Moving a store: what transfers and what must be ready first

A product export is not the payment account

WooCommerce's built-in CSV tool exports and imports product fields such as name, price, stock, categories, and images. An image is imported from a directly accessible URL or from a file already in the media library. A redirected cloud-storage link is not supported. You cannot assign a specific post ID to a new product. Unrecognized columns are not imported. The published schema does not include a carrier account, a payment credential, or a WordPress user. A completed import means the importer finished that file. It does not mean every row was accepted, and it does not mean the store can take payment.

This page does not establish that WordPress users, order history, or email settings travel inside that CSV. Ask the implementer whether those items are in the migration scope, and leave them blank until the answer is specific. Do not fill the gap by assuming they copy.

Stored card data has its own rule, and only for the provider you asked

Stripe's payment-data export page says Stripe will transfer card data to another payment processor only when that processor is PCI DSS Level 1, with the attestation or registry listing and the encryption key Stripe requires. Credentials saved with Link are excluded. Stripe does not include payment history, subscriptions, or other objects in that file. Stripe also says never to send card details by ordinary message; the transfer is arranged with the receiving processor. You do not receive a spreadsheet of card numbers to import yourself.

Those limits are Stripe's. If the current provider is not Stripe, this page does not say whether any stored credential can move. Ask that provider in writing and leave the row unknown until it answers. Do not plan the release on the hope that saved cards, wallet credentials, or tokens appear on the new store.

The destination checkout and the payment account are separate gates

Before orders are sent to the new site, name its checkout type and payment extension. On WooCommerce, stores started after version 8.3 use the Checkout block by default, an incompatible gateway can leave no payment method, and compatibility is marked on the extension's WooCommerce.com product page. The system status report shows the site address, the checkout page, the active plugins, and the currency field. The currency field is the store's configured currency, not a provider's settlement currency.

Stripe says websites or businesses that operate independently need separate Stripe accounts, a new account does not inherit a special status, and each account is tied to one legal entity. After a live Stripe service is activated, the business origin country cannot be changed. Public business information, including the website URL and statement descriptor, is what the customer sees. Whether the existing account may be used for the destination domain is a question for the provider. Do not assume the old account's status covers the new site. Another provider's rule may differ. Ask that provider rather than applying Stripe's rule to it.

What makes a move bigger or smaller

Each item below is a separate responsibility, not part of a fixed bundle. Ask any proposer, including Prism, which of them the quote covers and who owns the ones it does not.

• Catalog and images: how many products move, whether the images are reachable from a direct URL or the media library, and who checks the import against the schema.
• Customers and order history: whether real customer accounts and past orders must move at all, and how they will be checked.
• Stored payment credentials: whether the current provider will transfer any through its own process. That is arranged between processors, not handled as a file.
• Destination checkout and gateway: which checkout type and payment extension the new store will run, and whether the provider permits the new domain.
• Order emails: who rebuilds and reviews the destination's order-status emails.
• Fulfillment: who reconnects the carrier, label, tracking, or warehouse account the destination will use.
• Readiness: which release check the quote includes before customers are sent to the new store, such as a test order through the approved payment setup.

Each dependency needs an owner and a stop

WooCommerce documents a test order as a way to test a checkout. A release check is a test order on the destination, plus the open rows on this list, before customers are sent there. WooCommerce also sends particular emails when order statuses change, so the destination's email settings are their own item. None of this promises that the old checkout will keep working during the move.

You can decide that a row is confirmed, open, or out of scope. The implementer confirms the technical items it controls. The provider decides whether the destination arrangement can process.

In a Prism migration, this list is the release checklist: the catalog, domain, checkout, order emails, and payment arrangement each get an owner, and Prism carries out the parts in the agreed scope. The provider still decides account approval, and Prism confirms scope, responsibilities, fees, and terms before work begins.

In the consultation request, include the current and destination platforms, the approximate number of products, whether real customers or order history must move, your payment provider, and the date you intend to switch. Leave out card data, tokens, API keys, and customer lists.

Release dependency list

Mark each row confirmed, open, or out of scope in the last column, and name the person who can close it. Do not paste card numbers, tokens, or API keys.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.