Shopify migration plan: A step-by-step timeline template for zero-downtime WooCommerce→Shopify moves

A practical Shopify migration plan starts with precise scoping and a timeline that prioritizes data integrity, SEO continuity, and uninterrupted order flow during cutover. The migration timeline below outlines discrete phases—from discovery to post-launch stabilization—so teams can schedule ownership, estimate hours, and test for zero-downtime with confidence. The approach described emphasizes measurable checkpoints and contingency triggers to reduce risk and shorten time-to-market. The narrative uses third-person voice to describe how cross-functional teams and digital agencies coordinate work, allocate responsibilities, and validate success metrics.

Executive summary: what a zero-downtime Shopify migration plan delivers

A well-crafted migration plan reduces revenue risk while unlocking operational improvements on Shopify. Stakeholders expect minimal service interruption, preserved SEO value, and accurate order and inventory continuity. The plan should include a Gantt-style timeline, roles and RACI assignment, testing scripts, rollback triggers, and daily communication cadence to coordinate launches across product, engineering, and marketing teams.

• Migration objectives: minimize downtime, preserve SEO, protect customer data, and maintain order integrity.
• Core deliverables: mapped data exports/imports, redirect lists, payment and fulfillment tests, DNS cutover plan, and monitoring dashboards.
• Risk controls: incremental staging, inventory sync checks, payment gateway validation, and a documented rollback procedure.

The executive summary sets expectations and establishes measurable acceptance criteria for the migration team and decision-makers. A documented baseline of current conversion rates, average daily revenue, and top organic pages is necessary to judge the migration’s impact. Teams that follow a disciplined timeline and validate each milestone will typically see a faster time-to-market and fewer post-launch incidents.

Essential components of a Shopify migration plan and who owns them

A migration plan is a collection of discrete workstreams that must align across design, development, data, and growth marketing. Ownership clarity prevents duplicated effort and identifies dependencies that impact the timeline. The primary workstreams include discovery and audit, product data migration, orders and customer migration, theme and UX rebuild, integrations, redirects and SEO, testing and validation, DNS cutover, and post-launch stabilization.

• Discovery and audit: product managers, platform architects.
• Product catalog migration: engineers, data engineers, and merchants.
• Payments and orders: payments engineers and finance teams.
• Theme and UX: product designers and front-end developers.
• Integrations and middleware: backend engineers and third-party vendors.
• Growth and SEO tasks: marketers and SEO specialists.

Clear role assignments and a RACI matrix should be included in the plan. Responsibility for monitoring and post-launch support must be explicit; a responsible on-call list helps reduce resolution times. This structure allows a measurable distribution of effort, enabling realistic resource estimation for small startups and scaling teams.

Discovery and audit sprint: data, analytics, and technical inventory

The discovery sprint inventories what exists on WooCommerce and documents what must move or be rebuilt on Shopify. This phase identifies product complexities, custom plugins, tax and shipping logic, and analytics events that require porting. A thorough audit reduces surprises and informs the migration timeline and cost estimates.

• Inventory checklist:
  1. Product catalog structure and variants.
  2. Customer and order database size and schema.
  3. Active plugins and custom code.
  4. Payment gateways and stored transactions.
  5. Shipping rules, tax logic, and fulfillment feeds.

The discovery output includes a prioritized migration backlog and an initial time estimate per task. During this phase, teams must extract analytics baselines—session rates, conversion funnels, and top landing pages—to detect regressions post-migration. An audit should also flag technical debt that can be resolved as part of the migration, such as redundant plugins or poor URL structures.

Deliverables and acceptance criteria for discovery

An actionable discovery delivers a migration scope document, data mapping spreadsheets, and a decision log that lists items to replicate, consolidate, or retire. Acceptance criteria include a complete product sample export validated against the live store and a documented list of integration owners. The discovery will drive the initial sprint planning and should set realistic resource allocations for each workstream.

Data mapping and migration strategy for products, customers, and orders

Data mapping transforms WooCommerce schema into Shopify data models while preserving metadata, SKUs, and relationships. This phase balances automation with manual verification, especially for product variants, custom attributes, and order histories. A phased sync strategy helps maintain continuity: initial bulk imports into a staging Shopify store, followed by incremental deltas synced up to cutover.

