Made in france.fr Case Study: PrestaShop → Shopify Migration (Long Catalog + SEO 301/404)

Migrating a PrestaShop site with a very wide product range is not just about "importing products." The real risk is twofold: disorganizing the catalog (navigation, filters, category pages) and breaking SEO (URLs, redirects, missing pages, 404s post-launch).

For Made in France.fr, the main challenge was to achieve a more user-friendly Shopify foundation while preserving existing value: historical category pages, product sheets, indexed content, and navigation habits.

◎ Context and Challenges

• Original platform: PrestaShop
• Volume: very large catalog (products, variants, categories, SEO pages)
• Main risk: loss of traffic and conversions if SEO intentions are not maintained
• Objective: migrate to Shopify with a more stable catalog structure and smoother operation

◎ Why do "long product ranges" require a different method?

As the catalog grows, problems don't come from the theme. They come from the data structure: inconsistent attributes, poorly standardized variants, excessively deep categories, unmanageable filters, and "historical SEO" pages that no longer correspond to a clear intent.

• Data: a raw import reproduces (and amplifies) defects.
• Navigation: without logic (collections, tags, meta fields, filters), the catalog becomes unreadable.
• SEO: without a 301 plan + 404 monitoring, valuable pages are lost without even realizing it.

◎ Our LobsTTer approach (specialized in large catalogs)

◈ 1) Framing: mapping before migrating

• inventory of product types, variants, attributes, and content,
• identification of truly useful pages (business + SEO),
• definition of a launch MVP (what must be perfect on D-Day vs. what can evolve later).

◈ 2) Shopify Architecture: making the range readable

The goal is not "to have all categories as before," but to have a usable catalog:

• structured collections (clear navigation),
• meta fields to standardize product information (materials, uses, labels, etc.),
• maintainable filter logic (not an overcomplicated system),
• quality controls on titles, variants, media, and information consistency.

◈ 3) Data migration: integrity checks (not just an import)

• product + variant + media recovery with systematic checks,
• cleaning/standardization of attributes when necessary,
• sample testing, then scaling up,
• "long catalog" oriented acceptance testing: search, filters, category pages, mobile performance.

◎ Migration SEO: 301 plan + 404 management (the decisive point)

For Made in France.fr, the SEO part was treated as a distinct project: preserving the existing, without perpetuating past errors.

◈ 1) Inventory of URLs and prioritization

• extraction of PrestaShop URLs (products, categories, content),
• sorting "to absolutely keep" vs "to consolidate" vs "to drop,"
• identification of sensitive pages: traffic, backlinks, historical category pages.

◈ 2) Clean mapping and 301 redirects

• 1:1 mapping when the intent is identical,
• mapping to the best Shopify page when the structure evolves (without random redirects),
• avoiding loops and redirect chains,
• validation of the redirection file before migration.

◈ 3) After launch: handling "real" 404s

Even with good mapping, 404s always appear after launch (external links, forgotten old pages, generated URLs, historical errors). The difference is in the management:

• collection of 404s (Search Console + field feedback),
• creation of relevant 301s (to a page that matches the intent),
• correction of causes: broken internal linking, deleted pages without alternatives, filters generating useless URLs.

◎ Results

• SEO Continuity: +18% in the number of clicks before/after migration
• 404 Reduction: automatically managed by an App with rules
• Catalog Exploitation: simplified management with batch processing

◎ What this project shows (and why it's not "a standard migration")

When the range is very wide, the subject is not the platform: it's the mastery of the catalog structure and the mastery of post-migration SEO. Without a method, you end up with a Shopify "in place" but difficult to operate, and SEO that slowly degrades (404s, lost pages, broken intents).

To understand our complete framework (scope, deliverables, cost factors, risks), see: See our complete approach: PrestaShop → Shopify Migration .

Another comparable case study: Another case study: PrestaShop → Shopify migration (Hindbag) .