How to validate conversions and baskets in bulk

Before you start

Of course, you can validate all the conversions your partners generate manually. However, in most cases, you will be looking for an automated solution. The good news is the platform supports such a solution. All you have to do is export the conversion data in a file, compare this data with your order book and subsequently change the status of the conversion from open to canceled or approved in the file. When you are done with the validation, you import the file again.

If you are working with basket tracking, you basically do the same. However, instead of exporting conversion data, you export a file with basket positions, edit them and import them again. The details are discussed further below.

Getting started

Make sure you are logged in to your admin UI, click on ‘finance’ in the main navigation menu and proceed to click on ‘export/import’. If you do so, you will see a page looking more or less like this:

The page you are seeing consists of three different panels:

1. In the left upper panel, you can export conversions and basket positions.

2. In the panel on the right, you can import conversions and basket positions.

3. The panel at the bottom of the page will provide you with the export file and an import report.

Validating conversions in bulk

Exporting conversions

To export conversions, please go to the panel in the top left corner. To make sure you only export the conversions you need, give your file the following properties:

• Select ‘conversions’ as the export file type.

• Decide whether you want to use a custom or a dynamic timeframe and define the timeframe further. By doing so, you make sure you only export conversions tracked in this particular period. Please note that if you follow the default setting, you will export the conversions from last month.

• Limit your export file to one or more advertisers. Please note you can select all advertisers in the right top corner of the drop down menu.

• When you have selected multiple advertisers, make sure you decide whether you want to export your conversions creating one file per advertiser or export all your conversions in one file.

• If you want, you can limit your export file to one or more specific ad spaces categories. By doing so, you can focus on the validation of your retargeting partners only, for example. If you leave this entry open, you will export the conversions made by partners in all ad space categories.

• Furthermore, you can limit your export file to a specific partner label.

• Select the status of the conversions you want to export. In most cases, you’ll find it sufficient to export conversions with an open status only, because conversions with a different status (approved or rejected) have already been validated.

• Finally, select the format of your export file. Available formats are XLS, XLSX and CSV.

When you have set the export file properties, click on the button ‘create export’. As soon as you do this, a small window will appear in the top right corner of your admin UI, informing you that your file is being generated. In the panel at the bottom of the page, you will find a new line added to the export section. In the row, you will find back all the export file properties you have defined, along with the user. In the status column, you will be informed about the progress of your export file. When the status bar becomes green, you can download your file via the  icon. In some cases, you might have to use the ‘refresh’ button to make sure the file appears.

Please note that opening your file in Excel might corrupt your data when you have downloaded a file in CSV format. For more information, read the article on best practices below.

Conversion export file content

For a complete overview on the content of the conversion export file, the header names, the format and delimiters, please read the following paragraph in the article on the conversions export file.

Validating your conversions

Once you have exported your conversions file, you can start validating your conversions. Please note you can only change the following data:

• The status of the conversion.

• The commission rate and type.

• The reason for cancelation.

• The maturity date.

• The order value, but only when no basket tracking is applied. If basket tracking is applied, partial order cancelations must be managed via the basket positions.

• The status of the conversion. In fact, changing the status is the most efficient way to validate your conversions. Please note the status has to be indicated numerically in your file:

  • 0 = open

  • 1 = approved

  • 2 = rejected

While working with your file, please regard the remarks in the paragraph on best practices below.

Importing the updated file

You can import your the file with your validated conversions directly by dragging and dropping your file to the import panel called ‘conversion updates’ in the right corner of the export/import page. To browse, just click on the same area and find your file. If your file has the proper format, the import will start immediately. Please note it will take about 10 minutes before the conversions in your file will be validated on the platform.

If you want, you can use the email tool in the import panel. This tool will make sure you receive a brief notification whether the import was successful (i.e. whether all conversions in your file were validated on the platform) or whether any errors have occurred. You will also be informed via a small window appearing in the right top corner of your admin UI.

To follow the progress of the validation, you can check the import section of panel on the bottom of the page. As soon as the import has started, you will find a new row added here containing all the properties of the file you’ve imported. For more details, please read the paragraph on the import report below.

Validating basket positions in bulk

Exporting basket positions

To export baskets positions, please go to the panel in the top left corner. To make sure you only export the basket positions you need, give your file the following properties:

• Select ‘baskets’ as the type of data you want to export.

• Decide whether you want to use a custom or a dynamic timeframe and define the timeframe further. By doing so, you make sure you only export basket positions tracked in this particular period. Please note that if you follow the default setting, you will export basket positions from last month.

• Limit your export file to one or more advertisers. Please note you can select all advertisers in the right top corner of the drop down menu.

• When you have selected multiple advertisers, make sure you decide whether you want to export your basket positions creating one file per advertiser or export all your basket positions in one file.

• If you want, you can limit your export file to one or more specific ad spaces categories. By doing so, you can focus on the validation of your retargeting partners only, for example. If you leave this entry open, you will export the basket positions from conversions made by partners in all ad space categories.

• Furthermore, you can limit your export file to a specific partner label.

• Select the status of the basket positions you want to export. In most cases, you’ll find it sufficient to export basket positions with an open status only, because positions with a different status (approved or rejected) have already been validated.

• Finally, select the format of your export file. Available formats are XLS, XLSX and CSV.

When you have set the export file properties, click on the button ‘create export’. As soon as you do this, a small window will appear in the top right corner of your admin UI, informing you that your file is being generated. In the panel at the bottom of the page, you will find a new line added to the export section. In the row, you will find back all the export file properties you have defined, along with the user. In the status column, you will be informed about the progress of your export file. When the status bar becomes green, you can download your file via the  icon. In some cases, you might have to use the ‘refresh’ button to make sure the file appears.

