WooCommerce stores with WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin) often have the most complex migrations. WPML creates a separate page/post/product translation for each language, with independent URLs, content, and SEO metadata. Shopify's translation model is fundamentally different — one store, multiple languages as alternate renderings of the same content. This guide covers how to approach the transition.

WPML architecture vs Shopify's translation model

WPML (WooCommerce)

Each product/page has a "translation" that is effectively a separate post in WordPress with the same product ID relationship
Each translation can have completely different content, images, and SEO metadata
Separate URL slugs per language (e.g., /en/product/blue-widget/, /de/produkt/blaues-widget/)
Language switcher creates links between translations
WooCommerce Multilingual handles currency, checkout language, email templates per language
Separate hreflang tags per language URL

Shopify's translation model

One product, multiple translations stored in Shopify's Translations API
URL structure: /products/blue-widget serves the English version; /de/products/blue-widget serves German (same handle)
Translations are alternate text for the same fields (title, description, options, etc.)
Shopify automatically generates hreflang tags for configured market languages
Markets + language configuration handles which languages are served to which regions

The key architectural difference: WPML lets each language have completely different content including different images and layouts. Shopify's translations are field-level text replacements — same product, same images, different text.

Translation apps for Shopify

Translate & Adapt (Shopify's free app)

Shopify's official translation app, available free in the Shopify App Store:

Add languages to your store (connected to Shopify Markets)
Translate product titles, descriptions, metafields, collection names, navigation, pages, blog posts
Side-by-side editor: source language on left, translation on right
Auto-translate via DeepL or Google Translate (machine translation, requires review)
Export/import translations via CSV for bulk translation workflows
Free — no monthly cost beyond Shopify plan

Translate & Adapt is suitable for most multilingual Shopify stores. The main limitation is the manual translation workflow — it's not a passive machine translation like some third-party apps.

Weglot

Automatic machine translation of all storefront content (crawls the entire storefront)
Professional translation ordering via their marketplace
Detects new content automatically and translates it
Dedicated language subdomains or subdirectories
Pricing: starts at $17/month (1 language, 10k words); scales with word count and languages
Best for stores that want minimal manual translation management

Langify

Manual translation management (similar to Translate & Adapt but with a dedicated UI)
Third-party translation service integrations
Pricing: ~$17.50/month
Works well for stores with smaller translation teams

What WPML content migrates and what doesn't

When you migrate products from WooCommerce/WPML to Shopify:

Content type	Migration approach
Default language products	k-sync migrates product data in the default language (usually English). All product fields migrate normally.
WPML product translations	NOT automatically migrated. WPML translations are separate WordPress posts that require separate export and import into Shopify's Translations API.
WPML page translations	NOT automatically migrated. Must be manually recreated or exported/imported.
WPML category translations	NOT automatically migrated. Collection names in Shopify need translations added via Translate & Adapt.
WPML SEO metadata per language	NOT automatically migrated. Shopify allows separate SEO titles/descriptions per language (set in Translate & Adapt).
Translated blog posts	NOT automatically migrated. Blog post translations must be recreated manually.

Migrating WPML translations to Shopify

Step 1: Export translations from WPML

In WordPress → WPML → Translation Management → Export XLIFF
Or use the WPML String Translation export
For product translations specifically: export via WooCommerce → Products → Export and filter by each language

Step 2: Import to Shopify via Translate & Adapt CSV

In Translate & Adapt → select language → Resources → Products → Export
This gives you a CSV with product handles and empty translation columns
Fill in translation columns from your WPML export data
Import back into Translate & Adapt

This is a manual mapping process — WPML's export format doesn't directly match Shopify's CSV format. For large catalogs (hundreds of products with full translations), plan 1–3 days for the translation data migration.

Alternative: Use Weglot for automatic re-translation

If translation quality from your WPML translations isn't critical to preserve exactly (or if the original WPML translations were also machine-translated), installing Weglot and letting it auto-translate the Shopify store may be faster than manually migrating WPML translation data.

hreflang configuration on Shopify

Shopify generates hreflang tags automatically when Markets are configured with languages. You don't need to manually add hreflang — Shopify handles this in the theme's <head>:

<!-- Auto-generated by Shopify for multilingual stores -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://store.com/products/blue-widget">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://store.com/de/products/blue-widget">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="https://store.com/fr/products/blue-widget">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://store.com/products/blue-widget">

Verify hreflang tags are correctly generated after setting up Markets and languages: view source on a product page and search for "hreflang".

SEO considerations for multilingual migration

Language-specific URL 301 redirects

If your WPML store used language prefixes (/de/produkt/slug/), you need 301 redirects from the old WPML URLs to the new Shopify market URLs (/de/products/handle).

This is a significant redirect map for multilingual stores — you're redirecting both the default language AND all translated language URLs. Build the redirect map with the WPML language URL patterns in mind.

Google Search Console: verify all languages

After migration, verify performance in Search Console for all language/market combinations:

Search Console → Performance → filter by URL contains "/de/" for German traffic
Watch for drops in non-English language traffic specifically — this indicates redirect or hreflang issues

Email notifications in multiple languages

WooCommerce with WPML sends order confirmation emails in the customer's language. On Shopify:

Shopify's native notification emails support translation — Settings → Notifications → each template → edit → use Liquid to check market and output translated text
Or use a dedicated email marketing platform (Klaviyo, Omnisend) that handles language-based personalization
Shopify's Translate & Adapt doesn't automatically translate email notifications — these need manual multilingual configuration

Multilingual migration checklist

Identify all languages currently active in WPML
Export WPML product translations (XLIFF or CSV per language)
Migrate default language products normally via k-sync
Set up Shopify Markets for each language region (Admin → Settings → Markets)
Install Translate & Adapt (free) or Weglot (faster, paid)
Import product translations from WPML data via Translate & Adapt CSV
Translate navigation, collections, pages via Translate & Adapt
Build 301 redirect map including language-prefixed URLs from WPML
Verify hreflang tags are generated correctly on product pages
Configure multilingual email notifications
Monitor non-English language traffic in Search Console post-migration

WPML migrations are among the most time-intensive WooCommerce → Shopify migrations. The default language product migration is standard, but translation data migration is always manual work. Weglot is worth evaluating for stores where the speed of automatic translation outweighs the cost — it can cut the translation migration time from days to hours.

Shopify multilingual setup after WooCommerce / wpml migration (2026)