store, plan the move around four local details: VAT set-up in Shopify, UK payment options such as Shop Pay Instalments and Klarna, Royal Mail and Evri delivery, and carrying your customers' marketing consent across. Launch well before Black Friday or after the January sales, not in between.

Why UK Magento stores are moving now

Adobe publishes an end date for every Magento 2 release (Adobe lifecycle policy):

Version	Standard support ends	Extended support ends
2.4.5	12 August 2025	11 August 2026
2.4.6	11 August 2026	31 August 2027
2.4.7	31 May 2027	31 May 2028
2.4.8	31 May 2028	Not yet announced

If your store runs 2.4.5 or earlier, it no longer receives security patches. On 2.4.6, you're in the final year of extended support. Either way, the choice is a version upgrade now and another in a couple of years, or a move to a platform that updates itself. Our Magento 2 end of support guide covers the options in detail.

What Shopify costs in the UK

Shopify publishes its UK prices in pounds:

Plan	Billed monthly	Billed yearly
Basic	£25/month	£19/month
Grow	£65/month	£49/month
Advanced	£344/month	£259/month
Shopify Plus	From £1,950/month (1-year term)	From £1,800/month (3-year term)

Sources: Shopify UK pricing and the Shopify Help Center. Hosting, security and platform updates are included, so they come off your Magento bill. Apps, card processing and your agency's work are extra. For card fees and when Plus pays for itself, see Shopify Plus pricing in the UK.

What moves from Magento to Shopify

Magento	Shopify
Simple and configurable products	Products with variants; extra attributes as metafields
Categories	Collections
Customers and addresses	Customers
Order history	Orders, for reporting and customer accounts
Customer groups and tier prices	B2B companies, catalogues and price lists
CMS pages and blocks	Pages, sections and metaobjects
Store views (languages, currencies)	Shopify Markets, or expansion stores on Plus
Gift card balances	Gift cards (balance import on Plus)

Passwords can't move between platforms, but Shopify's current customer accounts sign people in with a one-time email code, so nobody needs to reset a password. See migrating customer accounts to Shopify.

The UK set-up checklist

VAT

• Registration: UK businesses must register once taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in a 12-month period. Businesses based outside the UK must register regardless of turnover if they sell goods to the UK (GOV.UK).
• In Shopify: you add your VAT number under Settings > Taxes and duties, then choose whether prices include VAT and whether VAT applies to shipping. New UK stores use Shopify Tax or manual settings, because the older Basic Tax option is only available to stores already collecting UK tax before 13 May 2026 (Shopify Help Center).
• Trade customers: you can show a company VAT number field at checkout and turn on VAT invoices.
• Check before launch: compare VAT on test orders line by line against the same orders on Magento, and confirm the settings with your accountant.

Payments

• Shop Pay Instalments launched for UK Shopify merchants in December 2025, powered by Affirm (Affirm).
• Klarna, Clearpay and PayPal are widely used in the UK and connect to Shopify through their own integrations.
• Saved cards don't move from Magento's payment provider in most cases, so tell regular customers they may need to re-enter card details.

Delivery

• Royal Mail Tracked 24, Tracked 48 and Local Collect labels can be bought in Shopify Shipping from a UK location, for UK deliveries (Shopify Help Center).
• Evri labels are also available in Shopify Shipping for UK deliveries (Shopify Help Center).
• Northern Ireland: since 1 May 2025, labels for orders shipped from Great Britain to Northern Ireland can't be bought through Shopify's carrier accounts, so plan another route for those orders.
• DPD, parcel shops and 3PLs connect through carrier and warehouse apps.

Marketing consent

Under the UK's electronic marketing rules (PECR), you need consent or a "soft opt-in" to send marketing emails to individuals, and the ICO says you should keep a record of who consented, when and how (ICO). In a migration, that means:

• Carry each customer's subscribed or unsubscribed status across exactly, and don't subscribe anyone by default.
• Keep an export of your Magento consent records after you switch the old store off.
• Check the sign-up boxes on your new Shopify store aren't pre-ticked.

Selling to the EU and Ireland

Since Brexit, UK brands selling to the EU deal with customs, duties and EU VAT. On Shopify, Markets shows local currencies and prices, and Managed Markets handles duties and taxes as merchant of record for some UK-based businesses. On Plus, a separate EU expansion store is another option. See selling internationally with Shopify Markets.

Protecting your Google rankings

Magento URLs usually look like /mens-jackets.html or /catalog/product/view/id/123. Shopify uses fixed paths such as /products/ and /collections/, so nearly every URL changes. Before launch:

• Crawl every URL on your Magento store, including old products and category pages that still get visits or links.
• Map each one to its new Shopify address and add a 301 redirect.
• Move each store view to a matching Shopify Markets subfolder, such as /en-ie for Ireland, so Google keeps showing the right version in each country.
• Test the redirects before the domain switch, then watch Search Console for errors in the first weeks.

Our Shopify migration SEO guide has the full process.

When to launch

UK online trade peaks from Black Friday through Christmas and the Boxing Day sales. Aim to go live by late October at the latest, or plan the launch for after the January sales. A store on 2.4.6 that starts now still has time to move before extended support ends in August 2027. For a phase-by-phase plan, see how long a Magento to Shopify migration takes.

How much it costs

The cost depends on your extensions, integrations, design and data, not on being in the UK. Our Magento to Shopify migration cost guide sets out typical ranges by store size, and our packages and pricing page shows our starting prices. UK clients receive a fixed quote in pounds after a free audit.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a Magento to Shopify migration take? Usually 4–6 weeks for a small store, 6–10 weeks for a mid-size store and 3–6 months for an enterprise or B2B store.

When does Magento 2.4.6 support end? Adobe's standard support for 2.4.6 ended on 11 August 2026, and extended support ends on 31 August 2027.

Does Shopify handle UK VAT? Yes. You add your VAT registration in Shopify's tax settings and choose whether prices include VAT. New UK stores use Shopify Tax or manual settings. Confirm the set-up with your accountant.

Can I use Royal Mail with Shopify? Yes. UK stores can buy Royal Mail Tracked 24, Tracked 48 and Local Collect labels in Shopify Shipping for UK deliveries.

Will my customers need new passwords? No. Passwords can't move between platforms, but Shopify's customer accounts sign people in with a one-time email code.

Can I keep my email subscribers? Yes. Move each customer's marketing status across exactly, and keep your consent records, as the ICO expects.

Planning a move from Magento?

We move UK brands from Magento to Shopify and Shopify Plus, with VAT, payments, delivery and redirects set up for launch. See our Magento to Shopify migration service, our Shopify Plus agency for the UK, or book a free consultation.