Shopify IMPORT Products from CSV Spreadsheet - MOST Efficient Overview - Get UNFAIR Headstart!

[@Webeminence]

Ask your Shopify or e-commerce questions at WeAsk.tv and I may feature you on my next video!

[@nancycaralde3892]

i like this, very greatful content, hello ryan, very nice

[@brandonglidden]

Man......thank you ! THANK YOU! Greatly appreciate how you summed this up and dumbed it down, thank you !

[@Webeminence]

Glad you found it useful!

[@Meganwhiz]

Thank you so so much! The most helpful video! I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge!!!

[@phyuphyu7965]

This is what I need. I hate changing product descriptions manually. (y)

[@shimeretruss3711]

Your also good at sharing this info to where anyone can understand it!

[@mamasann7636]

Thank you! I didn't know about the export to get the format. Saved me a lot of time.

[@shimeretruss3711]

Thank you so much! I appreciate you sharing your knowledge!

[@protagonist_UK]

A great video & instructions, many thanks Ryan.

[@Rheasky9]

Just gone through this vid, you are great! Brilliant pace and great demonstrations....Thank you .

[@Webeminence]

Cool - glad it helped!

[@ramdasambala5702]

Thank you for this detailed video. Can you explain where to add product descriptions & details. I have 6 to 10 points on each item under detailed description & similar number of bullets for details, such as measurements, leather type, colour, lining, packaging, etc.

[@Webeminence]

Hi, there is a description field in the CSV file. To add formatted descriptions, you would need to created them with HTML I believe. I'm not sure the fastest way to do this but it may be faster to add in descriptions after all products are uploaded.

[@gsg3912]

Great value! Thanks Ryan - for this video! Although it's from 2017, it indeed provided me some very helpful information and cleared my doubts. Great job, keep it up! Thanks again! 😊

[@Webeminence]

Glad it's still helpful after 5 years

[@trendytree]

But what about quantity of product? Doesn't that have to be uploaded separately, and how?

[@Webeminence]

For people tracking inventory, there are inventory fields you can be included. Check the Shopify help doc I linked to in my description for more info.

[@dostaquitos1215]

Thanks a lot! Very helpful with great tips. I had the same question as moon studio in the comments but I think I can figure it out from your response

[@Webeminence]

Thanks - good luck!

[@Iyochan67]

Thank you very much. It was really helpful !

[@sales1607]

Hi, I tried to change some inventory values in csv and import it back but why the values not change at all. How to solve it?

[@Webeminence]

Hard to say why it's not working for you. You must be doing something wrong in the steps. You'll have to contact Shopify support if you continue to have problems

[@avilang1952]

Hi question i see you put handle more then once down below but not title or handle but i see with color you did why? when do i copy and paise in more then one cell and when do i dont?

[@Webeminence]

Some columns are unique on each row and are required. If they are not entered, that just means the one above is copied.

[@ericmalmstrom4840]

Great video... Thank you!

[@aswdwad]

how to export shipping zones from Shopify to woocommerce please give me a name or link how can do date

[@aquanaturetools2125]

Hi, I have a list of products with me, tried multiple times to create the CSV file but not happening and getting error, is it possible for you to help me out ?

[@Webeminence]

Sorry - not available for this type of work

[@z-man7883]

Great video. I tried formatting my data in a SQL server database to export into Shopify’s format as a CSV however the programming is difficult when many variants and images are involved. Would you know of a better tool that’s better suited for the kind of programming needed here? Thanks.

[@Webeminence]

Yeah, it can be a lot of work but still faster than manually creating hundreds or thousands of products in the interface. I don't know of nay other tools for this.

[@z-man7883]

@@Webeminence it’d also help if I got clean data from the manufacturer to begin with but oh well the grind continues. Thanks!

[@erinjohnson3239]

Are you able to add new variants on the spreadsheet, and what if you reach the limit... will you get an error? Also, if you are adding designs to say apparel... do you have to do this first for each product, or after the fact? Is this meant to go directly into Shopify or other apps like Printful?

[@Webeminence]

You are able to add variants to the spreadsheet. I believe that is explained in my video. It won't work beyond the limit. I'm not sure how to answer your question about designs. This would likely not be handled in the spreadsheet but after the fact with some other app like you mentioned. The spreadsheet is just to add in the products.

[@vissevolker955]

My products will not have a URL, they are old picture copies residing in my computer, scanned from originals. Is shopify the way to proceed? My database is Access...

