Individual Allocations Overview
Individual Allocations are a way of offering a custom-curated selection of wines and limits for particular customers. You can offer an Individual Allocation to all the members in a specific Group, or just select customers within a Group.
Individual Allocations work in conjunction with your standard Group setup, not as a replacement for it. The Group controls the offer experience your customers land on, including the page messaging, timeline, and checkout settings. The Individual Allocation controls what each specific customer sees within that experience, such as which products they are offered and their purchase and wish limits. Both are required for Individual Allocations to function correctly.
NOTE: If a customer is in a Group Allocation and you add an Individual Allocation to their account, the Individual Allocation will supersede the Group allocation products, minimums, and limits.
Before proceeding, make sure you have a thorough understanding of the standard group allocation process. Review the Set Up Your Allocation Offering article and the other allocation articles in the Groups & Allocations collection before continuing.
For Individual Allocations, you should first determine what makes up your different loyalty tiers and create your Groups. Assigning customer groups is different for every organization. If all your customers receive an individual allocation, then you may only need one Group. If you have a combination of Individual and Group-based allocations, you may want to create a Subgroup for customers receiving an Individual Allocation for easier identification. Once you decide on your setup, Create Your Groups, Subgroups and add your customers to these segments.
NOTE: If this is your first time setting up an Allocation of any kind in Offset, please review the articles in the Groups & Allocations collection before proceeding.
Next, you can start working on your Individual allocations. While the methods of deciding what those individual allocations are will vary between brands, once you decide those amounts, they must be converted into the correct format in order to get them into Offset. This article outlines the process of setting up and importing your Individual Allocations in Offset.
IMPORTANT: If you would like to enable the Individual Allocations feature, please message us using support chat or email us at support@offsetpartners.com, as settings need to be enabled and additional adjustments of your commerce pages may be required.
Add an Individual Allocation Manually
If you only need to set up individual allocations for a few customers, you can add them manually through the customer account without preparing an import sheet. This is a great option when you have just a couple of individual allocations and don't want to fuss with an entire import file. You can also use this method to make on-the-fly additions for certain customers during an active allocation period as needed.
To add an individual allocation to a customer account on Offset's front end:
Go to the Customers tab
Search for your customer
Select the customer account to view the customer details
On the Allocation tab, locate the Individual Allocation section
Select the Select Product dropdown, then choose your SKU
Enter the Min Purchase, Max Purchase, Min Wish, Max Wish quantities. (These correspond to the min_quantity, max_quantity, min_wish, and max_wish fields in the guide below)
Add a product Badge to add a label that appears above the individual product in the customer's offer path-to-purchase
Select the Add to Allocation button to add your product
Repeat this process for all products you want to add
To remove a product, select the X next to it
Set the start time using the Start Date picker
Next, set the end time using the End Date picker
Select the Update Allocation button to save your settings
The customer can then log in and view their individual allocation. The Allocation Messaging will populate from their main allocation Group.
NOTE: Changes made within the customer account only affect that single customer. This makes manual adds ideal for small-scale or one-off individual allocations.
An example of a manually added Individual Allocation
Set Up Your Allocation Details
Before you start, if you haven't already set up your Group and Offering settings, review the Set Up Your Allocation Offering article before proceeding.
Most clients can save some work by filling out some basic information about your offer that will populate the Blank Allocation Import CSV export file. Go to the Settings > Carts, Allocations & Clubs page and scroll down to the Allocation Details section to get started.
Enter Your Offering Name
This is the name of your current offer so you know which allocation this information applies to. For example, "2028 Spring Allocation."
Enter Your Start Date
Use the date picker to select the starting day of your individual allocation. This date will populate the allocation_start column of the Blank Allocation Import CSV file. The imported Start and End dates will supersede any group allocation dates.
NOTE: You can adjust the dates to have different Start and End dates for certain customers on the final version of the import sheet, but this will give you a good starting point if you will be releasing for most individuals on a specific date.
Enter Your End Date
Use the date picker to select the ending day of your individual allocation. This date will populate the allocation_end column of the Blank Allocation Import CSV file.
Enter the SKUs to show in New Allocation Order
Enter each product SKU for the items you would like to offer in your individual allocation. These SKUs will populate the sku column of the Blank Allocation Import CSV file. You can always add rows and insert specific SKUs or remove them for specific customers on the final import sheet.
FORMAT: Make sure that you only have one SKU per line and no extra spaces or line returns.
Enter a ShipCompliant Tag (Optional)
By entering the name of your current offer as the ShipCompliant Tag this name will be added to the Club/Offering Name field in the order details when an order is placed in an allocation offer on your website or when an admin places an Allocation Order. The ShipCompliant Tag also populates the club_name column of the Order Data export CSV and the Tags column in the ShipCompliant 1011 export CSV. ShipCompliant users sometimes use this Tag column to alert fulfillment houses as to what insert should be included in the box for the specific order if you have included print media.
