What Implementations Needs to Get Started

Two essentials to kick off your project

Welcome to Athos Commerce! To begin your implementation and stay on track, there are two key requirements we need from you:

1. Finalized UI/UX Design Reference
2. Data Connection

Finalized design reference

We require a finalized design that serves as a functional blueprint for your product listing or search results page. This design is used to match the look and feel of your site — including elements like sorting, filters, badges, product cards, and layout.

Accepted design formats include:

• A URL to your live site, preview theme, or staging environment
• Figma designs or other design tool exports
• Static images or annotated mockups

We don't design or build your pages; our team uses your designs as a reference to serve as a functional blueprint. The final build will be a close implementation of your reference design.

Note: If you are implementing via API or Self-Snap (SDK), the design does not need to be finalized in order to kick off the project. Since you are owning the front-end implementation, you can finalize design elements throughout the implementation process, just before integrating.

Data connection

To power Athos, we need access to your product catalog. This can be done via one of two methods:

Option A: Use our platform connector

We offer integrations with:

• Shopify
• BigCommerce
• Magento 2

We also offer custom connectors using:

• CSV
• JSON
• XML

Option B: Provide a product data feed

If you prefer a custom setup, we accept feeds over FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS with basic auth or IP whitelisting if needed.

Requirements:

• At least 30-40 real or representative products
• Feed should reflect the final store catalog structure
• Feeds must be refreshed regularly (no caching) 

In some cases, based on your requirements, we may need additional feeds. Examples of these feeds are listed below.

• Custom Product Feed (described in our Data Sources Guide)
• Content Search Feed
• Supplemental Feeds 

You can view Product Feed Guidelines in our Data Sources Guide for more information.

Common challenges (and how to avoid them)

Knowing what can hold things up helps us keep your project moving! Here are a few common issues to watch for:

• Catalog data is not yet available = Examples: agency still building, re-platforming to a new e-commerce platform, no historical data for recommendations, etc.
• Missing access or credentials = This especially applies to connectors. We need the right permissions to complete the data setup. Please know that ALL access we are requesting is necessary.
• Magento 2 missing required extension = This must be installed before we can connect data. This will also need to be connected on both staging (for testing) and production (when ready to go live).
• Custom data feeds missing critical info = This includes product IDs, categories, pricing, etc.
• Google Shopping feeds = These are not compatible with Athos.
• Manual or emailed feed files = Feeds must be hosted and regularly updated; attachments won’t work. See more here.