4 simple ways to upload product data

As you can see on the Supplier Portal landing page are three methods using which you can upload the product data.

Please note that there are two ways from where you can access these three options to upload product data:

• Option 1,2,3,4 Card

• +New Syndication > Option 1,2,3,4

Now let’s explore each option in detail:

Option 1

This option allows the supplier to upload an excel using the template set by the distributor for the category of products they are trying to load.  

1. Select the Option 1 card to access the list of templates available to the supplier.

   This template is created by the distributor to ensure the supplier follows the specified format when uploading Product Information. The list of available templates reflects the categories for which the distributor has granted access to the supplier.

A pop up with templates gets displays as shown below.

2. Click on the eye icon to view template details.

   The following details appear as shown in the below screenshot.

   

   Here you can also click on the Preview tab to see the template preview as shown below.

   

3. Select the template and click Download ( ).

   The excel template for the category gets downloaded on the local drive.

4. After you fill in the data, click +New Syndication and select Option1: Upload a duly filled product template file as shown in the image below.

   

   A New Syndication screen gets displayed as shown below:

   

5. Syndication Template: Clicking this field displays a list of templates accessible to the supplier for uploading product data. Select the desired template to proceed with uploading product data.

6. Template Category: Automatically displays the category based on the selected template accessible to the supplier.

7. Now you can click to upload or can drag and drop the excel file matching template with the filled in product data.

   Upon upload, the system performs the following checks:

   1. Verifies that the column headings match the correct template.

   2. Rejects the file if the headings are incorrect or out of order, preventing any Items from being loaded.

8. Click Submit, once you see 100% marker upon submission of the file as shown in the below image.

   

   Now if you would like to replace the uploaded file, click Change which will navigate you to downloads where the template is saved. To completely discard & upload a new file click Reset.

9. The pop up as New Syndication added successfully gets displayed when the SKU data is getting imported into the portal as shown in the below image.

You’ll then land on the Supplier Portal dashboard, where the new syndication added to the list with the status File Uploaded.

10. Click on Refresh icon to view the current status of the imported SKU data. If the data is imported successfully without any validation failures the status is updated to Complete but if the data had validation failures, then status as Error gets displayed.

    Note: While the import is running, syndication is unavailable for editing, and the icons under the Action column remain disabled.

    

    To continue with viewing, publishing and correcting the SKU data, please refer to Managing Open Syndication section.

Option2

This option allows the supplier to manually type in (data entry) the SKU information in an excel like interface on screen.

Here the supplier might have product data in some PDFs or brochures but might not have an excel file with data readily available. In such cases the supplier can choose this Option2 or enter product data manually on-screen option to manually enter the product data into the portal via the UI.

When the supplier enters the field values in the excel like interface, the UI will display validation failures for each cell as applicable but will not enforce any of those rules when the user is typing and then uploading the SKU. 

Please note the on-screen excel-like interface offers features similar to Excel, including drag-and-drop, copy-pasting columns, and advanced filtering options.

1. Click Option 2 card to create a new syndication.

You’ll land on the following page.

2. Syndication Template: Clicking this field displays a list of templates accessible to the supplier for uploading product data. Select the desired template to proceed with uploading product data.

3. Template Category: Automatically displays the category of nodes based on the selected template accessible to the supplier.

4. Click Submit.

   You’ll land on the following page under Products tab.

   

5. Click +Add New Item to enter product data.

6. You’ll be navigated to Add New Item page as shown below. Depending on the selected template, the relevant field attributes will appear, where you can enter the required values.

There is validation check only on the primary identifier and if incorrect values are entered, a validation error will occur as shown below.

7. Click Save & Add More+ to add next SKU information or Save & Done if you’ve finished adding all the SKU details.

   You’ll land on the Products page.

8. The row status will then display a status as Valid, indicating the Items are ready to get published, as shown in the screenshot below.

   

   If the product data is incomplete or inaccurate, the status will display as Invalid for that specific SKU item as shown in below screenshot.

   

9. Select the items which are in Valid status and click Publish.

   This allows the supplier to send SKU data that has successfully passed validation to the distributor for further review or approval.

10. Upon clicking on Publish, you get to choose from the options like “All ‘Ready to Publish’ Item(s),” specific selected Item(s), or Items matching the filter condition on screen.

A confirmation pop-up before you publish gets displayed as shown below:

11. Click Publish, you’ll see the following pop up:

    

12. Click OK to load and process the data, after which you will see the status of the items updated to Published.

     

Page Components

Following are the details on the highlighted components:

• Product Rows: Implies the total number of SKUs entered.

• Product Columns: Represents the total number of fields available for SKU such as Item ID, Description, Attribute etc.

• Ready to Publish: Displays the count of SKUs with status as Valid.

• Needs Attention: This field shows the count of data that has issues/errors while being processed.

  • Invalid -> SKU data that is invalid or inaccurate.

  • Rejected-> SKU data that is rejected by the distributor.

