Inventory CSV Merger

The Problem

Different suppliers export inventory data in different column orders, naming conventions and formats, and combining them by hand means hours of copy-pasting and inevitable mistakes.

About this problem

Supplier files describe the same products differently: different column names, units, SKU formats and ways of showing stock. Combining them means defining one target structure, mapping each source to it and deciding what happens where records overlap. Silent guessing at conflicts is how wrong prices and stock levels reach a shop.

People usually come to this when maintaining a catalogue or shop from several suppliers and the manual copy-and-paste routine is slow and keeps introducing errors.

What's Included

• A script that maps each supplier's columns to one consistent output structure
• Handling mismatched units, naming conventions and missing fields sensibly
• Flagging genuine conflicts (e.g. same SKU, different price) for your review rather than guessing
• A single clean, merged CSV ready to import wherever it's needed

What's NOT Included

• Resolving conflicting data — that's flagged to you, not silently decided for you
• Ongoing automatic merging of new supplier files unless set up as a standing tool
• Direct integration into your inventory system (can be scoped separately)

How It Works

1. I review each supplier file to document its columns, units and quirks.
2. I define a single output structure with you and write a mapping for each supplier.
3. I normalise units, formats and naming and fill or flag missing fields.
4. I match records by SKU or another key and detect conflicts such as different prices for the same item.
5. I write conflicts to a separate review report rather than choosing a winner myself.
6. I output one clean merged CSV and test with real files.

In practice: you buy the service, send over whatever access or details the job needs, I investigate and do the work, and you confirm it's resolved before we call it done.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I merge supplier CSV files with different columns?

Map each file to a common structure and combine them. I build a script that does this for your suppliers.

What happens when two suppliers disagree?

Conflicts are flagged for your review. They are not silently resolved.

Can it update my shop directly?

Not as part of this. Direct integration can be scoped separately.

Will it handle new supplier files each week?

You can run it again on new files. Automatic merging as a standing tool is not included.

Can it handle a new supplier later?

A new supplier would need its own mapping, which would be extra work.

What file types are supported?

CSV files, as described. Other formats should be mentioned beforehand.