To keep inventory within ecomdash accurate, you can add inventory feeds for any drop-shippers, CRM software, or other inventory sources you may be using. Ecomdash will retrieve this file from a FTP, SFTP, or HTTP site on a regular basis to ensure that all inventory is up to date on your storefronts.
1. To navigate to Inventory Feed go to Settings (Gears/tool right hand corner) > Integrated Import/Export Formats.
2. Click Add New to create a new import format. You will be prompted to enter a name for the format. Once the name is entered click the Add New button to the right of the name field.
3. If you want data from the file to be used to set storefront specific listing attributes (ex. Categories, Listing Price, Brand, etc) you will need to select the storefront from this drop down that you want it to apply to.
4. If you want data from the file to be used to set quantity in ecomdash you will need to select the warehouse you have set up for this inventory feed from this drop down menu. Also, if the file has a header row, make sure to check the File Includes Header box.
5. Click Save. To set this import format up as a feed, check the Enable Inventory File Integration box which will then open the Integration Settings seen here.
6. The Integration Settings section allows you to set up the feed in a way that works best for you.
- Integration Interval allows you to define how often you want ecomdash to import the quantity file.
- Text File Delimiter needs to be set to match the delimiter of your supplier’s file.
- Integration Type allows you to define where ecomdash needs to look for the file. You can choose FTP, Http, or SFTP. Please note that if you chose Http, the URL the file is hosted on must end in “.csv” and must immediately trigger a download of the file.
7. Integration Settings cont.
- “If SKU matches…” define what you want ecomdash to do if we find a SKU on your supplier’s file that you already have in ecomdash. If you are only wanting us to import new items from the file and not make changes to items already in your inventory, choose “Perform no action”. If you would like ecomdash to update SKU’s already in you ecomdash inventory with data from the file, select the “Overwrite” option. If your supplier does not provide actual quantities but instead provides +1 or -1 showing movement of the item, select the “Increase” option.
- If you want ecomdash to import every product on the file, check the “Create new SKU” box. If you only want it to update SKU’s already in your inventory, keeps this box unchecked.
- If your supplier removes products from the file when the item is discontinued, you can check the “Set Quantity to 0” box and if we do not find the SKU on the file, we will set it’s warehouse quantity to 0 for you.
8. Once you have selected your Integration Type, you will need to input the FTP or Http URL the file is hosted on as well as the Username and Password needed to access the site. If you choose FTP and your supplier has multiple files on that URL, you will want to define the exact file name you want us to import and you will need to ensure the file name ends in “.csv”. You can click the Test button to ensure the URL you have entered is a valid URL.
NOTE: This information should be provided to you by your supplier. If you do not already have it, you will want to reach out to them to get the proper URL and credentials. An FTP URL should begin with “ftp://” and an Http URL should begin with “http://”.
9. Now you will need to set up the format to tell ecomdash how to read your supplier’s file. This will require you to have a copy of their inventory file so that you can map the information correctly. With the file ready, click Add Attribute to begin.
10. You will now see the Attribute Lookup page which will allow you choose the attributes you would like to have set by your supplier’s file by clicking the plus sign next to the attribute. You will need to choose an attribute to match each and every column on the file, so if the file has 15 columns you will need to select 15 attributes. If there are columns in the file you do not need to import, you can choose the Ignore attribute.
NOTE: If you will be setting quantity with this file, you will want to use the Warehouse Quantity attribute.
11. On the Attribute Lookup window you will notice that each attribute has an attribute type displayed on the right hand side. I have defined the various types for you below;
- Storefront Logo: These attributes are for listing fields specific to that storefront.
- Global: These attributes will be used as defaults in the event listing specific information is not set.
- Listing: These attributes are used for listing but are not specific to a single storefront.
- Product: These attributes are for inventory/internal fields.
12. For example, if you supplier’s file looks like the above example and has six columns, you will need to have six attributes in the exact same order within your import format. The name of the column does not need to match the name of the attribute, all that matters is that you have an attribute for each column in the exact same order as they are on the file.
13. As you can see in the example above, the import format has been setup to place the data in the file into the corresponding attribute. So when the file is uploaded, we will look for SKU’s in the first column, Name in the second column, Warehouse Quantity in the third column, and so on. An incorrectly mapped import format can cause data to be placed into the wrong fields or may cause an error preventing the upload from completing. You can rearrange your attributes to ensure they match your file by either clicking the Column # and manually typing in the position it should match or can click the blue arrows to the right to move them up and down. Once they are in the correct positions, click Save.
14. After saving, if you go back to Settings > Inventory Settings > Import Format, you will see your Feed as well as the storefront you selected, if you selected one, and the warehouse you selected to have the quantities placed in. You should also see the Feed Enabled box checked.
Your feed will run based on the interval you set. If you set it to 4 hours, you feed should run 4 hours from the time you hit Save and if it’s successful your inventory will be updated with the data in the file. You can monitor the status of your feeds by going to Inventory > History > Upload Inventory History. If you ever receive an error message you do not understand, a link at the top of the page will provide explanations of common error messages.
15. This completes the workflow overview of setting up an inventory feed that will allow ecomdash to automatically import inventory data from your supplier. Please reach out to support if you have any additional questions.
You can reach support in the following ways
- Email us at support@ecomdash.com
- Chat with us by clicking the green support button (Chat hours are M-F 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM EST)
- Schedule a call with us by clicking the question mark icon in the top right corner of ecomdash.
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