This guide explains how to import old processed orders into your Linnworks account. Old processed orders are your historical orders that were processed outside of Linnworks. 

This process requires first importing these orders as open orders into the Open Orders screen and then processing them in bulk using the Process Orders import. 

To import old processed orders:

1. Prepare a CSV file with the order information.
2. Use the Open Order import to import orders into Linnworks. 
3. Now, export these orders with the Open Order export to get a new CSV file with the Linnworks Order ID column. 
   • NB! It is important not to miss this step because this column is necessary for the Process Orders import. 
4. Use a new CSV file for the Process Orders import to bulk process these orders in Linnworks.

To consider

Inventory levels

Since these old orders will be imported into the Open Orders screen, they will reserve the available stock in My Inventory. When these orders are processed, they deduct stock for their linked items. 

If these historic orders are not supposed to affect your current stock levels in the warehouse (Linnworks location), then the best approach would be to process them from a different 'virtual' location. That location will not be enabled for your channel's inventory sync, so it will not affect the total stock submitted to the channel. Your stock items will not have any levels in this new location, so no stock will be deducted either.

To do so:

1. Create a new location in Linnworks.
2. When importing orders, specify that location in the column mapping, either using a column in the file or as a default value.
3. When using the Process Order import, specify this 'virtual' location again in the column mapping step.

Orders' Source

Imported orders will have a source of DATAIMPORTEXPORT and will not be linked to any channel integration. That's why in reporting, these orders be separated from channel orders.

Reporting

Reporting-wise, importing orders in this way might have a limited value as there will be a lot of orders processed on that particular day rather than a historical record. It might be fine if the intent was to add CRM data. But for proper reporting, it might be worth: 

• Including Received and Processed Dates in the import file to make the imported order data more accurate.
• The Shipping Date must be the actual dispatch date of the order. If not specified, the system will set the Shipping Date for all orders to be the date the import was completed.

Stock Forecasting

Above, we have suggested using a "virtual" location to avoid stock level changes. However, some parts of Linnworks work with Stock Item History rather than historical orders. For example, Stock Forecasting. For Linnworks to forecast stock correctly, orders must have correct timestamps of when an order was processed, and items must be linked and have available stock in the given location. That's why processing orders in a "virtual" location will not affect stock forecast calculations. 

See our primary documentation on Stock Forecasting for more details on configuring and using this functionality. 

Consumption reports

Linnworks offers a separate Stock Consumption dashboard and has a few Query Data reports on consumption, such as:

• Consumption Rate - Average Stock Rate
• Consumption Rate - Avg Stock Rate by Supplier
• Consumption Rate - Avg Stock Normal Distribution - No Spikes
• Consumption Rate by SubSource

Like Stock Forecasting, consumption reports work with Stock Item History rather than historical orders. Processing orders without items' available stock getting deducted in the given location will not affect these reports. That's why using a "virtual" location is unsuitable for this case.