How to duplicate a Shopify store: A complete guide for 2025

Whether you're expanding internationally, creating a testing environment, or setting up separate wholesale and retail stores, learning how to duplicate a Shopify store is an essential skill for growing e-commerce businesses. In this comprehensive guide, I'll walk you through everything you need to know about Shopify store duplication, from understanding your options to executing a flawless copy of your existing store.

Why duplicate a Shopify store?

Before diving into the how-to, let's explore the most common reasons why merchants need to duplicate their Shopify stores:

Testing and development environments: Creating a safe space to test new themes, apps, and features without risking your live store is crucial for maintaining business continuity. A duplicate store allows you to experiment freely and catch potential issues before they affect your customers.

International expansion: As your business grows globally, you may need separate stores for different countries or regions. Each duplicate can feature localised currencies, languages, payment methods, and compliance requirements whilst maintaining your core brand identity.

Wholesale vs retail separation: Many businesses operate both B2B and B2C channels. A duplicate store enables you to offer different pricing structures, minimum order quantities, and product catalogues to your wholesale customers without confusing your retail shoppers.

Seasonal or event-specific stores: Creating temporary duplicates for special promotions, pop-up events, or seasonal campaigns allows you to maintain focused marketing without cluttering your main store.

Backup and recovery: Before major updates or redesigns, having a complete duplicate serves as insurance against data loss or website failures.

What can you duplicate in a Shopify store?

Understanding what transfers easily and what requires special attention is crucial for planning your duplication strategy:

Easily duplicated elements:

• Products (including variants, prices, and descriptions)
• Collections and product organisation
• Customer data (excluding passwords for security reasons)
• Order history and transaction records
• Blog posts and content pages
• Basic store settings and configurations

Elements requiring special attention:

• Theme customisations and design elements
• App configurations and third-party integrations
• Custom code and liquid templates
• Payment gateway settings
• Domain and SSL configurations
• SEO settings and URL structures

Cannot be duplicated:

• Customer passwords (for security reasons)
• Active payment processing credentials
• Domain ownership (requires separate registration)
• Some app licences (check terms of service)
• Real-time inventory sync between stores

Your duplication options: Manual vs automated approaches

Manual duplication method

The manual approach involves exporting data via CSV files and rebuilding your store piece by piece. While free, this method is time-intensive and prone to errors.

Time investment: Small stores (under 100 products) require 4-8 hours, medium stores (100-1,000 products) need 1-3 days, whilst large stores can take up to two weeks.

Best for: Simple stores with limited customisation, tight budgets, or when you want complete control over the process.

Automated duplication tools

Third-party apps handle the heavy lifting, transferring bulk data automatically whilst preserving relationships between products, customers, and orders.

Time investment: Most automated tools complete duplications in 1-6 hours, regardless of store size.

Best for: Complex stores, time-sensitive projects, or when accuracy is paramount.

Step-by-step guide to duplicating your Shopify store

Step 1: Plan your duplication strategy

Before beginning, establish clear objectives for your duplicate store. Are you creating a testing environment, expanding internationally, or separating wholesale operations? Your goals will influence decisions throughout the process.

Audit your current store: Remove outdated products, fix broken links, and clean up customer data. This preparation prevents transferring unnecessary or problematic information to your new store.

Choose your duplication method: Based on your store's complexity, budget, and timeline, decide between manual CSV exports or automated duplication tools.

Prepare your target environment: If using a custom domain, register it in advance. Plan for DNS changes and SSL certificate setup.

Step 2: Set up your new Shopify store

Create your new Shopify account and configure basic settings:

• Store name and contact information
• Default currency and language settings
• Tax and shipping configurations
• Payment gateway preferences

Step 3: Choose your duplication method

Option A: Using automated duplication apps

Duplify emerges as the market leader with a 4.9/5 star rating and pay-per-event pricing (£0.01-0.05 per event). Users consistently praise its ability to duplicate complete stores in under a few hours.

Store Duplicator offers a free tier but receives mixed reviews for stores exceeding 1,800 products.

AClone provides competitive features with scheduled backups, pricing from free (100 points) to £45/month for 20,000 points.

Third party apps are available for enterprise-level duplications but they may require more technical expertise. If this is a feature you'd like to see in Meldeagle, feel free to drop me a message! I would love to hear from you.

