FeedPrep supports multiple file formats and import methods so you can get product data into the system however your suppliers deliver it.
Supported File Formats
You can upload feeds in any of the following formats:
- CSV — comma-separated values
- TXT — tab-delimited or other delimited text files
- XLS — legacy Excel format
- XLSX — modern Excel format
- XML — structured markup files
The maximum file size is 800 MB per upload. FeedPrep automatically detects the file format, character encoding, and column delimiters, so you don't need to configure these manually.
Import Methods
There are three ways to get a feed into FeedPrep:
1. File Upload
The simplest method. Click the upload button on your feeds page, select a file from your computer, and FeedPrep processes it immediately. This works well for one-off imports or when a supplier sends files via email.
2. URL Import (HTTP/HTTPS)
If your supplier hosts their product feed at a URL, you can paste the HTTP or HTTPS link directly into FeedPrep. The system fetches the file and processes it.
URL imports also support optional scheduled refresh. Once you've set up a URL import, you can configure it to re-fetch the file on a recurring schedule, so your data stays current without any manual intervention.
3. FTP/SFTP
For suppliers that deliver feeds via FTP or SFTP, you can configure a connection with the following details:
- Host — the FTP/SFTP server address
- Username — your login credential
- Password — your authentication password
- File path — the location of the feed file on the server
- Port (optional) — if the server uses a non-standard port
FeedPrep connects to the server, downloads the file, and processes it just like a direct upload.
Automatic Detection
Regardless of which import method you use, FeedPrep automatically detects:
- The file format (CSV, XML, Excel, etc.)
- The character encoding (UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, Windows-1252, etc.)
- The column delimiter for text-based formats (comma, tab, semicolon, pipe)
You don't need to specify any of these. If auto-detection gets something wrong in rare edge cases, you can override the settings manually.
Supplier Selection and Automatic Adapter Assignment
When uploading a feed, you can optionally select the supplier it belongs to. If the selected supplier already has an active adapter (a saved set of normalization rules), that adapter is automatically assigned to the feed and processing begins immediately. This means returning feeds from known suppliers are normalized without any manual setup.
If no supplier is selected, or the supplier doesn't have an adapter yet, the feed is imported as raw data and you can set up mappings manually.
Workspace Storage
All uploaded files are stored within your current workspace. Each workspace maintains its own set of feeds, keeping data isolated between different projects or teams. You can view, reprocess, or delete any feed from the feeds page at any time.
What's Next?
Once your feed is uploaded, you'll want to map the supplier's columns and values to your own schema. Learn how in Setting Up a Supplier Adapter.