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Import data from CSV

Last Update: Oct 2024 • Est. Read Time: 7 MIN
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Moving to Kustomer from another platform? We offer an automated import wizard that can pull data into Kustomer from a CSV file. Through our import tool, you can import customers, users, teams, or companies using CSV, a common file type that is offered as an export option in most systems. 

To help walk you through this process, our import wizard will step you through the entire data import and asks you how you want your CSV data to come into Kustomer. This article will walk through using the CSV Import tool and cover every step in the process you'll see along the way, as well as share some CSV template files to get some best practices.

Who can access this feature?
User typesAdmins can access the Data Connect page.


In this article

Prerequisites

Our importer can import documents saved as comma-separated values (CSV). Before you can begin in Kustomer, you'll need to find a way to export from your current system to a CSV file saved in UTF-8 format. Please check with your current provider's help resources for best practices on exporting to CSV from their system.

Overview

Here's a general overview of the steps you'll see during the import:

  1. Prepare - Review best practices for importing.
  2. Configure - Set the name and pick what type of data to import: customers, users, teams, or companies.
  3. Upload CSV - Upload your CSV file for processing.
  4. Link Data - Depending on your choices from the Configure step, tell our importer how you'd like to start connecting your data to Kustomer at a high-level. This will start the matching process that's continued in the next step.
  5. Match Fields - Pick how your CSV fields will correspond to fields in Kustomer.
  6. Import CSV - Review a summary all of your import settings, and then start the import once you're ready to go.

CSV imports are usually pretty quick, so you should be able to tell how the import went without too much delay. We'll send you an email when the import completes, and you'll be able to view a summary of imported data or any issues encountered from the Import Results screen.

If you're satisfied with these results, you can then reuse your import settings on future CSV imports. To import another CSV file with the same settings, use the menu icon next to the finished import on the Data Import Management table, then select Create New Import with Same Settings.

Once that's done, you can start using Kustomer with your historical data.

CSV sample templates

For optimal results, try to match your CSV formatting and headers to the sample documents provided below. These pre-formatted example templates demonstrate the optimal file organization for you to get a successful result during your import.

Formatting tips and recommendations

Here are some useful considerations to keep in mind for your CSV:

Phone numbers

If a country code is not provided, we will default to the country code for the U.S. (+1).

Date formats

Dates should be written in YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS format. Use slashes / or dashes - as separators for date. For example, 2021/03/26 07:58:30 or 2021-03-26 07:58:30.

Location formats

To add multiple addresses for a customer, separate inside each location cell with a semi-colon ;. If the address contains a comma , wrap the comma in double quotations ","

Unsupported fields

The importer is currently unable to support uploading information to the following Kustomer fields:

  • Customer
    • FacebookIds
    • InstagramIds
    • Socials
    • SharedSocials
    • URLs (Websites)
  • Company
    • Domains
    • Socials
    • URLs (Websites)

Matching logic

The importer attempts to match records against existing data using the following rules:

  • Customer: First tries to match on Kustomer ID, then External ID, then email, then phone # (if multiple emails or phone numbers match, the record will be skipped)
  • Company, Team, User: First tries to match on Kustomer ID, and then External ID.

Import Wizard walkthrough

1. Prepare

On the first page of the importer, you'll see a variety of recommendations that will be useful to keep in mind as you plan your migration:

  • Have you planned out your import?
    • During this wizard, you'll be asked to match data from your CSV to fields in Kustomer. A lot of thought and preparation will need to go into this process, which largely depends on the data you're importing and your company's needs in Kustomer.
    • We recommend that you use a notepad to pre-plan and solidify your field matching decisions in advance before diving deeply into the import process itself.
    • Remember: you can save and exit the wizard after any step, then return later once you're fully prepared to continue.
  • Are you planning to link data?
    • Kustomer supports different data relationships depending on what you’re importing.
    • Customers can be linked to Companies, and Users can be linked to Teams. Custom Objects (like Orders) are required to be linked to Customers.
    • Depending on your import choices, you'll be asked to provide certain data fields in your import to use when linking data fields.
  • Do you want automations to run on your import?
    • Do you have any business rules or workflows that act on imported tickets? You should review your automations, and consider temporarily turning some of them off during the import process to avoid any unwanted automations.
    • Or, you can add a conditional step to your workflow to avoid running when a new kConversation contains an importedAt key. Learn more about creating a workflow that filters for imported conversations in Common workflow fields.
  • What file types am I able to import?
    • Our importer can import documents saved as comma-separated values (CSV). CSV is a common file type that is offered as an export option in most systems.