Option B: Manual CSV method

1. Export your data from the original store (Products > Export)
2. Download theme files from your current store
3. Import CSV files into your new store
4. Upload and configure your theme
5. Manually recreate navigation menus and page content

Step 4: Transfer your store data

For automated tools: Follow the app's instructions to connect both stores and select which data to transfer. Most tools offer preview options to verify the process before proceeding.

For manual transfers: Import data in this order:

1. Products (including variants and images)
2. Customer information
3. Order history
4. Content pages and blog posts

Step 5: Configure your duplicate store

Theme setup: Install and customise your theme to match your original store's branding. Upload your logo, adjust colours and fonts, and recreate any custom layouts.

App installation: Install necessary apps to replicate functionality from your original store. Remember that some apps require separate licences for multiple stores.

Navigation and content: Recreate your menu structure and ensure all pages display correctly. Import blog posts and create any missing content pages.

Step 6: Handle SEO and domain configuration

URL structure: Shopify's URL structure may differ from your original store. Plan for 301 redirects if you're using the same domain for both stores.

Meta data: Copy over meta titles, descriptions, and alt text for images to preserve SEO value.

Analytics setup: Install Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other tracking codes on your duplicate store.

Step 7: Test everything thoroughly

Before launching your duplicate store, conduct comprehensive testing:

• Place test orders to verify the checkout process
• Test all forms and contact methods
• Verify mobile responsiveness
• Check that all apps function correctly
• Ensure payment gateways process transactions properly

Step 8: Launch and monitor

Once testing is complete, you can launch your duplicate store:

• Connect your custom domain (if applicable)
• Remove password protection
• Monitor performance and fix any issues quickly
• Communicate the launch to customers if appropriate

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Incomplete app reconfiguration: Many merchants forget to properly configure apps in their duplicate store. Create a checklist of all apps and their settings to ensure nothing is missed.

SEO duplicate content issues: If both stores will be live simultaneously, implement proper canonical tags and consider using different domains to avoid search engine penalties.

Inventory synchronisation problems: Without proper sync mechanisms, you risk overselling products across multiple stores. Consider inventory management apps that handle multi-store operations.

Payment gateway complications: Each store requires separate payment processing setup. Ensure all gateways are properly configured and tested before launch.

Cost considerations and ROI

Manual duplication costs: Whilst the process itself is free, consider the value of your time. At 10-40+ hours of work, manual duplication often costs more than automated solutions when factoring in opportunity costs.

Automated tool costs: Typically range from £30-300 depending on store complexity and chosen service. Most businesses find this investment worthwhile for the time savings and reduced error rates.

Ongoing costs: Remember to budget for separate app subscriptions, domain registration, and Shopify plan fees for your duplicate store.

Advanced duplication strategies

Partial duplication: For specific use cases, you might only need to duplicate certain elements. For example, copying products but not customer data for a wholesale store.

Template creation: If you plan multiple duplications, consider creating a master template store that can be quickly duplicated for new markets or brands.

Automated synchronisation: For stores that need to stay in sync, explore apps that automatically update product information, inventory levels, and pricing across multiple stores.

Maintaining your duplicate stores

Regular updates: Keep both stores updated with security patches, app updates, and Shopify feature releases.

Inventory management: Implement systems to prevent overselling across multiple stores, especially if they share inventory.

Performance monitoring: Use analytics to track the performance of both stores and identify optimisation opportunities.

Compliance considerations: Ensure each store meets local regulations for data protection, accessibility, and tax requirements.

When to consider professional help

Consider hiring a Shopify expert or agency if:

• Your store has complex customisations or integrations
• You're managing multiple simultaneous duplications
• You lack technical expertise for advanced configurations
• The stakes are high (such as replacing a live store)

Professional services typically cost £500-5,000 depending on complexity, but often provide faster, more reliable results for complex projects.

Conclusion

Duplicating a Shopify store may seem daunting initially, but with proper planning and the right approach, it's entirely achievable. Whether you choose manual methods for simple stores or automated tools for complex operations, the key is thorough preparation and systematic execution.

The benefits of successful store duplication extend far beyond the initial time investment. You'll gain the ability to expand internationally, test new features safely, and separate different business channels whilst maintaining your brand consistency.

Remember that duplication is just the beginning. Your duplicate store will require ongoing maintenance, optimisation, and strategic development to reach its full potential. With your store infrastructure in place, you can focus on what truly matters: growing your business and serving your customers across multiple markets and channels.

Take the time to plan thoroughly, choose the right tools for your situation, and don't hesitate to seek professional help when needed. A well-executed store duplication sets the foundation for sustainable e-commerce growth and opens up new opportunities for your business success.