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How to: Set up Direct Sales Products and Customers (UPDATED)

← How To
UPDATED: Nov 23, 2023

DigThisData enables companies to manage and process orders for on-premise, licensee, and even grocery customers through the Direct Sales channel. Getting set up can take some effort, however once complete, DTD provides tools to easily manage the ongoing maintenance.

Please note: Exporting to CSV from Microsoft Excel may add additional empty columns that will result in a failed upload to DTD. If you encounter an error uploading, please try uploading your spreadsheet to Google Sheets and saving a CSV from there.

For instructions on how to export your spreadsheet as a CSV, please see: FAQ: How to Export A Spreadsheet to CSV


Setting up Customers via CSV Import
  1. Download a spreadsheet template from DigThisData
    Google Sheets | Microsoft Excel
  2. Open the spreadsheet template - the first sheet is the template that will need to be filled in with your customer information. The second sheet contains instructions detailing what each field is and the type of data required.
  3. Complete the template by copying column by column from any preexisting customer spreadsheet you may have.
  4. For required columns where data is unavailable, devise a logical input. This is common for the internal_id column. In this case, enter "Cust0001" and "Cust0002" in the first two rows, then select them both and drag the fill handle (small point at the bottom right of the selection) down to cover all Customers. Once released, the selected Customers will have an assigned internal_id.
  5. For the Channel, Type, and Status columns, use numeric values found on the corresponding sheets.
  6. Once complete, save the file as a Comma Separated text file (.CSV) with a filename of Customers.csv.
  7. In DigThisData, open up the Data Ingestion Widget under Operations → Data Management → Import Data File. Upload the Customers.csv file you just filled out.
Please note: Line breaks in data fields will break imports. Open up your CSV file with a text editor and validate that each entry is on a single line.

If data is not ingested properly, review any errors in your Customers template and re-upload another file. Re-uploading will overwrite existing entries where the internal_id is the same.

Next, you need to follow a similar process for your products, however with products, be aware that certain fields are required to be correctly input otherwise orders may exhibit unexpected behaviour.

Setting up Products via CSV Import
  1. Download a spreadsheet template from DigThisData
    Google Sheets | Microsoft Excel
  2. Open the spreadsheet template - the first sheet is the template that will need to be filled in with your product information. The second sheet contains instructions detailing what each field is and the type of data required.
  3. Complete the template by copying column by column from any preexisting product spreadsheet you may have.
  4. For required columns where data is unavailable, devise a logical input. This is common for the sku, brand_code and unit_code columns.

    It is recommended to use the Brand Code and Unit Code together to create the SKU. For example, if you have a Brand Code of "PA01" and a Unit Code of "473C24", a logical SKU would be PA01-473C24

    Please note: the sku column MUST BE UNIQUE FOR ALL PRODUCTS and brand_code and unit_code combinations MUST BE UNIQUE FOR EACH PRODUCT.

    For example, a brand name of "Sample Product" will have a brand_code of "B7" and the 750ML bottle of Sample Product will have a unit_code of "2". A 473ML Can of Sample Product will also have a brand_code of "B7", but will have a different unit_code of "3". "Sample Product No.2" will have a brand_code of "B8" and the 750ML size_code will match that of the first Sample Product as "2". This allows the system to perform granular reporting on brands and packaging. Additionally, brand descriptions should not contain packaging information. Input packaging descriptions under unit_description.
  5. For the Channel, Type, and Status columns, use numeric values found on the corresponding sheets.
  6. Once complete, save the file as a Comma Separated text file (.CSV) with a filename of Products.csv.
  7. In DigThisData, open up the Data Ingestion Widget under Operations → Data Management → Import Data File. Upload the Products.csv file you just filled out.
Please note: Line breaks in data fields will break imports. Open up your CSV file with a text editor and validate that each entry is on a single line.

If data is not ingested properly, review any errors in your Products template and re-upload another file. Re-uploading will overwrite existing entries where the sku is the same.

Once finished, both Products and Customers can be fine tuned with the tools provided in DigThisData and adding new Customers or Products can be accomplished using the blue Add button in the left options panel of each management view.

Setting up Products in the User Interface


Alternatively, Products, Brand Codes and Unit Codes can be entered under Operations from the main menu. Use Operations → Product Codes to create Brand Codes and Unit Codes first. Once complete, those options will be available to create Products under Operations → Products. 

On both view, use the blue "Add New" button located in the left options panel to create a new item.

Setting up Variant Products for Alternate Pricing


If you sell a product in a different channel at a different price, use Variant / Virtual Products. Click the Add New button on the left options panel of the Operations → Products view.

Once the Add New Product window is open, select a product from the pull down menu under "Variant SKU of". Once a product is selected, many of the form fields become disabled and are not required - their values have been duplicated from the original SKU. Enter in a unique SKU, name, and pricing information and click Save to be able to use the alternate SKU in order forms.



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