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Inventory Import

Action: RETLLOAD

This form is used to import Retail Inventory with sizes and colors owned or Rental inventory styles & rental item types. (Once Rental Styles are in, The style's sizes and serial numbers can be imported via a standalone program provided by BBL)

Retail Inventory

Retail Styles with Size, Colors, Quantity on Hand (SCW), can be imported into the ProfitSystem. This import can also update existing styles with SCW receive history entries. Styles may be for Retail & Rental style items. Rental Inventory serial numbers & sizes may be imported for inventory styles imported or manually entered via the Rental Serial Import function.

Each row in the grid represents a single style, size, and color for a retail inventory import. So, if the store has two sizes of the same style, it will show as two rows in the grid, one for each style.

Details in the grid can be changed directly, such as QOH, color chart, vendor, etc. When the Save button is clicked, the retail inventory is updated with the changes.

The look up for fields that have look ups, such as vendor code, category, season code, color charts, size charts, can be triggered by pressing F2 or clicking Lookup F2 on the main menu. It is best to pre-enter ALL vendor codes, categories, size charts, color charts and rental item types that will be needed for the inventory import prior to beginning the import via the other ProfitSystem forms provided in system since this import can utilize them for faster data entry.

Once the on screen grid is populated with inventory data and the SAVE button is clicked, the system will check those items and if any entered do not match existing vendor codes, categories, size charts, color charts or rental item types, the system will present a message stating those not matching will be added to the appropriate tables automatically.

The message may be printed for reference so automatically added codes may be edited after the import. Once OK is clicked appearing on the message, the system will ask the user to confirm or cancel the import. CANCELLING the import will discard the data contents of the grid.

The Notes field will show Memo if notes are present. If not, it will show as memo.

Clicking on the column will display the notes for editing.

The import grid may be populated two ways: 1) via the import of a CSV (plain text) ASCII COMMA delimited file (each row of the Import grid is separated by a COMMA). Many Spreadsheet programs can be utilized, as can Google Sheets or 2) by manually typing data into the on screen grid.

The grid has a Qty on Order column. This column is used to automatically create stock purchase orders when importing styles. If the column contains a number then in addition to the inventory style being created, a stock PO is created to order that many of the inventory style. This is a great tool to enter a large number or market orders into the system to generate the Stock POs so staff can know what is on order and for the shop to easily see outstanding commitments and what is in and outstanding.

Importing Inventory workflow

  1. Go to Setup->Import Data->Inventory Import
  2. Create an import template by clicking Create CSV template and saving the file to your documents folder. We recommend a FREE program call OPEN OFFICE
  3. Start Excel (or similar spreadsheet program) and load the Inventory.csv template file
  4. The template's column names will show as the first row in the spreadsheet, like size or color etc.
  5. Fill the spreadsheet with the data to be imported
  6. At the minimum, the vendor, vendor style, category, reorder, and price 1 should be filled in for Retail and Rental inventory styles. Quantity on Hand (QOH), size, color and sample cost are needed to build the the Style's SCW Receive History of your
  7. current on-hand/in-store stock. Color is not allowed for Rental styles, but Item Type is required for Rental styles.
  8. Once the spreadsheet is complete, save it as a CSV text file.
  9. Do NOT enter commas as part of the data. Example enter $1,000 as 1000 or Sweetheart, full length as Sweetheart full length. See template DOd and DONTs section below.
  10. Go to Setup->Import Data->Inventory Import
  11. Click Load from CSV and select the saved CSV file.
  12. The grid will load with the styles to import.
  13. If the first row has the template field names, select it and click Delete Row so it won't be imported.
  14. Confirm the rest of the rows are correct and all the data is in the correct columns. If not, check that the text fields are surrounded by ' and the fields are separated by , A new template can be exported and used for reference.
  15. If the QtyOnOrder column contains a number, a stock purchase order will be created automatically to order that quantity of the style on that row.
  16. If the data is correct, click Save. The styles will be imported into the ProfitSystem.

Tip #1: On a new inventory item import the item's Retail Factor will be set by the the Retail Factor entered on the item's category. The system will perform a retail price calculation using the category retail factor and if the result is higher than t he Retail Price entered on the import, the calculated price will become the new Retail Price. It is important to have categories & vendors in ProfitSystem prior to importing inventory.

Tip #2: The Import includes a SKU column. (optional to use) The SKU should be the unique number representing the style, vendor, size & colors that is currently assigned to an inventory item. It is usually a code or bar-code printed on a price tag.
When this number/code is imported, existing price tags will not have to be re=printed. The store style could be left blank (recommended) so system will auto-generate on imported for new vendor style additions. SCW and Quantity on hand will update existing vendor style inventory entries.

Updating existing inventory workflow

  1. Go to Setup->Import Data->Inventory Import
  2. Click Load from Inventory
  3. Enter one or more fields to search for and click Load. Only styles that match all criteria will be loaded.
  4. Make any required changes to the grid.
  5. Click Save to update the retail inventory.

During import, allow duplicate vendor + vendor style records?...Normally, if an import contains two rows with the same vendor and vendor style those two rows will be merged into one store style. If each row has a different size/color, then an SCW record will be created for each unique size and color. But there will only be one record for the vendor + vendor style. If this option is checked, then separate styles will be created for every row in the grid, regardless if there are duplicate vendor + vendor styles.

Buttons

Create CSV Template...This will create a text file called INVENTORY.CSV that contains the template used to create an import text file. Replace the contents of the file with values to be imported, be sure to keep the columns intact.

Note the fields enclosed in double-quotes, and make sure the import file has the same double-quotes. Fields staring with D- should be MM/DD/YYYY with no quotes. Fields with N- are prices and quantities and do not need quotes.

