Introduction

This document describes the "Pricat" functionality, that is how to import large item collections from Excel into Business Central.

Scenarios

The "Pricat" functionality is an easy way of importing large chunks of items into Business Central. It does that by simply store the information in specific table before creating the actual items. The "Pricat" functionality is primarily indented to be used with brand suppliers that deliver season based collections and quotes several times in a year. 

Prerequisites

Before the "Pricat" functionality can be used, a number series needs to be connected to the "Pricat"-document in "Anyware Retail Setup". Its also a good thing to get familiar with the Excel template. The excel template uses the "Item Groups", which is referenced in the excel template. This field maps to all other statistic values and will populate the item card when the items are created.

Walk through

Below are some different use cases that involves the "Pricat" functionality. 

Import a new pricat

To import and create a new pricat from Excel, follow the steps below:

1. Start by opening up the "Pricat List" page. This can be done by searching for "Pricat List".
2. Locate the button "Import Pricat From Excel". Click that button.
3. A file picker is shown. Pick the excel template file, filled with items from the supplier, and click "OK".

A new pricat, with a new number from the number series, is now created in the list. Open the pricat by clicking on the number itself. The template contains field columns for most relevant fields, however additional fields can be imported as attributes. To add attributes in the excel template, simply add a new column with a column header of choice. 

Recommended retail prices can also be included in the excel template, simply by adding a column with header "RRP [currency code]". For example "RRP SEK" or "RRP EUR".

The pricat card

The pricat, itself, consists of a header and multiple lines. Each line corresponds to a style or a model which in turn i built up by a number of different variants. The header looks like the following:

Further more the header contain some fields controlling the validity of the pricat. 

The pricat lines contains the following columns:

Actions

The following actions can be performed on pricat header level:

The following actions can be performed on pricat model level:

Checking items and create new variants

On newly imported pricats, the item needs to be checked and matched in order for the pricat functionality to understand whether or not the items already exists in Business Central. The checking process loops the variants for each model and matches the barcode against item references in Business Central. The first existing reference on each item is applies as parent item number on the pricat model. If different variants on the same pricat model exists on different items in Business Central, only the first one will be applied on the pricat model. And added colors and sizes will be created as variants on this item.

The checking procedure will be run automatically on import, but it is important not to skip this process. If so, all pricat model will be created as new items.

After the checking process completes, existing models will be checked for update automatically. New models, however, needs to be checked manually in order for them to be created as items.

To create and update items and variants, follow this process:

1. Open up the selected pricat.
2. Click "Check Items" to run the checking process.
3. Notice that existing pricat models is selected with "Update" and the existing item number is pre-filled.
4. Check the "Update" checkbox on pricat models to create.
5. Click "Create/Update Items".
6. Done! New items have now been created, and the existing ones have been updated.

Recommended retail prices

Although the pricat can manage unlimited sales prices in different currencies, four currencies of choice can be chosen to be visible on model line level and model variant level. These currencies are setup on the setup page "Anyware Retail Setup". These columns will also show the converted price based on the price conversion rules.

When creating and updating items, the RRP prices are transfered to the item sales prices and put in a specific "Customer Price Group". These price groups are defined on the button "Pricat RRP Currencies" on the pricat card. Each currency is connected to the same or different customer price groups.