Automated Supplier Stock Imports (FTPs)

StoreFeeder can pick up your suppliers' stock files for you and update your supplier stock levels on a schedule. You can then sell your supplier's stock on your channels without keeping it on your shelves. This article explains what these feeds do, what they cost, and what we need from you to set one up.

What is an automated supplier stock feed?

Many suppliers publish a regular stock file that lists their SKUs and how many of each they have available. The file is usually on an FTP server or at a web address (URL). An automated supplier stock feed is a scheduled job that StoreFeeder runs for you. It:

Downloads your supplier's file at the times you choose, for example every 4 hours, or every Friday at 5pm.
Matches each row in the file to your products using the supplier SKU.
Updates the supplier stock level on each matching product for that supplier.

This means your supplier stock stays up to date without anyone having to download and import files by hand.

What this lets you do

Sell stock you don't hold. List your supplier's available stock on your channels, then either drop ship the order direct from your supplier or order the stock in and despatch it yourself when it arrives.
Avoid overselling. When your supplier runs out, the next import updates the supplier stock level, so you stop selling stock that isn't available.
Keep cost prices current. If the file includes a cost column, we can update your supplier cost prices at the same time.
Order smarter. With up-to-date supplier stock, you can turn on Exclude Products With Zero Supplier Stock on the supplier so that requisition suggestions skip products your supplier can't provide.

How to request a feed

Supplier stock feeds are set up by our team. You can't create them yourself in StoreFeeder. To request one, contact StoreFeeder support and tell us which supplier you'd like to automate.

If you can, attach an example of the supplier's stock file to your first message. We use it to check whether the file fits our standard feed setup or needs extra work, and that decides the cost and how long setup takes.

Note: The supplier needs to already exist in StoreFeeder, and your products need the supplier's SKUs recorded against that supplier. The feed can only update products it can match. See Creating a Supplier in StoreFeeder and Product Supplier Import and Export.

Cost

Each feed needs setup work from our development team, and running feeds adds processing to your account, so there are two charges. There is a one of Development charge which will vary on the complexity of your supplier fiela monthly uplift that will cover the running and upkeep of up to 5 feeds. (If you want over 5 that is also possible but the uploft will be increased).

What we'll need from you

Once you've agreed to go ahead, send us the following details:

Detail	Required?	What it is
Supplier name	Yes	The supplier in StoreFeeder whose stock should be updated.
FTP connection details	File URL or FTP connection details are required	Host, port, username and password for the supplier's FTP server. Your supplier provides these.
File URL	File URL or FTP connection details are required	If your supplier publishes the file at a web address instead of on an FTP server, send us the URL in place of the FTP details.
File location	Yes (FTP files)	The folder on the FTP server that holds the file.
File name	Yes	The exact name of the file, for example `stock.csv`.
File format	Yes	For example CSV, TXT or XML.
Delimiter	Yes (text files)	The character that separates columns, for example a comma, tab or pipe (`\|`).
Supplier SKU column	Yes	The column (or XML field) that holds the supplier's SKU.
Stock column	Yes	The column (or XML field) that holds the quantity available.
Download frequency	Yes	How often StoreFeeder should fetch the file, for example every 4 hours, or once a week on Friday at 5pm. Match this to how often your supplier updates the file.
Cost column	Optional	The column that holds the supplier's cost price, if you want cost prices updated too.
Remove stock from products not in the file	Optional	Tell us if you want supplier stock set to zero on any of this supplier's products that aren't in the file. This is useful when suppliers drop discontinued lines from their file instead of listing them at zero.
Results email	Optional	An email address to receive a summary after each import, if you'd like one.

Warning: For security, send the FTP password in a separate email from the rest of the connection details. Never put the host, username and password together in one message.

Limits and things to watch for

Matching is by supplier SKU only. Rows in the file whose SKU isn't recorded against the supplier on any of your products are skipped.
Your stock is only as current as your supplier's file. Fetching more often than your supplier updates the file won't make stock any fresher.
If your supplier changes the file (new column names, a new file name, a new location or new login details), the feed may stop updating. Let us know as soon as you hear about a change so we can update the feed.
Non-standard files take longer. Files that need extra processing, such as several files combined, calculated stock, or SKUs that need reformatting, are quoted separately.

Other ways to update supplier stock

If you have your own developer, you can also update supplier stock through the StoreFeeder REST API. API access has its own monthly fee. Contact our support team to discuss it.

Ready to set one up? Contact StoreFeeder support with your account name, the name of the supplier as it appears in StoreFeeder, and an example of the supplier's stock file. If a feed you already have has stopped updating, tell us the supplier name and roughly when stock last updated correctly.