Squarespace to Shopify: EXO ALIEN Fashion Store Migration
When LA-based designer Ariana Voutsakis hit the ceiling of what Squarespace could do for her brand, she came to us to make the switch to Shopify. We handled the full migration—site, products, design, and SEO—with no disruption to her business. You can see the final result at shopexoalien.com.
Why the Switch?
Squarespace worked fine when her catalog was small, but it started to fall short as her business grew. Shopify gave her:
- Room to scale—over 600 SKUs, no slowdown
- Better tools—Klaviyo, Shop Pay, ShipStation
- More design control—no more fighting templates
How We Did It
-
Planning and Theme Setup
Picked a clean, high-fashion theme as the base. Took notes on Ariana’s visual preferences like custom fonts, a lookbook slider, and a modal for sizing info. -
Data Migration
Exported her products, customers, and orders from Squarespace. Wrote a Node.js script to clean and reformat the data for Shopify. Everything imported cleanly on the first pass. -
Image Cleanup
Pulled over 1,800 product photos via API. Compressed and resized them to under 150 KB using Sharp, keeping quality intact. Added alt text for accessibility and SEO. -
Theme Customization
Forked the Shopify theme on GitHub. Built Ariana’s designs in Liquid and Tailwind. Added features like Instagram feeds, color swatches, and “Shop the Look” bundles. We also set up metafields for care instructions and sustainability tags. -
Domain and SEO Setup
Updated her GoDaddy DNS settings so the switch happened with zero downtime. Created 301 redirects for every old Squarespace URL. Google Search Console didn’t flag any issues. -
Testing and Launch
Ran through browser and mobile checks. Tested orders using Shopify’s sandbox. Soft-launched to her VIPs before opening to the public 48 hours later.
Key Issues We Solved
| Problem | What We Did |
|---|---|
| Product options were messy | Normalized variant structure with a custom data transformation |
| Images were huge and slow | Cut image size by 72% with automated compression |
| Global domain propagation | Reduced TTL and launched during off-peak hours |
Results
- Page load times dropped from 5.6s to 2.4s
- Conversion rate jumped 18% in the first month
- No SEO traffic was lost during the move
“Brandywine Web Services made a tough process feel easy. They handled everything from start to finish, gave me great feedback, and were always quick to help. I’m so glad I worked with them.”
— Ariana Voutsakis
Final Thoughts
If your store has outgrown Squarespace and you’re eyeing Shopify, you don’t need to start from scratch. We’ll bring everything over cleanly, improve performance, and keep your brand intact. Let’s talk.