Formatting a spreadsheet for import

If you've got a lot of stores to add to your store locator, you can save some typing by importing them from a spreadsheet. The guidelines here will help ensure everything goes smoothly.

Address format

We can import store addresses in two formats, depending on what you have available:

  • Separate columns - If you have separate columns for different parts of each address (line 1, line 2, city, postal code, etc.), we support importing each column as a separate field. This is the preferred format since the locator can display addresses properly using multiple lines.
  • Single column - If your file has full addresses in a single column (e.g. "767 5th Avenue, New York, NY"), we support importing this format as well. Everything will work just fine, however the addresses will display as a single line in the locator since we don't know where to add line breaks.

Template files

To ensure a smooth import, we suggest copying your store data into one of the our import templates. Please use the template file that corresponds to the address format you have in your spreadsheet (described above):

Using a template isn't required, since the importer will give you the chance to choose what data is in each column of your spreadsheet. However, the templates will ensure your data is in the right format, and also help the importer automatically detect what type of information is in each column.

Already have something similar?

If your file is similar to one of the templates above but has different column names or ordering, you should be okay to go. Just be sure to check out the Export as CSV section below.

Additional columns

Our templates contain columns for the most common fields (name, address, phone, etc), but you might have additional fields to import. In this case, you can modify the template to add additional columns:

Importing tags

If you need to add tags (e.g. for specific products carried), just add an additional column to the template for each tag you plan to use. In each row, type  Yes in the tag column if the tag applies to that store, otherwise leave the tag column blank.

For example, if you had tags for "Open 24 Hours" and "Free WiFi", your file might look like this:

Please be sure to create the tags in your account before starting the import process.

Importing custom fields

To import custom fields like "Hours" or "Fax number", just add an additional column to your spreadsheet for each custom field, then enter the appropriate value in each row.

For example, if you had custom fields for "Hours" and "Fax number", your file might look like this:

Please be sure to  create the custom fields in your account before starting the import process.

Importing other fields

For other less common fields (like Logo URL), just add an additional column, then enter the appropriate value in each row.

What not to include

When importing your file, please be sure not to include the following

  • Section headers - A single header row at the top is suggested, but please don't add extra section headers to group your stores (e.g. "USA", "International", etc). The importer can't tell header rows apart from actual stores, and will try to import the text in the header as a store.
  • Online stores - we recommend not adding online stores to your locator, so that your visitors aren't confused about which places can be visited in person. For more details, please see our article on online stores.

Export as CSV

Once your spreadsheet is all ready to go, see our help page on  converting a spreadsheet to CSV to ensure you've got the correct format to import. It's especially important to follow our instructions if your file contains any accented or non-English characters.

Other formats

Are your locations not in a spreadsheet? We may be able to help - feel free to shoot us an email and we'll see what we can do. We've helped import stores from:

  • Google Maps KML files
  • WordPress post export XML files
  • Various other formats