Exporting customer records when changing POS providers

Export customer profiles early, inspect the file, map fields to the destination and test a small import before moving the full list.

Treat past orders, loyalty balances, marketing permission and stored payment arrangements as separate questions. A successful download does not show what the new POS can use.

Define the records to move

List the fields staff need on opening day: a customer identifier, name, usable contact details and relevant addresses, notes or custom fields. Decide which inactive or incomplete profiles still have a purpose. Keep order history, loyalty balances, gift cards and payment credentials on a separate inventory rather than assuming they sit in the customer CSV.

An export is another copy of personal information. Limit who can download it, use an approved storage location and decide when working copies can be removed. Businesses covered by the Australian Privacy Principles have applicable security and disposal duties, subject to retention exceptions.

Inspect a real export

Ask the outgoing provider which fields, format and customer groups its current route exports. Keep an untouched original and note when it was taken. Inspect a working copy for headings, encoding, row counts, missing contacts, duplicate identifiers, long notes and marketing values. Check several known profiles, including one that has declined marketing.

Shopify lets you export existing customer profiles from admin to a CSV file. Review the available columns and inspect the file rather than assuming every visible profile field is included.

Choose the destination route and map fields

Make a field map showing the outgoing value, destination field, any transformation and who will check it. Decide what happens to a field with no safe destination. Preserve leading zeroes in identifiers and check phone numbers, postcodes and names after spreadsheet handling. Do not put sensitive data into a generic note merely to retain a column.

For a CSV transfer into Shopify, compare the Square export headings with Shopify's customer CSV template and prepare a working copy for any required changes. Shopify's early-access Store Migration app can import customers from Square; check whether that route suits your migration before choosing it.

For Shopify's ordinary customer CSV, the Email heading is required even where a row's value is blank. Resolve any questionable records in a working copy and review the import options before a bulk load.

Keep consent and history accurate

Map a marketing status only when the underlying record supports it. An email address or a source-system “subscribed” value alone may not prove permission, particularly where a status could have changed during profile creation or merging.

Square's guidance defines a subscribed customer as someone who has given explicit consent to receive marketing emails. Keep that evidence distinct from contact details and check the applicable rules before sending marketing messages after migration.

Treat historical orders as a separate migration item; do not expect a customer CSV to carry them. If staff need past purchases in the destination POS, agree on a supported method and check the result. Stored payment credentials need a provider-managed process; do not place them in a customer CSV.

Customer Data Considerations: Before and After Migration

Check a small import, then reconcile

Use a controlled sample: an ordinary profile, an address or supported custom field, a marketing refusal and a possible duplicate. Find each in the destination and check the fields staff will use. Compare the number accepted, skipped and failed with the prepared file before loading the rest.

After the full import, repeat checks at the locations or devices that need the records. Keep the original export, field map, import results and unresolved exceptions with named owners. Retire the old customer workflow only after the destination route and any necessary retained-record access are understood.

Data Integrity Metrics After Small Import Test