• Recommended steps:
  1. Export full product catalog and normalize attributes.
  2. Map product variants to Shopify options and bundles.
  3. Export customer lists and anonymize if required.
  4. Determine order migration scope: all orders, last 12 months, or only active orders.
  5. Set up incremental sync tooling for post-export deltas.

Migration tooling choices vary by complexity. For straightforward catalogs, native CSV import and Shopify’s Admin API may suffice. For complex sites, middleware like an ETL or dedicated migration service can automate ID mapping and preserve order histories. The chosen method should support automated validation between source and target.

Validation checklist for data mapping

A validation checklist reduces reconciliation work and enables acceptance testing before cutover.

• Row counts match for products and SKUs.
• Prices, tax codes, and discount history are preserved.
• Variants and attribute mappings are tested across 10–20 representative SKUs.
• A sample of orders is imported and tested through full refund and fulfillment workflows.
• Customer accounts are verified for login continuity or established reactivation flows.

Validation results must be signed off by product owners and finance. Documented discrepancies should include remediation steps and owner assignments.

Theme rebuild and UX parity: preserving conversion while improving performance

A theme rebuild on Shopify is an opportunity to preserve conversion flows while improving performance, accessibility, and maintainability. The migration plan should treat the theme as a critical path item because design completion directly impacts QA, user testing, and content migration. A staged approach—pixel parity in staging followed by iterative UX improvements—reduces launch risk.

• Design priorities:
  1. Preserve high-conversion components (checkout triggers, product page CTAs).
  2. Recreate critical templates: product, collection, cart, and checkout where possible.
  3. Optimize for Core Web Vitals and mobile performance.
  4. Audit third-party scripts and defer or remove non-essential ones.

A testable staging environment must mimic production conditions, including simulating expected traffic levels during performance tests. Designers should supply pattern libraries and component specs to accelerate front-end development. Accessibility checks and cross-browser testing should be included prior to functional QA.

List: common theme migration pitfalls to avoid

A short list highlights frequent theme migration issues that delay cutover.

• Incomplete or missing product template logic for variants and bundles.
• Hard-coded URLs or image paths that break on Shopify’s CDN.
• Unoptimized images and noncritical scripts causing poor performance.
• Checkout customizations that require Shopify Plus features.
• Over-reliance on deprecated WooCommerce plugin behavior.

Teams should schedule dedicated remediation time for each pitfall and include a contingency buffer in sprint planning to avoid late-stage surprises.

Integrations, apps, and middleware: rebuilding the ecosystem on Shopify

Third-party integrations often drive the complexity of a migration. Payment processors, ERP connections, PIM systems, and fulfillment providers may require reconfiguration or entirely new connectors on Shopify. The migration plan must list current integrations, map equivalent Shopify apps, and define custom middleware if needed.

• Integration mapping process:
  1. Document existing integration endpoints and data exchanges.
  2. Identify Shopify-native alternatives or approved app partners.
  3. Plan for custom middleware where feature parity does not exist.
  4. Assign testing owners for each integration and define success criteria.

A pragmatic approach limits the number of simultaneous integration changes at launch. When possible, duplicate integrations to staging Shopify for validation without disabling WooCommerce connections. For mission-critical flows, ensure that both systems can run in parallel for a short period during cutover to detect sync issues.

Example integration validation checklist

A practical checklist reduces integration failure risk and speeds up troubleshooting after cutover.

• Order creation and status updates test for each fulfillment provider.
• Refund and partial refund flows double-checked with payment gateways.
• Inventory synchronization confirmed across ERP and Shopify.
• Webhooks validated for event delivery and retry logic.
• Analytics events and marketing tags verified against baseline.

Each checklist item should include who will run the test and how results are recorded. Automation helps for repeated validation, but human review is necessary for edge cases.

SEO, redirects, and content migration: preserving organic value

Maintaining SEO value is vital for minimizing traffic loss. The migration plan must capture current URL structures, top-performing landing pages, meta titles, structured data, and backlink profiles. A comprehensive redirect map and canonical tagging strategy ensure that organic rankings are protected during and after cutover.

• SEO migration tasks:
  1. Export current URL list with traffic and ranking metrics.
  2. Create a 1:1 redirect map from old WooCommerce URLs to new Shopify URLs.
  3. Preserve or improve meta tags, schema markup, and canonical links.
  4. Update sitemap.xml and robots.txt on launch.
  5. Monitor Google Search Console and indexing behavior post-launch.

