CS/16CASE STUDY

From Magento to Shopify
A Modern E-Commerce Foundation

A prominent Romanian furniture retailer migrated a 50,000+ product catalog from a sluggish legacy Magento 1 environment to Shopify, paired with a new Product Information Management (PIM) system to overhaul digital performance, fix inventory sync, and unlock international expansion.

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At a Glance
Capabilities
Magento 1 → Shopify Migration
PIM Integration (Sales Layer)
Custom Shopify Theme Development
AI-Powered Search & Recommendations
Technologies
ShopifySales Layer (PIM)HTML / CSS / JavaScript (jQuery)LiquidMeta Fields / Meta Objects
Delivery Model
Lean delivery team · Project Manager + CSS Dev + Shopify Dev
[01]Business Context

A growing furniture retailer held back by legacy commerce

The client is a prominent Romanian furniture retailer operating physical stores across the country with several hundred employees. Operating on a legacy Magento 1 platform, the company struggled with severe performance issues caused by their extensive catalog of over 50,000 products. To modernize their e-commerce operations, resolve inventory sync problems, and improve workflow efficiency, the retailer sought to transition to a combination of Shopify for business management and Sales Layer (a Product Information Management system) for product management.

Key Context
50,000+ product catalog causing performance issues on Magento 1
Inventory sync problems between online and warehouse
Inefficient back-office workflows limiting growth
Bureaucratic payment processor integrations blocking expansion
[02]Client Needs

What prompted the project

To modernize their digital storefront and unlock international expansion, the retailer needed a clean-slate commerce platform with role-based access, scalable product management, and reliable inventory.

N/01

Structured Access Control

Implement a management system that allowed for role-specific permissions so employees could govern only the parts of the workflow relevant to them.

N/02

International Expansion

Utilize Shopify Marketplace to expand sales operations into multiple countries without re-platforming for each new market.

N/03

Scalable Architecture

Move away from an outdated platform failing under their catalog size, seeking a "clean slate" to manage products and stock efficiently.

[03]The Challenges

Why an expert partner was required

The migration and modernization effort presented several significant hurdles — both technical and organizational.

Pre-Project ChallengeSystem Coordination
PIM + Shopify Integration
Ensuring seamless integration and smooth data exchange between the new Sales Layer PIM and the Shopify platform was a non-trivial engineering effort.
Complex Product Attributes
Furniture products carry deeply structured attributes (materials, dimensions, finishes) that Shopify does not model natively.
Impact
A naive integration would have left catalog data fragmented between two systems with no clean path forward.
Pre-Project ChallengeData Migration Risks
Massive Customer Database
Efficiently managing the transfer of a massive customer and product database from Magento 1 while preserving the consistency of product details.
Historical Order Data
A complete historical order migration would have introduced complexity and risk for marginal benefit to the live site.
Impact
A wrong call here could have meant days of downtime or lost customer history.
Pre-Project ChallengePayment & Platform Limits
Payment Gateway Bureaucracy
Overcoming bureaucratic complexities required to implement a new payment gateway processor on the new platform.
Native Filtering Limits
Shopify natively possessed limitations in handling the highly detailed product information required for the client's extensive furniture catalog.
Impact
Two external constraints that had to be solved before the new platform could go live.
[04]Solutions Provided

What We As Web delivered

We As Web delivered a comprehensive migration and custom integration strategy to overhaul the client's e-commerce ecosystem — without disrupting the live business during the cutover.

S/01

Custom Shopify Theme

A clean, optimized Shopify theme built from the ground up to handle the retailer's specific component requirements.

Adapted the client's existing design into a clean, optimized Shopify theme built from the ground up.
Hand-built to handle the specific component requirements of a furniture catalog, not a generic template with bolted-on furniture widgets.
S/02

Advanced PIM Integration via Meta Fields

Overcame Shopify's native product information limits by storing complex attributes in Meta Fields and Meta Objects, synced from Sales Layer.

We overcame Shopify's native product information limits by utilizing Meta Fields and Meta Objects.
These store and display complex product attributes, descriptions, and specifications directly from Sales Layer — keeping the PIM and storefront in sync.
S/03

Strategic Data Migration

A specialized tool to transfer customer data seamlessly; historical order data kept accessible in the legacy system.

Used a specialized tool to transfer customer data seamlessly from Magento 1 to Shopify.
To reduce complexity and avoid disruptions, historical order data was not migrated but instead kept accessible within the legacy Magento system for reference.
S/04

AI-Powered Filtering & Discovery

Two distinct AI features that improve product discovery and conversion across the catalog.

Smart Search Suggestions: an AI tool that analyzes user browsing patterns to dynamically suggest relevant products.
Personalized Recommendations: an AI engine on product pages that suggests related items based on individual customer preferences to boost conversion rates.
[05]Results Achieved

A modern, scalable, future-proof commerce foundation

The transition to Shopify and Sales Layer delivered a well-optimized e-commerce platform — built to scale with the retailer's product catalog, their team's workflows, and their international expansion plans.

R/01
Stock management fully resolved

Completely resolved previous operational issues where products appeared online but were unavailable in the warehouse, or vice versa.

R/02
50,000+ product catalog, zero lag

The platform's overall performance improved significantly, efficiently managing the massive 50,000+ product catalog without lag.

R/03
Smoother navigation & product discovery

Navigation became smoother and product discovery much more intuitive thanks to the AI-powered search filtering and personalized recommendations.

R/04
Minimal ongoing technical overhead

The new platform requires minimal technical maintenance, as security patches and standard updates are handled automatically by Shopify — freeing the client's internal resources.

[06]Technology & Team

Shopify + Sales Layer PIM for a furniture-scale catalog

A pragmatic, modern stack — Shopify for commerce, Sales Layer for product information management, custom Liquid theme work for the storefront, and AI features layered on top for discovery.

Technology Stack
ShopifySales Layer (PIM)LiquidHTML / CSS / JavaScript (jQuery)Meta Fields / Meta ObjectsAI Smart SearchAI Personalized RecommendationsSpecialized Data Migration Tool
Team Composition
Project ManagerCSS DeveloperShopify Developer
[07]Conclusion

A clean-slate commerce platform is a growth unlock, not just a tech refresh

A retailer with a 50,000-product catalog on a legacy platform is not just slow — it is operationally boxed in. By migrating to Shopify, integrating Sales Layer as the PIM, and layering AI features on top, we gave this Romanian furniture retailer a foundation that handles their catalog today and their international expansion tomorrow.

The result is a platform that the client's own team can operate with minimal technical maintenance, while continuously adding new features and entering new markets. For any retailer held back by legacy commerce infrastructure, this is what a clean-slate migration looks like when it's done right — minimal disruption during the cutover, maximum leverage after it.