[@Webeminence]

You will need to your websites online somewhere with a URL reference in order to upload them via a spreadsheet according to this process.

[@m.saadiqbal7671]

Whenever i import products on shopify few products automatically drop like if i upload a csv of 80 products its upload 74 or 76 its dropped 4 to 6 products so please can you tell me which column is important to upload all products as a bulk without dropping any product Regards

[@Webeminence]

When you upload, it will give you errors which are helpful in determining the issues with your sheet. The help doc I reference tells you all the required columns.

[@johnmendez3771]

Super helpful! Thanks!

[@CustomGardenSolutions]

great job on this video. Thanks

[@TheJc71693]

I have a print on demand website with SPOD, if I export the CSV to bulk change description of the products and then reimport, will it still connect with the SPOD app in which I created the products?

[@Webeminence]

I'm not sure about the SPOD app and how it works. If they are Shopify products, it should work. I recommend testing the process with a couple products first.

[@pheliciae1948]

Is there any way around taking all the variants from a product file and copy and pasting the necessary columns (X amount of spaces) below the product's row that was exported?

[@Webeminence]

Wow- that's a mouthful!. I'm not sure I totally understand your question but it seems you're asking if there's a better way to enter variants or a shortcut. The simple answer is no. You do have to enter variants on separate lines. If you're good with Excel and spreadsheets, this work can go faster since there are some ways to speed up the process using "Fill Down" for example instead of copy/paste.

[@classyliving3548]

Hi Ryan, excellent video! Just one question - do you know how to fix the "Body (html)" column for it to keep it's format? After importing csv all my break lines disappeared and test shows as one continuous line. I tried to use "SEO description" column instead for items description as shown in the sample file, but after uploading the description is blank. I'd be really grateful for any tips. Thanks!

[@Webeminence]

I'm not sure what the issue might be for the HTML but I can see it stripping some HTML. I would check the Shopify help docs for answers to these questions. I'm sure people have dealt with these specific issues.

[@classyliving3548]

@@Webeminence Thanks, I'll get in touch with them.

[@Webeminence]

I meant to search the Shopify help forums. There's lots of good info in there and people have likely asked this same question. help.shopify.com

[@robertheritage3226]

When you import the file can you choose what data is changed/uploaded? Basically the only data I what to change is the price.

[@Webeminence]

The only data that will be changed is the data that is different. So you can upload the same spreadsheet and only change one item within the data and it will only change that one item.

[@henniebotha]

I was hoping that you would say something about images. I have no issues uploading products but the images are getting me down. I upload the images separately in Settings > Files, then copy the path to my CSV. I then upload the CSV and the products are created with images - happy days. The next day I first export the product CSV from the store so it includes the handles that were generated in the first column. I then add more products to the CSV, add the image paths and upload. Then it fails, saying that the paths of the images that I uploaded yesterday are invalid. When I look in the path I can see that e.g. "file/" would be replaced by "product/" and so on. This makes no sense to me. I tried placing the images in a folder on an external site, but although the image does exist if I paste the URL into my browser, Shopify says it doesn't when I import. Any thoughts?

[@Webeminence]

It's hard to say without digging into the details of the URLs and the error. It sounds like you're on the right track. I believe the URL path is relative to your shopify file directly. If you add an external URL, I think it uploads the files to your Shopify site. When I've done this on sites, I've first uploaded all files to Shopify directory. I would usually name the files that same as the product handle and then just copy the handle to the image URL column in the spreadsheet. Check Shopify help forums for these types of issues. You'll get much better answers than in the KZbin comments.

[@henniebotha]

@@Webeminence Thanks for the feedback but I found the issue. The issue is described in the documentation. If you export your CSV, then delete the product/s in the catalogue, then reupload the CSV, the upload will break as the image paths will have changed. Not sure why Shopify support pick this up when I chatted to them.

[@matthewisele9137]

Thanks alot.....really helpful video

[@MMTaylor57]

This is SO helpful! My hangup is that my Image links are all linked to Dropbox. I have thousands of images and have used Dropbox successfully with other sites but Shopify is not accepting them. Any suggestions?

[@Webeminence]

Dropbox links are usually not links to the image file, but instead links to a preview of the image. I've never used them to serve to another site and not sure if that would work. You may have to upload them to a web server or shopify and copy the links.

