This document covers how to validate the data that is imported into Toolio and FAQs associated with it.
All actuals in Toolio are coming from the data feeds provided by the customer. Actuals are captured against time (e.g. week) and product & location hierarchy, based on the product and location associations of the data feeds.
In the document below, we cover:
Metrics to Validate
Timeframes to Validate
Data Validation Process
Topline Data Validation
Hierarchical Data Validation
FAQs
Below are a list of frequently asked questions and troubleshooting tips to help guide your Data Validation process. Please also find linked a step by step guide through the Post Import Data Validation for Merchandise Planning and Item Planning.
Metrics to Validate
Please see below for a breakdown of all raw metrics by the Data Model/Data Feed they are sourced from, followed with FAQs by model:
Feed | Metric | Notes |
Sales |
|
|
Inventory |
|
|
Purchase Order |
|
|
Receipts |
|
|
Transfer Order |
| Only if Allocation is in Scope |
Transfer Receipts |
| Only if Allocation is in Scope |
Please Note: If your account is not utilizing the Receipts model then the Receipts Metrics would be validated through the Purchase Order model
Timeframes to Validate
While validating data, it is always valuable to:
Start with shorter timeframes
Expand if shorter timeframes work
If you see issues, try to narrow it down to a shorter timeframe
Below are rough guidelines on time-frames to focus on based on feed:
Sale / Receipts / Transfer Receipts / Inventory
Start with 1 week (e.g. Last Week)
Expand to Last 3 months
Expand to LY
Purchase Order / Transfer Order
Start with 1 month (e.g. Next Month)
Expand to Next 12 months
Data Validation Process
Topline Data Validation
Important Note: Toolio targets <3% variance between data fed into Toolio vs client expected data. While we should be able to get to 0% variance, there might be diminishing returns to time spent in valiation.
We have included an Out of the Box View: In-App Data Validation View to streamline this process. Below is what it looks like:
Validate each data resource (i.e. sales, inventory, purchase order) in the order they appear on the validation view. Below are the step by step instructions:
Fill out yellow plan value lines in MP
Adjust timeframes to show the following
Historical data for aligned period (see instructions above)
Future months for on-order
Variance Analysis
Review all metrics with variances
Document each variance type
Common Issues to Investigate
Common Issues to Investigate
Calendar Misalignment
Check retail calendar matches your internal calendar
Use hover feature to expose included days
Data Filtering Requirements
Identify items needing exclusion:
Gift cards
Carbon-footprint fees
Giveaways
Other non-standard items
Document filtering rules
Data Quality Issues
Sale ID matching
PO Line ID consistency
Metric Alignment
Review metric definitions
Validate calculation methods
Hierarchy Validation
We have included an Out of the Box View: Toolio - Hierarchy Validation to streamline this process. Below is what it looks like:
This view looks at Last 4 Weeks, and highlights % of TTL with missing or uncategorized attribution for the key levels in your hierarchy. The goal here is to uncover product attribution issues. Below are the steps to go through.
Review for yellow highlighted category combinations
Yellow highlights indicate attribution issues
Document all problematic combinations
Attribution Resolution
Implement fixes - typically involves updating product attributes.
As a general rule of thumb, a great starting point for investigating data discrepancies is to use the "Show Raw Data" function within Toolio.
Product
For Unit Cost, should I use Landed Cost, FOB Cost or Ex-Factory Cost
Let's first align on the terminology:
Ex-Factory Cost: This is the fully loaded production cost, not accounting for transportation and duties.
FOB Cost: This is the Ex-Factory Cost + Transportation cost, but typically excluding other costs such as duties.
Landed Cost: This is the fully loaded cost for an item
Unit Cost should be coming from the Landed Cost, i.e. the fully loaded cost of an item.
Landed Cost, is the fully Loaded Cost for an item, accordingly that is what should be sent as Unit Cost into Toolio to have the most accurate margin information on plans and forecasts. If needed, other costs, can also be sent to Toolio as additional attributes in Product / Variant feeds and also be set up in Assortment Plan.
Sales
Gross Sales Cost in Toolio is lower than expected
If your sales data was imported through Shopify integration, please make sure that all products in your Shopify account are attributed with accurate costs at the variant level.
Gross Sales Retail in Toolio is lower than expected
Gross Sales Retail in Toolio is defined as topline sales after discounts and markdown but before returns. Please make sure that your discounts and markdowns have been deducted from your topline sales when comparing against the Gross Sales Retail values in Toolio. You can read more about the metrics in Toolio and how they are defined here.
Discounts in Toolio are higher than expected
If you are using a returns solution (i.e. Loop Returns) through Shopify, please make sure that you have discussed the reconciliation process with your Customer Success Manager.
Markdowns are showing as 0
Markdowns are not captured natively through the Shopify Order API. Please reach out to your Customer Success Manager to discuss solutions.
Inventory
Some EOP/BOP metrics are 0
If you see EOP (BOP) cost, EOP ticket, or EOP retail values showing as 0, this is usually because these fields are not being captured on the inventory feed.
I don't see Inventory for all of my Locations
Please discuss with your Customer Success Manager which locations are being captured through your inventory feed.
Purchase Orders
On order and receipt values are lower than expected
Please make sure that there are unique identifiers (PO Number, Delivery Id, Variant Id, and Location) being passed through your purchase order feed for all lines. If you have split deliveries, please pay particular attention to the Delivery Id. Additionally, please make sure that the status for all lines you would wish to see in Toolio are marked as 'active'.
On order and receipt values are higher than expected
This discrepancy may be due to PO cancellations not being captured properly. Please make sure that all cancelled PO's are set to status "inactive". Please also note that on order values are aggregated with respect to the PO Due Date whereas receipt quantities are aggregated according to the PO Delivery Date.
Alternatively, you can work with your Customer Success Manager to enable full data syncs for the Purchase Order feed. This will make sure that all POs after the first order data in your data feed will be deleted before importing a new feed, hence removing all stale Purchase Orders automatically.
Receipts (for customers using the Receipt data feed)
How do I compare what I've Received vs. what I've ordered?
If your account is configured to utilize the Receipt feed, you can find Receipt Total values on any view within the Purchase Order Master Data Table. This includes Receipt Units, Receipt Cost, Receipt Retail, and Receipt Ticket totals which are aggregated across all receipts and tagged to the PO Line of the original order.
For example, if you have 3 separate receipts of an item for a single PO Line, you will see the total of all 3 receipts summed in reference to the PO Line so that you can easily compare what you ordered against your total receipts.
Related Articles
Merchandise Plan Data Validation