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This guide will give you a step-by-step process on how to import new products to your Shift4Shop store.
Import Products
To import product information we will first download a copy of the sample CSV file that you will populate with your new products. To begin:
- Log into your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager
- Go to Products >Product List
- Once there, look towards the top right of the page and click on the "Export/Import" button
- Look on the right hand side of the next page for the "Import" half of the page and click on the +Icon for Products.
- Click the link that says "Sample File" to download the sample CSV.
- Click "Open"
- You may now begin adding product information to the appropriate columns.
Important
Do not remove, add, or edit any columns to this file if you are adding new products to your Shift4Shop store. If you do not have a need for a column please leave it blank. This is the exact format the file needs to be to import your Product information properly.
Below, you will find a brief description of each field. We will mark which of these is required and which are optional.
Note
If the required fields are left blank, the system will not allow you to import the Product information.
- id
This field is required. It is the unique product id (SKU or Part Number) of the product. This can be any combination of letters and numbers you choose. The system will assign a separate database ID that will be used to keep track of each product in the backend of the system, this is called the CATALOGID and will only show in a product export. The CATALOGID is not included at this time since it is not needed for importing new products.
- mfgid
This is the unique manufacturer id that may be provided by the manufacturer of the product or you can assign this on your own. This is an optional field.
- name
This is the name of the product. This is a required field.
- manufacturer
This is the name of the Manufacturer this product is associated with. This field is optional.
Tip
The list of Manufacturers can be created and edited in the Shift4Shop Online Store Manager by going to Settings >General >Manufacturers.
It is important to note that any new manufacturer entered in the CSV file will be automatically created in the system, so remember to be very careful with the spelling and formatting of each manufacturer name to ensure they are not inadvertently created multiple times.
For example, the store will consider ManufacturerA, Manufacturer A (with a space), and Manufacturer-A (with hyphen) as separate entries. Typographical errors will also contribute to inadvertent duplicates.
- categories
This will assign the product to a particular category. The field refers to the Path of the category and it allows to set one product in multiple categories. This field is optional.
- To add the product to a Main Category simply put in the Main Category name. Any new category entered in the CSV file will be automatically created in the system.
- To add a product to a Sub Category use the / character, i.e. "Category 1/Sub Category 1"
- To add a product to multiple categories at once use the @ character: "Category 1@Category 2" or for sub-categories "Category 1/Sub Category 1@Category 2/Sub Category 2"
Tip
When naming your Categories, please be careful that you do not use symbols such as the forward slash (/) or the @ sign since these may be recognized by the import system as brand new categories. For example, a category listed as "Women's/Girl's Fashion" on the CSV file may inadvertently be created as one category for "Women's" and a separate sub-category for "Girl's Fashion"
Quotation mark symbols (") may also yield unexpected results. Therefore, we recommend the following alternatives to these special characters.
- @ symbol
Use the HTML equivalent: @
- Quotation marks (")
Use the HTML equivalent: "
- As an alternative, you can also use two apostrophes characters (')
- Forward Slash (/)
Use the HTML equivalents: / or ⁄
- As an alternative you can also use the backslash symbol instead. (\)
- cost
This is the base cost of your product, it's for internal use and won't be displayed to the customer. This is an optional field.
- price
This is the price of the product that you want to charge the customer. Use only numbers; do not enter the currency sign. It's a required field cannot be left blank for any product.
- price2
This is the MSRP or Retail Price of the product. If this is added to the product then the Savings will be displayed to the customer. This is an optional field.
- stock
This is the stock (Quantity On Hand) of the product. It's required when Inventory Control is enabled. This is a numeric field.
- weight
This is the weight of the product. This is an optional field, but it is required for Real-Time Shipping Calculation.
Additional Information
The product CSV file's weight field is a numerical field, so it is not necessary to add "lbs" or "kg" suffixes to the entry.
When adding weight measurements, the number entered should reflect the weight measurement (Standard or Metric) recognized by your specific shipping carrier. In other words, if you have a 2lb item and the shipping carrier you plan to use is on the standard system; the number entered into this field should be "2." Alternately, if your shipping carrier is on the metric system and rates are based on kg, then you would enter the item's metric unit of measurement (0.90) so that it is properly recognized by the carrier.
More information on this topic can be found by clicking here.
- free_shipping
This will mark the product as free shipping. If free shipping is checked then Free Shipping will show during the checkout process as an option. Insert 1 to mark as Free Shipping. Insert 0 if you would not like this product to be marked as Free Shipping. This is an optional field.
