nsCommerceSpace to BigCommerce Migration - Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Services

Seamlessly Transition from nsCommerceSpace to BigCommerce

Embarking on an e-commerce platform migration is a significant undertaking, and moving your store from nsCommerceSpace to BigCommerce is a strategic decision that promises enhanced features, scalability, and a more robust foundation for your online business. While nsCommerceSpace is a functional platform, BigCommerce offers advanced capabilities for growth, superior performance, and a rich ecosystem for merchants.

This comprehensive guide is designed to walk you through every step of replatforming your store, ensuring a smooth and efficient data transfer. Given that nsCommerceSpace does not typically offer a direct API for third-party connections, this migration will primarily leverage a CSV file-based data migration approach. This method involves exporting your valuable store data from nsCommerceSpace into structured CSV files, which are then used as the source for transferring your entities to your new BigCommerce store.

By following these instructions, you can minimize downtime, preserve your crucial data, and set your business up for success on the BigCommerce platform.

Prerequisites for a Successful Migration

Before initiating the data transfer, careful preparation of both your existing nsCommerceSpace store and your new BigCommerce environment is crucial for ensuring data integrity and a smooth transition.

Preparing Your nsCommerceSpace Store (CSV Source)

• Data Export: Since nsCommerceSpace lacks a direct API for automatic connections, you will need to manually export your store data into CSV files. Ensure you capture all essential entities, including:
  • Products: SKUs, product names, descriptions, pricing, inventory levels, images, product categories, manufacturers, attributes, and variants.
  • Customer Data: Customer names, email addresses, billing and shipping addresses.
  • Orders: Order IDs, statuses, purchase dates, customer details, and associated product information.
  • Other Entities: Reviews, invoices, taxes, coupons, CMS pages, blog posts, and any other relevant content.
  Organize these exports into clearly labeled CSV files.
• Data Cleaning: This is an excellent opportunity to review and clean your existing data. Remove outdated products, duplicate customer entries, or irrelevant information to ensure only high-quality data is transferred to BigCommerce.
• For more detailed guidance on preparing your source store, consult our How to prepare Source store for migration? FAQ.

Preparing Your BigCommerce Store (Target)

• Set Up Your BigCommerce Store: If you haven't already, create and configure your new BigCommerce store. This includes choosing a plan and setting up basic store information.
• Obtain API Credentials: BigCommerce relies on an API for seamless data transfer. You will need to generate specific API credentials within your BigCommerce admin panel. This typically involves creating a custom API app to obtain a Client ID (Username), an Access Token (API Token), and your store's API Path. These credentials grant the migration tool the necessary permissions to access and transfer data to your new store. Remember that BigCommerce requires HTTPS for API access.
• Plugin Requirements: While no plugin is required for nsCommerceSpace, BigCommerce mandates a custom app with required scopes for API access, which you'll create to get your credentials. You can find more information about BigCommerce apps on their App Marketplace.
• For comprehensive instructions on setting up your target store, refer to our How to prepare Target store for migration? guide and The Short & Essential Guide to Access Credentials for Cart2Cart.

Performing the Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

With your preparations complete, you're ready to initiate the data transfer. This section outlines the typical steps using an automated migration wizard:

Step 1: Start Your Migration

Begin by accessing the migration wizard. You'll be presented with options to start a do-it-yourself migration, request expert assistance, or estimate costs.

Step 2: Connect Your Source Store (CSV File)

In the source store setup, select 'CSV File to Cart' as your existing e-commerce platform. You will then be prompted to upload the CSV files you exported from nsCommerceSpace. The wizard will process these files to prepare your data for transfer.

Step 3: Connect Your Target BigCommerce Store

Next, choose 'BigCommerce' as your target cart from the dropdown menu. You will need to enter your BigCommerce store's URL along with the API credentials you generated: the Client ID (Username), Access Token (API Token), and API Path. This establishes a secure connection for the data transfer.

Step 4: Select Data Entities for Migration

The migration wizard will display a list of data entities available for transfer from your CSV files. These typically include:

• Products (including SKUs, attributes, and variants)
• Product Categories
• Product Manufacturers
• Product Reviews
• Customers
• Orders
• Invoices
• Taxes
• Stores
• Coupons
• CMS Pages
• Blogs & Blog Posts

You can choose to migrate all entities or select specific ones based on your needs. For a complete replatforming, migrating all relevant data is usually recommended.

