The verdict in three sentences
PrestaShop 1.6 has been unmaintained for years: every month on it raises the security risk and the cost of fixes. For a 3,200-SKU B2B catalogue, a migration to Shopify costs between EUR 12,000 and 30,000 excl. VAT, the gap coming mainly from per-customer pricing and redirects. The right calculation compares total cost over three years, not just the monthly subscription.
What a migration costs, line by line
The bill depends on three variables: the volume of data to move, the complexity of B2B pricing rules and the number of URLs to redirect to keep organic rankings. Here is a 2026 order of magnitude for a manufacturer with 3,200 SKUs and 1,500 trade customer accounts.
| Item | Simple version | Full B2B version |
|---|---|---|
| Audit and data mapping | EUR 1,000 | EUR 2,500 |
| Products, variants, images (3,200 SKUs) | EUR 2,500 | EUR 5,000 |
| Customer accounts and history | EUR 1,500 | EUR 4,000 |
| B2B pricing per customer or group, volume discounts | EUR 2,000 | EUR 6,500 |
| Theme and trade checkout journey | EUR 3,000 | EUR 7,000 |
| 301 redirect plan (6,000 to 9,000 URLs) | EUR 1,200 | EUR 3,000 |
| Testing, training, go-live | EUR 800 | EUR 2,000 |
| Total | EUR 12,000 | EUR 30,000 |
Customer passwords cannot be transferred: Shopify sends an account activation invite. Plan a two-reminder email campaign, otherwise 20 to 30% of trade customers will call your sales team in the first week.
Annual cost: maintained PrestaShop vs Shopify
The real issue is recurring cost. PrestaShop 1.6 costs little in licences but a lot in maintenance, hosting and modules rewritten at every PHP upgrade.
| Annual item | Maintained PrestaShop 1.6 | Shopify (Grow) | Shopify Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence or subscription | EUR 0 | about USD 2,400 | from about USD 27,000 |
| Hosting and backups | EUR 900 | included | included |
| Maintenance and fixes | EUR 4,800 | EUR 1,200 | EUR 2,400 |
| Apps and modules | EUR 600 | EUR 1,500 to 3,000 | EUR 2,000 to 5,000 |
| Native B2B features | no | partial via apps | yes (catalogues, price lists, payment terms) |
| Security risk | high | low | low |
For a manufacturer invoicing less than EUR 2 million online, the standard plan with a B2B app is often enough. Shopify Plus makes sense when per-customer catalogues, 30 or 60-day payment terms and several storefronts (Ireland, UK, EU export) are essential.
The three traps that blow the budget
The first trap is SEO loss. Without a complete redirect plan, a B2B site commonly loses 30 to 50% of organic traffic for three months. Export every indexed URL, including old categories, before touching the catalogue.
The second is migrating negotiated prices. A manufacturer often has 40 to 120 discount grids. Rebuilding them by hand takes 10 to 15 days; a well-prepared import script brings that down to 2 days.
The third is ERP integration. If stock and invoices come from an ERP (Sage, Microsoft Dynamics, Odoo), budget EUR 4,000 to 12,000 for a connector on top of the migration, plus a month of testing.
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Mini case study
Ciarán, e-commerce manager at an agricultural equipment manufacturer near Dublin, runs 3,200 SKUs and 1,400 trade accounts on PrestaShop 1.6. Current cost: EUR 4,800 maintenance + EUR 900 hosting + EUR 600 modules, i.e. EUR 6,300 a year. Full migration quoted at EUR 24,000, then Shopify Grow with a B2B app: USD 2,400 (about EUR 2,200) + EUR 1,200 maintenance + EUR 2,400 apps, i.e. EUR 5,800 a year. Over three years the recurring saving is small (EUR 1,500), but the gain is elsewhere: online orders rise from 22% to 35% of all orders thanks to the trade journey, about EUR 180,000 of revenue processed with no manual entry. Customer service saves 6 hours a week, roughly EUR 9,000 a year.
FAQ
How long does a B2B PrestaShop to Shopify migration take?
Allow 8 to 14 weeks for 3,000 SKUs with per-customer pricing. Data migration takes 2 to 3 weeks, testing and redirects another 2 weeks.
Can we keep the same URLs?
No, Shopify enforces its own prefixes (/products/, /collections/). You need a 301 plan covering 100% of indexed URLs, often 6,000 to 9,000 rows for a catalogue this size.
Should we upgrade to PrestaShop 8 instead?
It is an option at EUR 10,000 to 25,000, with annual maintenance still around EUR 3,000 to 5,000. It makes sense if you have a lot of custom development to keep.
Are past orders migrated?
Yes, history can be imported, usually 2 to 3 years. Beyond that, an archived export is enough and cuts migration cost by 20 to 30%.
Does Shopify handle EU B2B VAT?
Yes, with VAT number capture and reverse charge for EU customers. Check the setup during testing on 5 to 10 test orders.
Let's scope your project. Send us your SKU count, customer accounts and price grids: we will quote the migration, an indicative budget and the cutover schedule. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
