Orders from the inbox, straight into the shop’s format

The task

The manufacturer’s online shop imports orders as a file with two columns: item number and quantity. Retailers, though, order the way they are used to: as an Excel list with its own layout, as a CSV with their own item numbers, or as a PDF, some of them in Polish, English or Vietnamese.

What was needed was a way to turn each of these orders into a file the shop can import directly, without anyone retyping it.

An example

How it works

1. The retailer emails their order to a fixed address, as they always have.
2. Every minute the program collects new emails. It recognises the format from the sender; for emails from within the company, a code in the subject line decides.
3. It reads the lines from the file, matches each item number to the shop’s number and converts packs into single units where a format requires it.
4. The finished import file goes back to the sender as a reply. Lines without a matching item number are listed as a note in the email.

When something doesn’t fit

If a file arrives in a format that hasn’t been set up, or from an unknown address, the sender gets an error email that explains the problem. I set up a new order format once; after that it runs like the others.

Status and limits

In operation

Since 2025, with seven order formats set up.

No AI

The conversion follows fixed rules. There are no running AI costs, and every result can be traced.

Limit

The program stops at the import file. It does not enter anything into the shop itself.

Monitoring

Since September 2026 a protected statistics page has shown how it is running. An alert for faults, an external check and a daily report are in place; they have not yet been tested in operation.

My role

Programmed and maintained by me, on behalf of a Düsseldorf agency.