In the SwipeSimple Dashboard, users will find and manage their Item Catalog. SwipeSimple has included the functionality to import and export items in bulk using a formatted XLSX (Microsoft Excel Open XML Format) file for easy management of this feature. This article will review the steps for importing items into the Item Catalog, provide information on proper formatting of information to have a successful import, and contains downloadable sample files to modify and use for import or file comparison. This feature can be used to update and maintain items in bulk as well. SwipeSimple allows up to 1,000,000 Items to be added!
SwipeSimple Payments and Terminal Software users will be able to upload items and tax rates.
SwipeSimple Register Software users will be able to upload items, tax rates, and item modifiers, as well as associate taxes and modifiers to items seamlessly with the import.
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Importing/Exporting in Payment and Terminal Software Packages
If your SwipeSimple account has the Payments software package or the Terminal software Package, you can use the formatted XLSX template file linked below as an example to start creating your Item Catalog.
SAMPLE - Payment and Terminal Item Catalog File
The XLSX file will contain three tabs. The first tab will be titled Instructions, and has a set of rules for formatting the file correctly for import. The second tab will be titled Items, and contains rows for each item you wish to import into your Item Catalog. The third tab will be titled Taxes, and contains rows for each tax rate you wish to import into your Item Catalog.
The XLSX file can be opened and edited in any standard spreadsheet application, such as Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets. Once you are done editing the file, you will need to be sure to export the file back to an XLSX file.
Instructions
This file represents your SwipeSimple Item Catalog. Create new rows in the "Items" tab to add new items to your catalog. Similarly, add new rows to the "Taxes" tab to add new tax rates to your Item Catalog. Note that removing rows from this file does not remove them from your item catalog. To ensure your removals are intentional, that must be done through the SwipeSimple dashboard. Here are several tips to help get you started:
- When adding an Item, you must provide "name", "price", "tax", and "status". All other columns are optional
- When adding a Tax, you must provide a name and a value.
- If you open an exported SwipeSimple Item Catalog, you can modify the existing items as long as you don’t change the “ID” value of that row. The corresponding Item or Tax will be modified when you upload this file.
- The name of a "Tax" cannot include a ";"
Items
Items to be created or updated will be listed out here. This sheet will contain nine columns, listed out below:
ID: This identifier is set by the application and used to update existing items. If creating a new item, this field should be blank.
Name: This field is required and must be unique. Example: Super Widget
SKU: An optional SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) that helps you track inventory. Example: ETG-124343
Price:The price of the item, without the currency symbol. This field is required and must be a number or decimal (no $ sign). Example: 19.99
Tax: This states if the item can be taxable or not. This is a required field and must be one of the following values: TRUE or FALSE.
Status: This states if an item is active and shown on the catalog. This is a required field and must be one of the following values: active or removed.
Track_Inventory: This states that an item can be tracked for inventory. This is an optional field and must be either TRUE or FALSE, or if left blank the item will be set to FALSE.
On_Hand_Count: This states how many units of this item you have on your inventory. This is an optional field; it must contain a number or be blank. Example: 28
Category: A new or existing category to assign to the item. Example: Services. This is an optional field.
Note: You can add and update items with the same XLSX file. Follow these guidelines to ensure a successful upload:
- When adding new items, leave the ID field blank
- When editing existing items, make sure you do not edit or delete the ID field, as this is how the application keeps track of the item being updated.
Taxes
Tax Rates to be created or updated will be listed out here. This tab will contain three columns, listed out below:
ID: This identifier is set by the application and used to update existing Tax Rates. If creating a new Tax Rate, this field should be blank.
Name: This field is required, must be unique and cannot contain a semicolon. Example: NYC Tax
Value: This field is required and must be a number or decimal, with no % sign. Example: 8.75
Importing/Exporting in the Register Software Package
If your SwipeSimple account has the Register software package, you will need to use the formatted XLSX template file linked below.
SAMPLE - Register Item Catalog File
The XLSX file will contain five tabs. The first tab will be titled Instructions, and has a set of rules for formatting the file correctly for import. The second tab will be titled Items, and contains rows for each item you wish to import into your Item Catalog. The third tab will be titled Taxes, and contains rows for each tax rate you wish to import into your Item Catalog. The fourth and fifth tabs will be titled Modifier Groups and Item Modifiers, respectively, and are used to create Item Modifiers for your Item Catalog.
The XLSX file can be opened and edited in any standard spreadsheet application, such as Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets. Once you are done editing the file, you will need to be sure to export the file back to an XLSX file.
