Importing Customer Information into ProductCart

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1 Overview This document is an excerpt from the ProductCart User Guide. You can download the latest version of the ProductCart User Guide here. ProductCart v2.6 and above include the ability to import customer information from an existing customer database. This feature can be useful in a variety of circumstances, and specifically in the following two scenarios: When moving to ProductCart from another ecommerce application. Before abandoning your existing ecommerce system, export all customer records, if the software allows you to do so. Importing existing customer information will help you make the move smoother and less inconvenient to your customers, who will not have to re-register with your store. When importing customer information from your accounting software. If you are adding an online store to your sales efforts, you can use the Customer Import Wizard to add all the customer accounts that are already in your accounting system to the online store, thus making it easy for your customers to start using the store. Their address will be used by ProductCart as their user name, and a random password will be created for them automatically during the import procedure (if a password is not already associated with customer accounts). You can then your customers using the Newsletter Wizard to let them know that they can log into their new account at any time by using their address. To retrieve their temporary password, they can simply use the password reminder feature. Properly preparing your customer database file prior to importing it can save you a lot of time (and headaches). Because many of the instructions are identical when importing a product database, in the following paragraphs we will sometimes refer to that chapter of this User Guide for more information. You can import from the following file types: Microsoft Excel (*.xls) Comma Separated Value (*.csv) Importing a customer database requires the following steps: 1. Properly formatting your file. The steps to be taken are different depending on whether you are planning to use a *.xls or *.csv file. 2. Uploading the file to your server. You can either use the built-in upload feature or FTP the file to the catalog subfolder within the pc folder. 3. Specifying whether you are importing new customers or updating existing customer accounts.

2 4. Mapping fields from the file to ProductCart s database. 5. Confirming mapped fields. 6. Performing the import. 7. Reviewing which records could not be imported and why. ProductCart s Import Wizard will guide you through the process step by step, as explained later in this section. First, however, you will have to spend a little time formatting the file so that it can be seamlessly imported. Formatting your file Carefully review the requirements for each field so that you will not run into conflicts when mapping the fields. In addition, we strongly suggest that you remove columns that do not contain data, so that the file that you upload to ProductCart is smaller in size and mapping is less confusing. And you may also want to rename the column headings so that they can easily be recognized when mapping the fields. An empty excel file with the available fields for importing is available for download from the following URL: Regardless of which file type you plan to use during the import, it is very important that you make sure your file is formatted properly prior to importing. Preparing an Excel file for import If you are importing an Excel file, the following step MUST be taken in order for the import to be successful. These steps apply even if you downloaded the template Excel file mentioned above (i.e. a date range is not already defined in that file). Create a name for the data range: The Excel import feature requires a named range and the range must be named IMPORT. Select (highlight) the entire data range that you want to import (including the top row, which should contain the field names). Do this after you have added data to your spreadsheet. Select the menu item: Insert > Name > Define Enter the name "IMPORT" without the quotes and click on the Add button. Save the.xls file. The vast majority of technical support requests that we receive from users of ProductCart that are not able to successfully import an XLS file are due to improperly setting the IMPORT range. If you are experiencing problems, please review the steps outlined above to make sure that the IMPORT range has been properly defined. Updating data within an existing store database You can either import new customer accounts or update/append existing customer information. For example, if you need to update the newsletter preference (receive vs. not receive the newsletter) for all customers, you could import a file that only contains the address and the RecvNews field (see the next section for details about each import field). If you wish to update/append data, select that option during the import procedure: the Import Wizard will prompt you to make a selection after you have uploaded your data file to the system. ProductCart will use the customer s address as the account identifier and update database records whose addresses are an exact match with the data that you are importing. If the address is not an exact match, a new customer (database record) will be added. The field is not case sensitive.

3 Fields Description You can import the following fields. Please carefully read the format requirements. Note how in some cases the Customer Import Wizard will automatically populate a field if left blank or not imported. In the case of the password field, ProductCart automatically generates a random password for the new customer. In all other cases, ProductCart will populate the field with the text string NA during import, which standard for Not available during import. Field Name Data Type Required Comments Text Yes address. Text string (alphanumeric characters). Used as product identifier when updating data: only if is an exact match data is updated. Max characters: 150. name Text Yes If left blank, ProductCart will automatically populate the field with the string NA during import. Field is required during checkout. Max characters: 30. lastname Text Yes If left blank, ProductCart will automatically populate the field with the string NA during import. Field is required during checkout. Max characters: 30. customercompany Text No Max characters: 50. phone Text No Field is required during checkout. Max characters: 20 password Text No If left blank, ProductCart will automatically populate the field with a random, encrypted password. Field is required during checkout. Max characters: 100. address Text No Field is required during checkout. Max characters: 255 address2 Text No Max characters: 150 city Text No Field is required during checkout. Max characters: 50 statecode Text No This field is used to define the state or province for US and Canadian customers. Required during checkout only if the Country is US or Canada. Max characters: 4 state Tex No This field is used to define the state or province of customers outside of US and Canada. Max characters: 50. zip Text No This field is used to define the postal code and is required during checkout if the Country is US or Canada. Max characters: 10 countrycode Text No Field is required during checkout. Max characters: 4. shippingcompany Text No Max characters: 150. shippingaddress Text No Max characters: 255. shippingaddress2 Text No Max characters: 150.

