Scheduling Transactional Data Imports

The most effective method for importing transactional data is via the Adestra API using:

  • transaction.import if you have a transactional data file and you do not wish to send a campaign with it. This is useful for a daily scheduled import.

  • transaction.create if you want to do ad-hoc imports of transactions by supplying the transaction data immediately. This is useful for drip-feeding data.

Alternatively, from within Adestra, use the schedule tab to configure an import using a remote connection.

If you wish to do an ad-hoc import of data, you can also manually import your data.

Transaction File Format

To use the API and remote connections for importing, you will need a transaction file with one row per product purchased as part of a transaction.

The file must include columns for the following fields:

  • transaction_ref - the unique identifier for the transaction.

  • email - the email address of the contact that completed the transaction.

You may include other fields at your discretion.

Tip: use the campaign.sendSingle API call if you want to combine an import of transactional data, but then use it within a campaign at the same time by supplying a brand ID.

Scheduling transactional imports via a remote connection

From the relevant workspace:

  1. Access the import interface by opening the data menu and selecting Transactions.

  2. Open the Schedules tab to see a list of your configured imports.

  3. Press the + Create Import Schedule button to create a new schedule.

  4. Use the dropdown menus to select when and how often you want your imprt to run, e.g. daily at 23:00h, weekly at 2:00 on Sunday. etc.

  5. Select the remote connection where your transactional data file will be stored from the dropdown menu.

  6. Enter the filename of the CSV file with the transaction data to import.

  7. Select the core table you want transactions to be imported against.

  8. Select the brand the transactions should be imported to.

  9. If you are importing transactions with contacts that don't already exist, check the create contacts checkbox to auto-create new contacts from your CSV file.

  10. Use the dropdown menus to select the delimiter and character encoding used in your CSV file, e.g. comma-separated unicode.

    Tip: use the auto-detect option to let Adestra find this information from your file.

  11. Enter the column headers in your CSV file that correspond with each of the fields in the import map, e.g. the email field maps to the email_address column in your CSV file.

    Tip: use the Adestra field names for your column headers when creating a CSV file to simplify this step.

  12. Optional: add additional tags and data for your import.

    Select what type of tag or data (transaction or product).

    Enter a name for the tag/data and what field it applies too.

  13. Check the Enable schedule checkbox.

    Tip: if you wish to pause an import but not delete its configuration, you can uncheck this box at any time to stop the import from running.

  14. Press the Save button.

Tip:after the scheduled time, use the import log to see whether your import was successful or not and view a summary of changes.