Ascentium Commerce Server to Squarespace Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from Ascentium Commerce Server to Squarespace

Migrating your e-commerce store is a significant undertaking that, when executed correctly, can unlock new growth opportunities and streamline your operations. For merchants currently on Ascentium Commerce Server, the prospect of moving to a modern, user-friendly platform like Squarespace offers a compelling vision of enhanced design, simplified management, and a robust feature set. This guide will walk you through the entire process of performing a data transfer from Ascentium Commerce Server to Squarespace, ensuring a smooth transition with minimal disruption to your business.

Given that Ascentium Commerce Server is an older platform, the most reliable and efficient method for extracting its data for migration is typically via CSV file export. We will leverage this approach, combined with a specialized migration tool, to ensure all your critical e-commerce entities—from products and customer data to orders and reviews—are seamlessly transferred to your new Squarespace store.

Prerequisites for Migration

Before initiating the data migration process, thorough preparation is crucial. Addressing these prerequisites will lay a solid foundation for a successful transition and help maintain your existing SEO rankings and link equity.

For Your Ascentium Commerce Server Store (Source)

• Data Export: You will need to export your Ascentium Commerce Server data into CSV (Comma Separated Values) files. This typically includes:
  • Products: SKUs, product names, descriptions, pricing, inventory levels, variants, images, categories, and attributes.
  • Customers: Customer data, contact information, shipping addresses, and order history.
  • Orders: Order IDs, details, statuses, billing information, and shipping information.
  • Product Categories: Structure and associated metadata.
  • Product Reviews: Ratings and review content.
  • CMS Pages & Blog Posts: If applicable, content and associated metadata.

  Ensure the CSV files are well-organized and include all necessary fields. Data cleaning, such as removing redundant entries or correcting inconsistencies, should ideally be done at this stage.

• Backup Your Data: Always perform a full backup of your Ascentium Commerce Server store's database and files before attempting any data export or migration process. This is a critical step for data integrity and recovery in unforeseen circumstances.
• Administrative Access: Ensure you have full administrative access to your Ascentium Commerce Server instance to facilitate data export.

For more detailed preparation guidelines, refer to How to prepare Source store for migration?

For Your Squarespace Store (Target)

• Set Up Your Squarespace Account: If you haven't already, create a new Squarespace account and set up your basic store. You don't need to populate it with products, but having the foundational structure in place is important.
• Install Cart2Cart Squarespace Migration App: To facilitate the API-driven data transfer, you will need to install the Cart2Cart Squarespace Migration App on your Squarespace store. This app acts as the bridge for securely receiving your data.
• Administrative Access: Ensure you have full administrative access to your Squarespace account, including permissions to manage products, customers, and orders.
• HTTPS Enabled: Squarespace typically enforces HTTPS by default, but confirm your new store's URL uses HTTPS, as this is a requirement for API connections.

For additional guidance on preparing your target store, please see How to prepare Target store for migration?

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

This section outlines the step-by-step process using a specialized migration service, simplifying the complex task of data transfer. We'll use the CSV export method for Ascentium and an API connection for Squarespace.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by navigating to the migration service's website. You will typically find an option to start a new migration.

Step 2: Source Store Setup (Ascentium via CSV)

Connecting your Ascentium Commerce Server store, in this context, means selecting 'CSV File to Cart' as your source platform. You will then be prompted to upload the CSV files containing your Ascentium Commerce Server data.

Ensure all your prepared CSV files for products, categories, customers, orders, reviews, and any other relevant entities are uploaded successfully. The migration tool will parse these files to understand your existing store's data structure.

Step 3: Target Store Setup (Squarespace)

Next, select 'Squarespace' as your target e-commerce platform. You will then need to provide the necessary connection details for your Squarespace store.

This typically includes entering your Squarespace Admin URL, your administrator's email, and the admin password. These credentials, along with the pre-installed Cart2Cart Squarespace Migration App, enable the migration tool to establish a secure API connection to your new store.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

This crucial step allows you to define precisely what data you want to transfer from your Ascentium Commerce Server CSV files to Squarespace. You will see a checklist of available data entities.

