Nexternal to Squarespace Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

Seamlessly Migrate Your E-commerce Store from Nexternal to Squarespace

Are you looking to enhance your online store's capabilities, streamline operations, or leverage a more modern, user-friendly platform? Migrating your e-commerce business from Nexternal to Squarespace can be a strategic move to achieve these goals. This comprehensive guide, crafted by e-commerce migration experts, will walk you through every essential step to ensure a smooth and successful data transfer, preserving your valuable assets like products, customer data, and order history.

While Nexternal is not directly supported by automated migration tools in the same way some other platforms are, a highly effective and proven method for transferring your store data is by exporting it into CSV files and then importing it into a robust migration service. This guide will leverage this CSV file migration approach to bring your Nexternal store's essence to Squarespace.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before embarking on your Nexternal to Squarespace store migration, a few preparatory steps are crucial to ensure the process is efficient and error-free. Taking the time to prepare properly will save you significant effort down the line and safeguard your data integrity.

• Nexternal Data Export: Since Nexternal doesn't offer direct API integration for automated migration tools, you'll need to manually export your data. This typically includes exporting product data (SKUs, descriptions, images, variants), customer information, and order details into CSV files. Ensure these files are as comprehensive and clean as possible. Refer to Nexternal's documentation for the best practices on data export.
• Squarespace Store Setup: Create a new Squarespace account and set up your basic store structure. While you don't need to populate it with products yet, having the foundation ready will allow the migration tool to connect and populate your store effectively. Ensure your Squarespace site is on an e-commerce plan and accessible via HTTPS.
• Cart2Cart Squarespace Migration App: To connect your Squarespace target store and enable data import via API, you will need to install the Cart2Cart Squarespace Migration App. This is a crucial plugin requirement for a successful transfer.
• Access Credentials: For Squarespace, you will need appropriate API keys, secrets, access tokens, and administrative login details to grant the migration tool the necessary permissions. Read our guide on access credentials for more details.
• Backup Your Data: Always perform a complete backup of your Nexternal store data before initiating any migration process. This provides a safety net in case of unexpected issues.
• Review Target Store Readiness: Familiarize yourself with how to prepare your target store for migration and understand how to prepare your source store for migration.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

Once your prerequisites are met, you're ready to begin the actual migration using a reliable migration service. We'll outline the steps assuming you're using a tool like Cart2Cart, which facilitates complex data transfers.

Step 1: Initiate Your Migration

Begin by navigating to the migration wizard. You'll typically be presented with options to start a new migration or explore services. Select the option to begin your DIY migration.

Step 2: Source Store Setup (Nexternal via CSV)

Since Nexternal isn't directly integrated, you will configure your source store as 'CSV File to Cart'. Upload the CSV files you exported from your Nexternal store. Ensure all necessary product, customer, and order data is included in these files.

Step 3: Target Store Setup (Squarespace)

Next, select 'Squarespace' as your Target Cart. You will then be prompted to provide the necessary connection details, including your Squarespace Admin URL, administrator email, and password. The system will verify the connection and confirm the installation of the Cart2Cart Squarespace Migration App.

Step 4: Select Entities for Migration

This critical step allows you to choose exactly what data you want to transfer from your Nexternal CSV files to your new Squarespace store. Squarespace supports a wide range of entities including Products, Product Categories, Customers, Orders, Product Reviews, CMS Pages, Gift Cards, Coupons, and Blog Posts.

• Products: This includes SKUs, names, descriptions, pricing, images, and variants.
• Product Categories: Your organizational structure for products.
• Customers: Customer accounts, billing, and shipping addresses.
• Orders: Complete order history with statuses.
• Product Reviews: Valuable social proof for your products.
• CMS Pages: Informational pages like 'About Us' or 'Contact'.
• Coupons: Existing discount codes and promotions.
• Blogs Posts: Your blog content for SEO and engagement.

Select all entities relevant to your business. You can choose to migrate all entities or pick them individually.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options

Before proceeding, you'll have the opportunity to select various additional migration options to tailor the data transfer to your specific needs. These options are crucial for maintaining data integrity and SEO rankings.

• Clear Target Store Data: The option to clear current data on Target store before migration is available. If your Squarespace store has any dummy data, selecting this will remove it before the import.
• Preserve Order IDs: This option, highly recommended, allows you to preserve original order IDs from Nexternal in Squarespace.
• SEO URLs & 301 SEO URLs: Crucial for maintaining your search engine rankings and link equity. This creates 301 redirects from your old Nexternal URLs to the new Squarespace ones.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures all product images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Migrate All Categories: Essential for a complete inventory transfer.
• Migrate Groups to Tags: This can help map customer groups or other categorizations to Squarespace's tagging system.

Step 6: Data Mapping

The mapping setup step allows you to match specific data fields from your Nexternal CSVs to the corresponding fields in Squarespace. This is particularly important for customer groups and order statuses to ensure consistency in your new store.

Step 7: Run Free Demo Migration

It's highly recommended to perform a free demo migration first. This allows you to migrate a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, orders) to your Squarespace store. Review the demo results carefully to ensure data accuracy, proper formatting, and correct functionality. This is your chance to identify and resolve any mapping issues or discrepancies before the full migration.

Step 8: Full Migration

Once you're satisfied with the demo results, proceed with the full migration. This step will transfer all selected data from your Nexternal CSV files to your Squarespace store. You'll typically be presented with a final review of costs and the option to add Migration Insurance, which provides additional remigrations if needed. For more information, see How Migration Insurance works?.

During the full migration, your Nexternal store remains operational, ensuring zero downtime for your customers. You'll receive a notification once the process is complete.

Post-Migration Steps

After your data has successfully been transferred to Squarespace, there are several crucial post-migration tasks to complete to ensure your new store is fully operational and optimized.

1. Thoroughly Test Your Squarespace Store:
   • Products: Verify product details, images, variants, pricing, and stock levels. Ensure products appear correctly on category pages.
   • Customers: Check customer accounts, login functionality, and saved addresses.
   • Orders: Review historical orders for accuracy, ensuring all data like order status, items, and customer info is correct.
   • Checkout Process: Perform test purchases from product selection to checkout, payment, and order confirmation.
   • Navigation and Links: Ensure all internal links, menus, and new 301 redirects (if configured) are working as expected.
   • Forms: Test contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, and any other interactive elements.
2. Update DNS Settings: Point your domain name to your new Squarespace store. This is the step that makes your new Squarespace store live to the public.
3. Configure Payment Gateways: Set up and thoroughly test your preferred payment gateways (e.g., Stripe, PayPal) in Squarespace.
4. Set Up Shipping Zones and Rates: Reconfigure your shipping options, zones, and rates to match your business model in Squarespace.
5. Install Essential Apps/Plugins: Squarespace has a robust app ecosystem. Install any necessary marketing, accounting, or customer service apps you used on Nexternal or new ones you wish to leverage.
6. Update SEO Settings: Review and optimize product titles, meta descriptions, and image alt text in Squarespace to maintain or improve your search engine visibility. Ensure Google Search Console and Google Analytics are configured.
7. Inform Your Customers: Send out an announcement to your customer base about the new store. Highlight any new features or improvements.
8. Consider Recent Data Migration: If you continued to receive orders on your Nexternal store during the migration period, consider using a recent data migration service to transfer any new data without impacting your live Squarespace store.

Migrating from Nexternal to Squarespace is a significant undertaking that, when done correctly, can unlock new growth opportunities for your business. By following this detailed guide and leveraging expert tools, you can achieve a seamless transition with minimal disruption. If you encounter any challenges or prefer a guided approach, don't hesitate to contact us for expert assistance.