[@jeangenibrel2358]

Ryan: How do you change the grams to pounds? And where do you enter the value? Shopify said to use the pound's value in the grams column but to add "lb" after the numerical value.

[@Webeminence]

The Shopify help docs say that weights are imported/exported in grams. So you can convert lbs to grams using a formula and enter them in that column. Then in Shopify, there is an option of whether you want to display lbs or grams on the website.

[@jeangenibrel2358]

Thanks for the answer. I spent countless hours with the Shopify Gurus on the phone and none could give me a straight answer.

[@duckyoupeople9365]

HI! Thanks for the video, such a valuable input. I tried to import from CSV file but it said IMAGE SRC cant be blank

[@Webeminence]

Yeah, typically "Image Src" can be left blank according to this help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/import-export/using-csv#product-csv-file-format

[@asadullahbaig5698]

Inventory management is False, so fulfillment service must also be False I am facing this issue how can i resolve it? my csv file doesn't contain any fulfillment column

[@Webeminence]

You'll have to contact Shopify support or read their help docs

[@jackbird5839]

great solution and tips bro!! thank you for your video. I have created my Shopify e-store!!!)) but also from time to time, a had some trouble with product photos from my supplier. Or they were too small or had only one product photo which is too bad for my conversions. I have found way to scrap and extract all data i need to my Shopify via "ESCRAPER" maybe it helps somebody too.

[@vskiy26]

Jack, awesome tip ESCRAPER helped me a lot.

[@willjohn6807]

Thank you for your suggestion. 100% value.

[@loveonlysolution3749]

Thanks Ryan for useful info. My question would be, when we download a product from oberlo, doesn't it make the converting of each file to CSV type, automatically? If the answer is yes, why should we be bothered about knowing all these time consuming details? However, if I choose 5 or 10 product once and want to import them at the same time, should I go thru all changings by myself? If yes why should we use and pay for the app oberlo?

[@Webeminence]

I know of Oberlo but I'm not familiar with their offerings. My bet would be they do provide product lists but I doubt the come in the exact CSV needed for Shopify. So you'll need to familiarize yourself with the Shopify CSV formatting to upload product lists. I believe Oberlo would eliminate the need for list uploads though as it integrates directly with Shopify. I don't understand your 2nd question. Oberlo. You can certainly upload products yourself manually. Oberlo and similar platforms offer a lot more than that including product sourcing.

[@loveonlysolution3749]

@@Webeminence Thanks for quick respond Ryan, I got the second answer from oberlo, so never mind that. Where is the best way to get a good sample of a typical drop shipping FAQ to copy and paste in mine , cause at the beginning it's nice to make everything clear for customers!? I am offering free shipping for all my products beside promotions and giveaways, do you know how I can offer another shipping form which is faster but paid one in my checkout page? Thanks bro thumbs up.

[@Webeminence]

It sounds like you have some work and research to do. You're not going to be able to plan your store in the KZbin comments but I'm glad my videos are helping you out. I can't help with the FAQ. I assume that will be unique to your products and website. My shipping video might answer your shipping question. Here's the link kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaTbYYevYq2oqs0

[@loveonlysolution3749]

@@Webeminence Thanks again man, It's alright, the website would not be on this account, but thanks for link, I'll check it out later on! Big Thumb. ;O)

[@laorugadealicia9605]

I downloaded the file, converted text to colums (because is all separated by commas), and then uploaded the same file, it brings an error that "Title" can't be found. But i see you working by columns, not all togheter separated by commas. Which is my error?

[@Webeminence]

The comma-separated file is a CSV file. You can open this file in Excel or other spreadsheet programs and manipulate it there. That's much easier than working with the text of a comma-separate file.

[@laorugadealicia9605]

@@Webeminence I just found the problem. By opening it with google sheets, import and export through that app. It respects the Shopify platform. Thanks ryan for such a quick answer!

[@drainpr3172]

So what are the main points you need in your CSV file and then for the others you can do manually on your website?

[@Webeminence]

I think I cover that in the video. It could be different for different people. It's best to get all the data in the CSV and not leave anything for manual editing.

[@blessangel8656]

Is the CSV file provided by the client?

[@Webeminence]

I'm not sure who the client is in your case. Often you'll get a file from a supplier of the products and it will need to be reworked for upload to Shopify.