A phased redirect validation approach reduces errors. Start with a test subset of redirects in staging, validate HTTP responses, then deploy full redirect rules at cutover. Preserve query parameter behavior where necessary to avoid losing tracking or affiliate attribution.

SEO checklist and monitoring after cutover

Proactive monitoring provides early signals of issues so teams can respond quickly.

• Immediate checks: HTTP 200 for top pages, redirect 301 behavior verified.
• Indexing: sitemap submitted and indexed pages monitored in Search Console.
• Analytics: traffic to top landing pages compared with baseline.
• Backlinks: monitor referral traffic and fix any broken external links that can be repaired.
• Visibility: track keyword rankings for priority terms over the first 30 days.

A communication plan to external partners and affiliates can accelerate repairs to external links. Long-term SEO health depends on monitoring and performance improvements after cutover rather than only the redirect execution.

Testing, quality assurance, and acceptance: scripts for zero-downtime validation

A thorough testing plan is the backbone of zero-downtime migration. The plan must include automated and manual tests, acceptance criteria for each workstream, and a sign-off process before DNS cutover. Tests should simulate real-world traffic and order scenarios to validate systems under typical load.

• Core test types:
  1. Functional tests: product pages, cart flows, checkout, account login.
  2. Payment processing tests with sandbox and live transactions for gateways.
  3. Order lifecycle tests including fulfillment and returns.
  4. Inventory sync tests under concurrent updates.
  5. Performance tests for critical pages and checkout.

Testing scripts should be granular and repeatable, including test data to drive each scenario. Automated end-to-end tests cover repeatable regressions, while exploratory manual testing surfaces edge cases. Acceptance requires stakeholder sign-off for each high-risk area.

List: essential validation scripts before cutover

The list below highlights validation steps that must pass before switching live DNS.

• Checkout smoke test: place, pay, fulfill, and refund an order.
• Inventory reconciliation: update inventory in source and observe sync to Shopify.
• Redirect verification: request old URLs and confirm 301 to new URLs.
• Payment reconciliation: confirm a sample of transactions are reconciled with finance.
• Analytics event parity: compare the number and type of key events in staging versus production.

Each item requires a pass/fail criterion and owner. Failure in any critical script should trigger the rollback plan or a deferred cutover until resolved.

Rollback and contingency planning: triggers, steps, and communication scripts

A complete migration plan defines when to abort cutover and how to return to the previous state with minimal impact. Realistic rollback planning includes technical steps, stakeholder notifications, and customer-facing messaging. The plan must list clear triggers that justify rollback and define the exact rollback procedure.

• Rollback triggers:
  1. Failed payment gateway transactions exceeding a defined threshold.
  2. Major inventory desynchronization creating negative stock.
  3. 50%+ increase in failed checkouts or payment declines.
  4. Critical integrations failing to process orders.
  5. DNS propagation errors causing customers to land on empty or incorrect content.
• Rollback steps:
  1. Pause write operations to Shopify if middleware exists and keep WooCommerce as the source of truth.
  2. Re-enable WooCommerce traffic and confirm transactional flows.
  3. Notify internal teams and customers via prepared scripts.
  4. Triage root causes and prepare a revised cutover window.

Communication scripts must be prepared for internal and external stakeholders, including CS teams who will answer customer inquiries during rollback. Practicing the rollback in a staging environment reduces organizational friction when executing under pressure.

Example communication scripts for critical scenarios

Prewritten messages minimize confusion and set expectations.

• Internal alert: concise status with available remediation steps and owners.
• Customer notification: transparent note for impacted customers explaining a temporary checkout delay and steps they can take.
• Partner/fulfillment message: specific guidance for order processing changes during the rollback window.

These scripts should be stored in a shared, accessible location and rehearsed with core teams prior to go-live.

Cutover operations: DNS, SSL, and order flow synchronization

The DNS cutover is the final coordinated operation that moves live traffic from WooCommerce to Shopify. This step requires precise timing, DNS TTL management, SSL certificate handling, and a final delta sync for orders and inventory. The operations plan must define a migration window, a team war room, and an escalation path.