Manual Entry...This will active the grid for manual entry of styles, sizes, colors, QOH, etc.

Load from CSV...Loads the grid from a CSV file. The CSV file should be in the format of INVENTORY.CSV.

Load from Inventory...This will load the grid from the existing Retail Inventory. This is used to make bulk changes to inventory.

Template Data DOs and DONTs

Character fields should be delimited by ' and separated by , Numeric and date don't need the ' No , in numeric.

Since ' is the delimiter, you can't have an embedded ' in a field. For example, here are two problem records of an example import file. The descriptions contain embedded ' which throws off all the rest of the columns.

MAL,V146X-I,NA,DIAM WHITE,,,,1,150,,,115,115,345,,'56 X 72'' VEIL W/CLEAR CRYSTAL',4/1/2016,,ORIGINAL,,,,,12/16/2009,,,,,,,,150-10470 AUG,VML39A,NA,CREAM,,,,1,157,,,275,275,690,,'UNBEADED LACE VEIL 95''',,,ORIGINAL,,,,,11/12/2012,,,,,,,,157-10303

Here's how they should be formatted

'MAL','V146X-I','NA','DIAM WHITE',,,,1,'150',,,115,115,345,,'56 X 72' VEIL W/CLEAR CRYSTAL',4/1/2016,,'ORIGINAL',,,,,12/16/2009,,,,,,,,'150-10470' 'AUG','VML39A','NA','CREAM',,,,'1','157',,,275,275,690,,'UNBEADED LACE VEIL 95''',,,'ORIGINAL',,,,,11/12/2012,,,,,,,,'157-10303'

Embedded ' are replaced with ', and fields are surrounded by '

Here's the template. 'Vendor code','Vendor style','Size','Color1', 'Color2', 'Color3', 'Color4', QOH, 'InventoryCategory', 'Sub-category', 'Store style', 'N-ReorderCost', 'N-SampleCost', 'N-Price1', 'N-Price2', 'Description', 'Discontinue Date', 'Season code', 'Notes', 'D-Da teTagPrinted', 'D-DateReturnedToVendor', 'D-DateDiscarded', 'D-DateLastSold', 'D-DateLastRecv', 'SizeChartCode', 'ColorChart1', 'ColorChart2', 'ColorChart3', 'ColorChart4', 'Width', 'ItemType', 'SKU', 'Notes2', 'ImageURL', 'ImageURL2', 'N-QtyOnOrder'

Replace the contents of the template file with the inventory to be imported, be sure to keep the columns intact. Note the fields enclosed in double-quotes, and make sure the import file has the same double-quotes.

Fields staring with D- should be MM/DD/YYYY with no quotes. Fields with N- are prices and quantities and do not need quotes

Rental Style Import Considerations

Create a List of each rental style rented within the store. The store style should be created to make it easy for store clerks to identify / differentiate the styles from each other. Include the different SIZES that each are rented in and the quantity owned for each size.

Rental styles represents the style and color of the rental style, so DO NOT add a color to the Import CSV or grid.

Examples could be CT1111BLK or CT_BLAKE for a specific coat.

Vendor, vendor style, category, reorder, and price 1 should be filled in for Rental inventory styles. Quantity on Hand (QOH), size, and sample cost (sample cost is optional but helpful to accountants to determine inventory value) are needed to build the the Style's SCW Receive History of your current on-hand in-store stock. Color is not allowed for Rental styles (leave ALL Color columns blank), but Item Type is required for Rental styles.

FYI: Rental item types determine if a rental style is tracked with a bar-code or not. Entering the Size and Quantities for bar-code tracked styles is not necessary. Sizes can be added via the Rental Serial Number (bar-code) import which is a free stan ding program available form BBL. The data for a Serial number import would be: Once sheet per Rental Style. The sheet would have SIZE, BAR-CODE, PO NUMBER (optional), UNIT COST (optional but needed for tracking inventory value for rental styles)

Of the Inventory Import grid columns available, these are the columns that must be completed for Rental styles:

Grid Column Column content description
VendorID The vendor code representing the vendor of where this style garment was obtained rental, max 10 characters
Vendor Style The actual style of the item, max 15 characters
Category Enter RENTAL as the category for all rental styles, max 10 characters
Style The store code representing this garment type, max 25 characters
Reorder Cost to replace one unit of this garment
Price 1 Retail Replacement cost of of a single unit of this style, to be billed to customer in case of damage
Item Type The Type of rental style, BBL provides most common rental types, see options below, max 20 characters
Description A good description of style, example: Blake Black Notch, max 30 characters
Size Chart The size chart for this Rental, BBL includes most common charts (options are below), max 10 characters
With Coat Pricing
Without Coat Pricing

If style is a bar-coded track style you can skip the step of adding all the sizes, QOH & sample cost, those can be added in bulk from the Rental Serial Import free standing program. If the style is not tracked via bar-codes then this information should be entered into this inventory import.

Please review the serial number import topic at this link

Rental Item Types

  • COATS
  • CUMBERBUND
  • MISC
  • JEWELRY
  • PANTS
  • SHIRTS
  • SHOES
  • TIES
  • VEST

Rental Size Charts

For more detail on the sizes contain in each, click here.

  • ADJ_PANT
  • COAT
  • EXACT/CONT
  • FITALL
  • FIX_PANT
  • MENSHOE
  • SHRTEVEN
  • SHRTEXAC
  • SHRTODD
  • TIE
  • VEST_FA
  • VEST_FB

Please REMEMBER to backup your work frequently when entering large volumes of data via the ProfitSystems backup program utility (or via your computer's backup function).