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Importing customer data

To help you transition quickly and easily to Lightspeed Retail, we'll help you import the inventory, vendors, and customers you already have.

To import inventory data, go to Importing inventory data.

To import vendor data, go to Importing vendor data.

Main steps of importing customer data to Lightspeed Retail

  1. Prepare a spreadsheet for your inventory data based on the Lightspeed Retail requirements.
  2. Format your spreadsheet for easy import. If your file is not formatted based on our requirements we'll return it to you to modify.
  3. Verify the data.
  4. Submitting your spreadsheet to our Retail Imports team.

Once you've submitted your spreadsheet to our Retail Imports team, you can view your ticket in the Help Center by clicking your name > Activities on the top right.

NOTE: Data import can take 5 - 7 business days to complete. If we have to edit your data we will send the file back to you for your approval. If your file is not formatted correctly, it will delay your import.

1. Preparing your spreadsheet

  1. If you are transitioning from a POS software to Lightspeed, export your current inventory data from your previous POS software to a spreadsheet software file such as Microsoft Excel. Lightspeed supports these file formats for importing:
      • csv
      • txt
      • xls
      • xlsx
  2. Create a backup of your original export file. The backup file is a precaution against any errors, and can also be used to verify your data.
  3. In your spreadsheet file, rename the column headings so that they match the Lightspeed Retail system fields. See Data fields for the inventory fields used in Lightspeed Retail.
  4. Review your spreadsheet data and fix any formatting or data errors as detailed in Data verification.

2. Formatting your spreadsheet

To avoid having to manually correct the data in your system, format your spreadsheet so that we can easily import it.

Use these inventory field names to rename the inventory data headings in your spreadsheet. For example, if you have an inventory “item name” column, you must rename the column as “Description”. For each field type, we also provide information as to where the data will be imported into Lightspeed Retail, a description of the field, and the data requirements. For example, if a field must be either “Yes” or “No”, this requirement is detailed for the corresponding field. 

Example import file

You can use this example Excel file as a template.

NOTE: All City, State, and Zip Codes should be in their own columns, not merged into one cell. You can re-order the columns as you wish. If any columns do not contain data other than the heading, delete the entire column.

Heading

Imported into

Requirements

Description
First name Customers view > First name field Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer's first name
Last name Customers view > Last name field Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer's last name
Title Customers view > Title field Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer's title
Customer Type Customers view > Custom Type drop-down Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Specifies the group you want to assign your customer to for discount, and sales tax. E.g. Student or employee.
Company Customers view > Customer name > Company Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer's company
DOB Customers view > Customer Name> Biographical > Date Of Birth Date format mm/dd/yyyy or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer's date of birth
Address 1 Customers view > Customer name > Address > Address Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer's address line 1
Address 2 Customers view > Customer name > Address > Address cont. Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer's address line 2
City Customers view > Customer name > Address > City Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. City the customer lives in
State Customer view > Customer name > Address > State Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. State the customer lives in
Zip Code Customers view > Customer name > Address > Zip Numeric or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters.

