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Importing Orders Overview

When you set up a data exchange, orders automatically import to your Monsoon Marketplace server using a default import template or, if you have selected one, a custom import template. Orders must be imported and modified on your Monsoon Marketplace server.

File format and naming

Monsoon Marketplace imports and export text files (files with a .txt extension) only. By default, Monsoon Marketplace exports a tab-delimited text file. When you create custom import and export templates, we recommend that you also use a tab delimiter.

Columns in an import file can be in any order, but the column headers must either exactly match Monsoon Marketplace column headers or be mapped to Monsoon Marketplace column headers using an order import template. For instructions, see To add an order import template.
There are no import file name requirements although a good practice is to use a file naming convention that indicates the type of import—inventory or orders—and includes date time values for year (YYYY), month (MM), day (DD), hour (HH), minute (MM). For example, if you create an order import file on January 30th, 2014 at 20.05 seconds after 11:08 a.m., you could convert that date time to a standard file name format of YYYYMMDD-HHMM.txt and type the file name as Orders20140130-110820-050.txt.
When you import to add or modify inventory or orders, your file should include required columns along with only those optional columns that are unique to the inventory item or order.

Import templates

When you import a file using the default Monsoon Marketplace template, the column headers and data types in your import file need to exactly match the Monsoon Marketplace column headers and data types defined in Order Column Definitions.

If you use the Import/Export Templates wizard, you can create a custom template that specifies which columns are imported and, if you use a data exchange or other external system, how the column headers in an import file map to columns in Monsoon Marketplace.

Sample import files

When you create an import file, you should start with one of our sample files available for download in To create an order import file in Excel.

You can also create a custom modify file by exporting your orders from the File menu using the default Monsoon Marketplace template then importing only required columns and any optional columns that you want to modify. For instructions, see To export orders from the File menu.

Calculating order amounts when importing a data exchange file

The table below details labels on the Orders tab and how Monsoon Marketplace calculates values for those fields during import.

Label on the Orders tab		The import columns that Monsoon Marketplace calculates
Market Promotional Discount	=	PromotionalPriceDiscount + PromotionalShippingDiscount
Subtotal	=	OrderedQuantity x Price
Shipping (also Shipping Fee)	=	OrderedQuantity x Shipping Fee
Shipping Tax	=	OrderedQuantity x ShippingTax
Tax	=	OrderedQuantity x Tax
Total Tax	=	(OrderedQuantity x Tax) + (OrderedQuantity x ShippingTax)
Total	=	(OrderedQuantity x Price) + (OrderedQuantity x Shipping Fee) + (OrderedQuantity x Tax) + (OrderedQuantity x Shipping Tax)) – (PromotionalPriceDiscount + PromotionalShippingDiscount)

Adding a new data exchange order

You can create an import file to add new orders to Monsoon Marketplace using the a (add) operator. If you import multiple files at the same time, they queue for processing in the same order they are imported. (For more information, see Import Operators.)

The table below shows the required column headers that you can import to add a new order.

Required - Add a new order
MonsoonOP	Use the a (add) operator to add a new order.
Address1	The ship to street address.
BuyerName	The buyer's complete name (first and last).
City	The ship to city.
Country	The ship to country.
MarketOrderId	The unique identifier that a market assigns to an order.
MarketOrderItemId	Required only when there multiple order line items for the same SKU. The unique identifier that a market assigns to an order line item. If an order has multiple order line items for the same SKU, and MarketOrderItemId is not included in the import file, Monsoon Marketplace imports the first line item and rejects the remaining order items as duplicates.
OrderDate	The date and time an order is placed in the format Year-Month-Day Hour-Minute-Second. For time, Monsoon Marketplace uses the 24-hour convention for time-keeping (2014-09-30 15:13:45).
OrderedQuantity	An item's ordered quantity.
OrderStatus	The status of an order. When you import a new order using the add operator, use New as the OrderStatus value. If you leave the column blank, Monsoon Marketplace automatically imports the order in New status. OrderStatus values are not case sensitive.
PostalCode	The ship to postal code.
Price	A per-item price. During import, Monsoon Marketplace multiplies the amount in Price by the number in OrderedQuantity. On the Orders tab, the calculated amount displays in Subtotal. For example, if an order item has a Price of $4.50 and an OrderedQuantity of 5, then $22.50 displays in Subtotal.
ShippingFee	A per-item shipping fee. During import, Monsoon Marketplace multiplies the amount in ShippingFee by the number in OrderedQuantity . On the Orders tab, the calculated amount displays in Shipping Fee. For example, if an order item has a ShippingFee of $1.25 and an OrderedQuantity of 5, then $6.25 displays in Shipping Fee.
ShipMethod	The order's shipping method. ShipMethod values are Standard, Expedited, One Day, Two Day, International, and Expedited International. ShipMethod values are not case sensitive.
ShipToName	The complete ship to name (first and last).
SKU	The unique identifier for an item that exists in your Monsoon Marketplace inventory. If a SKU does not exist in your Monsoon Marketplace inventory, the order item cannot be imported and an error file is created with the following message: Invalid column 'SKU'. Received order with unknown SKU ' '. You must process that portion of the order outside of the Monsoon Desktop.

For a list of optional column headers, see Order Column Definitions.

Modifying an order

You can create an import file to change details or add new details to an existing order using the m (modify) operator. If you import multiple files at the same time, they queue for processing in the same order they are imported.

The table below shows the required column headers that you can import to modify an order.

Required - Modify an order
MonsoonOP	Use the m (modify) operator to update an existing order.
MarketOrderId	The unique identifier that a market assigns to an order.
MarketOrderItemId	Required when there are multiple order line items for the same SKU. The unique identifier that a market assigns to an order line item. If an order has multiple order line items for the same SKU and MarketOrderItemId is not included in the import file, Monsoon Marketplace imports the first line item and rejects the remaining order items as duplicates.
OrderStatus	For a modify file, the OrderStatus value can be Shipped or Cancelled. If you leave the OrderStatus column blank, you can only update ShippingTax, UserData, and NumericUserData. If you import an OrderStatus of Shipped, but do not also import ShippedQuantity, Monsoon Marketplace moves the order status to Shipped and uses the Ordered Quantity number as the ShippedQuantity number. If you import an OrderStatus of Shipped, but do not also import ShipDate, Monsoon Marketplace uses the import date. Once the status of a data exchange order has been changed from New to Shipped or Cancelled, its status cannot be changed again. OrderStatus values are not case sensitive.
SKU	The unique identifier for an item that exists in your Monsoon Marketplace inventory. If a SKU does not exist in your Monsoon Marketplace inventory, the order item cannot be imported and an error file is created with the following message: Invalid column 'SKU'. Received order with unknown SKU ' '.You must process that portion of the order outside of the Monsoon Desktop.

For a list of optional column headers, see Order import and export column definitions.

How long does it take to process an import file?

The time to process an import file depends on its size and the speed of your server. A very small file can take less than a minute while a very large file can take over an hour. No matter the size of your file, the import process runs in the background so you can continue to work.

When an import is complete, a confirmation message displays on the Event Viewer tab.

What do I do if my import file contains errors?

If an import file contains errors, a message will display on the Event Viewer tab with a link to a file that details which lines failed to import and why. If an import fails, open the error file to review details, make corrections, and then import again only those lines that failed the first time.