Fix duplicate customer rows in a supplier price review

Duplicate customer rows can make a supplier price review misleading. A repeated record may inflate a customer count, while deleting the wrong row could erase a valid discount, region, or contract price.

First decide what makes a row a duplicate, then compare those records before changing anything. The CSV Editor can open, find, sort, edit, and remove duplicate rows in your browser.

Check and clean the customer rows

1. Open the CSV Editor and load a copy of the supplier review CSV. Keep the original file unchanged so you can restore it or compare results.
2. Check the header row and identify a reliable customer key, such as a customer ID. A name alone may not be unique: two customers can share a name, and one customer may appear under slightly different spellings.
3. Sort the file by the customer key to bring matching records together. Also note fields that may make a row legitimately different, such as product or SKU, region, price tier, currency, and effective date.
4. Inspect each group of matching customer keys. Use find to jump to a customer you are checking, then compare the full rows rather than relying on the customer name alone.
5. Remove only records you have confirmed are duplicates. If two rows for the same customer have different prices or other review details, check the source before deciding which one is valid.
6. Save or download the corrected result as a new review copy. Reopen it and check the affected customer groups and row count before using it.

The CSV Editor works with files up to 10 million rows. On a very large file, give the browser time to load and sort it, and avoid opening several large copies at once.

What the matching rows mean

The rows match in every field

These are likely repeated copies of the same record. Confirm that the fields used for the review are included in the comparison, then remove the extra copy. Keep one row so the customer remains in the data.

The customer ID matches, but prices differ

This is not automatically a duplicate. The customer may have different prices for separate products, regions, contract periods, or order quantities. Check the relevant terms in the supplier's source file or agreement before changing either price.

The names match, but customer IDs differ

Do not merge the records based on the name alone. They may be separate customers, or one customer may have been assigned a second ID. Confirm the identity using an authoritative customer list before changing IDs or removing a row.

A customer ID is blank or inconsistent

You cannot reliably group that record by ID. Compare other identifying fields, such as an account number or email address, if those fields are appropriate for your review. Correct the source data when you can verify the right value, rather than guessing.

How to fix the duplicates safely

1. Keep the original file. Make a working copy before editing. This gives you a fallback if a price, customer, or row count changes unexpectedly.
2. Choose a duplicate rule. Decide whether a duplicate means every field is identical or whether a specific customer key should appear only once. For a price review, the customer ID by itself is usually not enough if customers can have multiple products or terms.
3. Check the source of conflicting values. If matching customer IDs have different prices, compare the supplier's current price file, effective dates, product codes, and contract terms. Do not keep the newest-looking row unless the date and source confirm it is current.
4. Remove confirmed repeated records. Use the CSV Editor's duplicate removal feature for rows you have verified are redundant. Check whether the records differ in any field before applying it, because a difference may be meaningful to the review.
5. Correct verifiable mistakes. If a field is plainly wrong and you can confirm its replacement, edit it in the working copy. If the correct value is uncertain, flag the row for review and correct the supplier or customer source before finalizing the CSV.
6. Verify the finished copy. Sort by the same customer key again and inspect the groups you changed. Confirm that valid price variations remain, the duplicate count is resolved, and the final row count makes sense.

Keep customer identity separate from price lines

A customer list and a price review do not always have the same idea of a unique row. In a customer list, you might expect one row per customer. In a price review, one customer can have several legitimate lines, such as one line per product or contract period.

Before removing duplicates, write down the fields that identify a price line. For example, the combination of customer ID, product code, region, and effective date may distinguish valid entries. If two records match on those fields but have different prices, treat the price difference as a conflict to investigate, not as proof that one record is safe to delete.

Use a separate corrected copy for the review. The CSV Editor runs in your browser, and files you open stay on your device.