Supplier file preparation
Get your supplier files into your store's import format
Vector Index AI turns two supplier files into one file in your store template's columns, for up to 100 SKUs and ten agreed attributes. You get a 10-SKU test file before the full file, conflicting or missing product facts listed for your decision, and reusable mapping for the next batch.
$1,500 for the first batch. Test-file and full-file dates agreed in writing before you pay.
Start with one email: the supplier name, platform and SKU count. Attach your import template and a redacted sample if available. We confirm fit and agree the work and both delivery dates before sending the payment link. Your team runs every import, including the test. Nothing changes in your store until you approve it.
Test-import guarantee: If the agreed 10-SKU test fails, we keep fixing until it passes or refund every dollar. Your team runs the test on the route named in the written scope.
For the supplier batch that's waiting to go in
This is for ecommerce agencies handling a client migration or supplier onboarding, and merchants whose next supplier batch is waiting on file preparation.
Your product approver decides which conflicting facts are correct. We handle the field mapping, prepare the test and full files, trace product values to their supplier cells, and list the decisions your approver needs to make.
Your $1,500 buys that preparation and the reusable mapping for the next batch. Your team keeps control of product facts and every import.
Synthetic demonstration, fictional data, not a client result
See how we handle a conflicting product fact
In the example below, two supplier files describe the same bottle as 12 US fl oz and 350 ml. Those are different capacities. We hold the record and ask which capacity is printed on the product instead of choosing a value for you.
Before: two supplier files for the same products, with the planted problems highlighted.
After: 27 rows prepared for the template, 2 held with the exact question you need to answer, and the duplicate separated from the look-alike.
Invented data with problems planted on purpose. It is not a client result. Click either image to see it full size, or read how each problem was handled below.
What your $1,500 batch includes
| Deliverable | What you can do with it |
|---|---|
| 10-SKU test file, before the full file | Run the agreed test route before attempting the full import. |
| Full file in your template's columns | Review the prepared batch, with every product fact traceable to a supplier cell. |
| Conflict Report | See each conflicting or missing fact by SKU and field, with the decision needed from your approver. |
| Reusable Mapping File | Start the next batch from the same supplier with the mapping already defined. |
| 10-SKU Test Import Walkthrough | Follow the agreed test process with your team controlling the import. |
| Change log and handoff notes | See what changed and how the files were prepared. |
| One consolidated correction round | Return your feedback together. Our errors are fixed at no charge. |
The scope covers two supplier files, up to 100 SKUs and ten agreed attributes. Each variant SKU counts toward the 100.
Missing facts stay unresolved until your approver decides. An unresolved row is never labelled import-ready. We do not deliver a partial file unless you agree which rows are excluded and why.
Agree the work before you pay
- Send the files and template. Include your platform, SKU count and a redacted sample if needed. A header row from a current export can serve as the template.
- Approve the written scope. We agree the attributes, mapping, test route, product-fact approver and both delivery dates. You confirm permission to use the data.
- Pay the fixed $1,500 fee. Payment is in full before work starts. We then prepare the test file before the full file.
- Run the test and review the delivery. Your team runs every import and decides unresolved product facts.
Start with ten rows if you want to check the mapping first
The free 10-row mapping check shows how your supplier sample maps to your template and lists every conflict in those rows. Send ten supplier rows, your import template and the platform name. No call and no account needed.
The check helps establish the mapping and conflicts in those sample rows. If the batch fits, we agree the $1,500 scope and both delivery dates in writing before sending the payment link. The 10-SKU test file and full prepared batch belong to the paid project.
$1,500
For the first batch: two supplier files, up to 100 SKUs and ten agreed attributes. This batch builds the Reusable Mapping File.
$500 for each later batch of up to 100 SKUs in the same formats, attributes and approved mapping, after the first batch is delivered. Pay for three later batches together and the fourth is free. A new supplier, new fields, a new taxonomy or a new output format needs its own fixed quote.
Paid in full, in one payment, before work starts. We send the payment link once the scope is agreed in writing.
Test-import guarantee: If the 10-SKU test import fails in your store, we keep fixing until it passes, or you get every dollar back. This applies to the test your team runs on the route named in the written scope.
Dates: your written scope states the test-file date and the full-file date.
What stays with your team
Your team approves product facts and runs the test and production imports. This service does not include live inventory changes, platform rebuilds, filling in missing product facts, regulated product advice or product safety certification.
We can provide a mutual NDA on request, up to 24 months. Raw client files are deleted 30 days after you accept the delivery. We retain the mapping specification and deliverables for 12 months so your next batch starts mapped, and delete them earlier whenever you ask. Scope and invoice records are retained as business records.
Synthetic example, fictional data
How each problem was handled
This example (download the files) was built on invented data for a fictional home goods supplier: a product master with 30 rows, a distributor price and spec sheet with 29 rows, and a store template using 17 columns. Together they cover 29 unique SKUs with size, colour, scent and capacity variants. Problems were planted on purpose.
| Planted problem | What happened |
|---|---|
| A glass bottle is 12 US fl oz in one file and 350 ml in the other | Held as a unit conflict, with both values copied exactly. Not converted, rounded or chosen. 12 US fl oz is 354.88 ml, so the two statements are not the same product fact. The approver is asked which capacity is printed on the product. |
| A mug with no capacity in either file | Held as a missing required value. Not inferred from the SKU code or from sibling variants. |
| Two towels identical except for SKU, barcode and colour | Kept as two separate variants, not merged as duplicates. |
| The same towel SKU entered twice, once in lowercase with stray spaces | Collapsed to one row, because it is a true duplicate with identical facts. |
The result was 27 rows ready for the template and 2 held back with reasons. Every price, barcode, weight and option value in the output traces to a raw supplier cell. A next-batch file with the price column renamed stopped the run and wrote nothing.
The example was not imported into a real store. Your paid project includes a 10-SKU test file for the validator, test store or draft-import route named in your scope.
Have your next supplier batch prepared
Send the supplier details, SKU count and import template. We'll confirm whether the batch fits and put the work and dates in writing before asking you to pay.
First batch: $1,500. Later batches in the same formats and mapping: $500.
Or email [email protected].
If the catalog is already in your store
The Catalog Spec Audit is a separate purchase from supplier file preparation. We check your current catalog export against up to three supplier feeds, for up to 500 SKUs. You receive a correction file applying the approved changes in your store's required format, a before/after change log, the held conflicts and a 10-product test batch you approve in writing before the bulk file. $3,500, with both delivery dates agreed in the written scope.
Mention “Catalog Spec Audit” in your inquiry if that describes the work you need.