Initial Data Import

Plan Requirement: Free Trial or Ultimate

Import from a spreadsheet helps you move to CloudBridal from another system or set up your store with bulk data, using Excel spreadsheets instead of typing everything in. Find it in Reports & tools › Tools › Import from a spreadsheet. It needs permission to change settings.

Available Import Types

CloudBridal currently supports importing three types of data:

Inventory Items Import

Supported fields:

• Customer type: The type of customer the item is for, or blank if it's not customer specific. Must exactly match one of the customer types you have defined in Customer Settings.
• Item type: The type of item the item is. Must exactly match one of the item types you have defined in Settings › Items.
• Vendor name: The name of the vendor/designer the item is from. CloudBridal will automatically create a new vendor if the name is not found in your existing vendors.
• Item Internal Name: The item's name/style ID/SKU from the vendor.
• Item Display Name: The name you would like to display to your customers. If blank, uses the Item Internal Name.
• Quantity: The quantity of the item you have in stock.
• Size: The size of the item, or variation name if it's a non-dress item.
• Color: The color of the item, if applicable.
• Wholesale price: The price you pay for the item.
• Retail price: The recommended retail price of the item.
• Sale price: The actual price that the customer pays for the item. If blank, uses Retail price.
• Comments: Any notes you would like to include about this item.

Customers Import (Contact Data)

Supported fields:

• Customer type: The type of customer the item is for. Must exactly match one of the customer types you have defined in Customer Settings.
• Name: The customer's full name.
• Email: The customer's email address.
• Phone number: The customer's phone number.
• Event Date: The customer's event date, such as their wedding date. This creates an event on the customer's Events tab — or updates the date on the event they already have.
• Home address: The customer's home address.
• Notes: Any notes you would like to include about this customer.

Customers + Appointments Import

This import type lets you migrate historical appointment data while automatically creating customer records. It's ideal for stores transitioning from another booking system.

Supported fields:

• Appointment type (required): The type of appointment. Must match one of your existing appointment types defined in Appointment Settings (matching is case-insensitive).
• Date (required): The appointment date. Supports various formats including yyyy-MM-dd, MM/dd/yyyy, and dd/MM/yyyy.
• Start time (required): The appointment start time. Supports HH:mm format (e.g., 14:30) or text format (e.g., 2:30 PM, 9am).
• End time (required): The appointment end time. Same format options as Start Time.
• Customer name (required): The customer's full name.
• Customer email: The customer's email address.
• Phone number: The customer's phone number.
• Event Date: The customer's event date, such as their wedding date.
• Home address: The customer's home address.
• Referred from: How the customer was referred to your store.
• Internal notes: Private notes about this appointment (not visible to customers).

How customer matching works:

When importing appointments, CloudBridal will:

1. First try to match an existing customer by email address or phone number
2. If no match is found, create a new customer record with the provided information
3. Link the appointment to the matched or newly created customer

Import Process

Follow these steps to import your data:

Step 1: Download the Template

1. Open Import from a spreadsheet.
2. Choose what to import: Items, Customers, or Customers and their appointments.
3. Click Download template. For items, you can instead click Download your current items to edit what you already have.

Step 2: Fill in Your Data

1. Open the template in Excel or another spreadsheet application
2. Fill in your data according to the column headers
3. Save the file when complete

• See the fields reference above for more information on what each column means

Step 3: Upload and Verify

1. Click Upload file and select your filled-in file.
2. CloudBridal checks it straight away and shows what will be imported.
3. Review the summary to make sure it matches what you expect.

Step 4: Begin Import

1. Click Start import and confirm.
2. The import runs in the background, so you can keep using CloudBridal.
3. You'll receive an email with the results and any issues when it's done.

Reimporting Data

You can run imports multiple times to make any corrections as needed:

• Inventory Items: If CloudBridal finds a matching item (same vendor and item name), it will update that item instead of creating a new one
• Customers: A customer with the same name and email address as an existing one updates that customer instead of adding a new one. A matched customer's event date updates their existing event rather than adding a second one
• Appointments: CloudBridal matches existing appointments by the combination of date, start time, and customer name. If a match is found, the appointment is updated rather than duplicated.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues during import:

• Check that your template follows the required format
• Look for required fields that might be missing
• Verify that date fields are in the correct format
• For appointment imports, ensure all appointment types exist in your Appointment Settings before importing
• For very large imports, try splitting into smaller batches
• Review the email results for specific error messages

If you need assistance with importing your data, contact CloudBridal support at support@cloudbridal.com.

Updated on: 19/10/2026