How to Connect Your Data with Flow Insight via FTP/SFTP

Flow Insight provides clients with a secure FTP/SFTP environment to integrate their Point of Sale (POS), Staff, Sales Target, and Traffic data seamlessly. This guide explains how to connect to the Flow FTP server, upload your data, and retrieve traffic data exports.

FTP Folder Structure: Incoming & Outgoing

Each Flow client receives a dedicated FTP folder on Flow’s SFTP server:

sftp.flow-insight.com
Port: 22

The structure is simple:

/incoming – Upload your POS, staff, and sales target data here.

/outgoing – Download your Traffic data (if enabled by Flow).

FTP Server Details

Uploading Data to Flow (Client → Flow)

You can send data to Flow Insight by uploading CSV files to the /incoming folder.

· Types of Data You Can Upload:

• POS (Point-of-Sale) data

• Staff schedules or information

• Sales targets

Steps:

1. Format your data according to Flow’s default or custom format:
   - Flow Default CSV Format: https://app.flow-insight.com/tools/extension
   - Custom formats require setup support and may incur a fee.

2. Upload your CSV to the /incoming folder using any FTP/SFTP client.

3. Flow will import this data every 5 minutes:
   - Old files are automatically overwritten.
   - Data becomes visible on dashboards within 2 minutes.

Retrieving Traffic Data from Flow (Flow → Client)

If you’ve requested Traffic data export, Flow will generate and place a CSV file in your /outgoing folder.

Step-by-Step: How to Retrieve Traffic Data

1. Access the FTP Server
   Server Address: sftp.flow-insight.com (IP: 54.65.118.153)
   Port:
   - FTP: 21
   - SFTP: 22
   You should have received login credentials from your Flow account manager.

2. Connect to the Server
   We recommend using Filestash, a user-friendly online FTP client:
   Filestash Online FTP Client: https://www.filestash.app/online-ftp-client.html

3. Download Your Data
   - Files will appear as: INSIGHT.TRAFFIC.YYYYMMDD.csv
   - Example: INSIGHT.TRAFFIC.20250124.csv
   - File Timing:
     - Generated every hour at XX:05
     - Overwrites previous file for the same day
     - Available hourly during store operating hours

Data Handling & Automation

Data Visibility Timeline

• CSV Upload (Client → Flow): Every 5 minutes → Visible within 2 minutes

• Traffic Export (Flow → Client): Every hour at XX:05 → Latest file always available

Data Overwrite Policy

• Incoming Data: Overwritten every 5 minutes

• Traffic CSVs: Overwritten every hour (same filename per day)

Automating Downloads
Most FTP clients (e.g., FileZilla, WinSCP, or cron jobs) support automated scheduled downloads.

Reference Links

Flow Default Data Formats: https://app.flow-insight.com/tools/extension

Filestash FTP Client: https://www.filestash.app/online-ftp-client.html

Need Help?

For any assistance—login help, format setup, automation, or troubleshooting—please contact the Flow Support team. We’re here to help!