• Cutover checklist:
  1. Lower DNS TTL at least 48–72 hours before cutover.
  2. Schedule cutover during a low-traffic window if possible.
  3. Run final incremental sync for products, customers, and orders.
  4. Point primary domain to Shopify and validate SSL issuance.
  5. Monitor real-time orders, payment success rates, and server logs.

Operations should also include health checks and rollback triggers that are actively monitored during the first hours after cutover. A single point of contact should communicate status updates every 15–30 minutes during the critical window. This cadence maintains alignment and enables quick adjustments.

Numbered list: precise DNS cutover steps

A concise numbered list helps operations teams execute without ambiguity.

1. Confirm final delta sync is complete and validated.
2. Pause marketing campaigns and any scheduled batch processes to reduce load.
3. Update DNS A/ALIAS or CNAME records to Shopify’s endpoints.
4. Validate certificate issuance and HTTPS behavior for canonical pages.
5. Monitor payment gateway errors and order creation in the Shopify admin.

Each step should include an expected duration and an owner to avoid misunderstandings under pressure. Operations runbooks must be accessible and version-controlled.

Monitoring, observability, and post-launch stabilization

After cutover, observability provides early detection of regressions and customer impact. The migration plan should define KPIs, dashboards, and alert thresholds for the first 72 hours and beyond. Stabilization tasks include backlog triage, performance tuning, and iterative UX improvements.

• Key metrics to monitor:
  1. Revenue per hour and orders per hour versus baseline.
  2. Checkout success rate and payment decline rate.
  3. Organic traffic and landing page impressions.
  4. API error rates and webhook failures.
  5. Customer support ticket volume and NPS signals.

Monitoring must be accompanied by an active incident response plan to prioritize issues. A daily standup cadence for the first two weeks helps coordinate fixes and communicates progress to stakeholders. Teams should schedule retrospective sessions to capture learnings and update the migration playbook.

List: first 72-hour post-launch priorities

A prioritized task list helps keep the early days focused and efficient.

• Verify order processing and fulfillment queues are moving normally.
• Reconcile payments and refunds with finance for the first 48 hours.
• Confirm redirects are functioning and top pages have expected traffic.
• Address high-severity customer tickets and route them to product or engineering.
• Begin performance optimizations based on real user metrics.

These priorities should be revisited and adjusted based on live data to ensure the business maintains adequate service and revenue continuity.

Staffing and realistic time/resource estimates for each task

Accurate staffing and time estimates prevent budget overruns and help stakeholders set realistic expectations. The migration plan should include hour-level estimates per task, required roles, and suggested engagement models to fit startup budgets. Phased approaches, like scoped MVP launches, reduce upfront costs while preserving critical functionality.

• Example time estimates (approximate):
  1. Discovery and audit: 40–80 hours for small to medium catalogs.
  2. Product migration and mapping: 60–200 hours depending on complexity.
  3. Theme rebuild: 80–240 hours based on customizations.
  4. Integrations and middleware: 40–160 hours per major integration.
  5. Testing, QA, and validation: 40–120 hours.

Flexible engagement models help reconcile agency fees with startup constraints. Options include fixed-price scoping for discovery, milestone-based sprints, or a phased launch where critical flows are prioritized. A transparent estimate document that ties hours to deliverables reduces friction during negotiations.

List: suggested team composition for a typical migration

A compact cross-functional team improves coordination and delivery speed.

• Product manager (1) — owns scope and stakeholder alignment.
• Platform engineer (1–2) — handles data migration and backend work.
• Front-end developer (1–2) — builds the theme and performance optimizations.
• QA engineer (1) — runs test scripts and acceptance checks.
• SEO specialist (1) — leads redirects and search monitoring.
• Growth/marketing lead (1) — coordinates launch communications.

Smaller companies may combine roles or rely on an agency partner for dedicated expertise. External partners can accelerate delivery when internal capacity is limited.

Cost considerations, engagement models, and common objections

Budget considerations will shape the migration scope and timeline. Common objections include agency fees, concerns about vision misalignment, and worries over timelines and post-launch support. The migration plan should offer phased approaches, clear deliverables, and post-launch support options to overcome these objections.

• Objections and practical rebuttals:
  1. Agency fees are too high for the startup budget — propose phased delivery and MLP (minimum launchable product) scopes to reduce initial cost.
  2. The agency won’t understand product vision or users — include structured discovery, stakeholder workshops, and user research as part of the engagement.
  3. Concern about timelines and ongoing support — present dedicated teams, transparent roadmaps, and post-launch support retainer options.

