Your customer email list is one of your most valuable marketing assets. Migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify without a clear plan for customer data and email marketing consent is a risk: send to customers without valid migrated consent and you may breach UK PECR/GDPR; fail to migrate the list at all and you lose years of customer relationship data.

Understanding marketing consent in WooCommerce

WooCommerce stores typically capture email marketing consent in one of three ways:

Checkout opt-in checkbox: "Sign me up for news and offers" on the checkout page. WooCommerce stores this as customer meta (marketing_newsletter or via Mailchimp/Klaviyo plugin field).
GDPR plugin: WP GDPR Compliance, Cookiebot, or custom implementation. Stores explicit consent with timestamp and source.
Pop-up/form tool: Mailchimp for WooCommerce, Klaviyo, OptinMonster. These platforms store consent in their own systems, not necessarily in WooCommerce customer meta.

Exporting customer data from WooCommerce

Before migration, export your WooCommerce customer list including consent status:

WooCommerce → Customers → Export (or via WP All Export plugin for more control)
Include: email, first name, last name, phone, total orders, total spend, account created date, and any marketing_optin field
If using Klaviyo/Mailchimp as your email platform: export list directly from those platforms — the consent data lives there, not in WooCommerce
Check your GDPR plugin's audit log export if available — this is the most legally defensible consent record

Importing customers to Shopify

Shopify allows customer import via CSV. The import format requires specific columns:

Email, First Name, Last Name, Phone, Address fields
Tags (for customer segments)
Email Marketing Consent: "subscribed" or "unsubscribed" (maps to Shopify's email marketing status)

Critical: only import customers as "subscribed" for email marketing if you have documented, valid consent from the original WooCommerce collection. Importing all customers as subscribed without valid consent is a UK PECR breach.

GDPR and UK PECR compliance considerations

UK PECR (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) requires prior consent for marketing emails to individuals. UK GDPR adds requirements around consent quality (explicit, granular, withdrawable).

Consent collected on your WooCommerce store is generally portable to Shopify if:

The consent was explicitly obtained ("Sign up to receive marketing emails from [Store Name]")
The consent was not implied (just being a customer does not constitute marketing consent)
You can document when and how consent was collected

If your WooCommerce consent collection was unclear or unverified, run a re-permission campaign: email your existing list to re-confirm consent before migrating to a new platform.

Re-permission campaign strategy

If consent documentation is uncertain, send a re-permission email before switching platforms:

Subject: "We're moving — please confirm you still want to hear from us"
Body: Explain the platform migration and ask them to confirm their subscription with a positive action (button click, not pre-ticked)
Set a 14-day window. Only import confirmed subscribers to Shopify as "subscribed".
Unconfirmed: import as "unsubscribed" or don't import at all

Yes, this reduces your list size. A smaller, consented list dramatically outperforms a large, unconsented list on both deliverability and revenue per send.

Setting up email capture in Shopify

After migration, ensure new visitors can subscribe to your email list through multiple touchpoints:

Shopify newsletter subscription form

Most Shopify themes include a newsletter signup section (typically in the footer or as a standalone homepage section). This feeds directly into Shopify's built-in email marketing subscribers list.

Pop-up and email capture apps

Klaviyo: Most powerful email marketing platform for Shopify. Pop-ups, forms, and abandoned cart flows built-in.
Privy: Pop-ups, exit intent, spin-to-win. Integrates with Klaviyo, Mailchimp.
Omnisend: All-in-one email + SMS marketing with Shopify-native pop-ups.
Shopify Email: Native, basic email marketing. Free up to 10,000 emails/month. Good for getting started.

Checkout email capture

Shopify captures the customer's email at step 1 of checkout. Ensure the email marketing opt-in checkbox is enabled in Shopify Admin → Settings → Checkout → Email Marketing. This is the highest-value capture point — customers entering checkout have declared purchase intent.

Email list hygiene after migration

After importing your WooCommerce list to Shopify/Klaviyo:

Send a welcome re-engagement email to the migrated list. Monitor open rates — a healthy migrated list should achieve 20%+ open rates.
Suppress or remove subscribers who haven't opened in 12+ months before migrating — these are deliverability risks.
Verify your sending domain (DKIM/DMARC) on Shopify Email or your ESP before sending. Sending from a new platform without domain authentication causes spam folder placement.

Post-migration email capture checklist

WooCommerce customer export includes marketing consent status
Only consented customers imported as "subscribed" in Shopify
Re-permission campaign sent if consent documentation is unclear
Klaviyo or preferred ESP connected to Shopify and historical data synced
Checkout email opt-in checkbox enabled in Shopify settings
Pop-up with lead magnet (discount code or free shipping) active on store launch
Domain authentication (DKIM/DMARC) verified before first campaign send
Welcome email automation active in Klaviyo/Omnisend for new subscribers
Abandoned cart email flow rebuilt in new ESP (does not migrate from WooCommerce)
Privacy policy updated to reference Shopify as the new data processor

Shopify customer email capture and marketing consent after migrating from WooCommerce (2026)