Overview

What it does

Store imports update your catalogue, customer logins, agreed prices and account summaries from CSV files prepared by your business.

When to use it

Use a CSV import when your back-office information changes. Choose the guide for the data you need to update:

Steps

Each CSV is a complete replacement list for that importer. New rows are added, matching rows are updated, and rows missing from the CSV are deactivated or removed from active use. Deactivated rows can be restored by including them in a later file. Read the individual guide for exceptions and for how blank fields affect existing values.

1. Open eCommerce → Importers.
2. Under Upload CSV, choose Import on the tile for the data you are updating. Each tile shows the importer and a typical file name, such as customers.csv. Any file ending in .csv is accepted - the name does not have to match.
3. In the dialog, read the warning and, if you need the column list, select Open the guide.
4. Select Pick CSV file and choose your complete file.
5. A confirmation appears, headed Replace followed by the data type, for example Replace Customers. Read it, then select Upload and replace. Cancel stops the upload.
6. Check Import log for the result.

PDF invoices are not uploaded here. They are delivered from your back office, one file per invoice - see the invoice guide.

What you'll see

The upload dialog confirms the file was received, then closes.

Import log lists the 20 most recent files with Time, Status, Type, File, Size and Report:

• Pending - the file has been received and is waiting to be processed.
• Success - the file was applied.
• Failed - nothing in the file was applied. Select View report to open the Failure report.

A store with no uploads yet shows No store imports yet.

When changes appear

Files are picked up automatically, whether you upload them here or your ERP delivers them. There is nothing more to do after uploading.

At busy times a file can wait for the next pick-up, so allow a few extra minutes.

Once a file shows Success, reload the storefront page to see the change. Product details and prices also refresh when a customer returns to a storefront tab they already have open. Customers never need to sign out and back in, and signed-in and signed-out visitors see changes at the same time.

Product pictures and Erudus information follow their own timing - see when pictures change.

Refresh the Importers page to update the log.

Email notifications

When a CSV import fails, ProConnect emails your store's email address. The email names the file, gives the reason it was rejected and lists the rows that failed, so you can correct the file without opening the admin panel. When a later file for that importer succeeds, you get one more email telling you it is working again.

This applies to files you upload yourself and to files delivered automatically by your ERP.

Your store's email address is set in Store Settings. If imports fail and no email arrives, check it is filled in and correct.

If something goes wrong

• Failed: select View report for the row number, column and reason. Fix the file and upload it again. Validation checks the whole file before applying any rows, so a single bad row stops the entire file.
• Please select a CSV file. - the file you picked does not end in .csv. Export it again as CSV and pick it once more.
• We couldn't upload this CSV file. Please try again. - nothing was received. Select Pick CSV file and choose the file again; if it keeps failing, contact your onboarding manager.
• We couldn't load the failure report. - close the dialog and select View report again. If it still fails, contact your onboarding manager.
• Still Pending after 20 minutes: refresh the page and check again.
• A file stays Pending and never becomes Success or Failed: the file is either too large (over 300 MB - split the dataset, or ask your ERP/IT team to trim it) or contains a value the store cannot accept, such as a negative balance. No email is sent for this, because the file is never processed, so check the log rather than waiting to hear. Upload a corrected file; if the row is still Pending after that, note the file type and upload time and contact your onboarding manager.
• An upload has disappeared from the log: a newer file for the same importer replaced it before it was processed, and only the newest file is kept. The replaced file is not emailed about. Upload one complete file and wait for its result before uploading another.
• An import failed and you had no email: check your store's email address in Store Settings, and check whether this importer had already failed - a run of failures is only emailed the first time. See Email notifications.
• Success but the store looks unchanged: allow the timing above, reload the storefront, and check that you uploaded the correct file for this store. Uploading exactly the same file again within a day is recorded as Success without being reapplied, so upload a file that contains the change you want rather than an identical copy.
• Customers or products have disappeared: they were missing from your last upload. Restore them in the complete file and upload it again.
• No B2B Store linked to this company. - this company has no storefront set up yet. Contact your onboarding manager.

File format

All importers share the same CSV rules:

• Files must be UTF-8. A leading UTF-8 BOM is allowed. Other encodings are not converted and will corrupt text.
• Values are comma-separated. Wrap values containing commas, quotes or line breaks in double quotes, and escape a double quote by doubling it ("").
• The first row must be the header row. Header names are case-insensitive, but there are no aliases - use the exact names from each guide.
• Unknown columns are ignored. Duplicate headers are rejected.
• Blank lines are skipped, and every cell value is trimmed of surrounding whitespace.
• The file name must end in .csv. Files over 300 MB are never processed.

Value limits

Each guide lists a limit for every column. Limits count characters after surrounding spaces are removed, and accented characters and emoji count as one character each.

• A value over its limit fails that row. The file is then rejected and nothing is applied, so fix the reported rows and upload the complete file again.
• Columns marked No fixed limit hold long text such as descriptions and notices.
• Pipe-separated columns are limited on the whole cell, including the | separators, unless the column's guide gives a per-value limit.
• Money and quantity columns range from 0 to 9,999,999.99. Negative stock and order quantities are treated as 0, and negative balances are stored as 0.
• Yes/no columns accept 1, true, or yes, and 0, false, or no. A blank cell means no. Any other value fails validation.

Matching identifiers

Customer usernames, account codes, category IDs and product SKUs match without distinguishing letter case or accents. For example, CAFÉ and cafe identify the same entry. Category IDs also keep only letters, digits and hyphens, so Crisps & Snacks and crisps-snacks identify the same category. Product SKUs can only contain letters, numbers, hyphens and slashes - see the SKU format. If a file repeats an identifier, the last row wins. Customer pricing uses the customer ID and SKU together as its identifier. Customer IDs use the same format as WhatsApp customer references: 1-36 letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores and ampersands.

Money values

Use a full stop for decimal values, such as 12.50. Money values range from 0 to 9,999,999.99; negative values are not supported. A third decimal place rounds half-up, so 1.005 becomes 1.01.

For product and account values, £1,234.56 and 1234.56 mean the same amount. Quote any CSV cell containing a comma. Do not use a comma as a decimal separator: 12,34 would mean 1234 for these imports.

Product VAT and UNIT_SCALE also need plain numbers, without symbols or separators. Invoice filenames use a different amount format.

For your ERP/IT team

Files can be delivered automatically on an agreed schedule instead of uploaded by hand. Contact your onboarding manager to arrange the feed. Automatic CSV files follow the same complete-list and format rules above.