Surviving a Square-to-Shopify Migration: How Simply Moab & Desert Sol Fixed Their Catalog Data

Key Takeaways: Surviving a Square-to-Shopify Migration

• The Hardware Hurdle: Migrating from Square requires purchasing all-new POS hardware, and running multiple brands requires building separate Shopify storefronts to keep inventory data clean.
• The Data Migration Mess: Automated migration tools often dump variant data into generic "Option" fields, incorrectly push barcodes into SKU fields, and overwrite high-quality online photos.
• The Rapid Cleanup: Using Akikumo's data quality dashboard enabled the team to instantly flag missing barcodes, broken listings, and hidden collections generated by rogue apps without checking over 1,000 products manually.
• Unlocking Trapped Revenue: By achieving accurate inventory visibility across two Shopify dashboards, the business identified and moved $60,000 of stagnant online-exclusive stock to the physical sales floor, immediately driving new in-store sales.

Recognizing It Was Time to Leave Square

For years, Simply Moab and Desert Sol operated smoothly on Square. But as the dual-brand retail business grew, the platform started to hold them back. Owner Brooke Payson realized they were paying a premium price for a boxed-in product. Square's inventory management required clicking into every individual line item just to check stock levels across the two locations. On top of that, the Point of Sale (POS) software would crash every few months, halting checkouts entirely and causing lost revenue. When she factored in that Square was keeping the 3% transaction fee on customer refunds and the Weebly-powered e-commerce site offered zero creative flexibility, it was time to migrate to Shopify.

Budgeting and Timing the Migration

Migrating two distinct brands meant building two separate Shopify storefronts to keep inventory clean. This required purchasing thousands of dollars in new hardware including an iPad, stand, and terminal because Square's hardware could not be reused for Shopify. It also meant paying twice for third-party integrations like payroll. They executed the switch on January 1st to ensure clean tax reporting. However, because their massive seasonal shipments arrive in February for a March launch, the tight turnaround left them scrambling right before their busy season.

The Catalog Migration Crisis

The Problem: Messy Data Transfers

The team had legacy inventory data sitting in their system dating back to when the original owner used QuickBooks in 1998. Even after spending two months deleting old products, the automated migration apps they used (Matrixify and SKU Harmony) created massive data messes when transferring information from Square to Shopify.

The Solutions: Fixing Variants, Images, and SKUs

• Square dumped variant data into a single, generic "Option" field, so Brooke and her GM Amanda Bigalk used Akikumo’s dashboard to rapidly identify and fix these broken listings instead of checking over a thousand items manually.
• When Square data transferred, barcodes were incorrectly dumped into Shopify's SKU fields, leaving the actual barcode fields blank. Akikumo instantly flagged these missing barcodes, allowing the team to isolate and fix the broken listings before they caused scanning errors at the register.
• High-quality online photos were overwritten by Square's lower-quality POS images. Akikumo surfaced exactly which products were missing images and unit costs so the team could fix them in bulk.
• SKU Harmony failed to correctly combine products, leading to duplicate product profiles and inaccurate inventory counts. The team eventually turned off the automated syncing apps and relied on Akikumo's weekly email reports to actively track out-of-stock items and mark them as inactive.

Customers Buying Unpublished Inventory

The Problem: Rogue Apps Publishing Hidden Products

Post-migration, customers were suddenly checking out products online that Brooke and Amanda did not want published or that had incorrect product pages.

The Solutions: Auditing Apps and Collections

• The team discovered that an old automation app called Power Tools was automatically generating hidden collections (like items "Under $25") and making them searchable to the public.
• By auditing their app stack and using Akikumo's dashboard to see exactly what was published or stuck in draft mode, they deleted over 200 unnecessary collections.

The Result: Unlocking Trapped Revenue

The rigorous three-month data cleanup did more than just fix their software, it unlocked trapped revenue. By finally achieving accurate inventory visibility across their two Shopify storefronts, Brooke was able to identify and move $60,000 of stagnant, online-only stock directly onto the physical sales floor. Products that had been collecting dust in an upstairs storage room were put in front of daily foot traffic, immediately converting dead stock into new in-store sales.

A platform migration is hard enough without having to guess if your data transferred correctly. If your team is tired of manually checking thousands of products for missing images, broken SKUs, or unpublished variants, you don't have to fly blind.

See how Akikumo acts as your merchandising safety net to catch catalog errors before they hit your checkout counter. [Explore the Akikumo Shopify App]