Importing location data
If you have more than a handful of locations, the best way to upload that data is with our importer. The most important part is not how your data is structured, but that it has proper & accurate address information.
First, decide if you'd like it to be a recurring import. Recurring import means your data will be synced automatically (either hourly or daily depending on your plan) -- all you have to do is modify the spreadsheet where your locations are hosted. Recurring imports are supported only for URLs that are publicly available (not desktop file uploads) such as Google Sheets, Dropbox, etc.
If you'd like a blank template of what your spreadsheet could look like:
- Navigate to Locations > Import on your dashboard.
- Click the "download template" button.
Our importer can process most Excel and CSV files. If it cannot process an Excel file (since there are many formats), try exporting your Excel into a CSV first, and then upload it.
To start the upload
1. Select either "upload from computer" or "fetch from url" tab (for recurring import)
2. Click Upload file and choose the file you'd like to upload.
3. Once you've uploaded your file, you have to let us know what each column in your spreadsheet means by mapping the appropriate fields in the importer so it knows how to interpret your data. Location's address is the only required field. It can either be a full address all in one column (one cell field), or it can be split up into multiple columns.
4. Select "other fields" if you'd like to import additional data, like your contact information, location names, hours of operation, products, etc.
5. The third tab gives you a few options, like whether you'd like to be notified when the importer is done or whether you'd like the importer to automatically remove duplicate locations. When you choose to upload a one-time import file, the option to make your import recurring will be grayed out.
6. The preview tab picks the first few records and gives you a preview of how your data might look after it's imported. If you see that some locations cannot be properly geocoded, that's ok -- you can always manually adjust them after the import
Hint: if you have a big dataset, you can always test your import by uploading a smaller spreadsheet, with a handful of locations. Not only will it go faster, but you will also be able to re-adjust your import settings once you're ready to import all of your data.
7. Once you're ready to import, click the "import" button. Your import might take a while -- from minutes to hours. You do not have to keep the dashboard (or website) open after you start the "import".
We realize that your data might be in different formats and different files. If you're having any issues, or are unsure about importing your data, please reach out to us and we'd be happy to take a look at it with you!