Oracle ATG Web Commerce to Squarespace Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from Oracle ATG Web Commerce to Squarespace

Replatforming an established e-commerce store can seem daunting, especially when moving from a robust enterprise solution like Oracle ATG Web Commerce to a more streamlined, design-centric platform like Squarespace. This guide provides a clear, step-by-step roadmap to ensure a smooth and efficient data transfer, preserving your valuable customer data, product catalogs, and order history.

While Oracle ATG Web Commerce offers extensive customization and scalability, its complexity can be a significant overhead. Squarespace, conversely, shines with its intuitive interface, beautiful templates, and integrated marketing tools, making it an attractive choice for merchants seeking ease of management and a strong visual identity without compromising functionality. This transition, or replatforming, represents an opportunity to enhance your online presence and optimize operational workflows.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before embarking on your migration journey, proper preparation is key. Addressing these prerequisites will minimize downtime and ensure data integrity throughout the process.

• For Oracle ATG (Source Store):
• Data Export Capability: Since Oracle ATG Web Commerce is not directly integrated with standard migration tools, you will need to export your store data into CSV (Comma Separated Values) files. This includes critical entities such as products (with SKUs and variants), product categories, customer records, order history, and potentially reviews, coupons, and CMS pages. Ensure your Oracle ATG system allows for comprehensive data exports.
• Data Audit and Cleanup: Before exporting, take the opportunity to audit your existing data. Remove outdated products, duplicate customer entries, or irrelevant information. Clean data translates to a cleaner and more efficient new store.
• Full Data Backup: Always perform a complete backup of your Oracle ATG Web Commerce database and files. This serves as a safety net in case any unforeseen issues arise during the export or migration process.
• For Squarespace (Target Store):
• Active Squarespace Account: Ensure you have an active Squarespace account and an initialized e-commerce store ready to receive data.
• Squarespace Connection Requirements: Squarespace requires API access for data import. You will need to generate specific API credentials (apiKey, apiSecret, accessToken, refreshToken, adminEmail, adminPwd) from your Squarespace account. This typically involves custom app development within Squarespace to obtain the necessary API scopes and an Admin API access token. HTTPS is also a strict requirement for all API interactions.
• Cart2Cart Squarespace Migration App: To facilitate the data transfer, the Cart2Cart Squarespace Migration App is required. This application acts as the bridge for importing your data.
• Target Store Preparation: While Squarespace is user-friendly, familiarizing yourself with its product, customer, and order structures will aid in data mapping. You can find more details on preparing your target store by reading How to prepare Target store for migration?.
• General Prerequisites:
• Migration Tool Selection: We recommend using a specialized migration service that supports CSV file import for the source and API-based import for Squarespace.
• Migration Window: Plan your migration during a period of low traffic to minimize disruption and potential impact on user experience.
• Understanding Data Mapping: Anticipate the need to map data fields from your Oracle ATG CSVs to Squarespace's specific data structures.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

This guide outlines the process using a professional migration tool, leveraging CSV files from Oracle ATG and API access for Squarespace.

Step 1: Initiate Your Migration Journey

Begin by accessing the migration wizard provided by your chosen migration service. This is where you'll start setting up the source and target platforms.

Step 2: Configure Your Source Store (Oracle ATG via CSV)

Since Oracle ATG Web Commerce is a highly customized enterprise solution and not directly listed in standard migration tool integrations, the most reliable method for data extraction is via CSV files. Select "CSV File to Cart" as your source platform in the migration wizard.

Upload the CSV files you exported from Oracle ATG, containing your product details, customer records, order information, and other relevant data. The migration tool will then parse and prepare this data for transfer.

Step 3: Set Up Your Target Store (Squarespace)

Next, select "Squarespace" as your target shopping cart. To establish a secure connection, you will need to provide the necessary API credentials. These typically include:

• API Key, API Secret, Access Token, Refresh Token: These are obtained through custom app development within your Squarespace account. Squarespace requires API scopes to be defined, granting specific permissions for data access.
• Admin Email and Admin Password: Your Squarespace administrator credentials.

