Storing User Data in Iterable

You can store information about your users' individual attributes and behavior (like their geographic region, age, product preferences, and devices) in fields on their Iterable user profile.

# In this article

# Uploading user data to Iterable

There are a few ways ways to add or update user data in Iterable, including:

• Uploading a CSV file
• Using Iterable's API or SDKs
• Using an integration that sends data to Iterable

# Importing users with a CSV upload

You can add or update user profile fields by uploading a CSV file in which one column (email or userId) represents the user's email address or user ID, and the rest of the columns represent the individual user profile fields you want to add or update for those users. Uploading a CSV file with new values for existing user profile fields overwrites the current values for those fields on the user profile.

To learn more, see:

• Adding Users and Creating Lists
• CSV List Import Best Practices

# Importing users with Iterable's API

You can add or update user data by calling the POST /api/users/update API endpoint and including your desired user profile fields in the dataFields object.

For more information, see API Overview and Sample Payloads.

# Creating and updating user profile fields

Iterable automatically creates some user profile fields, but you can also create custom user profile fields to fit your unique business needs. (For a full list of the fields Iterable manages automatically, see User Profile Fields Used by Iterable.)

For example, if the Enable user IP to location lookup setting is enabled for your project, when you provide a user's IP address (in the ip field), Iterable also adds the city, region, country, and timeZone fields to that user's profile.

When you set the ip or timeZone fields on your users' profiles, you can deliver messages according to each user's local time. For more information, see:

• Sending or Scheduling a Blast Campaign
• Activating a Triggered Campaign
• Optimizing Campaign Delivery

# Selecting a data type

Each user profile field has an associated data type: string, boolean, double, long, date, object, or array.

Once set, a field's data type can't be changed. API calls attempting to add or update an existing field with a value that cannot be coerced into the appropriate data type will fail. Use caution when creating new user profile fields.

# Selecting a field name

When you create new custom user profile fields, don't give them the same names as any of Iterable's built-in user profile fields. If you do, it may cause errors.

# Tracking shopping and purchase data

Iterable's Commerce API endpoints let you track customer shopping events and purchases.

To track a user's shopping cart on your website or app, use the POST /api/commerce/updateCart/ API endpoint. You can add each cart item in the items array of your API request and include optional attributes like price, quantity, sku, and category.

When you do this, Iterable saves these updates to a user's profile under the shoppingCartItems array, which you can use to personalize your Iterable message templates. Iterable also logs an event (updateCart), which you can use as an entry source for cart abandonment journeys.

Calling the POST /api/commerce/trackPurchase API endpoint removes all shoppingCartItems from a user's profile and logs a purchase event in their history. You can also use this function to track campaign conversion and measure ROI. To learn more, see Tracking Conversions, Purchases, and Revenue.

# Viewing a user's data

To see a user's profile data, go to Audience > Contact Lookup. Enter the user's email address or user ID to view their user profile.

# Inserting user data in messages

You can use a merge tag (the name of a user profile field surrounded by double curly braces) to insert user data in message templates. For example, if you store users' first names in a field called firstName, you could add the following merge tag to a message template:

{{firstName}}