Supplier file import goes wrong: work through delivery, bytes, structure and release in order

1. Did the right file arrive, whole, once?

Before anything else, confirm the file is the one you expect: new, complete and not imported before. A truncated file looks like a catalogue that lost products; a repeated one looks like no change. Check the delivery log, file size and any completeness signal, and check the schedule and time zone. The SFTP guide and the guide on schedules and clock changes cover these, and the fixed job sftp-scheduled-supplier-fetch-complete-files, from £445, is the paid route.

• Complete: marker, rename, size, checksum.
• Once: a record of imported file names and checksums.
• On time: the supplier's publication time in the same time zone.

2. Can the bytes be read as characters?

If names show character pairs or the first column is missing, the encoding or a byte-order mark is the fault. Nothing above this layer is reliable until it is fixed. See the guide on encoding and the worked byte example. The fixed job is csv-encoding-bom-garbled-characters-import, £195.

3. Is the file well-formed and are its rows and fields read correctly?

For XML, the first parse error with its line and column. For delimited text, the delimiter, quotes and line breaks inside fields, and the arithmetic that records read equal accepted plus rejected. See the guides on well-formed XML and on quotes and delimiters, with worked examples. Fixed jobs: xml-supplier-feed-parse-errors-import, £295, and csv-delimiter-quoting-embedded-newlines-import, £195.

4. Is the layout what the importer expects?

A new, renamed or reordered column shifts everything after it while the file still reads. The existing guide on header changes covers this layer; the importer should reject an unexpected header before changing any product.

5. Do the values mean what the importer thinks?

Units, pack sizes, identifiers, blank prices and numbers and dates from an ERP export are separate meaning questions. The existing collection on supplier import checks starts here, and the guide on ERP numbers and dates covers format conversion. The fixed job etl-erp-export-to-store-import-transform starts from £595.

6. Do categories and images map safely?

Supplier categories need a reviewed mapping table with an unmapped list, and image addresses need classifying before products go live. Fixed jobs: mapping-supplier-categories-to-store-categories, from £395, and feed-image-url-validation-before-import, £345.

7. What changed since the last file, and should it be released?

Compare by key, not by line, with counts that reconcile, and decide on the changes. The guide on version comparison and the worked example show the arithmetic; the fixed job is feed-version-diff-report-before-import, £225. For a watch over named feeds month to month, import-keep-supplier-feed-import-correct is £395 a month, and for a whole pipeline rebuilt as one result, feed-rebuild-supplier-feed-pipeline starts from £4,500 after a quote. Prices are untested proposals, and payment follows the agreed checks and your sign-off. Nothing is booked or charged by an enquiry.