Remember that Squarespace mandates HTTPS for all API connections and requires the installation of the Cart2Cart Squarespace Migration App to enable the data transfer. For detailed guidance on obtaining your API credentials securely, refer to The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Transfer

This critical step allows you to specify exactly what data you wish to migrate from your Oracle ATG CSV files to Squarespace. You can select individual entities or choose to migrate all available data. Supported entities for Squarespace include:

• Products, including SKUs and variants
• Product Categories
• Product Reviews
• Customers
• Orders
• CMS Pages
• Gift Cards
• Coupons
• Blogs Posts

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options

Enhance your migration by selecting additional options that cater to your specific business needs. Common options include:

• Clear Target: This option will remove any existing data from your Squarespace store before the migration, ensuring a clean slate. Consult Clear current data on Target store before migration option for more details.
• Preserve Order IDs: Maintain your original order numbering on Squarespace, crucial for historical data and accounting. Read How Preserve IDs options can be used? for more info.
• SEO URLs & 301 SEO URLs: Crucial for maintaining your search engine rankings and link equity by automatically creating redirects from your old Oracle ATG URLs to the new Squarespace ones.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensure product and blog post images embedded in descriptions are transferred correctly.

Be mindful of Squarespace's API rate limits, especially when migrating a large volume of data or selecting many additional options, as this can affect migration speed.

Step 6: Map Data Fields

The data mapping step is vital for ensuring consistency between your source (Oracle ATG via CSV) and target (Squarespace) stores. Here, you'll match customer groups, order statuses, and any custom fields from your CSV files to their corresponding fields in Squarespace. Accurate mapping ensures that your customer segments and order processing workflows transition seamlessly.

Step 7: Run a Demo Migration (Highly Recommended)

Before committing to the full data transfer, perform a free demo migration. This transfers a limited subset of your data, allowing you to:

• Verify the accuracy of data mapping.
• Check the integrity of transferred products, customers, and orders.
• Identify and resolve any potential issues before the full migration.

A demo provides a realistic preview of your new store and helps ensure a smooth final transition.

Step 8: Perform the Full Migration

Once you're satisfied with the demo results, you can proceed with the full migration. Review the total cost, and consider adding a Migration Insurance Plan for added peace of mind, allowing for future remigrations if needed. Initiate the process, and your chosen migration service will handle the complete data transfer. You can monitor the progress, and the service will notify you upon completion.

Post-Migration Steps

The migration doesn't end when the data transfer is complete. Several crucial steps remain to ensure your new Squarespace store is fully operational and optimized.

• Thorough Data Verification: Systematically check all migrated entities on your Squarespace store.
• Products: Ensure all SKUs, product descriptions, images, prices, variants, and stock levels are accurate.
• Customers: Verify customer accounts, addresses, and order history.
• Orders: Confirm all orders, their statuses, and associated customer data have transferred correctly.
• Content: Check CMS pages, blog posts, and reviews for proper formatting and display.
• Configure Store Settings: Set up essential Squarespace store functionalities, including:
• Shipping methods and rates
• Tax settings
• Payment gateways (e.g., Stripe, PayPal)
• Email notifications
• Implement 301 Redirects: This is critical for SEO. Implement 301 redirects from your old Oracle ATG URLs to the new corresponding Squarespace URLs. This preserves your SEO rankings and ensures a seamless user experience, preventing broken links and retaining valuable link equity. The "301 SEO URLs" and "Create 301 SEO URLs" options during migration aid in this.
• Update DNS Records: Point your domain name to your new Squarespace store once you are confident everything is working perfectly. This makes your new store live to the public.
• Extensive Functionality Testing: Perform comprehensive tests of all core store functionalities:
• Place test orders from start to finish.
• Test payment processing.
• Verify search functionality.
• Check all forms and contact pages.
• Confirm customer account creation and login.
• Inform Your Customers: Announce the launch of your new Squarespace store. Provide clear instructions if customers need to reset passwords or if there are any changes to their account access.
• Consider Recent Data Migration Service: If a significant amount of time passed between your data export and the full migration, you might have accumulated new orders or customers on your old Oracle ATG store. A recent data migration service can help transfer this new data to Squarespace.
• Ongoing SEO Monitoring: Continuously monitor your site's performance in search engines using tools like Google Search Console. Address any crawl errors or indexing issues promptly to maintain your visibility.

Migrating from Oracle ATG Web Commerce to Squarespace is a strategic move that can revitalize your e-commerce operations. By following this detailed guide and leveraging the right tools, you can achieve a successful and efficient replatforming. Should you require expert assistance at any stage, do not hesitate to Contact Us for support tailored to your migration needs.