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Importing items into a purchase order

You can simultaneously add batch items to a purchase order and create the items in Lightspeed Retail. Instead of creating items one-by-one, you can let Lightspeed Retail automatically create the items as you purchase your stock. You can also import catalog items and items already created in Lightspeed Retail.

Importing items involves:

  1. Preparing your spreadsheet import file.
  2. Uploading the import file to a purchase order in Lightspeed Retail.

What can I import?

New items: New items are items that are not yet created in your inventory. For example, these items can be from a previous item database. After they are imported, the items are simultaneously added to the purchase order and created in your Lightspeed Retail system.

Catalog items: If you use vendor catalogs, you can import catalog items to a purchase order. If the item isn't in your inventory, the item is created based on the details in the catalog. All you need is an accurate Vendor ID in the import file and the associated vendor selected in the purchase order.

Existing items: Existing items are items that are already in your inventory. After they’re imported, the items are added to your purchase order. Since the items are already in your system, they are not re-created. You can, however, update the item information with the new imported information.

NOTES:

  • Lightspeed Retail determines whether an item exists in your system based on the item’s values in your import file. See the Matching on items section below for more information.
  • The import file must be a .csv file formatted according to Lightspeed specifications.
  • An import file can contain any combination of new, catalog, and existing items.
  • Because a purchase order pertains to one vendor in particular, you should create separate item import files for each of your vendors. If you purchase the same item from multiple vendors, you can add the item to as many vendor-specific import files as required for use on separate purchase orders.
  • Items not currently in your Lightspeed Retail system are automatically created when they’re imported.
  • For items already created in Lightspeed Retail, you can update the existing item information with the new imported information.

Matching on items

When you upload an import file to a purchase order, Lightspeed Retail matches the imported items with any items already in your system. For each item in your import file, Lightspeed Retail scans the values in this order for a match:

  1. System ID
  2. Vendor ID
  3. UPC code
  4. EAN code
  5. Custom SKU
  6. Manufacturer SKU

If a match is found for any item, a new item is not created. If the Update Existing Items option is selected when the file is imported, any non-matching values are updated with the new values in the import file for the existing items.

For a description of the columns in the import file, including where the values are imported, see the 1. Preparing the import file section below.

Important: Lightspeed Retail does not look for a match for existing items based on the product description. Because of this, if a match is not found for an existing item in the import file and the item Description already exists in your inventory, a new item is created with the same item name.

1. Preparing the import file

You can use any spreadsheet software to create the import file, however the file must be saved as a .csv. When a new item is added to LightSpeed Retail through purchase order import, the item's default vendor is set to the vendor that's selected for the purchase order. Since a purchase order is specific to a vendor, you should create a separate item import file for each of your vendors. An import file can have a maximum of 500 items.

NOTE: Lightspeed Retail does not look for a match for existing items based on the product description. If a match is not found for an item in the import file and the item "Description" already exists in your inventory, a new item will be created with the same item name.

To prepare the import file

  1. Format your spreadsheet file as shown in the example files.

  2. Your import file must contain the same number of columns, and the columns must be in the same order, as the example import file. Do not re-order or delete any of the columns, and do not add any additional columns to the import file. The import file contains these columns:
Order Qty Item order quantity for the purchase order. Imported to the item's Order Qtyd field in the purchase order.
Unit Cost (if multicurrency is disabled) Cost that you pay your Vendor for the item. Imported to the item's Unit Cost value in the item's Inventory section.
System ID LightSpeed Retail System ID number for the item. When importing new items, leave this field blank. LightSpeed Retail automatically designates a System ID to new items.
Vendor ID Vendor's part number for the item. Imported to the item's Vendor ID field in the purchase order, and the item's Vendor ID section. If there is no vendor ID for the item for the selected PO vendor, the new vendor ID is added to the item's Vendor ID section. This occurs whether or not you choose to update existing items when importing the file.
Vendor Cost (if multicurrency is enabled) The cost paid to your vendor in your vendor's currency for an item. Imported to the item's Vendor Cost value in the item's Inventory section.
UPC Item's 12 digit universal product code) barcode number. Imported to the item's UPC value in the item's Details section.
EAN Item's 13 digit international article number barcode number. Imported to the item's EAN value in the item's Details section.
Custom SKU For internal shop use only. Some shops use this field for their old POS's barcodes or item numbers. Imported to the item's Custom SKU value in the item's Details section.
Manufacturer SKU Manufacturer's SKU identification number for the item. Imported to the item's Manufacturer SKU value in the item's Details section.
Description Item description (name). Each item description must be unique. Imported to the item's Description field in the item's Details section.
Price Retail price that you charge for the item. Imported to the item's Price value in the item's Details section.

To verify the data

After you create your import spreadsheet, scan the document for any erroneous data, which can cause the data import to fail.

  • Edit special characters, such as ☺↨♪♫♀♂¶▓ so that they display the correct data.
  • Erase cells with N/A so that they have a blank field.
  • Change cells with scientific numbers, such as 4.001E+11 (usually UPC or EAN values) so that they are regular integers instead, such as 40010000000. If you use Excel:
    1. Select the column with the scientific numbers.
    2. Click Format > Cells.
    3. Change the Category to Number, set the decimal places option to 0, and then click OK.

2. Uploading the import file

After you've prepared the upload spreadsheet and verified the data, you're ready to upload the import file to a purchase order in Lightspeed Retail.

To import items

NOTE: Only one PO Import file can be imported at one time per store.

  1. Prepare your import file according to Lightspeed’s specifications. See the 1. Preparing the import file section above.
  2. In Lightspeed Retail, from the main menu, click Inventory > New Order.
  3. If you have a multi-store account, select the shop you’re creating the purchase order for. The shipping address that appears on the purchase order is linked to the selected shop.
  4. Select the vendor. If the vendor is not in the list, you can add them by clicking New Vendor.
  5. Click Save Changes.
  6. In the left menu, click Import.
  7. If you want to update any items in your inventory with the new values in the import file, select Update Existing Items.

    NOTE: For this setting to take effect, you must select it before you upload the file. If you are uploading more than one file, you can choose to enable this option for one file and disable it for another.

  8. Click Upload CSV File and select the .csv import file.
  9. Match the column headings of your .csv import file to the appropriate product field in Lightspeed Retail.
  10. Enter the email address to which a notification email is sent when the import is complete.
  11. Click Import Items to Purchase Order to confirm.

    NOTE: Items are created or updated when the .csv file is imported.

  12. The uploaded items appear in the purchase order screen. Order and Check-In the purchase order.
  13. For any new items that were added to your LightSpeed Retail account, edit the item details as required.

Example import files

Below you'll find two example PO import files, one with unit cost and one with vendor cost. If you've enabled multicurrency in your account, use the file with vendor cost.

For more information on how to add serialized items to your inventory through your purchase order, click here

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