Incoming and outgoing rules

To be as flexible as you need us to be, Spotler Connect differentiates between incoming rules and outgoing rules.

Incoming rules

Incoming rules govern the incoming data: from your source platform(s) to Spotler Connect. If you create an incoming rule, data will be modified before it's saved to Spotler Connect.

Examples of incoming rules are:

Removing characters from product titles (for example: Remove '-' from product title)
Add data to profiles when no value is set in the source platform (for example: Add '-' to First name when First name is empty)
Move product metadata to a designated field in Spotler Connect (for example: Use value from field meta.weight and copy this in the existing Spotler Connect field Product.weight)

When do you use incoming rules?

Incoming rules are useful when you import product, order or customer data from multiple sources. Incoming rules are meant to improve your data consistency or to enrich existing data, so it can be processed more reliably in other platforms down the road.

Outgoing rules

Outgoing rules govern the data that Spotler Connect propagates: From Spotler Connect to your target platform(s). when you create an outgoing rule, data is modified as soon as it is send to the target platform. In Spotler Connect the data will still be available in its original (non-modified) state. This allows you to tailor outgoing rules exactly to your target platform's needs.

Examples of outgoing rules are:

Adjusting product prices in target platforms (for example: Multiply product price with 1.21 for Platforms X and Y)
Add data to products (for example: Add placeholder image to product for Platform X when no product image is available in Spotler Connect)

When do you use outgoing rules?

Outgoing rules are convenient if you need data tailor-made for one or more platforms. In the examples above it could very well be that not all platforms need a product price increase, or that you have different price points per platform. By creating specific outgoing rules for specific platforms, you can modify the data in a way that suits you.

Outgoing rules can also enrich data so it will be accepted by a source platform, even if your original data isn't suitable. In the example above, you can probably image that there are platforms that do not accept products without images. By having Spotler Connect add a placeholder image when no image is available, you can make the automated flow work for you in this scenario too.

Rules