4 Field Name Data Type Required Comments shippingcity Text No Max characters: 50. shippingstatecode Text No Max characters: 4. shippingzip Text No Max characters: 10. shippingcountrycode Text No Max characters: 4. customertype Number No Must be a number or will not be imported. Defines the type of customer. Use 1 for wholesale, 0 for retail. If left blank or not mapped, defaults to 0 (retail customer). irewardspointsaccrued Number No Must be a number or will not be imported. CI1 Text No Custom input field (see Checkout Options) CI2 Text No Custom input field (see Checkout Options) RecvNews Number No Must be a number or will not be imported. Defines whether the user opted to receive the store newsletter. Use 1 for yes, 0 for no. Notes: The Address field is required for both a new import and an update procedure. The field is not case sensitive. In ProductCart, the address is also the customer login name. If you are importing a CSV file, do not use double or single quotes at the beginning of any field. Note: To ensure that you can quickly revert back to the way your store database was structured before performing an import or update, we strongly recommend that you ALWAYS BACK UP your existing store database before performing an import or update procedure. If your store uses a MS Access database, you can simply download the *.mdb data file to your computer. If your store uses a SQL database, enquire with your Web hosting company about how you can have your database backed up and restored. Customer Type As mentioned above, the Customer Import Wizard allows you to specify the type of customer you are importing. You can import a customer account as either a retail or wholesale customer: If the file that you are importing does not contain a customer type field, all customers will be imported as retail customers. The same is true if you are mapping the field, but the field is left empty or has the value 0. Map the customer type field and enter the value 1 to import the customer as a wholesale customer. For more information about the difference between retail and wholesale customers, please refer to the Retail vs. Wholesale Customers section of the ProductCart User Guide. Step 1 Upload the file Now that you have prepared your Ms Excel or CSV data file for importing it, select Import Customers from the Manage Customers menu. ProductCart s Customer Product Wizard will be started and the following shown below will be displayed.

5 Make sure to back up the ProductCart database before proceeding (e.g. FTP the file to your local computer). This is especially important if you are importing data into already active store. You will be able to quickly restore the database in case for any reason the import procedure did not complete successfully. You can either upload the data file through the Import Wizard or via FTP (recommended for large files). If you choose to upload the file through the Import Wizard, browse to the file and then click on the Upload button. The form is validated to make sure that only *.XLS and *.CSV files are uploaded to ProductCart. If you prefer to use FTP, you must place the file in the following folder: pc/catalog and then enter ONLY THE FILENAME in the field provided. ProductCart will verify that the file exists on the server before proceeding to Step 2. Once the file has been uploaded/located successfully, the Customer Import Wizard will ask you to choose whether you intend to import new customer information to the database, or update existing customer accounts. If you are importing data into your store database, ProductCart will NOT import customers whose address matches that of customers that already exist in the database. Products that could not be imported due to an address match are listed at the end of the import procedure. If you are updating data note that the address is used as the customer identifier. A customer account will be updated when the address is an exact match. If the address is not an exact match, a new customer account will be added. Step 2 Map the fields The next window allows you to easily map fields between the two databases. Your import file s column headings are listed on the left side and ProductCart s on the right. Carefully map each field. Leave blank the ones for which you do not have any information to import. Note that the address field is required. ProductCart saves the current mapping preferences so that you don t have to remap all the fields in case to need to import data from the same file (e.g. you may use the same Excel spreadsheet multiple times to regularly import new customer data from another application). Make sure that you don t map the same field twice. If you do so, ProductCart will return an error message and will prompt you to verify that all fields are mapped uniquely. Step 3 Confirm mapped fields Next, ProductCart shows you the fields as you have mapped them. Verify that the information is correct, and then proceed to the next step. Otherwise, go back to Step 2 and change the incorrect mapping settings. ProductCart will now start populating the database. Depending on the number of records that you are importing, this task may take several minutes.

6 Step 4 Import completed Once all records have been imported, ProductCart will display a report that lists the number of records successfully imported, those that could not be imported and why. For example, you will be shown a list of customers that could not be imported due to the fact that you were importing duplicate addresses. To visually confirm that the import was successful, select Manage Customers > Vierw All and look for customer accounts that you have just imported. Undoing the last import/update ProductCart allows you to easily undo an import/update by reverting back to the data that was stored in the customer table before new data was imported or updated. When customer accounts are imported or updated, ProductCart saves a log of what information was imported in the file importlogs/custlogs.txt. The system uses this information to remove the data that was imported/updated. To undo the last import/update, select Import Customers from the Manage Customers menu, and then click on the Undo Last Import or Undo Last Update button. Note that the button is only visible once you have imported or updated products. The undo can only be applied to the last import or update. It cannot be applied to previous imports or updates. Note that this feature is not a substitute for backing up your store database before importing or updating data. Backing up your database remains the safest way to ensure a quick recovery in case the database is compromised during an import or update procedure.