Transparent pricing models and clear scope boundaries reduce negotiation friction. Cost estimates should be tied to measurable outcomes like projected reduction in time-to-market, potential revenue protection, and cost savings from consolidated tools and improved performance.

List: typical engagement models

A list of standard engagement structures helps teams pick what fits best.

• Fixed-price discovery followed by sprint-based delivery.
• Time-and-materials retainer with prioritized backlog.
• Outcome-based contracts tied to performance or milestone delivery.
• Hybrid models: fixed bid for migration core and T&M for integrations.

Choosing the right model depends on risk tolerance, internal capacity, and the complexity of systems to be migrated. Early alignment on governance and change control is essential regardless of the model chosen.

Mid-article operational support and planning resources

A mid-article checkpoint emphasizes the availability of partner resources and offers direct assistance for teams that require managed migration expertise. For organizations seeking hands-on help with timelines, validation scripts, and contingency planning, Presta offers structured migration programs and experienced cross-functional teams who specialize in platform moves and growth marketing.

Teams that prefer to discuss specifics can Book a 30-minute discovery call with Presta to review their catalog, integrations, and timeline requirements and receive a tailored migration outline. That conversation often clarifies scope and helps prioritize the minimum viable cutover for zero-downtime execution.

Risk register, legal, and compliance considerations

Migration plans must account for privacy laws, payment compliance, and contractual obligations with third-party vendors. Data handling requirements under GDPR, CCPA, and payment card industry standards (PCI-DSS) influence both timeline and tooling choices. The plan should include a risk register that documents data transfer mechanisms and retention policies.

• Compliance tasks:
  1. Validate data export and import methods against applicable privacy laws.
  2. Verify that payment processing on Shopify meets PCI requirements.
  3. Audit consent banners and tracking scripts when moving analytics setups.
  4. Review contracts with third-party providers for migration clauses and downtime allowances.

Legal and compliance reviews can add time to the migration timeline, but early engagement reduces late-stage surprises. The migration plan should assign a compliance owner to track approvals and evidence of secure handling.

List: risk register entries to track

A compact risk register keeps priorities visible and manageable.

• Data loss during export/import.
• Broken third-party integrations causing order loss.
• SEO regression from incorrect redirects.
• Payment processor delays or failures post cutover.
• Unexpected spikes in support tickets impacting operations.

Each risk must include likelihood, impact, mitigation actions, and an owner. Periodic review of the register keeps attention on high-impact items as the cutover approaches.

Measurement, reporting, and long-term optimization after migration

Measurement continues after cutover and informs iterative improvements. The migration plan should define immediate KPIs and longer-term success criteria for growth, conversion, and system reliability. Baseline metrics gathered during discovery will be the reference for reporting.

• Short-term KPIs:
  1. Orders per hour and revenue per hour.
  2. Checkout completion rate.
  3. Number of critical incidents and mean time to resolution.
  4. Organic traffic and landing page performance.
• Long-term targets:
  1. Improved page load times and Core Web Vitals.
  2. Increased conversion rate from UX optimizations.
  3. Reduced maintenance overhead via consolidated apps and simplified integrations.
  4. Enhanced lifetime value through better retention and marketing automation.

Reporting cadences should include daily snapshots for the first week, weekly summaries for the first month, and monthly business reviews thereafter. These reports guide prioritization for backlog items and ongoing product roadmap decisions.

List: tools and dashboards recommended for post-launch monitoring

A short list of monitoring tools helps teams build observability quickly.

• Analytics: Google Analytics 4 or equivalent for event tracking.
• Search Console: Google Search Console for index and coverage issues.
• Performance: Lighthouse, New Relic, or PageSpeed monitoring for real-user metrics.
• Error tracking: Sentry or similar for JavaScript and server-side errors.
• Order monitoring: dashboard pulling order status and payment success rates for the first 72 hours.

Integrating these tools into a single war-room dashboard improves visibility and cross-team coordination during stabilization.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a typical zero-downtime WooCommerce to Shopify migration take?

