Should I use the CSV import or the Shopify order import?

Use the Shopify order import for orders placed in your store. Use the CSV import for users or orders from anywhere else. See how to credit past Shopify orders with giveaway entries .

Can I give entries to people I met at an event?

Yes. Add them to a CSV with the required headers and import it. You can award purchase entries in the same step. See how purchase-based giveaway entries work .

Do I need to import new Shopify orders by hand?

No. The Make a Purchase entry action tracks new orders automatically. See how Giveaway Ninja tracks sales from a giveaway .

Reward Purchases with Entries

How do I import users and orders from a CSV?

15-20 minutes
All plans

Quick answer

Use Giveaway Ninja's Import Tool to upload a CSV of users or orders collected outside your store, such as at an in-person event, and optionally award purchase entries. The file needs every required header. For live Shopify sales, use the Make a Purchase entry action. For past Shopify orders, use the Import Shopify Orders tool.

The Import Tool lets you manually import orders and users from a CSV file and, optionally, award purchase entries. It's useful if you collect entries from other sources, on-site events and so on.

For regular sales tracking, use the Make a Purchase entry action.

Importing past Shopify orders? The Shopify order import is faster and applies your rules automatically.

What headers does the CSV file need?

The CSV file must contain all the headers below, spelled exactly as shown, in a comma-separated file. Some fields can be left empty in individual rows.

Header	Required or optional	Format	Example
Email	Required	The entrant's email address	jane@example.com
Billing Name	Optional	The entrant's name	Jane Smith
Phone	Optional	Phone number	+15550102030
Shipping Country	Optional	ISO country code	US, UK, CA, AU
Total	Required for Import Orders & Reward Purchases	Order value, as a number	49.90
Order Id	Required for Import Orders & Reward Purchases	Your order reference	1001
Entries	Optional	Number of entries (points) to add to, or set on, the user's total	10

A minimal file looks like this:

Email,Billing Name,Phone,Shipping Country,Total,Order Id,Entries
jane@example.com,Jane Smith,+15550102030,US,49.90,1001,
sam@example.com,Sam Lee,,CA,,,25

How do I run the CSV import?

In the dashboard, go to Tools and click Import Orders (CSV)
Select the destination giveaway
Upload the file. The system previews ten records, or returns an error if a required field is missing
Choose the action: Import Users & Update User Entries or Import Orders & Reward Purchases
For orders, optionally choose how purchases are rewarded: Fixed Entries (for example, 10 entries per order) or Order Value (for example, $1 spent = 1 entry)
Click IMPORT ORDERS or IMPORT USERS, depending on the action you chose

Important: before importing data into a live giveaway, test the import in a test campaign first, to check everything works as expected.

What's the difference between importing users and importing orders?

Import Users & Update User Entries uses the Entries column, not the order value. The app adds each user, or updates an existing user's entry total. For users who are already in the giveaway, choose whether to add the CSV entries to their current total or overwrite it.

Import Orders & Reward Purchases uses the Total column and ignores the Entries column. The app updates the user's total entries and logs a purchase action with the Order Id, so the order is tracked like a sale.

Each imported user gets their own random 6-digit PIN. To see their entries, they open the giveaway and type the e-mail from the CSV. Giveaway Ninja e-mails them the PIN, and they enter it to log in. No password or PIN column is needed in the file. See how returning entrants log back into a giveaway.