Connecting Your Data
A user-level overview of getting your data into KeyOne — what sources it uses, the grain it works at, what’s automated versus manual today, and what to expect after a feed lands. About 8 minutes.
KeyOne is only as good as the data behind it. This guide explains, in plain terms, what data KeyOne needs and how it gets there — without the engineering detail. It is deliberately honest about which steps are hands-off and which still need a person.
The two data worlds KeyOne joins
A principal (brand owner) lives in two data worlds, and KeyOne’s job is to unify them:
| World | What it contains | Typical source |
|---|---|---|
| Internal (your ERP) | Sales-in, profitability, trade spend, service levels | SAP / ERP exports |
| External (the retailer) | Daily sales-out, store stock, distribution, pricing, assortment, shelf photos | Retailer scan / POS portals |
Neither world alone tells the whole story. Your ERP knows what you shipped; the retailer knows what sold and what’s on shelf. KeyOne reconciles both.
DiagramTwo data worlds, reconciled into one trusted number
The grain: SKU × Store × Day
KeyOne works at the lowest useful grain — every SKU, in every Store, on every Day. Almost every metric you’ll see (rate of sale, OSA, distribution, share) is computed from this base and rolled up from there.
Why this matters to you: because the data is held at SKU × Store × Day, you can always drill from a national KPI down to a single store and a single product on a single date. If a number looks wrong, you can trace it to the exact rows it came from. (See Glossary for these terms.)
What goes in
Internal — SAP / ERP
KeyOne’s data foundation accepts the staples a commercial team works from:
- Sales-out / deliveries — material × plant × day
- Trade spend — promotional and listing investment
- Service levels — delivery reliability
Standard extract templates are available on request from the KeyOne team, so your IT team knows exactly what format to produce.
External — retailer scan / POS
Major South African retailers each publish supplier data through their own portals — for example a supplier-portal CSV export, a trade-intelligence download, or a regional feed. For each retailer you work with, the data is exported in the format KeyOne expects and brought in.
What’s automated vs. manual today
This is where honesty matters. As of today:
| Step | Status |
|---|---|
| Defining the extract format | Manual — templates provided; your team produces the file |
| Getting the first feed in | Assisted / manual — arranged with the KeyOne team, not yet pure self-service |
| Matching products & stores to KeyOne’s master records | Automated, with manual review for anything ambiguous |
| Computing metrics once data is matched | Automated |
| Live charts & KPIs in hubs | Requires the analytics engine to be provisioned in your environment |
No false green. Self-service data connection from within the app is something KeyOne is building toward, but it is not a finished, click-it-yourself feature today. If you need a feed connected, that’s arranged with the KeyOne team. We’d rather tell you that than show a “Connect” button that doesn’t do the job.
Master-data matching (what happens to a new file)
When a file lands, KeyOne reconciles the identifiers in it against its master records:
- It reads every product and store identifier in your feed.
- It auto-matches as many as it can to KeyOne’s universal SKU and store records.
- Anything ambiguous or brand-new is flagged for a person to confirm — it is not silently guessed.
You’ll get a summary showing totals, auto-matched counts, and the items needing review.
Worked example (illustrative). Suppose a beverages principal uploads a week of Checkers scan data covering 420 SKUs across 380 stores. KeyOne auto-matches 405 SKUs and 372 stores, and flags 15 SKUs and 8 stores for review — typically new launches or a renamed store. Once those are confirmed, the full set flows into metrics. The numbers here are illustrative, not from a real customer.
Important: acting on unmatched data is disabled by design. KeyOne will not show you a metric it can’t trace to a confirmed product and store. A short delay for matching is the price of numbers you can trust.
What to expect after a feed lands
Once data is matched and the analytics engine is connected:
- Hubs populate. KPI strips and charts begin rendering your tenant’s data. (See Using a Hub.)
- Decisions appear. The engine starts surfacing risks, decisions, and tasks into your Work Queue.
- KeyChat gets useful. You can ask grounded questions about the new data. (See KeyChat.)
If the analytics engine isn’t provisioned yet, you’ll still get the Decisions & Actions side of KeyOne — the charts simply show an honest “not provisioned” state until the engine is connected. (See FAQ & Troubleshooting.)
Common pitfalls
- Expecting instant charts. Matching and (where needed) provisioning come first. A blank chart with a “not provisioned” label is a status, not a bug.
- Treating flagged items as errors. Items flagged for review are the system being careful, not broken. Confirm them and they flow through.
- Wrong extract format. Use the provided templates — a mis-shaped file is the most common reason a feed stalls.