Timelines vary by catalog complexity and integrations. A lean migration for a catalog under 1,000 SKUs with minimal custom integrations can often be completed in 6–8 weeks, while complex ecosystems involving ERP, multiple payment gateways, and heavy custom code can take 3–6 months. The timeline should include discovery, a theme rebuild, integration work, testing, and a scheduled cutover window. Stakeholders should plan for contingency buffers and post-launch stabilization time.

Are migration costs prohibitive for startups?

Costs depend on scope but can be managed through phased approaches. A discovery engagement can isolate high-priority items and enable a minimum launchable product to reduce upfront spend. Flexible engagement models and milestone payments help spread costs. For teams with limited internal capacity, partnering with an experienced agency reduces time-to-market and mitigates the risk of expensive post-launch fixes.

What if the payment gateway fails after cutover—what’s the immediate action?

A predefined rollback trigger should be in place if payment failures exceed a specific threshold. The technical steps include pausing Shopify write operations where possible, redirecting traffic back to WooCommerce, and notifying finance and customer support. Communication templates and an escalation path reduce response time. Once stabilized, root-cause analysis should determine whether to retry cutover or implement fixes and reattempt.

Will moving to Shopify hurt SEO and organic traffic?

If redirects, canonical tags, and metadata are preserved and validated, long-term SEO impact can be minimal. The primary hazards are missing redirects, broken pages, or content that changes significantly without proper mapping. A robust redirect map combined with immediate post-launch monitoring in Google Search Console helps detect and remedy issues quickly. Pre-migration audits and staged redirect testing reduce ranking risk.

Can inventory be synced in real time during migration?

Real-time inventory sync can be implemented through middleware or an ERP connector. The migration plan should test inventory flows under concurrent updates and include validation scripts to detect negative stock situations. For zero-downtime cutover, an incremental sync approach plus a short write freeze during DNS change minimizes the risk of inconsistent stock levels.

How does Presta support migrations and what engagement options are available?

Presta provides discovery workshops, migration strategy, development and testing resources, and post-launch stabilization support. Engagement options range from a discovery-only engagement to full managed migrations with dedicated cross-functional teams and retained post-launch support. Teams may learn more about shopify migration plan offerings and find examples of past work to evaluate fit.

Final checklist and practical template for an executable timeline

A practical template turns the migration plan into an executable timeline with owners, estimated hours, and contingency buffers. The checklist below summarizes the high-priority tasks that should appear on a Gantt or calendar view.

• Discovery and audit: export data, analytics baseline, and integration inventory.
• Data mapping and initial import: product CSV mapping and sample imports.
• Theme development: staging theme with critical templates.
• Integrations: duplicate and validate critical connectors.
• Testing and validation: full test scripts with acceptance criteria.
• Pre-cutover ops: TTL reduction, final delta sync, and war-room readiness.
• Cutover: DNS update, SSL, and immediate monitoring.
• Post-launch: stabilization, monitoring, and retrospective.

The timeline template should allocate explicit owners, estimated durations, and contingency time for each task. Regular checkpoints and a decision log reduce ambiguity and accelerate approvals. For teams seeking hands-on guidance, explore our solutions to see recommended timelines and PM templates that match specific catalog sizes and integration complexity.

Closing guidance: operationalizing the Shopify migration plan for business continuity

The migration plan should be institutionalized as a repeatable process for future platform moves and upgrades. Documenting playbooks, test scripts, communication templates, and a risk register ensures that future migrations are faster and less risky. Teams that invest in these playbooks will shorten time-to-market and reduce operational overhead related to platform changes.

For teams ready to convert strategy into execution, Presta can facilitate a tailored migration roadmap and provide expert resources that align product strategy, UX design, and engineering for a measurable, zero-downtime migration. Schedule a time to discuss specific constraints and an actionable plan: Book a 30-minute discovery call. Presta’s experience with complex migrations helps teams preserve revenue and accelerate growth while minimizing disruption.

Sources

1. WooCommerce to Shopify migration sprint resource (wearepresta) – Practical sprint-based migration approach and checklist adapted during planning.
2. Shopify Help Center – Migrating to Shopify – Official guidance on Shopify platform capabilities and best practices for migration.
3. Google Search Central – Move site to another domain or new platform – Authoritative SEO guidance for site moves and redirects.
4. Cart2Cart migration tool documentation – Examples of automated migration tools and their trade-offs.
5. PCI Security Standards Council – Standards and considerations for payment handling during migrations.