Common entities to select include:

• Products: Including SKUs, variants, images, descriptions, and product metadata.
• Product Categories: To maintain your store's organizational structure.
• Customers: Essential customer data and associated profiles.
• Orders: Complete order history, statuses, and details.
• Product Reviews: To preserve social proof and customer feedback.
• CMS Pages & Blog Posts: For content that needs to be transferred.

You can choose to migrate all entities or selectively pick those most important to your new Squarespace store. Squarespace supports the migration of Products, Product Categories, Product Reviews, Customers, Orders, CMS Pages, Gift Cards, Coupons, and Blog Posts.

Step 5: Configure Additional Options & Data Mapping

This is where you fine-tune the migration process to meet your specific business requirements and ensure data consistency.

Additional Options

The migration tool offers various optional features to enhance your data transfer:

• Clear Target Store Data: If your Squarespace store already contains test data, you might opt to clear current data on target store before migration option to start with a clean slate.
• Preserve Order IDs: This is highly recommended to maintain historical data integrity and for accounting purposes. Learn How Preserve IDs options can be used?.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures product and category images embedded within descriptions are transferred.
• Create 301 SEO URLs: Crucial for maintaining your search engine rankings and preventing broken links. This option creates redirects from your old Ascentium URLs to the new Squarespace ones.
• SEO URLs: Preserve existing SEO-friendly URLs where possible.

Data Mapping

Data mapping is essential for ensuring that customer groups and order statuses from your Ascentium Commerce Server translate correctly to Squarespace.

You will be presented with fields for Customer Groups Mapping and Order Status Mapping, allowing you to match your source definitions (e.g., 'Wholesale Customer', 'Pending') to their corresponding values in Squarespace.

Step 6: Run Demo Migration

Before committing to a full migration, always perform a demo migration. This transfers a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, orders) for free. The demo allows you to:

• Verify the data transfer accuracy.
• Check the formatting of products, images, and descriptions.
• Confirm customer and order data integrity.
• Identify any potential issues or unexpected behaviors before a full commitment.

Review the demo results thoroughly on your Squarespace store.

Step 7: Full Migration

Once you are satisfied with the demo results, proceed with the full migration. This involves confirming your selections and initiating the complete data transfer. You'll also have an opportunity to select a Migration Insurance Plan.

Consider purchasing Migration Insurance Service, which offers additional remigrations if you need to run the process again, for example, after adding new data or making further adjustments. For details, refer to How Migration Insurance works?.

Post-Migration Steps

After the full data transfer to Squarespace is complete, several critical steps remain to ensure your new store is fully operational and optimized.

• Thorough Data Verification: Rigorously check every aspect of your migrated data. Confirm product SKUs, inventory, variants, descriptions, and images. Verify customer accounts and order histories. Ensure all CMS pages and blog posts are present and correctly formatted.
• Configure Essential Store Settings: Set up your payment gateways, shipping zones and rates, tax settings, and email notifications within Squarespace. These are crucial for a functional e-commerce operation.
• Test All Functionality: Act as a customer and test the entire purchasing journey. Place test orders, register new customer accounts, try out search and filtering options, and ensure all links are working correctly.
• Update DNS Records: Once you are confident that your Squarespace store is ready, update your domain's DNS records to point to your new Squarespace site. This is when your new store goes live to the public.
• Implement 301 Redirects: While the migration tool can assist, double-check that all critical old URLs from Ascentium Commerce Server are correctly redirecting to their new Squarespace counterparts. This is vital for preserving your SEO rankings and preventing broken links, ensuring a seamless user experience.
• Inform Your Customers: Send out an announcement to your customer base about your new and improved store. Highlight new features, improved design, or any benefits they can expect.
• Monitor Performance: After launch, continuously monitor your Squarespace store's performance. Keep an eye on website speed, SEO analytics, and user behavior to identify and address any post-migration issues promptly.

Migrating from Ascentium Commerce Server to Squarespace is an investment in your e-commerce future. By following these steps and leveraging the right tools, you can ensure a successful, seamless transition, setting your business up for continued growth and success on its new platform.

For any further questions or assistance, please consult our Frequently Asked Questions or Contact Us directly.