An example of Allocation Details
Enter Your Offering Receipt Message (Optional)
Entering text in this field replaces the Default Message displayed on the Receipt page after offering checkout. Click the "See Default Message" to preview the current message as it will appear on your page.
Wish Only Receipt Message (Optional)
Entering text in this field replaces the Default Message displayed on the Receipt page after a Wish Only offering checkout. Click the "See Default Message" to preview the current message as it will appear on your page.
Prepare and Import Your Blank Allocation Import File
To import your individual allocations, you will need to generate and update the Blank Allocation import CSV file. First, make sure that you Set Up Your Allocation Details so that your file includes all the default SKUs. Next, proceed with the instructions below to generate and fill out your file.
Note: Setting your allocation details before generating the file is not a required step, but it will save you a significant amount of data entry time.
Export Your Blank Allocation Import File
Go to the Customers tab
Select Actions
Under EXPORTS, select the Blank Allocation Import CSV
Save your file
Example of a Blank Allocation Import .csv
Fill out Your Blank Allocation Import File
Make sure to fill out all the required fields as listed below. All green-highlighted fields are required.
NOTE: Make sure your file is saved as a UTF-8 or MS-DOS CSV before importing. Incorrect file formatting is the most common cause of import errors.
Column Header | Format | Notes and Instructions |
customer_id | numeric (ex. 321654) | The customer's unique numeric ID in Offset. Used as the primary identifier for each row. Export the Blank Allocation Import to get pre-populated customer IDs for your entire customer list. |
text/email address | Customer email address. Pre-populated in the blank export. Not required for import to function, but retain the column header exactly as-is. Do not remove it. | |
allocation_tier | Text (group name), ex. Tier 1 | Synonymous with the customer group. Must exactly match a group NAME already saved in the system on the Groups page. IMPORTANT: This field always functions as a Move, regardless of whether the value matches the customer's current group. The import will remove the customer from all other standard and allocation groups. If no group change is intended, copy the existing group name as-is from the export, but keep in mind that it will still remove them from other group assignments. If you need to preserve existing group assignments before importing, export a backup via Actions > Exports > All Customers CSV. Alternatively, add customer tags mirroring their current group assignments before importing, then use the customer filters to shift them back into their groups via the UI after the import is complete. If the allocation_tier column is left blank, the customer will be removed from all of their group assignments. |
sub_group | Text | Optional but strongly recommended. Must be pre-saved in Settings > Configurations before importing. You can update the sub-group ahead of the export by importing subgroup into an existing customer account. That subgroup will pre-populate the export if it already exists in the customer account. Note: If you add a subgroup to the customer account ahead of time, you can identify those customers on this sheet. For example, if you create a subgroup called "Individual Allocations" and then add the customers to that group, you can easily distinguish the Individual Allocation customers from general customers on this export. |
allocation_start | MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS (Military Time) | The start date and time for this individual customer's offer window. Example: 07/01/2026 08:00:00. Military time is used for the time value. If a time is entered, this overrides the global start date and time set in the group. If the time formatting is incorrect or omitted, the time added to the customer will default to 12:00 AM on the date entered. If left completely blank, the time will be controlled by the times set in the customer Group settings. This time is pre-populated if you enter a date when you Set Up Your Allocation Details |
allocation_end | MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS (Military Time) | The end date and time for this individual customer's offer window. Example: 07/30/2026 23:59:59. Military time is used for the time value. If a time is entered, this overrides the global end date and time set in the group. If the time formatting is incorrect or omitted, the time added to the customer will default to 12:00 AM on the date entered. If left completely blank, the time will be controlled by the times set in the customer Group settings. This time is pre-populated if you enter a date when you Set Up Your Allocation Details. WARNING: If a time is not read correctly on allocation_end, the offer will close at 12:00 AM on the end date, not the end of that day. Always use full military time (ex. 23:59:59) on your end date to keep the offer open through the final day. |
title | Text | Optional Informational fields that should reflect the product's display name. These fields appear blank in the current blank export (a known issue being investigated). They are not required for import to function. Use the SKU to identify products in the meantime. |
subtitle | Text | Optional Informational fields that should reflect the product's display name. These fields appear blank in the current blank export (a known issue being investigated). They are not required for import to function. Use the SKU to identify products in the meantime. |
bottle_size | Limited options (ex. 750mL, 1.5L, etc). | Optional informational field. Size options depend on which sizes are enabled on the Settings > Fulfillment Methods & Rates > Cubing, & California Redemption Value (CRV). (Displays in the Open Cart, Order Emails, and Printed Receipts) |
