Migrating Vape Stores: Compliance on Ecommerce
Migrating a vape store to Shopify, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce raises an important question: which compliance requirements carry over?
When you migrate a vape or regulated ecommerce business to Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, or a new ERP, your compliance obligations—such as age verification, identity checks, and auditability—do not reset. They typically carry over, even if your platform, checkout flow, or backend systems change.
For vape retailers, migration is not just a technical project. It’s a compliance event that can introduce gaps if identity and age verification are not rebuilt correctly.
Why Platform Migrations Create Compliance Risk for Vape Retailers
Most ecommerce migrations focus on performance, cost, or flexibility. However, for vape and other regulated products, the real risk sits in what breaks quietly—age gates, identity checks, and record-keeping.
A new platform often means:
- New checkout logic
- New integrations
- New customer flows
- New data handling rules
If compliance controls aren’t intentionally rebuilt, they can weaken or disappear altogether.
What Does “Compliance” Mean When Migrating a Vape Ecommerce Store?
Compliance, in this context, refers to the controls that help your business meet legal and platform requirements for selling age-restricted products online.
This typically includes:
- Age verification at checkout
- Identity verification where required
- Address and delivery validation
- Record-keeping to support audits or enforcement inquiries
These requirements are independent of whether you’re on Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, or a custom ERP.
Who Does This Apply To?
This applies to:
- Vape and nicotine retailers on Shopify
- Merchants migrating to BigCommerce for more control
- Stores moving to WooCommerce for customization
- Operators consolidating systems under a new ERP
If you sell age-restricted or regulated products, platform changes do not remove your regulatory exposure.
What Is Typically Required During and After Migration?
While requirements vary by jurisdiction, most regulated ecommerce businesses need to maintain:
- Age verification at checkout
- Identity verification workflows appropriate to risk
- Consistent enforcement across devices and locations
- Audit-friendly logs and verification records
Platform migrations are often the moment when these controls need to be re-implemented—not assumed.
How Do You Stay Compliant During a Platform or ERP Migration?
A practical approach usually includes:
- Mapping compliance controls before migration
Document where age and ID verification currently happen. - Re-implementing verification intentionally
Do not rely on basic age gates alone, especially for vape sales. - Testing verification across flows
Guest checkout, logged-in users, mobile, and international traffic. - Maintaining verification records
Ensure logs persist through system changes.
This is where many teams involve a dedicated compliance and identity verification solution rather than rebuilding logic from scratch.
How Token of Trust Helps During Ecommerce Migrations
Token of Trust supports identity and age verification for regulated ecommerce, including vape retailers migrating to Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, or a new ERP. It helps businesses add age verification for Shopify vape stores, implement ID verification for regulated ecommerce, and maintain verification records as platforms and checkout flows change.
Because Token of Trust is platform-agnostic, teams can integrate it during or after a migration without locking compliance logic into a single ecommerce provider. This approach helps reduce friction while continuing to support compliance requirements across platforms.
What Vape Merchants Ask Before Migrating Platforms
Do I need to redo age verification when migrating my vape store to Shopify?
Typically, yes. Most migrations require merchants to reconfigure age verification so it matches the new checkout and customer flow.
Is a basic age gate enough for vape ecommerce?
Often, no. Simple click-through age gates rarely meet the needs of regulated vape sales. Many businesses use stronger age or identity verification instead.
Does compliance reset if I move from WooCommerce to BigCommerce?
No. Your regulatory obligations generally remain the same, regardless of platform.
Can Token of Trust work alongside my ERP?
Token of Trust is designed to integrate with ecommerce platforms and support backend systems, including ERPs, depending on setup.
Planning a platform or ERP migration? Review how your age and identity checks will carry over before you launch. Talk to us today.
