Sales Data Import from CSV/FTPS
The Sales Data import from CSV/FTPS allows sales data to be imported automatically to Quant from a FTPS server. Via this import various sales values (e.g. units sold, margins, sales, etc.) can be imported via this import.
1. Preparing the file for import
First of all the Excel file with sales data has to be created. The file must contain a unique Product ID, a unique Store ID, and a Date of Sale. Then you add the sales metrics you want to send (units sold, profit, etc.) to the other columns. Each row represents a combination of a given sales indicator for a specific product at one store on one day, and each column represents one property. Once the file is ready, you need to export it and save it as a CSV file.
More information can be found in the manual Data Preparation for Import to Quant.
2. Uploading a file to FTPS server
Upload the file you want to import into the appropriate folder, e.g. sales on FTPS.
3. Automatic Task Settings
In the Automatic tasks section, create a new Import Sales Data from CSV.
Before launching the import, you must edit the following attributes in the Settings tab:
- Check the Enabled attribute to enable the task.
- Fill the File Extensions.
- Set the CSVFile Format correctly to match your imported file, especially the character set and delimiters.
- In the CSV Product Attribute Mapping line, assign the appropriate attribute from Quant to all columns you want to import.
Fill in the Address (Primary Server) line with "ftp.extech.eu", your Username (Primary Server) and Password (Primary Server) for the FTPS server.
Fill in the Server Path (Primary Server) line with the name of the folder where you have the imported file stored on your FTP.
Automatic Task Settings
Attributes
Below is a list of other attributes that you can set as part of an automatic task:
Attribute | Description | Type |
Enabled | Specifies whether the automatic task is active and data can be sent through it. | yes/no |
Title | Custom name of the automatic task. | text |
Description | Custom description of the automatic task function. | formatted text |
Frequency | Specifies when to import files from FTPS. | time |
Notes | Notes. | long text |
Emails for Notifications | One or more email addresses to which emails with error conditions will be sent. | list of strings |
File Extension | Write all possible extensions that the imported file can contain. | formatted text |
Filename Pattern | Based on the specified expression, the files to be imported are filtered from all files in the destination directory. If there is only one file in the specified destination directory, it is not necessary to fill in the file name format. | text |
Extract Zips | Check if you have uploaded a zipped file. | yes/no |
Warn if No Files for Import Since | If no data has been imported since the specified date, you will receive a notification. | date selection |
Empty Value Strings | Enter here the values from the imported file to be ignored, or treated as empty strings. | formatted text |
Column Separator | Select which column separator is used in your CSV file. | selection |
Escaping | Check if you use escaping in the file. | yes/no |
Escape Character | Select the escaping character you are using. | formatted text |
Ignore Escape Character | Check if the escaping character is to be ignored. | yes/no |
CSV Product Attribute Mapping | Assign the appropriate Quant attribute to all columns you want to import. | formatted text |
Character set | Select the character set of your CSV file. | selection |
Header Line Count | Write the number of the lines with header. | number |
Decimal Point | Select the sign for the decimal point used in your CSV file. | selection |
String Value for TRUE | Write what value in the file represents "TRUE" e.g. 1. | text |
Measure Unit | Measure unit such as cm, mm etc. | selection |
List Item Separator | Select the list item separator which is used in your CSV file. | selection |
Date Format | Date entry format, eg 31.12.19. | selection |
Primary Server Host | By default "ftp.extech.eu", unless you use your own server. | text |
Primary Server Port | Standard 21. | text |
Primary Server Username | Your username in FTPS server. | text |
Primary Server Password | Your password in FTPS server. | text |
Primary Server FTP Client Type | Choose the FTP client type. | selection |
Primary Server Implicit SSL | Select if you want to use default SSL. If you do not check the box, explicit SSL for FTPS will be used. | yes/no |
Primary Server Plane FTP | Select if you want to use an unsecured FTP protocol. | yes/no |
Primary Server Keep Source Files Untouched | Select if you want the file to remain on FTPS after import. | yes/no |
Primary Server Path | Write the name of the folder in which the sales file is located. For example sales. | text |
Create New Products | If enabled, the import will create new products for non-existent product IDs. | yes/no |
Set New Products for Planogramming | If enabled, newly created products will be designed to create planograms. This option is active only when Create New Products is enabled. | yes/no |
Ignore Deleted Products | By default, when the import does not find a live product for a given ID, it searches among the deleted products. If it finds a deleted one, it revives it. Enabling this option ignores deleted products instead of reviving them. | yes/no |
Export Missing Product IDs | If no new products are created during import, you can then download a file with products that do not exist in Quant, but there was they were present in the file. You can find the file if you click on the Show Items button in the Execution Log. | yes/no |
Secondary Server | Fill in the entire Secondary Server section if you want to export to FTP a file with products that were in the imported file but do not exist in Quant. At the same time, the Create New Products option has to be disabled in Quant and the Export Missing Products option has to be enabled. |
4. Launching the Automatic Task
Once you have set all the necessary attributes, you can import sales immediately via the Launch button or you can wait until the sales are imported automatically based on the set Frequency. If the automatic task is complete, a message will appear in the upper right corner indicating the successful import. In the Sales Data Sets section or in the Sales Data Sets Overview analysis, you can check if the sales have been correctly imported.
You can check a more detailed review of your sales data in Quant in the Sales Data Set Overview analysis.
If the import has not succeeded, in the Execution Log you will find more details about why did the import fail.
5. Execution Log
In the Execution Log tab, you can view a summary of each execution of an automatic task, including statistics, errors, and warnings.
If you select a specific line of the log, you can view its detail via the Show Items button.
6. Verification
You can then check whether the data has been imported according to your expectations in the Sales Data Sets Overview analysis, which can be found in the Analyses / Sales Data Sets Overview menu.
Sales Data Sets Overview
You can learn more in the Sales Data Sets Overview manual.
If you want to delete sales data, you can use the tool in the Tools / Remove Sales Data menu, which allows you to either delete entire sales data sets or just part of it for a specific period.
To learn more about removing sales data, see How to remove sales data from Quant? manual.