sku | alphanumeric text with no punctuation other than a "-" and no spaces. (ex. 12MTCAB750) | Required. Must exactly match a SKU already in the system. SKUs are finalized in the Allocation Details section (Settings > Carts, Allocations, and Clubs) before running the export. Each customer gets one row per SKU. The blank export pre-populates every SKU entered in Allocation Details for every customer. |
min_quantity | numeric | Minimum purchase quantity for this customer and SKU. In most allocation scenarios, this should be 0. Do not leave blank; enter 0 if no minimum is required. Blanks cause import errors. |
max_quantity | numeric | Maximum purchase quantity for this customer and SKU. Set to 0 if you want the customer to be able to wish only, but not purchase outright. Do not leave blank. |
min_wish | numeric | Minimum wish quantity. In most cases, this should be 0. Do not leave blank. |
max_wish | numeric | Maximum number of additional bottles the customer can request if inventory remains after purchase orders are processed. Set to 0 if no wish is offered for this SKU. To create a wish-only line (no purchase, just request), set max_quantity to 0 and max_wish to a positive number. Do not leave blank. |
product_badge | Text | Optional. An open-ended label that appears above the product in the customer's offer path-to-purchase. Can be left blank. Use cases include: "New to Your Allocation," "Exclusive for Your Tier," "100 Points," or any short callout relevant to that specific customer and SKU. Applied at the individual level, so a badge can be specific to one customer without affecting others receiving the same SKU. Must be enabled in the path-to-purchase design settings for it to display. Contact support if you want to enable this feature. |
IMPORTANT: For all numeric fields (min_quantity, max_quantity, min_wish, max_wish), never leave a cell blank. Enter 0 for any field where no value is intended. Blank cells in these columns will cause import errors. Additionally, remove any rows for customers who should not receive an individual allocation before importing.
Import Your Blank Allocation Import File
Once your file is complete, you can import your file and add or update the individual customer allocations.
IMPORTANT: For the optimal performance of your import and to prevent any page timeouts, please ensure your individual allocation files meet the following guidelines:
File Size: Under 15 MB
Row Count: Maximum of 150,000 rows per file
If your dataset is larger than this, we recommend splitting it into smaller, separate CSV files before uploading.
Go to the Customers Tab
Select Actions
Under IMPORTS, select Individual Allocations CSV
In the modal, select the Choose File button
Attach your file and select the Open button
Select the Upload button
Once the allocations are imported, you will see a "✓ [X] individual customer allocation added" banner on the page.
NOTE: Please be patient during the import process. Individual Allocations can have a long load time.
IMPORTANT: Need to make changes after importing? You can re-import your Individual Allocations file at any time. Each import overwrites the complete individual allocation for every customer included in the file, so the most recent version of the sheet always takes effect. This means if you remove a SKU row for a customer and re-import, that product will no longer appear in their allocation. Before re-importing, we recommend removing the purchased, wished, and granted columns from the file to avoid any potential conflicts.
Review your Individual Allocation Import Results
After importing, it is important to review your results to confirm the allocation was imported correctly.
Go to the Customers tab
Select Actions
Under EXPORTS, select the All Customer Allocations CSV
Save your file for review
Image of columns in the All Customer Allocations .csv
The information in the column headers overlaps with the Blank Allocation Import file. Click here to view information about those fields. There are three additional columns
Column Header | Format | Notes and Instructions |
purchased | Numeric | Read-only. Shows the quantity purchased for this SKU in the current offering. This column is generated by the system and cannot be edited. |
wished | Numeric | Read-only. Shows the quantity wished for this SKU in the current offering. This column is generated by the system and cannot be edited. |
granted | Numeric | Read-only. Shows the quantity granted for this SKU in the current offering. This column is generated by the system and cannot be edited. |
Note: If you want to use this export as the basis for a re-import, follow the same steps outlined in the Import Your Blank Allocation Import File section. Note that re-importing will overwrite the current allocation for any customer included in the file.
Test Your Individual Allocation
After importing your sheet, it is a good practice to test your individual allocation before your release date to confirm that products, quantities, and badges are displaying correctly before your customers see them.
Create a Test Customer Account
If you do not already have a test customer account set up, create one now. Add the test account to the same Group as your individual allocation customers.
Add Your Test Account to the Import
Add your internal test customer's customer_id to your import file with a representative set of products, quantities, and badges you want to verify. Re-import the file. This will not affect any existing individual allocations for other customers.
NOTE: We recommend using a dedicated Test Group for this step so the offer remains live but is not visible to your general customer list. Any group will work, but the Test Group keeps things contained while you review.
Sign In as Your Test Customer
Go to the Customers tab and locate your test customer account. Select the Actions dropdown and choose Sign In as Customer to view the offer as that customer would see it. Confirm the following:
The correct products are displayed
Purchase and wish quantities match what you imported
Product badges are displaying on the correct items
Start and end dates are correct
Complete a Full Test Checkout
For a full review of the checkout experience, follow the steps outlined in the Testing Your Allocation article.