Step 5: Configure Additional Migration Options

This step allows you to fine-tune your migration with various options:

• Preserve IDs: Retain original Category IDs, Product IDs, Customer IDs, and Order IDs. This is beneficial for maintaining historical data relationships and for tools that rely on these identifiers. Learn more about How Preserve IDs options can be used?
• Create 301 SEO URLs: Essential for preserving your SEO rankings and link equity. This option automatically sets up redirects from your old nsCommerceSpace URLs to the new BigCommerce URLs.
• Migrate Images in Description: Ensure all product images embedded within descriptions are transferred correctly.
• Password Migration: Safely migrate customer passwords to your new store.
• Clear Target Store Data: Opt to remove any existing data from your BigCommerce store before the migration to prevent conflicts. Understand more about the Clear current data on Target store before migration option.
• Create Variants from Attributes: Properly structure your product options (e.g., size, color) as product variants in BigCommerce.

Step 6: Map Data Fields

The migration wizard will present an interface to map your source data fields from nsCommerceSpace (via CSV) to their corresponding fields in BigCommerce. This is critical for maintaining data consistency and integrity.

• Customer Groups Mapping: Match your existing customer groups to BigCommerce customer groups.
• Order Statuses Mapping: Ensure your order statuses (e.g., 'Pending,' 'Processing,' 'Completed') are correctly translated to BigCommerce's system.
• Product Attributes Mapping: Map any custom product attributes to BigCommerce's attribute structure, especially if you opted to create variants.

Step 7: Run Demo and Full Migration

Before committing to the full data transfer, perform a free demo migration. This allows you to transfer a limited number of entities (e.g., 10-20 products, customers, orders) to your BigCommerce store. Use this opportunity to thoroughly review the transferred data for accuracy and ensure everything appears as expected.

Once satisfied with the demo results, proceed with the full migration. Consider selecting a Migration Insurance Service, which offers additional remigrations within a specified period, providing peace of mind during your transition. You can learn more about How Migration Insurance works?

Post-Migration Steps

Completing the data transfer is a major milestone, but the migration isn't truly finished until you've performed these crucial post-migration tasks:

• Thorough Data Verification: Dedicate time to meticulously check all migrated data on your BigCommerce store.
  • Products: Ensure all SKUs, descriptions, images, pricing, and variants are correct.
  • Customers: Verify customer accounts and their associated details.
  • Orders: Confirm order history, statuses, and linked customer data.
  • Other Entities: Check categories, reviews, CMS pages, and blog posts for accuracy.
• Configure BigCommerce Store Settings: Set up essential aspects of your new store, including:
  • Shipping: Define shipping zones, methods, and rates.
  • Taxes: Configure your tax settings according to your business's location and regulations.
  • Payment Gateways: Integrate and test your preferred payment processing solutions.
• Design and Theming: Customize the look and feel of your BigCommerce store. Choose a theme from the BigCommerce Theme Store and personalize it to match your brand identity and enhance user experience.
• SEO Optimization: Critical for maintaining your search engine visibility:
  • Verify 301 Redirects: Double-check that all 301 redirects from your old nsCommerceSpace URLs to BigCommerce URLs are functioning correctly.
  • Update Google Search Console: Update your property settings, submit your new sitemap, and monitor for any crawl errors.
  • Monitor SEO Rankings: Keep a close eye on your search engine rankings and traffic using analytics tools.
• Test Everything: Before officially going live, conduct comprehensive testing:
  • Place test orders from various customer accounts.
  • Verify contact forms, search functionality, and internal links.
  • Check mobile responsiveness and overall site performance.
• Go Live: Once you are confident that everything is working perfectly, update your DNS settings to point your domain name to your new BigCommerce store. Aim to minimize downtime during this final switch.
• Ongoing Maintenance: Consider using a Recent Data Migration Service to transfer any new data (like orders placed during the final switchover) that occurred on your old store after your full migration. This ensures no new customer data or sales are lost.