Import order data in Portal

Use the Order Data feature to send and manage your customer purchase data (order data) directly in the Bazaarvoice Portal. Instead of configuring and maintaining an XML feed on an SFTP server, you can easily upload order files manually within the Portal in just a few clicks. This manual method can be useful for importing historical order data or for sending review requests to email addresses and phone numbers collected during in-store purchases.

Ensure order data files are being actively sent to Bazaarvoice—otherwise Bazaarvoice will stop sending RREs.

Why use the Portal to upload order data

Reduced setup and maintenance: No need to manage an SFTP client or create XML files.
Simpler data preparation: Use familiar formats such as CSV, XLSX, and TSV to prepare data that are easy to create and manage.
Faster error detection: Identify and fix formatting issues or duplicate records during upload instead of waiting for batch processing.
Improved visibility: View the history of all your order data files and their processing status directly in the Portal.

Required solutions and roles

You must have:

One of these solutions	And one of these roles
Ratings & Reviews Configuration	Technical Administrator Account Administrator

Note: To learn more about how solutions and roles are assigned in the Bazaarvoice Portal, refer to Users and permissions.

Create order data file

You can create a CSV, TSV, or XLSX file that must be formatted according to Bazaarvoice's standard requirements to ensure it passes the automated validation during file upload.

Your order data file can contain up to 14 columns:

3 required columns to process the core transaction, which are EmailAddress, TransactionDate, and ExternalId.
11 optional columns to add extra details specific to the order.

Follow these steps to create your order data file:

Set up the file structure: Start with a single header row at the top of your spreadsheet, followed by at least one row of data.
Name your columns correctly: Include all 3 required columns in your header row. Use only our recognized column names, as any unrecognized names cause the upload to fail.
Format your field values: Fill in your order data and ensure it matches the formatting requirements for each column.
Align matching order data: If you have multiple rows that share the same EmailAddress and TransactionId (such as a single order with multiple items), make sure you enter identical values across other fields for those rows.

Field requirements

Required fields must contain a value. If a required field is blank, the file will fail the upload check. Optional fields are validated only when they contain a value. Blank optional fields are skipped during validation.

Fields	Required/Optional	Description	Format
`EmailAddress`	Required	Specifies the email address of the consumer.	Must be in a valid format. Example:user@domain.com
`TransactionDate`	Required	Specifies the purchase, shipping, or other interaction date and time.	Must be in a dateTime format. Example: 2024-01-15T10:30:00Z
`ExternalId`	Required	Must match the external product ID for the item that is sent to Bazaarvoice in your product catalog. This matching is crucial to associate the review with the appropriate product in your product catalog. For example, do not provide a stock-keeping unit (SKU) in the order data file rather than the less granular `ExternalId` in the product catalog.	Cannot be blank; cannot contain a "/" character.
`TransactionID`	Optional	Specifies a unique identifier for an order generated by the site. This is essential for accurately tracking individual orders and is a key metric for measuring return on investment (ROI).	Free text, no format restriction.
`Locale`	Optional	Controls the language-specific email template that is used. This field includes language and country information.	Use this format: languageCode_countryCode Example: `en_US`
`UserName`	Optional	Specifies the user's first name or nickname created by the consumer on an online account. This field can be used to personalize the email greeting. Add this field if you want to: auto-populate the nickname field on the submission form address the email recipient by their user name in the review request email message (example, “Hi Maaran”).	Free text, no format restriction.
`UserID`	Optional	Specifies the consumer's user ID, typically created during an online transaction. This value is encoded into the Bazaarvoice user authentication string (UAS). The user ID in the order data feed must match the user ID that is passed to Bazaarvoice during the review-submission process (as part of your Ratings & Reviews implementation). This field can be omitted from the feed if no user ID was generated during the checkout process (for example, if a consumer has placed a purchase order as a guest purchaser). If the same user ID occurs in the same feed more than once with different email addresses, the user ID will be set to null and a warning is printed to the log file. This field should be omitted if using Bazaarvoice-hosted authentication.	Free text, no format restriction.
`Preference`	Optional	Specifies what messaging format the consumer prefers: Email or SMS.	Free text, no format restriction.
`DeploymentZone`	Optional	Indicates the ID of the deployment zone whose email templates are to be used when sending review request email messages. The implementation where the templates are configured must be published to the deployment zone before you reference the deployment zone in the order data file. If you omit this field, main_site is used. You must specify the ID, not the deployment zone name. To determine the deployment zone ID to use, select to the right of the deployment zone on the Site Manager page of the configuration.	Alphanumeric characters and underscores only. Example:main_site
`Price`	Optional	Used to control the order in which products appear within a given email (for example, list the highest value product first). Should be a decimal number with no currency symbols.	Must be a number greater than 0 with a maximum of 2 decimals. Example: 20.99, 40.00
`IncentivizedReview`	Optional	Item parameter that captures whether the review is incentivized.	Must be true or false (case-insensitive).
`ImageUrl`	Optional	Product thumbnail will be displayed in the email template. Always provide the full URL including "http://www". If not provided, it will be retrieved from your current product catalog.	Example:http://example.cimages/products/image01.jpg
`Name`	Optional	This is the product name and will be used in the email template. If not provided, it will be retrieved from your current product catalog.	Example: Hair dresser
`VERSION 1.0`	Reserved	This column is reserved and must be left blank in data rows.	Not applicable