Please note that opening your file in Excel might corrupt your data when you have downloaded a file in CSV format. For more information, read the article on best practices below.

Basket export file content

Please note every row in the basket file you exported represents one basket position. A basket position contains one or more items of the same product, to which specific data belongs. For a complete overview of the content of your basket export file, please read the following paragraph in the article on the conversions export file.

Validating baskets

Once you have exported your basket position file, you can start validating your basket positions. You can change the following values in the export file:

• The status of the basket position, in the column called ‘position_status’. Here you can use the following values:

  • 0 = open

  • 1 = confirmed

  • 2 = rejected

• The quantity of the products in the basket position, in the column called ‘product_quantity’. Please note adjustment of the product quantity is only needed when a customer returned fewer items of the same product he ordered. For example, if a customer orders 10 books and returns 4, you will have to confirm the basket position but make sure you change the product quantity from 10 to 6.

• The price of the products in the basket position. You can find the price in the column called ‘product_price’.

Please note that if you validate all positions related to a conversion, the status of the conversion is adjusted automatically. This means you won’t need to validate your conversions. Of course, the order value and commission amount will be adjusted according to your validation.

Importing the updated basket file

You can import your file with the validated basket positions directly by dragging and dropping your file to the import panel called ‘basket update’ in the right top corner of the export/import page. To browse, just click on the same area and find your file. If your file has the proper format, the import will start immediately. Please note it will take about 10 minutes before the basket positions in your file will be validated on the platform.

If you want, you can use the email tool in the import panel. This tool will make sure you receive a brief notification whether the import was successful (i.e. whether all basket positions in your file were validated on the platform) or whether any errors have occurred. You will also be informed via a small window appearing in the right top corner of your admin UI.

To follow the progress of the validation, you can check the import section of panel on the bottom of the page. As soon as the import has started, you will find a new row added here containing all the properties of the file you’ve imported. For more details, please read the paragraph on the import report below.

Import report

Report table

As was mentioned above, you can find an import report if you click on ‘import’ in the panel at the bottom of the export/import page. Let’s have a closer look at it:

As you can see, every row in the table represents an import file with conversions or basket positions. Every column in the table describes a property of the file:

• Under ‘import date’, you will find the time and date of the moment you or an other user uploaded the file to the platform.

• Under ‘file name’, you will find the name of the file you have uploaded. Please note that by clicking on the name, you are able to download the file again.

• Under ‘advertiser’, you will find the name of the advertiser for which the conversions or basket positions were being uploaded. In case there were multiple advertisers in the file,

• Under ‘type’, you will find the data type, i.e. ‘conversion update’, basket update’ or, in case you have uploaded a file with conversions were not initially tracked by the platform, ‘new conversion’.

• Under ‘user’ you will find the name of the user who imported the file.

• The status indicates the progress of the import process of your file. Please note there are four different statuses:

  • If you have just started to import your file, the status will be queued. This means your file has been queued to be imported to the system. Please note that during this status, the advertiser and the type of your the data you are reporting might not yet be recognized yet. If you want, you can still cancel the import during this status by clicking on the   icon on the right

  • After about two minutes, you should see the status has been changed to in progress. This means your file is being imported. The import normally takes around thirty minutes. This status is the last one during which you can cancel the import.

  • If your file does not have the proper format (XLS or CSV) or the data in your file has been severely damaged, your import will be interrupted and the status will turn to failed.

  • When your import has been completed and the validated conversions are visible in the UI, the status of your import will be set to processed. As mentioned above, it normally takes about ten minutes before your import reaches this status.

• Under ‘rows’ you will find a bar and a number. The number indicates the number of conversions or basket positions that were in your file. The color of the bar indicates the actions triggered by the file you imported:

  • Green represents the conversions or basket positions that were successfully modified: this can mean a change of the status or a change in the conversion or basket data.

  • Red indicates the conversions or basket positions that could not be modified.

  • Grey represents  for the conversions or basket positions that we not modified.

Import details

If you scroll over the rows bar, an overview will appear containing all the validation actions that were triggered by your file, looking more or less like this:

As you can see, the total number of conversion in this imported file was three. None of these conversions was approved or rejected, but for one conversion the data was modified. For the other two conversions, an error occurred.

To find out more details about the errors that occurred during the import of these conversions, click on the  icon next to the bar. If you do so, a panel will appear looking more or less like this:

By default, this panel will only show you the errors that have occurred during the import. If you want, you can also choose to display the conversions that were processed and the conversions that were not changed by ticking the relevant boxes in the top bar and clicking on ‘search’. You can also look for individual conversions by filling out the order ID of the conversion in the search field.

The table below offers you a complete overview of all the data related to the conversion, including the current status of the conversion on the platform and the status you wanted to give the conversion by importing the file. If an error occurred, you will also find the reason for the error. For a comprehensive explanation, please read the paragraph on common errors below.

Automating the validation process

The solutions described above, both for conversions and basket positions, require to export and import files manually. If you want to automate your validation further, please read the instructions in this article.

Best practices

Common validation errors

Validating your conversions and basket positions in bulk is a delicate process. As was mentioned above, you will be able to find an error report explaining you why the changes to conversions and basket data in your import file could not be processed. Here is an overview of the most common errors:

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Working with Excel

As was already mentioned, you can only import conversion files you have exported from the system earlier, in CSV and XLS format. In case you use Excel to validate your conversions, please note the following to prevent errors during the upload:

• Values have to be separated by semicolon.

• The order of the headers in the first row should not be altered.

• Check whether Excel is changing the format of values in your file. Excel tends to recognize particular combinations of characters and numbers as salutations or dates.

• Make sure your file contains only one sheet.

Delimiters

As was mentioned above, you need to use the period as delimiter. If you are working with an XLS format, you can use the comma delimiter as well. It is recommended not to use thousands separators.