Editing products through import

After opening your online store, you can start stocking it with products you wish to sell. If you previously ran an online store, received a product listing from your supplier or are looking for a quick way to import or edit many products, you can use SEOshop’s Import & Export tool. For this purpose, only use files with a .CSV or .XLS extension. 

First, we recommend to manually create a product in the back office. If you then create an export file, you can use this product as an example.

Warning

Note: Carefully read the Common Errors section at the bottom of this page, before proceeding with the Import tool.

Sample files that can be used to import your products can be found through SYSTEM > Tools > Import in the left menu of the back office. Would you like to use the export file of your old online store or the product listing provided by your supplier? Then copy these data and past them in the sample file and import it.

Note: We recommend opening the file with Open Office. Other software often distorts sheet rendition. The program will then ask you how you would like to structure the document. Choose the following settings:

  • Separated by semicolons (when editing an export file) 
  • Encoding set UTF-8. .CSV only supports plain text, which is why you have to use an encoding set to import special characters. UTF-8 is the proper encoding. 

Explanation of columns

The next step is filling the worksheet. It is not possible to add new columns. You can however delete columns.

Note: When importing new products, the NL_Title_short, NL_Title_Long and Variant_Title are mandatory. 

You can only use fields that are available during import. When you want to use them and all products share the same feature (for example, the same brand), you will have to have to enter the feature value in all locations. Field names are similar to names used in your online store and indicate what values should be entered.

Note: We recommend opening the file with Open Office. Other software often distorts sheet rendition. The program will then ask you how you would like to structure the document. Choose the following settings:

  • Separated by semicolons (when editing an export file) 
  • Encoding set UTF-8. .CSV only supports plain text, which is why you have to use an encoding set to import special characters. UTF-8 is the proper encoding. 

Explanation of columns

The next step is filling the worksheet. It is not possible to add new columns. You can however delete columns.

Note: When importing new products, the NL_Title_short, NL_Title_Long and Variant_Title are mandatory. 

You can only use fields that are available during import. When you want to use them and all products share the same feature (for example, the same brand), you will have to have to enter the feature value in all locations. Field names are similar to names used in your online store and indicate what values should be entered.

Now save your document as a .CSV or .XLS file. This option will be provided to you, just before saving it. When editing products or creating an export file, the extension type will be automatically set to .CSV. We recommend keeping this format. 

Importing product variants

If you carry product variants, for example, color or size, you can also add them through the import sheet. This can be done by assigning the same number to all product variants in the Internal_ID, Article code, SKU or EAN columns that together constitute one product. In the Variant column, separate variants by commas (for example, Size: S, Color: Red).

Note: When importing or editing product options, you cannot use multiple drop-down menus. All variants will be listed in a single drop-down menu. 

Follow the Import steps. With step two, connecting the correct columns to the appropriate back office options, you should group variants by the option you have chosen (Internal_ID, Article code, SKU of EAN).

Steps to import new products

Note: Before carrying out these steps for your entire product portfolio, we recommend to first try them with a maximum of five products.  

  1. Navigate to SYSTEM > Tools > Import in the left menu of the back office and click Start importing now or Add import at the right at the top of the screen.
  2. Click Browse computer to select a file on your computer.
  3. Look for the file on your computer. The system will immediately recognize the import type. If this is not the case, select the Product option in step two (Specify). After uploading, you will then immediately be taken to the Import Wizard.
  4. With Behavior, choose Only create new products and select the column you wish to group by (see Importing product variants). If the default settings are not configured correctly, connect the appropriate option to the appropriate column name. Click here for an overview of all columns and options in the Import wizard.
  5. When you click Continue at the right at the bottom (or at the top), the file will be checked. The system will now prepare itself to import the sheet. Click Start import to proceed with the import.
  6. You will be shown an import progress window. Note: With less than 50 products, progress cannot be tracked live.
  7. The import has been processed. If errors have occurred, they will be shown on-screen. 

Steps to edit products

Note: Before carrying out these steps for your entire product portfolio, we recommend to first try them with a maximum of five products (including variants, in case you want to use them).  

  1. Navigate to SHOP > Products in the left menu of the back office and click Export > Export Products at the right at the top of the screen.
  2. A pop-up window will open at the right at the bottom of the screen, where you can immediately got to the export area to download the export file. The export area can also be reached through SYSTEM > Tools > Export in the left menu.
  3. Click Download to download the export file. 
  4. Edit the file according to your preferences. We recommend opening it with Open office. Columns should be separated by semicolons. Use UTF_8 encoding. Click herefor more explanation on all columns in the export sheet.

Importing edited sheets

  1. Navigate to SYSTEM > Tools > Import in the left menu of the back office and click Start importing now or Add import at the right at the top of the screen.
  2. Click Browse computer to select a file on your computer.
  3. Look for the file on your computer. The system will immediately recognize the import type. If this is not the case, select the Product option in step two (Specify). After uploading, you will then immediately be taken to the Import Wizard.
  4. With Behavior, choose Only create new products and select the column you wish to group by (see Importing product variants). If the default settings are not configured correctly, connect the appropriate option to the appropriate column name. Click here for an overview of all columns and options in the Import wizard.
  5. When you click Continue at the right at the bottom (or at the top), the file will be checked. The system will now prepare itself to import the sheet. Click Start import to proceed with the import.
  6. You will be shown an import progress window. Note: With less than 50 products, progress cannot be tracked live.
  7. The import has been processed. If errors have occurred, they will be shown on-screen. 

Common errors

  • No UTF-8 - UTF-8 will see to it that characters are accepted during import. Make sure your sheet is always opened, saved and uploaded in UTF-8 encoding, to prevent strange characters from appearing in all texts on your online store.
  • http:// prefix missing – Every URL must start with http:// or https://, "www" does not suffice.
  • Incorrect Internal_ID for product variants – Product variants should have the same ID code as the main product. Place product variants immediately below the main product in the .CSV file and the system will automatically create the structure. Does each new row represent a new product? If so, enter a unique ID for each row in the Internal_ID column.
  • Languages have not been preset – If you want to activate several languages, they must first be configured through SYSTEM > Settings > SHOP SETTINGS > Shop country in the left menu of the back office. Only then they can be included in your import sheet.
  • Incorrect URLs – If you have the correct extension (.JPG, .PNG, of .GIF). Open the image in your browser. Now click the image with the right mouse button (Windows only; mouse plus pressed ctrl button on Mac computers) and select copy image URL / location in the pop-up menu.
  • Too many product variants – A product can have a maximum of 100 variants.
  • Excel formatting disrupts import – With prices above 1,000 Euro, Excel sometimes places commas points between digits (for example, 1,000/1.000 instead of 1000). When importing, commas or points may not be present.
  • A maximum of 10,000 rows per import – You can import a maximum of 10,000 rows per import. The minimum is two rows, which boils down to the title and product row.
  • Strange characters in your online store – This is an encoding problem. Remove the products and save the file again with CSV encoding.
  • Template modified – You cannot modify the import template. It is therefore impossible to add extra columns. You can however remove columns. Note: The NL_Title_short, NL_Title_Long and Variant_Title fields are mandatory.
  • HTML – HTML code can only be added in the NL_Description_Long field. <div> sections cannot be added. 
  • Multi-shop – Multi-shop is not connected to the import tool. Editing products should be done in all stores that are related to the stock connection.
  • EAN +12 – This problem is caused by Excel and/or Open Office. An EAN code generally consists of 13 characters. Because of this, Excel automatically changes this in EAN+12. To prevent this, the cell formatting of the entire column should be set to “Text”.
Follow
Reply