Presto Insta-Shops Support for Admins

Spreadsheet scheduling is a Presto feature that allows you to directly assign shops to shoppers.  Rather than selecting shops from a map, shoppers are assigned shops from a spreadsheet that designates what shop locations should be assigned to which shoppers. 

Why use spreadsheet scheduling? 

Spreadsheet scheduling is the preferred solution for audits where you do not need all of Presto's batch features, but instead want to explicitly state what locations each shopper will shop.  Typically these are internal audits or self-audits.

Before you decide to use spreadsheet scheduling for a project, there are some limitations and other factors to consider:

• Quotas, shopper rotations, and time between shops cannot be used with Spreadsheet Scheduling.
• Every Spreadsheet Scheduling configuration is specific to the survey and project, and must be configured by Presto Support.
• Currently, all spreadsheets must be imported by Presto Support staff.
• Shoppers do not receive outside notification that shops have been assigned to them (for example, via email).  They will find assigned shops in their incomplete shop log.
• All scheduled shops for the same project are assigned with the same time to complete.  The timer starts running as soon as the spreadsheet is uploaded and the shop is assigned.  Note that this means that you cannot enforce a "last day of shopping", as you can with normal Presto batches.

Setting up spreadsheet scheduling

In order to use spreadsheet scheduling for your project, Presto Support must enter a custom configuration in our database. This configuration describes the format of the spreadsheet that will be used to import shops for your project, and also includes some basic settings for shops that are scheduled through spreadsheet import.  

To request a configuration, please contact Presto Support at support@prestomobilesurveys.com.  Please do not include spreadsheets to be imported in your request -- shops cannot be imported until your configuration is complete and approved.  Your configuration request must include the following information:

• Column header for the location ID (for example, "Location ID")
• Column header for the shopper email address (for example, "Shopper Email")
• Company and survey for which you want to schedule shops
• Time allowed for completion of the shop from the time it is assigned
• Contact email address for shoppers who have questions.  This must be a verified Presto email address.

The following information optional and should only be specified if your needs require it.

• Column header for location name.  This is not required - unless you need to include the location name for your own purposes (for example, to keep track of shops), do not include the location name in your configuration request.
• Column header for route order.  If you wish to assign a route order for shops, you must specify a column header for this information.
• Base shopper pay.  Most spreadsheet scheduled shops are not paid through Presto.  If you wish to use Presto to pay shoppers, you must specify the pay amount and currency.
• Maximum reimbursement.  If you wish to use Presto to pay reimbursements to shoppers, you must specify the maximum total of all reimbursement questions on the survey.

Creating a spreadsheet 

Typically, the spreadsheet for scheduled shops is very simple., consisting of only two columns (location ID and shopper email).  Rules for the spreadsheet are as follows:

• The column headers in the spreadsheet must exactly match what was specified when the configuration was set up.  All columns defined in the setup are required for all shops (for example, if you have specified Route Order in your configuration, you must include a Route Order column in all spreadsheets).
• All shoppers in the spreadsheet must have Presto Insta-Shopper accounts whose email is verified and exactly matches the email in the spreadsheet.
• All locations in the spreadsheet must be entered in the client company with matching location IDs, and must be enabled.

For example, if you had specified in your setup that you would use the header "Auditor Email" as the column header for the shopper email addresses, and "LocID" as the column header for the location IDs, your spreadsheet might look like this:

Once you have created your spreadsheet, send it to support@prestomobilesurveys.com.  Make sure to specify the survey in your email.

Viewing imported shops

Once a spreadsheet has been successfully imported, the shops will appear in the shoppers' incomplete shop logs, just as if the shoppers had claimed them off the map.  

Important things to remember

When using spreadsheet scheduling to assign shops, there are several things that are important to remember:

• Shoppers do not receive a separate notification of assigned shops.  The shops simply appear in the shoppers' incomplete shop logs.  If you are concerned that shoppers may overlook these shops, you should contact the shoppers separately.
• A batch is automatically created for each imported spreadsheet.  This is a private batch with a name like "batch imported" followed by a date and time.  To avoid interfering with shops in progress, DO NOT deactivate this batch or make it public.