Zip Code the customer lives in.
Zip+4 format is acceptable for this field ("12345-1234")
Country Customers view > Customer name > Address > Country Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Country the customer lives in.
Home phone Customers view > Customer name > Phones > Home Numeric or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Home phone number of the customer. Several formats are acceptable:(123)123-1234 or 123-123-1234.
Work phone Customers view > Customer name > Phones > Work Numeric or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Work phone number of the customer. Several formats are acceptable:(123)123-1234 or 123-123-1234.
Fax Customers view > Customer name > Phones > Fax Numeric or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Fax number of the customer. Several formats are acceptable:(123)123-1234 or 123-123-1234.
Mobile Customers view > Customer name > Phones > Mobile Numeric or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Mobile phone number of the customer. Several formats are acceptable:(123)123-1234 or 123-123-1234.
E-Mail Customers view > Customer name > Other > Email 1 Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer's primary email address
E-Mail 2 Customers view > Customer name > Other > Email 2 Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer's secondary email address
Website Customers view > Customer name > Other > Website Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer's website
Custom Customers view > Customer name > Other > Custom Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Can be used for a customer number to quickly add a customer to a sale
Tags Customers view > Customer name > Tags > Tags Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Keywords or terms used to search for your customers. This field can be searched by items tagged with or tagged without your search criteria. Can be multiple comma-separated tags, such as employee, rider.
Notes Customers view > Customer Name > Notes No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Customer-related notes
Tax Category Customers view > Customer Name > Sales Tax No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Sales tax rate for customer. If left blank, default sales rate will be applied.
Discount Customers view > Customer Name > Discount No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Discount rate for customer: “Employee.” If left blank, no discount will be applied. We recommend that you name your discounts appropriately (ie, "20% Discount").
Serialized item description Customers view > Customer Name > Items Tab > Item Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Serialized item description, such as: “El Diablo Racing Bike.”
Serialized item number Item view > Details Tab > Items Tab > Serial # Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Serial number for serialized item: “2817356-23”
Serialized item color Item view > Details Tab > Items Tab > Color Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. Color of the serialized item, such as blue.
Serialized item size Item view > Details Tab > Items Tab > Size Text up to 255 characters or blank. No returns, line breaks or foreign characters. The size of the serialized item, for example 55 cm. NOTE: If the customer has more than one serialized item, create a duplicate customer with a different serialized item. If you plan to do this, let us know in advance so we know to merge these duplicate customers.
No Email  Customer view > Contact    Set to 0 for checked and 1 for unchecked
No Phone Customer view > Contact   Set to 0 for checked and 1 for unchecked
No Mail  Customer view > Contact   Set to 0 for checked and 1 for unchecked

Note: The fields No email, No phone, and No mail refer to your customer's preferred contact method. This is required to comply with GDPR and CCPA regulations. This information can be found under Contact by accessing your customer's profile through Customers > Customers.

3. Verifying 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.
  • Correct rows that extend into other columns.
  • 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 Decimal places to 0, and then click OK.

To erase multiple n/a entries:

  1. Select the data you want to change, whether that's a row, column, or the entire document.
  2. Press Ctrl+F or Find.
  3. Select the Replace tab.
  4. For the text you want to replace, type N/A.
  5. For Replace with, leave the field blank.

To use Concatenate to make your description column contain the size and color columns:

  1. I inserted another column, clicked the first cell (D2), and typed “=CONCATENATE(“. Then you can select the first cell you want to be displayed :::first. I clicked C2 then added the: ,”: “, (creates the separator “: “ between the first two cells that I want in this formula), then I clicked :::the cell that I wanted to be next (B2), added: ,” “, (creates the separator “ “ [I only wanted a space between the last two cells in the formula]), :::and then click the last cell (A2).

  2. Press Enter.

  3. You more than likely have more than one row, so If you want to apply this to all the rows, you click the box and drag it to the bottom of the column, which gives you a list of concatenated results.

  4. If you click one of the cells, you will see that what’s in it is actually the =CONCATENATE function. To make the cells become “T-Shirt: Large, Red,” for example, copy the column and then paste special and select Values and number formats.

To correct multiple lines in cells or rows:

  1. Highlight all of the data in the spreadsheet.
  2. Press Ctrl+F or Find.
  3. Click the Replace tab.
  4. In the Find box, while pressing Alt, on the numeric pad type 0010. Don't type anything in the Replace box.
  5. Click Replace all.

To add a missing 0 to UPC numbers:

Excel will trim the leading 0 from UPC numbers. To correct this, add "0" (a zero in apostrophes) to the beginning of a UPC number. Typically, UPCs are 12 digits long, so you could sort your spreadsheet by the PUCs and fix any that are 11 digits or fewer. This isn't always the case with UPCs, so check your product's barcode.

4. Submitting your spreadsheet to our Retail Imports team

After you prepare, format, and verify your import spreadsheet file, create a ticket to submit it to our Retail Imports team:

  1. To create a ticket, follow one of the below workflows:
    • Click here for a direct link.
    • At the top of the page, click Submit a Request. Then from the product drop-down, select Lightspeed Retail. 
  2. Fill in the Your email address, Subject, and Description fields.
  3. To automatically route your ticket to the Retail Imports team, from the Category drop-down, select Import > Customers/Inventory/Vendors.
  4. To attach your files, click Attach Files.
  5. To submit your ticket, click Submit.

Attachments

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