Oxatis to Square Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

A Comprehensive Guide to Transitioning from Oxatis to Square

Migrating your e-commerce store is a pivotal moment for any online business, offering the chance to enhance functionality, improve user experience, and scale operations. If you're looking to move your established Oxatis store to the versatile Square platform, this detailed guide will walk you through the entire process. While Oxatis doesn't offer a direct API connection for automated migration tools, we'll demonstrate how to seamlessly transfer your valuable store data via CSV files, leveraging a robust migration wizard to ensure data integrity and a smooth transition.

Square provides an intuitive ecosystem, renowned for its integrated POS capabilities, simplified payment processing, and scalable e-commerce features. This replatforming guide is designed to make your data transfer from Oxatis (via CSV) to Square as clear and straightforward as possible, minimizing downtime and preserving your critical business information.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before initiating the data transfer, thorough preparation of both your source (Oxatis) and target (Square) stores is essential. This groundwork will streamline the migration process and help prevent common issues.

For Your Oxatis (Source) Store:

• Data Export: Since Oxatis is not directly supported by most migration tools for an automated connection, your data migration will rely on CSV file imports. You will need to export all essential data entities from your Oxatis admin panel. This includes, but is not limited to: Products, Product Categories, Manufacturers, Product Reviews, Customers, Orders, Invoices, Taxes, Stores, Coupons, CMS Pages, Blogs, and Blog Posts. Ensure your exported CSV files are well-organized and contain all relevant fields for a comprehensive transfer. For more details on preparing your source store, refer to our guide on How to prepare Source store for migration?.
• No Plugin Required: For the CSV file migration method, there is no specific plugin needed on your Oxatis store. The connection is handled purely through file uploads.
• Data Preservation Options: When exporting, consider options to preserve original IDs for categories, products, customers, and orders, as this can simplify post-migration adjustments and SEO efforts.

For Your Square (Target) Store:

• Set Up Your Square Account: Ensure you have a fully functional Square account and an active online store. You don't need to populate it with products or customers, as these will be migrated.
• Familiarize with Square Structure: Understand how Square handles product variants, categories, customer groups, and order statuses. This will be crucial during the data mapping phase.
• Clear Existing Data (Optional but Recommended): If your Square store contains any demo or test data, consider using the 'Clear Target' option during migration. This ensures a clean slate for your incoming Oxatis data. For details, see: Clear current data on Target store before migration option.
• No Plugin Required: As with the source, the migration wizard generally handles the connection to Square directly, meaning no specific plugins are usually required on the Square side for the data transfer.
• For comprehensive advice on preparing your target store, please visit How to prepare Target store for migration?.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

This section outlines the process using a typical migration wizard, guiding you from setting up your source and target stores to initiating the full data transfer.

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by navigating to the migration wizard interface. This is where you'll initiate the entire transfer process.

Step 2: Connect Your Source Store (Oxatis via CSV)

In the wizard, you will select your source platform. Since Oxatis is not available as a direct connection option, you will choose "CSV File to Cart" as your source.

You will then be prompted to upload the CSV files you exported from your Oxatis store. These files contain all the critical data entities, such as your products, customer details, and order history. Ensure all necessary CSVs (e.g., for Products, Customers, Orders, Categories) are uploaded correctly.

Step 3: Connect Your Target Store (Square)

Next, select "Square" as your target e-commerce platform from the provided list.

You will then need to provide the necessary credentials to allow the migration tool to connect to your Square store. This typically involves entering your Square store URL and potentially API access tokens or establishing a connection through the Square app ecosystem. Follow the on-screen instructions to authorize the connection securely.

Step 4: Select Data Entities

This crucial step allows you to specify exactly which types of data you wish to transfer from your Oxatis CSV files to your new Square store. You can select all available entities or hand-pick specific ones based on your migration needs.

Common entities to migrate include: Products, Product Categories, Customers, Orders, Product Reviews, Coupons, and CMS Pages. Carefully review the list and ensure all essential business data is selected for transfer.

Step 5: Configure Data Mapping

Data mapping is vital for ensuring that information from your Oxatis CSVs is correctly interpreted and structured within your Square store. This step involves matching various data fields and attributes between the two platforms.

Key mapping tasks include:

• Customer Groups: Map your existing Oxatis customer groups to corresponding roles or segments in Square.
• Order Statuses: Align your Oxatis order statuses (e.g., 'Processing', 'Completed', 'Refunded') with Square's equivalent statuses.
• Product Attributes: If you have product attributes in Oxatis, map them to create variants in Square. This ensures your SKUs and product options are accurately represented.

Step 6: Choose Additional Options

Enhance your migration with a range of additional features. These options can significantly improve SEO, preserve data integrity, and provide a better user experience post-migration.

• 301 Redirects: Highly recommended for maintaining your SEO rankings and link equity. This option automatically creates redirects from your old Oxatis URLs to your new Square URLs.
• Migrate Customer Passwords: Allows your customers to log into their new Square accounts with their existing Oxatis passwords.
• Preserve IDs: Maintain original Product IDs, Category IDs, Customer IDs, and Order IDs. This can be beneficial for record-keeping and internal systems. Learn more about How Preserve IDs options can be used?.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensures all images embedded within product descriptions or CMS pages are correctly transferred.
• SEO URLs: Preserve your search-engine-friendly URLs to minimize impact on your organic search presence.
• Create Variants from Attributes: Automatically generate product variants in Square based on attributes defined in your Oxatis data.

Step 7: Perform the Full Migration

After configuring all settings, it's highly recommended to perform a Free Demo Migration first. This allows you to transfer a limited set of data (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, orders) to your Square store, giving you a chance to review the results and make any necessary adjustments before committing to the full data transfer.

Once satisfied with the demo, proceed with the Full Migration. This will transfer all selected data from your Oxatis CSV files to your Square store. Consider adding a Migration Insurance Service for peace of mind, allowing for additional remigrations if needed. You can find more information about How Migration Insurance works?.

Post-Migration Steps

The migration doesn't end when the data transfer is complete. A few critical post-migration steps are necessary to ensure your new Square store is fully operational and optimized.

1. Review Migrated Data: Thoroughly check all migrated data. Verify products, categories, customer accounts, order history, and reviews for accuracy and completeness. Ensure all SKUs, pricing, and images are correct.
2. Configure SEO Settings: If you opted for 301 redirects, verify their functionality. Update your sitemaps in Square and resubmit them to search engines. Check for any broken links or missing metadata.
3. Test Store Functionality: Conduct comprehensive tests of your Square store. Place test orders, verify payment gateways, shipping options, customer account logins, and any third-party app integrations.
4. Update DNS Settings: Once you are confident that your new Square store is fully functional and ready, update your domain's DNS settings to point to your new Square store. This will direct your customers to the new platform.
5. Inform Customers: Announce the transition to your customers, highlighting the new and improved shopping experience on Square.
6. Monitor Post-Launch: Keep a close eye on your store's performance, customer feedback, and SEO rankings in the weeks following the launch. Utilize services like Recent Data Migration Service if you need to transfer any new orders or customers that occurred on Oxatis after your main migration.

Migrating from Oxatis to Square, even via CSV, can be a smooth and rewarding experience with careful planning and execution. By following this detailed guide, you'll be well-equipped to transition your e-commerce business to its new home on Square, ready to leverage its powerful features for growth.