Import order data file

Sign in to the Bazaarvoice Portal.
Select the required client instance name from the Instance Selector drop-down list in the upper-right corner.
From the upper-right corner, select the settings icon .
Go to the Configuration section and select Order Data.
On the Order Data page, select Get started.
1. In the Import Order Data page, upload a file containing order data (customer purchase history).
2. Supported file formats are .csv, .xlsx, and .tsv.
3. The maximum file size is 50 MB.
The system automatically checks your file for duplicate codes and formatting issues.
If your file has errors:
1. Click Download error report.
2. Fix the issues listed in the report.
3. Re-upload your file to try again.
You can only submit files that are completely error-free.
Select Submit to complete the import. To cancel the uploaded file, select X.

View order data history

Sign in to the Bazaarvoice Portal.
Select the required client instance name from the Instance Selector drop-down list in the upper-right corner.
From the upper-right corner, select the settings icon .
Go to the Configuration section and select Order Data.
The Order Data page displays a history of all the uploaded files with the following information.
- Import ID - A unique ID assigned to the upload.
- File name - The original name of the uploaded file.
- Uploaded on - The date the file was uploaded.
- Uploaded by - The email address of the user who uploaded the file.
- Total order - The total number of orders contained within the file.
- Status - The current processing state of the uploaded file.
  - Success - File was converted to XML and uploaded to the SFTP server successfully.
  - Failed - File was not uploaded to the SFTP server. This issue occurs when our system cannot establish a secure connection with the SFTP server. Give it a few minutes and try again. If it keeps happening, contact Bazaarvoice Support.
- Action - Download the source file or the processed XML file. These files will be permanently deleted 30 days after the upload date, after which they can no longer be downloaded from the Portal.

FAQs

How long does it take to process the uploaded file?

Files are processed within 30 to 40 seconds. The system converts CSV, TSV, or XLSX files to XML and automatically uploads them to SFTP. Once processing is complete, the converted XML and the original source files are available for your download.

What should I do if my uploaded file status shows as 'Failed'?

This issue occurs when our system cannot establish a secure connection with the SFTP server. Give it a few minutes and try again. If it keeps happening, reach out to Bazaarvoice Support.

If I upload the order data file through the Portal, do I still need to upload it to the SFTP server?

No, uploading to the SFTP server is not required if the file was submitted through the Portal. From the Portal, the system converts CSV, TSV, or XLSX files to XML and automatically uploads them to SFTP.