[@moonstudio1548]

Where can i upload images to get a url like that? Flickr? Or should i just upload the items and add images manually on shopify. Thanks for the info g

[@Webeminence]

When you import images via a CSV file, they will be uploaded to your store. You would need to upload them somewhere else first like Flickr. You could also bulk upload them right to Shopify and then use an Excel formula to populate the fields as YOUR UNIQUE SHOPIFY URL + IMAGE FILE NAME (image.jpg). You may need an app to bulk upload right to Shopify but you should be able to upload multiple images via Settings > Files.

[@taabby9307]

Ryan @ Web Eminence Hi Ryan, can you please explain further how to upload bulk images. From Shopify setting, files

[@Webeminence]

That's not something I can explain in comments. I'd recommend reading the Shopify help docs on the topic and questions in the forum. There's lots of good info there.

[@taabby9307]

Ryan @ Web Eminence thanks for responding

[@itsnobel8867]

How do you get those picture urls?

[@Webeminence]

It's a good question. It can get pretty complex so I don't think I mentioned it in this video. You have to generate the URLs on your sheet somehow for upload. The way I've done it in the past is by having the image file names match the "handle" column - like "travel-neck-zoned-dough.jpg" for the first product shown in the video. This might mean you have to rename a lot of images but there's no way around this. Then you can use formulas in spreadsheet to combine the URL of your uploads folder in Shopify with image filename to create the list of image URLs. You would also want to bulk upload all your images then. You may want to find another video on this specifically. I'm sure there are some out there. There's always going to be some manual work involved in this. If your image file names already match something like the handle, it will save you a lot of work.

[@nllnewsleaklive748]

How did you get over stacking you images into the image src ?? Did you do them manually

[@Webeminence]

Not sure I understand what you're asking. But yes, most of this work is manual depending on what you start with. I had a list from a supplier so I was able to reorganize the list of URLs which was a big time saver. People often will not have that and need to enter them manually.

[@SunStarMetroRealty]

Is this still the easiest / fastest way to upload product data?

[@Webeminence]

You can check the Shopify help docs for updates but I believe the process is still the same.

[@siranisfashion9779]

I just need to add barcodes. How do I do that easily

[@Webeminence]

Not sure there's a way to do this. If they are images, I do discuss images in the video.

[@str8tiedropes185]

Do you have a Video on importing Customers from Excel to Shopify?

[@Webeminence]

I don't but thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to look into that. It's probably a similar process but much simpler because you don't have to deal with images, variations, etc.

[@grahamwalters7919]

The biggest issue with downloading the Shopify sample file is that it does include the "Collections" column, you have to add it manually in order to assign your products to collections

[@Webeminence]

I would have thought all the columns were there, but there always will be a lot of manual work in the file to import. There is a Shopify help doc that lists all possible columns. I linked to it in the description.

[@grahamwalters7919]

@@Webeminence The collections column is an absolute must for bulk uploading products into collections, but no matter which file you download as a template it's not there. Add it manually, import, then do an export and it will disappear ! This means if you do not keep a master copy and use it with the collections column you will lose the collections data if you upload a file without it. The only source I have found for this information is in Excelify, and even then you have to dig for it. I have yet to discover one KZbin tutorial that tells you to add it.

[@Webeminence]

They mention the addition of the Collections column on this help doc help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/import-export/using-csv#product-csv-file-format. I can see the issue if you download and re-upload. You may want to check out Shopify help forums to see what people say about this. I often find good answers on Shopify in there.

[@grahamwalters7919]

@@Webeminence My point is still valid, for such a crucial column it should be part of the sample file, it is so well hidden as to be grail like

[@Webeminence]

Yeah - didn't think your point was not valid. There must be a reasons they leave it off. But I can't think of it. I just saw this help discussion community.shopify.com/c/Shopify-for-Retail-Stores/Product-Import-Using-CSV-adding-collections-column/td-p/600431 I wonder if you only need to to add collections once. Then you can download the CSV, leave the Collections blank, and all products will remain in the collections they are in even if you make other edits to the products. Smart Collections will be a solution for some people too.

[@lisamcintyre3354]

I have a feed that the manufacturer will fulfill. Can I do this in Shopify

[@Webeminence]

There may be Shopify apps for importing product feeds. You could also use the process in my video to import products. Here's some info on this community.shopify.com/c/Shopify-Discussion/How-to-automate-product-feed-import-from-supplier-website-via/td-p/413742

[@ozi14531]

How to import product from shopfiy to amazon and magento . Best way solution

[@Webeminence]

Sorry - I haven't covered that on my channel.

