Data Preparation for Import to Quant
The actual launch of Quant is preceded by a very important phase of data preparation. Whether the data is imported into the database manually or automatically, it must have some necessary parameters. This manual provides examples of each data type and recommendations on how to have the data ready for import.
List of basic data that can be imported into Quant:
- Product data
- Product Packages
- Product Images
- Category Hierarchy
- Store data
- Sales Data
- Store Stocks
- Product prices
1. Product data
You can create data for importing products as a spreadsheet in Excel. The file must contain a unique product ID. Each row represents one product and each column represents one property.
What data do we recommend to include in the import at the initial stage?
You can import all the data you need into Quant. The more data, the better work it will be in Quant. However, at the beginning we recommend adding at least the following basic data to the file:
- ID: Must be in the file to uniquely identify the product.
- Measurements: width, height, depth: These are essential data without which it is not possible to create planograms. If you use different product packages, you can include the dimensions in the package file.
- Categorization: for an easy product categorization, it is advisable to include information in the file to which category or subcategory the given product should belong to.
- Other basic attributes: brand, supplier, EAN etc.
Product table
For a detailed procedure for manual import, see the Product Data Import manual.
2. Product packages
Import of product packages is used especially in the case when different types of packages are used for 1 identical product.
The product with ID 88784 Whole Milk Box can be sold as 1 box or as a carton of 6 pieces or as a whole palette of 144 pieces. It is always necessary to specify the number of basic units in the package and the size of the package. You can find the pattern in the picture below.
For a detailed procedure for manual import, see the Product Packaging Import manual.
3. Product Images
This import allows you to import product images that are used to draw products in planograms. Images can be imported from the directory in which they will be stored or using links from a web page.
a) Import images from the directory:
Product images must be stored in the directory under a clearly identifiable name with the Primary Product Id or EAN code. Save the images with this name as png or jpeg format.
For a detailed procedure for manual import, see the Product Images Import manual.
b) Image import from website:
Links to individual images must be copied as image address. A table is created in Excel where each row represents a link to one image. Each link must be paired with a Primary Product ID. You can include the links directly in the product file.
4. Category Hierarchy
It is possible to import a category structure which you can later edit in Quant. Products are easily assigned to categories thanks to the use of filters.
You can create data for import in an Excel spreadsheet. The import can be done directly. Each row must contain the entire structure from the highest level to the lowest.
For a detailed procedure for manual import, see the Category Hierarchy Import manual.
5. Store Data
You can easily import a list of your stores, which you have created in an Excel spreadsheet, for example, so that you do not have to create each store manually at first. In addition to creating new branches, the data of existing branches in Quant can be updated via this import.
The file must contain a unique Store ID. Each row represents one store, and each column represents one property.
For a detailed procedure for manual import, see the Store Data Import manual.
6. Sales Data
Through this import, you can import sales data for a new period or overwrite sales data in a period in which sales data for products already exists.
Thanks to sales data, you can, for example, compile a number of analyzes in Quant or use them to optimize the layout of the store or the planogram.
The file must contain the unique product ID, store ID, and date to which the sales data relates. Without any of this data, sales data will not be imported. You can include any type of sales data value in the file (units sold, profit, sales, and more).
It is ideal to import the history at least 1 to 2 years back. We recommend that you send updates for the previous three days each day. We also recommend that a complete summary for the previous month should be sent at the beginning of the next month, where any outages from the daily files are added. This prevents data loss.
For a detailed procedure for manual import, see the Sales Data Import manual.
7. Store Stocks
It is advisable to send the file with the stock status in the store at least once a day, ideally more often. To identify the data, it is always necessary to pair the data with the store ID and the product ID.
In addition to the inventory of the given product for the given store, it is also possible to send data about the inventory on the way.
8. Product Prices
If you use the SELs in Quant, you must also send price updates. If prices differ in different stores, then the data must be paired with both the product ID and the store ID. If the prices are central, ie the same in all stores, there is no need for the storeID column - in this case, the prices can be sent in a product data file.
Quant supports the following 3 price types:
- Basic Sales Price - the price at which the product is currently sold.
- Original Price - the price before discount.
- Club Price - the price for members of your loyalty program.