How to Import my Customer List

Spreadsheet format requirements

Before you can import your existing customer database please check the below requirements.

Your database needs to be in one of the following formats:

• Microsoft Excel - must be .xls format - .xlsx will not work
• Comma delimited (CSV)
• Tab delimited

The aim is to get the fields of your database to match up with the fields that store the information in the website. This means that your database may have extra columns in it that are not included in the website - “Name of Pet Dog”, for example – but this does not matter, as you can choose which columns are imported and which are not.

This is important as it is the unique identifier for each customer. It is a good idea to use the email address as the username to make it easy for people to remember their username. You can do this by replicating the email address column and setting 'Username' as the header. We understand that the main reason you are importing your customer list is to send them email marketing emails and they will not need a username - however the system still requires there to be one.

Warning. Changes to your customer database cannot be undone!

We highly recommend that before you do a customer import, you do a customer "export" and make two copies of that spreadsheet before making changes to one only version. That way, if you make a mistake, you can delete all the customers from your website customer list and import the backup master copy.
 

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How to import a customer list

1. In the administration end of the website, go to  the Customers tab and click customer list importer/exporter
   
    
2. Under Import Customers, Choose the format of the database and click on Choose file
   
    
3. Choose your spreadsheet file and click on Open
   
    
4. Put a check in the box if the database has a header row and click on Upload userdb
   
    
5. You will now see the Insert Column As... screen. The dropdown boxes on the left handside represent the fields that store the information in the website. The columns to the right show what is in the first couple of rows of your database
    
6. Match the fields to the data on the file that you want to import
   
    
7. If there are any fields in your database that you do not wish to import into the website, select Do not Add from the dropdown box
   
8. Once you have everything matched up, click Import this data 
9. You will receive a warning that the changes cannot be undone – click OK to continue
10. The database will be uploaded and you will see a description of what happened
     

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Customer database excel spreadsheet template

You may download a copy of the excel spreadsheet here

For an example of your own customer database excel spreadsheet template (if you have a Zeald website already constructed), please download the spreadsheet for your website, which you can find under the “Customer” tab > “Export Customer List”

Please note: You may hide any of the columns that you do not require to make the administration of the spreadsheet more usable by selecting the unused columns from the top and right clicking and selecting “Hide” from the drop menu. Alternately you may delete the unused columns.
 

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How it works

 

• When you import customers into the customer database, if a customer has the same username, the system will simply update the details associated with that user, if they have changed. The system will not create a new user

Common uses

The most common use for importing a customer list is to add or make changes to a large number of customers in your database. For example, you may like to add 100 new customers to a specific customer group, or update the discount percentage customers receive.

If you are wanting to make changes to a small number of customers, we recommend you manually add/remove customers from a group, or manually allocate discounts to customers.
 

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Add customers to a group

• use the correct group code from the Group List (found under the Customers tab > Customer Groups)
• insert this group code into the 'group' column on the spreadsheet for any customers you want to add to the group
• to put a customer into multiple groups, put each group code on a new line in the same cell  (in Microsoft Excel hold down the Alt key and press Enter)

Give discounts to customers

If you want to edit the discount percentage customers receive, you can do so by changing the number in the "Discount" field in the spreadsheet.

Alternatively, you can setup a VIP price for your items, and put customers in the "VIP" group.