[@willydoeslife]

Thxs for the tutorial! Really helped

[@Webeminence]

Awesome - glad it helped you out. Make sure to leave a thumbs up

[@GDaShef]

Although this is great information, it does not seem like s short cut at all if your adding more than 20 products but ill give it a shot.

[@Webeminence]

This is for people who are adding hundreds of thousands of products. Some sellers get product lists from manufacturers or suppliers. They can take that list, modify it, and upload it. If you're entering under 100 products, it may not be a big time saver. It will depend on different factors.

[@LeoKingDavid2]

How were you able to get the image urls ?

[@Webeminence]

In this example, the image URLs came from the supplier. You may get them this way or you may need to upload images to your Shopify site and copy in the URLs. This would be one of the more tedious parts of creating the list. Obviously, if you have a compiled list from a supplier with image URLs this can go much faster.

[@karenmckay7920]

Thanks so much - great video! ;0

[@warrenbarrell6664]

I have a list of over 50000 lines. Shopify cannot handle such a big file. Is there any way I can automatically break down the excel file into smaller files and then upload these to shopify?

[@Webeminence]

Sure, just save it as multiple files and upload separately. It would probably be easiest to create one long file and then break it into as many files as necessary at a logical break point when you're ready to upload. I think that should work. I would usually recommend testing 100 lines first in this case to make sure everything will work the way you want before creating 50,000 lines!

[@LisaAbercrombie]

@@Webeminence We have 96000 lines to upload, and we are breaking it down, and it's working. Do you know if you can import a 2nd file while Shopify is still processing the 1st one? TY

[@Webeminence]

@@LisaAbercrombie My first thought is no - but I've not tried it. I probably wouldn't advise it even if it was possible. It may get confusing and you probably want to check uploads before you start new ones. There's one easy way to figure it out though. Give it a try.

[@LisaAbercrombie]

@@Webeminence Great advice. Someone on my team tried it after I asked you, and she said, "NOPE"... can't be done. Now we know for sure :)

[@vinayvemireddy5602]

Is it possible to update only images with new ones by CSV ??

[@Webeminence]

Yes, I believe that would be possible. In that case, you might download a CSV from your current products as I show in the video. Then edit the image lines and re-upload.

[@vinayvemireddy5602]

@@Webeminence Thanks for the response. But the problem is, in our store we have thousands of products but it is required to update for only thousand products. Is it possible to update images with product handle and images columns only?(without using Excelify app)

[@Webeminence]

You can edit them manually within the Products menu but I assume that's what you're trying to avoid. In your case, you could download the entire product list, edit/add images only in the rows you need to edit and delete the other rows since they are not changing. I would recommend testing with a small number to make sure you have the process nailed down before doing the entire sheet.

[@tylinlilly3344]

Awesomenesss!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Vikesh7896]

Thank you

[@peace2560]

I thought if we import aliexpress/ebay products on shopfy will be added to our shopify store. I was wrong😱

[@Webeminence]

Generally - if you import products to your store they will go to your product list. There may be some other reason they are not showing on your live site.

[@peace2560]

@@Webeminence Thank you so much. More questions😊can we do dropshipped business to other countries? What type of bank account shall we used? Do required GST? If I used my state bank account like Visa, can any bank holders like Visa, amex, mastreocard, mastercard make a payment for my products? Thank you in advance😊

[@Webeminence]

Hi - these are all important questions but they are business decisions specific to your business. YES - you can dropship to other countries. YES - you can generally take payments by credit card. You can signup for Shopify Payments in Shopify and it will link up to most bank accounts. It may only be supported in certain countries.

[@MassiveSwordAndCards]

As of today, there is no longer a sample file on shopify.

[@billardbenjamin6164]

I absolutely hate the way shopify csv files are structured!

[@Webeminence]

Yeah? how would you do it differently? Seems like a pretty standard layout to me.

[@billardbenjamin6164]

@@Webeminence Size and color variants take forever to sort though, as well as the handles! While on big commerce It is 10x faster getting it done!

[@dwaynedibbley6124]

you've hurt my head

[@markbryanttgm5111]

Explained too much self explanatory stuff lengthen the video made me lose interest

[@Webeminence]

Sorry - I try to keep them short and efficient. You may be more advanced than this video which is for people who have never done Shopify imports.

[@Nemises318]

Not very user friendly is it...

[@Webeminence]

This is more of an expert level tool. Not meant to be super user-friendly. It works as expected in my experience.