Getting Started Guide

GovX has the ability to send you orders as a CSV file transmitted through our FTP server. You would then download and import this order file into your system for fulfillment. Once the order is fulfilled, you would then send back tracking information as a CSV file back through the same FTP. Details on this process are below.

Step 1 | Obtain a Vendor FTP Account

After communicating your desire to use the CSV (FTP) integration, the GovX Integrations Manager will provide you a login and FTP settings to connect to the GovX FTP server. 

Step 2 | Determine Order Transmission Frequency

By default, GovX will batch and send your orders hourly. The frequency that we send your orders can be adjusted, for example, to twice daily. 

Step 3 | Coordinate Product Codes

You will need to communicate to the GovX Integrations Manager whether you will be identifying your products via your internal SKU or UPC. Orders will be sent with the product identifier of your choosing.

Step 4 | Configure Order Files

Please see the Order File Data Dictionary for the standard order file schema. If you require adjustments to the columns or data provided on the order file, you will need to notify the GovX Integrations Manager.

Step 5 | Confirm ASN File Format

ASN's are files you'll send back to GovX to confirm order fulfillment and provide tracking information. GovX uses the information in your ASN files to notify customers that their orders' have shipped and ultimately closes out the order in our system. The ASN file schema is specified in the ASN File Data Dictionary section below.

Step 6 | Accessing FTP Server

The FTP service is publicly available on both staging and production servers using the ftp.govx.com URI. Supported transfer types are FTP, FTPS, SFTP, HTTP and HTTPS.

New orders will be available for you to download  in the 'orders/' folder. It is your responsibility to maintain files and track/delete files that have been processed. Partners can utilize the archive subfolder to archive files on the GovX server.

Step 7 | Testing

Before we launch the brand, we will need to test the end-to-end order flow. The test will be deemed successful when a valid ASN is received by GovX for the test order. 

Order File Data Dictionary

The order file format is configurable. You may request any of the columns below in any order. You can also request blank columns or hard coded values in any column.

Order files represent order information for all the ordered items. The following data dictionary represents a valid GovX Order. If an order has more than one line item the order header information will be repeated for each line in the order. Note: If GovX detects that an order is destined to an APO/FPO address the shipping method will be designated as USPS.

ASN File Data Dictionary

Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN), must be sent to GovX to update GovX’s order management system with the tracking information for each PO. The following data dictionary represents a valid ASN file.

Note: Only the order number, ship date, and tracking number are required. Omitting the additional information will update all items on the order for the partner with the same shipped date (default to current date/time), status (default to Shipped), and tracking number. Omission of the order detail means we'll assumed the order has shipped complete and the requested quantities on the order will be used as the shipped quantities. If an individual ItemNumber is not supplied then the supplied quantity will be ignored.

Once the shipped status is replied on a message you will not be permitted to submit a status other than shipped again for the order.

The fields can be in any order, but the format will need to be configured by GovX upon setup and should not be changed thereafter. Additionally, you can use tab or commas as field delimiter.