Importing your Customers via Excel file

When businesses are moving to Hike POS, rather than having to manually create all their data – products, customers & suppliers – it may be preferable to have all information stored onto a spreadsheet, that can then be imported into Hike.

This requires an Excel file, a common spreadsheet, or a database, and is a popular option for many businesses – existing and new – to utilize when establishing their product base in Hike, especially when it contains many items.

When performing an Excel file import into Hike, there are two options retailers can choose from:

1. Download Hike’s file template and insert your existing data into the template’s fields.
   
2. Import your own Excel file and map the relevant fields during the activation process.
   

On this page we’ll run you through the steps needed to import your customers list – using either option - as well as troubleshoot any errors that may arise during the process.

Note: Hike recommends you download our template instead of importing your own file as there may be formatting issues or errors on things like column headings. Also, if you use importing to update the customer information, please make sure you have assigned emails to the customers and have the same emails in the file to import. Otherwise, it will create duplicate customers.

• How Does It Work?
  
• Option 1: Download & Use Hike’s Customers Excel Template
  
• Option 2: Using Your Own Supplies Excel File
  
• Guide to Excel Spreadsheet Customers Column Headings
  

How Does It Work?

Simply put, when you import an Excel file into Hike, the system will automatically look for some of the most common import errors in your Excel file before importing the entire contents of the spreadsheet into your store.

These errors can often be seen in column headings and/or mandatory fields that have been left blank, and if present, Hike will inform you of the exact problem, and you’ll be able to fix the problem on the screen itself.

Find out more about troubleshooting any Excel import errors here.

Option 1: Download & Use Hike’s Customers Excel Template

To begin, select Customers from the Hike menu, and navigate to the Customers screen.

On the Customers screen, click on the IMPORT button.

Click on Download our Import File Template Here. This will commence the download of the Customers.xlsx file.

Once the download has been completed, open the file.

The spreadsheet will appear as blank, except for the column headings that you will need to populate to successfully import your data across.

Note: If you have already added customers onto Hike itself, those customers will also appear on your downloaded Customers template. Do check, however, that all your customers have been added and create entries for those that are not on the Excel file.

From here, you will be able to fill in the columns with your customer list. You can add or delete any column headings as per your store’s requirements. For a full list of the column headings, check out our guide.

Once you have completed filling in your customers, save the file and upload it into the Import screen in Hike.

A new window will then slide out with two columns:

• On the left is the column headers in your file (Data Field in your File)
  
• On the right are the column headers that Hike uses. (Corresponding Data Field in Hike)
  

As you have downloaded the template directly from Hike, the fields should automatically map with their corresponding value, but it’s always good to double-check and edit any that are incorrect by using the drop-down box.

Once you have finished, select Continue.

When done, a Record Log will appear of the customers that have been imported. If there are fields that have been incorrectly mapped, select Edit Column Mapping and you will be taken back to the mapping screen.

But if everything lines up, click on Connected & Validate to commence the upload.

Hike will then check your file, import successful entries and make a list of any unsuccessful entries. You will be taken back to the Import/Export screen, and under the Import Log, you will find the status of your customer sync.

If the import has been successful, it will be shown as Processed.

If the import has not been successful, however, the status will ask you to View and Fix errors, which you will need to select to troubleshoot.

Find out how to troubleshoot Excel files here.

Option 2: Using Your Own Excel File

If you don’t want to use Hike’s template, as you already have your own Excel file, then importing that into Hike POS is just as easy.

Just like you would with a downloaded Hike Excel template, use the Import function to upload your own customer's Excel file.

Once you have uploaded your Excel file, you will be asked to map the column headings to the corresponding data fields in Hike.

Your column headings on your Excel file may look different from those suggested in Hike, however referring to Hike’s column headers and linking how your own headers fit with Hike’s can make the mapping process so much easier.

Note: Only the data fields that have appeared in your Excel file will be listed.

Use the drop-down box to match each data field on your CSV file to Hike.

Once you have mapped all the fields, select Continue.

You will be asked to give your mapping a Template name. Next time you import an Excel file, you can use this saved template and Hike will automatically fill in the fields for you.

When done, a Record Log will appear of some of the items that have been imported. If there are fields that have been incorrectly mapped, select Edit Column Mapping and you will be taken back to the mapping screen.

But if everything lines up, click on Connected & Validate to commence the upload.

Note: Your Record Log will appear in the style of Hike’s template. Any blank columns may be worth considering adding to your customers manually if such details are available.

You will then be taken back to the Import/Export Screen, and under the Import Log, you will find the status of your import.

If the import has been successful, it will be shown as Processed.

Note: If you have a large number of customers to import, the syncing process may take some time. Keep clicking on the Refresh button to see if your Excel file has been successfully imported.

If you want to manually add details to your customers, you can do so from the Customers' screen.

If your status appears as showing errors, you will need to troubleshoot the problem.

Guide to Excel Spreadsheet Customers Column Headings

This guide describes what each of the column headers on Hike’s default template means. There is only one mandatory field – Email Address.