You can import a spreadsheet (XLS) file that contains your own products to make new products in My Catalogue. This could include products from small local suppliers who do not offer their catalogue in EQ.
Click: My Catalogue > Import from Excel > Import Other Formats.
In addition to importing spreadsheets that are generated from EQ (exported from My Catalogue) you can import any other layout of spreadsheet (e.g. from your own suppliers).
This article covers the Catalogue Importer window including:
Select Price List
1. Open My Catalogue
2. Click Import from Excel and select Import Other Format.
3. Click Browse to locate the spreadsheet on your computer and click Load Catalogue
4. You need to link the fields of data from your spreadsheet so that EQ can locate the right data. Click each field in the Linked To column and select the appropriate field. It is very helpful if your spreadsheet has the first row containing field names.
Each column in Excel has a corresponding Letter, EQ uses field numbers, so Field 1 = A, Field 2 = B, Field 3 = C etc. Your import may look like this:
To check the data you can click through it using the < left and right > arrows. E.g. you can see where the data starts in case there are blank rows or a column heading beforehand. Check the Preview column to help.
5. Repeat so that all of the fields are mapped, leaving fields that are not included in your spreadsheet, blank.
Note about stock: If you have linked stock products to My Catalogue products and you import by spreadsheet and have changed the product code, the link between the product and stock record will be broken. Instead do not import, but change the product and stock record manually. See further note below about updating linked stock records. For advice please contact support.
Import Options
1. Pricing Method needs to be selected according to the prices in your spreadsheet:
Individual cost and selling prices |
If you have both cost and selling prices in your spreadsheet |
Selling price - discount (imported) |
If you have a selling price and a discount % |
Selling price- discount (default) |
If you have a selling price and want to use the discount set in this screen (below) |
Cost price + margin (imported) |
If you have a cost price and a discount % |
Cost price + margin (default) |
If you have a cost price and want to use the margin set in this screen (below) |
2. Catalogue needs to be selected so the products can be placed in the right location. If you need to create a new catalogue click the Edit Popup Contents icon and add a new catalogue title.
3. Select Supplier, if the relevant supplier is not already in your list, see how to add a supplier in the supplier screen.
4. The default discount and margin boxes will be available according to your chosen pricing method above. i.e. if you have Cost price + margin (default) selected then it will only let you type in the margin % here. If you are importing a margin or discount % then both of these boxes will be unavailable.
5. Default Type and Category can be selected in case you do not have type and category information in your spreadsheet, in which case all products will be added as per these settings.
Import Template
When you have linked your spreadsheet data to import fields, and selected the import options you can save these settings for future use.
a) Type a title in the Template box b) Click Save Template. If you are importing a similar spreadsheet again:
a) Go straight to pick the template name from the list b) Click Load Template and your settings will be restored to the screen for you to adjust and continue. |
Click Preview to proceed to the next step.
TIP: If you have trouble importing a spreadsheet, perform a "save as" within Excel and change the file type as "Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook" (xls). This will leave out any incompatible features within the spreadsheet for better compatibility.
Preview Imported File
This screen shows all products from the spreadsheet with both types of duplicates highlighted:
Duplicates within this catalogue
When you click Select All, only 1 of each of the duplicates is automatically selected, you cannot import both.
Duplicates found in other catalogues
These cannot be imported and will not be selected.
Check all products, you may need to deselect a line which holds the column headings from your spreadsheet.
Click Import and wait for the progress to complete.
(Note on Stock products: If you have some of these products in stock and have edited any detail (not the product code) you will be prompted "Update linked stock product?" Clicking Yes will update the stock database with the product change, e.g. description. to save changing in 2 places.)
Your products are now held within My Catalogue, so they can be edited, and will appear as products in Catalogues.