Shipturtle automatically imports your existing Shopify product catalog, creates a vendor list from your product data, and pulls in unfulfilled orders from the past 3 months. If you're switching from another Shopify marketplace app or migrating a non-Shopify platform onto Shopify, this article explains what happens automatically and what needs manual work.
Who this is for
- Merchant: Follow this if you're moving from another marketplace app, a custom platform, or a non-Shopify store into Shipturtle.
Before you begin
- Your Shopify store is active and contains the products you want to migrate.
- Each product in Shopify has a Vendor field set. Shipturtle uses this field to assign products to vendors automatically — if the field is blank or inconsistent, products won't map correctly.
- If you're migrating from a non-Shopify platform, migrate your store to Shopify first. Shipturtle runs on top of Shopify and cannot import directly from WooCommerce, Magento, or custom platforms without a Shopify store as the base.
Merchant setup
Products
Shipturtle assigns products automatically based on the Vendor field in Shopify. No manual step is required. Confirm the field is set consistently before migration — for example, if one product says "Pawsome Toys" and another says "pawsome toys", Shipturtle creates two separate vendor records.
If you have a large catalog with inconsistent vendor names, clean them up in Shopify Admin → Products before installing Shipturtle, or use a bulk export/import to fix the values.
Vendors
On installation, Shipturtle generates a vendor list from the unique values it finds in your product Vendor fields. From there:
- Open Vendor Management in the sidebar.
- Edit each vendor record to add profile details — contact name, email, warehouse address, social links.
- Use the Bulk Excel import tool to update large numbers of vendor profiles at once.
- Send login invitations from the vendor record so each vendor can access their dashboard.
Orders
Shipturtle imports unfulfilled orders from the past 3 months automatically. Orders are split per vendor based on which vendor owns each line item. Each vendor sees their historical orders in their dashboard after import.
For order history beyond 3 months, contact team@shipturtle.com — extended historical data migration is available as a paid service.
Commissions
- Open Setup & Configuration → Commission & Payout.
- Set commission rules for your marketplace. You can set a global rate or configure per-product rates.
- For bulk commission setup against your migrated product catalog, use the Bulk Excel tool.
Commissions apply to both past imported orders and all future orders.
Running two apps during transition
Shipturtle coexists with other Shopify marketplace apps without interference. You can install Shipturtle and test it alongside your existing app before fully switching over. Start with a small subset of vendors, validate the order flow and payout logic, then migrate the rest.
FAQs
Will my vendors need to re-enter all their products?
No. Products in Shopify that have a matching Vendor field value are assigned to the corresponding vendor automatically. Vendors do not need to re-upload their catalog.
What if a vendor's products are listed under my name (the merchant's) in Shopify?
Update the Vendor field on those products in Shopify to match the vendor's name before Shipturtle processes the import. If the products are already imported incorrectly, you can reassign them in Products → Edit from the merchant dashboard.
Does Shipturtle migrate payout history from my previous app?
Past payout status and reference numbers can be recorded during migration setup if you provide them to the Shipturtle team. Contact team@shipturtle.com to arrange this.
Troubleshooting
Some products weren't assigned to a vendor after migration. The Vendor field on those products is likely blank or doesn't match any vendor record. Open Shopify Admin → Products, filter for products with no vendor, and set the field. Shipturtle will pick up the assignment on the next sync.
Vendor names are duplicated (e.g. "Vendor A" and "vendor a" as separate records). Shopify's Vendor field is case-sensitive. Standardize the field values in Shopify — delete the duplicate vendor records in Shipturtle, then update the products so all variants use the same casing.
Related articles
- Onboarding — setup checklist for new installations.
- Vendor management — invite and configure vendors after migration.
- Commission & Payout — configure commission rules for your catalog.
If you’re stuck, reach us at team@shipturtle.com or open a ticket on the support page.