• Sent to Distributor:

  • Pending Review -> This status signals that the product data is sent to distributor for review and waits for a final decision.

  • Ready to Accept -> This status signifies that the SKU has passed all validations and received distributor approval, making it ready to be ingested into the distributor’s PIM.

  • Onboarded -> This status indicates that the SKU has been successfully transferred and integrated into the distributor’s main Catalog. Now if the distributor uses PCC as their main PIM, the Onboarded SKUs are stored in the main catalog. Otherwise, an export process sends Accepted SKUs from the staging catalog to distributor’s external PIM .

You can also view the last time the data was saved as shown in the screenshot below.

Settings Tab

Now if the supplier wants to add additional Items or attach Digital Assets, you can click on Settings tab where you have the option to Uploaded File(s) option from where you choose to upload product data or digital assets.

1. Syndication Template: Displays the existing template for which you will append the SKU data.

2. Template: Displays the selected category.

3. To upload product data, click Upload Product Data option and you will see the following options:

   1. Upload a duly filled product template file – If the supplier wants to append to the existing syndication, fill in the required additional SKU information in the template previously uploaded and re-upload from this option.

   2. Upload custom file with product data- select this option to upload a custom Excel or CSV file, where each row represents a single SKU, and each column header specifies the type of data in that column, such as attributes, title, description, UoM or Item ID.

      

4. To upload Digital Assets (DA), click Upload Digital Assets where the supplier can load publicly accessible URLs in the excel template, or they can manually upload a DA file and link it to a SKU in the syndication assortment. The thumbnail of the image/video/document gets displayed on the UI. For more information, please refer to section Adding a New Asset.

5. Click Submit.

   A new syndication is successfully created.

File Upload History

Under the File Upload History tab, you can view the uploaded files along with details such as the upload method used, the total count of Items successfully uploaded or failed in each file, the uploaded date, and the user who performed the upload.

Option 3

This option is suitable when the supplier's product data is in a custom file format rather than the distributor's template. The source data might initially exist as images, PDFs, or brochures and is later extracted and organized into a simple .xlsx file for upload by the supplier.

If the supplier prefers not to adhere to the distributor's template structure and wishes to upload product data in their own format, Option 3 is the best choice.

This option can also be accessible from the +New Syndication > Option3: Upload any file with product data option as shown below.

Following are the steps to upload product data using Option 3 or upload any file with product data:

1. Select the Syndication Template for category of product data from the list.

2. Click to browse and upload your custom product data file. Supported format: xlsx.

   After the file is processed, it is sent to the distributor’s side for mapping to align with the distributor’s template, as the uploaded file was in a custom template format.

   

3. Once a new syndication is added successfully, you will be directed to the syndication dashboard. Initially, the syndication status will display as File Uploaded. Once the data import is complete, the status will update to Waiting for distributor to review/map custom fields.

4. Wait for the distributor to complete the field mapping. Once the mapping is finalized on their end, the status will update to Field mapping done. Please rectify custom file mapping, as illustrated in the screenshot below.

   

5. Click on the status Field mapping done. Please rectify custom file mapping.

   This will take you to the field mapping page, where you can review the identified fields mapped to their corresponding fields. If needed, click the edit icon to make changes.

   OR

   Select the checkbox for the desired fields and under Bulk Action dropdown and choose +Add Fields(s) to Attribute Repository.

   

   6. Click Continue on the confirmation pop-up fields added to the attribute repository.

   

   7. After mapping the fields, click Finalize to confirm and complete the mapping.

   

   You’ll land on the Supplier Portal landing page where you can see the status of the syndication is now updated to Ready to Import.

   

   8. Once the import is complete the status for that syndication is updated to Complete.

   

   Once the SKU data is successfully processed and loaded, it will reside in a pseudo catalog within PCC.

Option 4

This option enables suppliers to syndicate product data directly to the distributor via API-based integration. Unlike the other upload methods, this option is designed for system-to-system connectivity, allowing product data to flow seamlessly without manual file handling.

This method is best suited for suppliers with large catalogs or frequent updates, as it eliminates manual file uploads and provides a fully automated, real-time integration between systems.

This option can also be accessible from the +New Syndication > Option4: Upload any file with product data option as shown below.

Following are the steps to enable and upload product data using Option 4: Upload any file with product data:

1. Select Option 4 and you’ll get the following pop-up:

   

2. Click Submit.

   This triggers an automated email notification to the distributor, indicating the supplier’s intent to use API Integration to upload product data.

3. Once this setup is done, the required access is created, and the information is shared back through the distributor to the supplier.

4. Using the credentials the distributor shared, you’ll be able to connect their systems. For more information refer to Supplier Syndication API Documentation.

Post-Enablement Behaviour

• In the Supplier Portal, Option 4 displays the message:
  “Access has been granted. You can now begin sending product data directly via REST API. Please click the Download button to get the Technical Documentation for integration. For further assistance, please contact your distributor.”

  

• When you click on it, the Supplier Syndication API Documentation is downloaded, which provides detailed insights into the API specifications.