Migration Guide for E-commerce Teams

Converge Team

• Updated June 7, 2026

How e-commerce support teams can migrate from Hiver while maintaining customer service quality.

E-commerce Migration from Hiver

Hiver's Gmail-native approach works for e-commerce teams that handle most customer inquiries via email, but its limited channel support and per-seat pricing create friction for growing online stores that need WhatsApp, Instagram, and website chat alongside order management.

E-commerce Integrations in Hiver

Hiver offers a native Shopify integration (Pro plan, available via premium integrations) that surfaces order details, shipping status, and customer history directly inside conversations. It also integrates with NetSuite for invoice and payment context. However, these premium integrations require the Pro plan ($65/user/month annual) — Growth plan users only get basic integrations like Asana and Jira. If you're on the Pro plan for Shopify integration, evaluate whether your new platform provides equivalent order context or if a separate order lookup workflow would work.

Channel Gaps for E-commerce

Modern e-commerce customers reach out via WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger, and website chat — not just email. Hiver supports email and live chat on all plans, but WhatsApp requires Pro ($65/user). More critically, Hiver has no native support for Instagram DMs or Facebook Messenger as inbox channels. E-commerce brands heavily invested in social selling on Instagram or running Messenger-based customer service hit a wall with Hiver. Switching to a platform with native omnichannel support addresses this gap.

Website Chat Widget

Hiver's live chat widget can be installed on your e-commerce store via a JavaScript snippet. It supports AI-powered chatbots (paid plans) for automated responses and knowledge base integration for self-service. To migrate: remove the Hiver widget from your store and install your new platform's chat widget. For Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix, or Squarespace stores, look for native installation methods (plugins, app store, or script tag injection in the theme editor).

Order-Related Workflow Migration

If you use Hiver's rule-based automations to route order-related emails (e.g., auto-tagging emails containing "order #" or "refund"), document each automation's trigger conditions and actions. Recreate these as auto-routing rules or tag-based filters on your new platform. If you used Hiver's Custom Fields (Growth+) to store order numbers or tracking information on conversations, note these fields for recreation.

Peak Season Timing

Don't migrate during Black Friday, holiday sales, or major promotional periods. Plan your switch during a calm period — mid-January through February or mid-summer. Give your team at least one full week of running both platforms in parallel before decommissioning Hiver. If you're adding new channels (Instagram, Messenger) that Hiver didn't support, consider launching them after the migration stabilizes — adding new channels and changing platforms simultaneously doubles the learning curve.

Tip: If your Shopify integration with Hiver surfaces customer order data in conversations, export any custom fields or tags you've built around order workflows before switching. Your new platform may handle order context differently — through tags, custom variables, or direct e-commerce integrations.

Need the full migration guide?

This page covers migration guide for e-commerce teams specifically. For the complete step-by-step migration process:

Read the complete Hiver migration guide

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