Samples Excels: Before You Start

Written by Jasmine Osman Caldeira

Last published at: May 23rd, 2023

In order for you to maximize your Samples app to be most efficient, it requires clean data and consistent practices. 

This article outlines some best practices if you are building excel import sheets manually.  Adhering to the following preparation of import sheets will help ensure a clean import.

 

Before you fill out your Samples Template

If manually building your Excel sheets (meaning not exporting from another system) We highly suggest locking the Colours and Types fields. 

Please take a look at our Locking Sample Fields article for more info about how Locked Lists affect importing

You can customize your required fields at both the Inventory & Master List level by going to the Sample Field Manager in your User dropdown menu (You must have the correct user privileges to see this menu option)

 

Downloading a blank template

Go to the Import dropdown in the main menu > Click Import Samples

Download blank Samples, Master List or Looks blank Excel Import templates

 

 

 

When filling out your Samples Template

  • If you know you’re not going to be filling out a certain field you can delete the column in Excel to keep your columns focused.

     
  • Be sure to fill out all of your required fields. Required fields alway appear in RED but you may need to scroll all the way to the right of your sheet to see them.



     
 

 

 

When you’re done filling out your templates

If this is your first time importing, we recommend getting in contact with your Launchmetrics Customer Success or Support Specialist so we can look over your Excel sheets before you import.

 

About your Samples fields

When creating your Samples inventory please keep in mind the following rules:

  • If the field is required by the system, a minimum length of 1 character is required
  • Extra characters over the maximum length defined below will be truncated
  • 4 bytes characters are not allowed
Field Max Length Status
collection 100 required by system
season 75 required by system
supplier 100 required by system
item_type 50  
color 90  
pattern 70  
fabric 70  
region 50  
style_number 100  
gender 10  
size 50  
factory 50  
look_number 50  
size_range 50  
misc 100  
description  65,535 bytes (~21845 char.)  
retail_price 80  
customs_price 80  
sale_price 80  
vendor_id 100  
vendor_date DATE  
vendor_code 80  
sample_made_in 2  
workflow_status 255  
custom_barcode 50  
external_serial 64  
external_rfid 32  
external_sku 50  

 

For custom fields if the field is:

  • a text, the max length is 1000
  • a dropdown, the max length is 200
  • a dropdown_multiple, the max length is 200