One of the first things you need to do when setting up your edrone account is import your existing contact database.
You probably already have a contact database somewhere: on your eCommerce platform, in a marketing tool you used before, or even in a simple spreadsheet.
edrone also collects data on every visitor automatically, building a Customer Profile that keeps updating over time.
Keep reading to learn everything about importing your database, or jump to the section you need:
Download the database you already have
This step depends entirely on you, since every eCommerce platform and marketing tool has its own way of storing and exporting contacts. What matters is that you end up with a spreadsheet with, at minimum, a column with email addresses.
There's no limit to how many contacts your database can have.
Formatting the file
Now format your spreadsheet so edrone can process it correctly. Once it's ready, save it as CSV, XLS, or XLSX.
CSV files
If you save the file as CSV, make sure values are separated by commas or semicolons, and use UTF-8 encoding (without BOM) — if a different encoding is detected, the import automatically fails. Don't use special characters, including periods, in the file name.
Note: avoid characters like ' (apostrophe) and " (quotation marks) — they can cause problems during import.
Mandatory and optional fields for your CSV file:
Field | How to fill it | Optional / Mandatory |
Current email address | Mandatory | |
Name | Text | Optional |
Last name | Text | Optional |
Phone number | Digits only (spaces and country/area codes are fine) | Optional |
Gender | M for male, F for female, REFUSED if declined, UNKNOWN, OTHER | Optional |
Birth date | YYYY-MM-DD | Optional |
City | Text | Optional |
Country | Text | Optional |
State | Text | Optional |
Language | ISO 639-1 code (2 letters, e.g. EN) | Optional |
Email subscription status | 1, yes, subscribe, active, toggle on, or true for subscribed; 0 for unsubscribed (in the next step you choose whether "0" contacts should be subscribed or unsubscribed); an empty field is treated as "unknown" | Mandatory |
SMS subscription status | 1 subscribed, 0 unsubscribed, empty = unknown | Optional |
Email subscription request date | YYYY-MM-DD | Optional |
Email subscription confirmation date | YYYY-MM-DD | Optional |
Tags | Text (separate multiple tags with a comma) | Optional |
Important: only import contacts who gave valid marketing consent (GDPR-compliant opt-in). Importing people who never agreed to be contacted puts your sender reputation and deliverability at risk. The subscription status columns are exactly how you tell edrone who consented.
XLS and XLSX files
If you save the file as XLS or XLSX, remember that no column and no row can be left empty. If any column or row is blank, you'll see an error and the import will fail.
Good formatting practices
Put first and last names in separate columns, so you can personalize messages with just the first name ("Hi, Mary!") instead of the full name ("Hi, Mary Ann Smith!").
Remove any columns you don't want imported into your CRM (like address or ID numbers).
Remove unnecessary duplicates if you can. In the import settings step you decide whether edrone should ignore duplicate emails or overwrite existing contacts with them — removing duplicates from the file isn't required, but it keeps the file lighter.
All good? Great, now let's upload the file to edrone!
Uploading your file to the edrone workspace
You'll go through a simple 2-step process: upload your file, then confirm the column mapping, tags, and import settings on one screen.
Step 1: Upload your file
Go to CUSTOMERS > IMPORT and click "Select file to import" to upload it. File limits:
CSV files must be under 60 MB
XLS files must have fewer than 65,000 rows and be under 60 MB
XLSX files must have fewer than 1,000,000 rows and be under 60 MB
For XLS and XLSX, only the first sheet is read
Maximum 1,024 characters per row
Important: if your file isn't formatted correctly, the import will fail. Check the formatting section above before uploading.
Once you've selected the right file, click "Next".
Step 2: Confirm the import
You'll land on the "Confirm Import" screen, with your file name at the top. A blue banner shows how many valid rows were found in the sample edrone analyzed — remember, this describes the sample, not the whole file.
In the "Match the columns to the corresponding fields" section, check the file preview and assign a unique customer field to each column:
Use the "Skip first row" checkbox if your file has a header row.
Use the "Separator" dropdown to set how your columns are split (for example, comma).
For each column, use the dropdown at the top of the preview table to map it — for example, Ignore, Email, City, or State.
Tip: you can now also map a State column directly — this field wasn't available for import before. If your file has state or province data, map it too.
You must map at least the email or the phone number column, or you won't be able to continue.
On the right side of the screen, you'll see two panels:
Tags: choose tags for the imported contacts. Decide whether to add them to existing tags or replace existing tags — replacing removes any tags already on a contact's profile if you don't select one for them.
Import Settings: shows how many contacts from your file already exist in your database, so you can choose to overwrite existing contacts or ignore duplicates. You'll also set the subscription status for empty cells: specify one status for the whole file, or choose not to update the subscription status (new contacts are then set to unknown).
When everything looks right, click "Confirm Import" to start.
The import can take from a few seconds to a few hours, depending on file size. You'll see "in progress" while it runs, and you'll get an email once it's done.
What happens after import
You decide what happens with duplicates. In the Import Settings step, you choose whether edrone should overwrite existing contacts' data or ignore duplicates and import only new contacts (though a clean file is always lighter).
Your contacts show up in the Customer Database, each with a Customer Profile that edrone keeps updated.
They're immediately ready for segmentation, campaigns, and automations (like Abandoned Cart or Post-Purchase).
Quick Win: import your database with the correct consent status from day one — your welcome messages and automations start working right away for thousands of known contacts, with no extra effort.
Import history
Every import is logged in the Import history table, in your import settings (CUSTOMERS > IMPORT). You'll find:
Import date: day and time (the location shown, e.g. Europe/Warsaw, indicates the time zone)
Filename: the imported file's name
Status: Completed, In Progress, Canceled, or Failed
Contacts: number of contacts imported
Click "Details" to expand a summary of what data was imported and how many existing contacts were updated.
Troubleshooting
You used the wrong separator in your CSV file — Our system accepts files separated by commas, semicolons, spaces, or tabs. Either re-export the file from the source using one of these separators, or open it in a spreadsheet editor and save it again with the right separator and encoding (UTF-8).
A field contains invalid values — For example, the Email subscription status field must be "0" or "1". Any other value, like "subscribed" or "yes," causes an error. Fix the value according to the formatting table above.
The file is larger than 60 MB — Split it into smaller files and try again.
The file name has special characters, like periods — Remove them and try again.
The file wasn't saved with UTF-8 encoding — Save it again with the correct encoding (Unicode UTF-8) and try again.
That's it! Now it's time to start engaging with your contacts :)
Need more help?
If you have any further questions about importing contacts into edrone, please do not hesitate to contact us at hello@edrone.me