Instructions
This file represents your SwipeSimple Item Catalog. Create new rows in the "Items" tab to add new items to your Item Catalog. Similarly, add new rows to the "Taxes" tab to add new tax rates to your Item Catalog. Note that removing rows from this file does not remove them from your item catalog. To ensure your removals are intentional, that must be done through the SwipeSimple dashboard. Here are several tips to help get you started:
- When adding an Item, you must provide "name", "price", "tax", and "status". The "tax" value can be one or more names of a Tax separated by ";", or can be "PROMPT", or it can be "FALSE". The "modifier_groups" can be one or more names of Modifier Group rows, separated by ";"
- When adding a Tax, you must provide a "name" and a "value".
- When adding a Modifier Group, you must provide a "name", "min", "max", and a "prompt"
- When adding an Item Modifier, you must provide a "name", a "price alteration", and a "group". The value of "group" must match a Modifier Group name.
- When modifying an existing "Item" or "Tax" row, you can change any values other than the "id" column. The corresponding Item or Tax will be modified when you upload this file.
- The names of a "Tax", "Modifier Group", or "Item Modifier" rows cannot include a ";"
Items
Items to be created or updated will be listed out here. This sheet will contain ten columns, listed out below:
ID: This identifier is set by the application and used to update existing items. If creating a new item, this field should be blank.
Name: This field is required and must be unique. Example: Super Widget
SKU: An optional SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) that helps you track inventory. Example: ETG-124343
Price:The price of the item, without the currency symbol. This field is required and must be a number or decimal (no $ sign). Example: 19.99
Tax: This states the tax value of the item. This is a required field and must contain one of the following:
- The name of one or more tax rates separated by a semicolon.
- PROMPT if you want to decide the tax when adding the item to the cart.
- FALSE if the item is non-taxable.
Status: This states if an item is active and shown on the catalog. This is a required field and must be one of the following values: active or removed.
Track_Inventory: This states that an item can be tracked for inventory. This is an optional field and must be either TRUE or FALSE, or if left blank the item will be set to FALSE
On_Hand_Count: This states how many units of this item you have on your inventory. This is an optional field; it must contain a number or be blank. Example: 28
Category: A new or existing category to assign to the item. Example: Services
Modifier_Group: This field declares which modifier groups should be set for the item. This is an optional field and must contain the name of one or more Modifier Groups, or be left blank for none. If entering multiple Modifier Groups for the item, they must be separated by a semicolon.
Note: You can add and update items with the same XLSX file. Follow these guidelines to ensure a successful upload:
- When adding new items, leave the ID field blank
- When editing existing items, make sure you do not edit or delete the ID field, as this is how the application keeps track of the item being updated.
Taxes
Tax Rates to be created or updated will be listed out here. This tab will contain three columns, listed out below:
ID: This identifier is set by the application and used to update existing tax rates. If creating a new Tax Rate, this field should be blank.
Name: This field is required, must be unique, and cannot contain a semicolon. Example: NYC Tax
Value: This field is required and must be a number or decimal, with no % sign. Example: 8.75
Modifier Groups
Modifier Groups to be created or updated will be listed out here. This tab will contain four columns, listed out below:
ID: This identifier is set by the application and used to update existing tax rates. If creating a new Tax Rate, this field should be blank.
Name: This field is required, must be unique, and cannot contain a semicolon. Example: Toppings
Min: This field determines if you need to select a minimum amount of Item Modifiers from this group when adding an associated item to the cart. This field is required and must be a 0 (no minimum) or a whole number.
Max: This field determines if you want to limit the maximum number of Item Modifiers you can add to a single item when completing a sale. This field is required and must be 0 (no limit) or whole number.
Prompt: This field determines if SwipeSimple will automatically prompt you to choose modifiers when the associated item is added to the cart. This field is required, and must be either TRUE or FALSE.
Item Modifiers
Item Modifiers to be created or updated will be listed out here. This tab will contain four columns, listed out below:
ID: This identifier is set by the application and used to update existing Item Modifiers. If creating a new Item Modifier, this field should be blank.
Name: This field is required, and cannot contain a semicolon. Example: Grilled Onions
Price_Alteration: This field sets the amount a selected Item Modifier should adjust the item price. This field is required and must be a number or decimal (no $ sign). Example: 1.75
Group: This field indicates to which Modifier Group the Item Modifier should be assigned. This field is required, and must match a Modifier Group name.