2. Configure Import

On the second page, you'll be able to modify the name of the import, and decide what data to bring into Kustomer. For each import, you'll pick one property to focus on—you can import customers, users, teams, or companies.

We'll automatically generate an import name for you, but you can specify another name if you wish.

You'll select whether to import only new data, or import new data and update existing data. If you choose to update existing data, we'll attempt to match data from the CSV to existing attributes in Kustomer, which can overwrite existing Kustomer data.

Should I update existing data or only import new data?
Import new data:

  • Requires minimal setup.
  • The most appropriate option if your team has already started using Kustomer — for example, if you plan to only import CSV to backfill data from another system, but don't want to overwrite newer data your agents have been adding in.

  • If you've exported historical data from an ecommerce store, and you only want to import new customers that aren't already in Kustomer.


Update existing data:
  • Another system is your primary source of truth for customer records.
  • There are partial records in Kustomer that should be updated.

Last, you'll select at a high level which type of data to import — customers, users, teams, or companies. To help you optimize your CSV file for import, the wizard will present you with pre-formatted CSV sample templates that show optimal formatting for the type of data you've chosen.

When ready, Save and Continue to the next step.

3. Upload CSV

In this step, you'll upload to us the actual CSV document you want to import from. Your file must have a .csv file extension and be smaller than 10MB.

It will take a few minutes to upload and process your CSV file. Do not leave the upload page until you see the confirmation that the process was successful—otherwise the upload will be interrupted and you'll need to submit the file again.

If at any point you need to switch to a different CSV file, you can return here to Step 3 and select Upload CSV again to replace the uploaded document and use a different file.

When ready, Save and Continue to the next step.

4. Link Data

Depending on your choices earlier in the Configure step, you'll be asked to take additional action on this step to prepare for data matching.

For example, if you opted earlier to link Customers with Companies, and then chose to match using an External ID, you'll be asked to pick the field from your CSV to match with the Company External ID.

If your import doesn't require any data linking, you'll be notified that you can continue to the next step.

5. Match Fields

The largest task in the import wizard is the Match Fields screen. This is where you'll tell Kustomer how data from your CSV should match to metadata fields in Kustomer.

We'll attempt to match fields automatically based on your selections earlier in the wizard, but take a moment to review all of the matching and confirm any additional fields. If there's a field missing that you need, you can use the link at the bottom of the screen to Create more attributes in the Klasses Settings.

If you have more fields in your CSV than you wish to import into Kustomer, you can skip over any fields you wish to omit from the import.


6. Import CSV

In the final step, you'll review your CSV import configurations before starting the actual import. This will be your last chance to confirm and make changes to this import before starting the import process.

From the Review screen, you can select the Pencil icon next to any property to travel back to that step in the wizard to make changes.

When you're ready to finally start the import, select Import CSV in the bottom corner. This will start the import, and you'll receive an email notification when the import completes.

Review import results

CSV import shouldn't take very long to complete, but you will receive an email whenever a CSV import finishes processing. This email will contain a link to visit the Import Results screen. You can also get to the results screen from the Data Import table by clicking the link in the tooltip after hovering your cursor over the status label.

On the Import Results page, you can find a summary of how much data was imported, as well as links to view the imported data. 

Import more data with the same settings

After your first full import is complete, head back to the Data Import Management settings at any time to run an additional import with the same settings. If you're satisfied with the results of your first import and have more data to bring in to Kustomer, you can reuse the same settings to import subsequent CSV files.

To import new data:

  1. Go to Settingsand select Administration > Data Import.
  2. Locate the earlier full import in the list, and select the More icon to the right.
  3. Select Create New Import with Same Settings.

A wizard will appear with your earlier settings preselected. You can reuse this option as many times as you'd like to continue adding data into Kustomer from CSV.