The verdict in three sentences
For an Amsterdam brand turning over 4 million EUR with 9,000 orders a month, staying on WooCommerce is already expensive in hosting, fixes and sales lost at peaks. Shopify Plus (2,300 USD a month plus 15,000 to 30,000 EUR of migration) is the fast, safe choice if your model stays standard; a headless build on commercetools or an open-source engine (50,000 to 120,000 EUR) makes sense if product experience, personalisation or integrations are your competitive edge. Either way, aim for +0.4 conversion points and plan 3 to 5 months of project, away from sales seasons and Black Friday.
What WooCommerce really costs at 9,000 orders a month
At this volume, a WooCommerce store often runs 40 to 70 plugins, a multi-gigabyte database and response times above 3 seconds during campaigns. Costs are scattered, so they are underestimated.
| Annual item (2026 order of magnitude) | Current WooCommerce | Shopify Plus | Headless (commercetools or open source) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription or licence | 3,000 to 6,000 EUR (premium plugins) | 2,300 USD/month, about 25,000 EUR | 0 to 12,000 EUR open source, 40,000 to 80,000 EUR commercetools |
| Hosting and CDN | 9,000 to 18,000 EUR | Included | 8,000 to 15,000 EUR |
| Maintenance and fixes | 18,000 to 36,000 EUR | 6,000 to 12,000 EUR (apps, theme) | 12,000 to 20,000 EUR |
| Platform transaction fees | 0 % | 0.15 to 0.5 % depending on gateway and plan | 0 % |
| Third-party apps | Included above | 6,000 to 15,000 EUR | Custom-built |
| Initial migration cost | n/a | 15,000 to 30,000 EUR | 50,000 to 120,000 EUR |
| Target mobile load time | 3 to 4 s | 1.5 to 2.5 s | 1 to 1.8 s |
The most expensive hidden line is the peak: one hour of slowdown on Black Friday, when the brand takes 3 to 4 times its average hourly revenue, can mean 8,000 to 15,000 EUR of lost sales.
5-year total cost and selection criteria
| Criterion | Shopify Plus | Headless (Next.js + commercetools or Medusa) |
|---|---|---|
| Initial cost | 15,000-30,000 EUR | 50,000-120,000 EUR |
| Annual recurring cost | 45,000-70,000 EUR (subscription, apps, variable fees) | 25,000-45,000 EUR open source, 65,000-110,000 EUR with commercetools |
| 5-year cumulative cost | 240,000-380,000 EUR | 175,000-345,000 EUR open source, 375,000-670,000 EUR commercetools |
| Time to launch | 3 months | 4 to 5 months |
| Checkout customisation | Good (Checkout Extensibility) | Full |
| Vendor lock-in | Strong | Low (open source) to medium (commercetools) |
| In-house skills required | Low | Team or technical partner |
| Fits if | Standard catalogue, autonomous marketing team | Configurator, subscriptions, mixed B2B and B2C, multi-country |
For a 4 million EUR brand, commercetools is usually oversized: its licence pays off from 20 to 30 million EUR of GMV. Open-source headless becomes cheaper than Shopify Plus over 5 years above 4 to 5 million EUR of revenue, because it avoids variable fees and stacked paid apps.
The migration plan without SEO loss
A failed migration can cost 20 to 40 % of organic traffic for several months. The steps below are priced from the quote.
| Step | Duration | Deliverable | Risk if skipped |
|---|---|---|---|
| URL and traffic audit | 1 week | 301 redirect plan | Ranking drop |
| Data migration (customers, orders, reviews) | 2 to 3 weeks | Verified database, passwords handled | Customers forced to recreate accounts |
| Subscriptions and stored cards | 1 to 2 weeks | Payment token migration | Involuntary churn |
| Testing and load tests | 2 weeks | Test at 5 times average traffic | Outage at the first peak |
| Switch-over and monitoring | 1 week | Tracking 404s, sales, rankings | Undetected losses |
| Conversion optimisation | 4 to 8 weeks after launch | Checkout A/B tests | Conversion gain not reached |
In the Netherlands, also plan iDEAL from day one: it carries well over half of Dutch online payments, and a checkout without it loses conversion immediately.
Mini case study
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Lotte, e-commerce director of a fashion brand in Amsterdam, turns over 4 million EUR at a 1.6 % conversion rate. She chooses Shopify Plus: 25,000 EUR of migration and about 55,000 EUR of annual recurring costs, against 48,000 EUR on WooCommerce. Annual extra cost: about 7,000 EUR, plus the migration. If conversion gains only half the target, +0.2 points (1.8 %), sales rise 12.5 %, i.e. 500,000 EUR, and 150,000 EUR of contribution margin at 30 %. The project pays back in roughly 3 months; at the full +0.4 point target, the gain doubles.
FAQ
How long does a WooCommerce to Shopify Plus migration take?
Plan 3 months for a brand at 9,000 orders a month: 3 weeks of audit and scoping, 6 weeks of build, 3 weeks of testing and switch-over. Avoid switching less than 6 weeks before Black Friday.
Will we lose organic rankings?
Not if the 301 redirect plan covers 100 % of URLs that receive traffic. A temporary 5 to 10 % dip for 2 to 4 weeks is common.
Is commercetools too much for a 4 million EUR brand?
Usually yes: a licence of 40,000 to 80,000 EUR a year weighs 1 to 2 % of revenue. An open-source headless engine or Shopify Plus delivers most of the benefit for a fraction of the cost.
Can we keep WooCommerce and optimise it?
Yes, a 10,000 to 20,000 EUR performance project (caching, database, fewer plugins) can gain 1 to 1.5 seconds. It delays migration by 12 to 24 months without fixing the technical debt.
What transaction fees should we expect on Shopify Plus?
Fees range from 0.15 to 0.5 % depending on the gateway and plan. On 4 million EUR, that is 6,000 to 20,000 EUR a year, to include in the total cost.
Let's scope your project. Send us your online revenue, order volume and critical WooCommerce plugins: we price the migration to Shopify Plus or headless between 15,000 and 120,000 EUR, delivered in 3 to 5 months. 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.