- date_created
This is a field that the system will assign once the product is added to the database. This is an optional field.
- description
This is the short description of the product. This should be a short text description (less than 250 characters); this is typically displayed in the Search Results page by default. This is an optional field.
- extended_description
This is the Description of the product, there is no size limit in this field and HTML is allowed.This is an optional field.
- keywords
These are additional keywords used by the Internal Search of the site, you don't need to add any keywords that are already part of the name or description of the product. These keywords do not show on the website to the customer. This is an optional field.
Tip
The system will automatically generate Meta Tags using the name, extended_description and keywords of your product in order to provide dynamic SEO for the product listing pages.
- hide
This will hide the product from the website. Insert 1 to hide. Insert 0 to keep the product visible. This is an optional field.
- sorting
This is a legacy column held over from previous versions of Shift4Shop and may be left blank. Sorting of products are now determined on a per category basis in your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager by going to Products >Sorting.
- thumbnail
This is the path to your product's thumbnail image. This is an optional field.
- image1
This is the path to your product's main image. This is an optional field.
- image2
This is the path to your product's second image. This is an optional field.
- image3
This is the path to your product's third image. This is an optional field.
- image4
This is the path to your product's fouth image. This is an optional field.
Important
The CSV import is only used to specify paths to your images. Images must first be uploaded prior to importing the products. This can be done via the "File Manager" inside the Store Manager or via FTP. The default path for all images uploaded via the file manager is "assets/images/[image name]".
Also, if the images reside in your Shift4Shop store, then their paths should be specified using relative paths instead of absolute paths.
Examples:
- Relative Path
assets/images/product_thumbnail.jpg
- Absolute Path
http://www.yourdomain.com/assets/images/product_thumbnail.jpg
- related
This column will define the related products for this product. To assign related products insert the related product's ids separated by commas. (Example. related1, related2, related3.) This is an optional field. The system also allows to use Random Related products from the Shift4Shop Online Store Manager under Settings >General >Store Settings.
- distributor
This is the name of the Distributor this product is associated with. This is an optional field. The list of Distributors can be managed in the Shift4Shop Online Store Manager by going to Settings >General >Distributors. Any new distributor entered in the CSV file will be automatically created in the system.
- shipcost
This will add a a shipping markup fee to the product. This fee will be added to any shipping methods that you have set. This is an optional field.
- homespecial
This will mark this product as a home special which means that the system will place this product on your home page. Insert 1 to mark as home special. Leave blank to not mark as home special. This is an optional field.
- categoryspecial
This will mark this product as a category special which means that the system will place this product on top of the Category that it is in. This is an optional field.
- title
This will define the title of this product in the web browser. By default the system will use the product name. This is an optional field.
- metatags
This field is for more advanced users that know how to properly format Meta Tags. If you are unfamiliar with how to setup Meta Tags properly the best thing to do is leave this field blank and use the Tag Wizard in your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager. This is an optional field.
- Once you have filled in your information, save the file to your computer.
- Go to Products >Product List
- Look on the right hand side of the next page for the "Import" half of the page and click on the +Icon for Products.
- Browse to your edited CSV file and Click Import Data
- Choose your import option and proceed with your product import.
Important
Please be aware that the import function has a limit of 30 megabytes. If the CSV you are trying to import is larger than this, please split it up into separate, smaller files no larger than 30MB each.
When importing your file, you will be given the following options:
- Insert Only
This will insert any new products that are not currently in the database. It will not update any product information.
- Update Only
This will update any information that is currently in the database. The information in this csv file will override what is in the database.
- Insert + Update
This is a combination of inserting and updating. The system will insert any new information and update any existing information.
- Erase All products, then insert
This will completely remove all the product information from your database and then insert the information. Please read the warning and make sure that this is what you want to do before using this option.
- Erase All Products and Categories, then Insert
This will completely remove all product and category information from your database, then insert the information on your spreadsheet. Please read the warning and make sure this is what you want to do before using this option
Note
If you are choosing Update Only and you have columns of information you did not fill in, make sure to delete the unused columns.
Be aware that this product import does not allow for importing Product Options (Sizes, Colors, etc.) with these products. The options import is a separate import. All products must be imported prior to importing any options.
Additional Information
The actual import/export process takes place "behind the scenes" of your store's software to prevent it from interfering with your store's active processes. By allowing the function to work in the background, you can go to other pages of the admin and still work on your store while importing or exporting large files.
During the process, you will be taken to the Import/Export Status page which will display a grid layout of your recent imports and exports. The progress column will show you the progress of the import.
At the far right of each grid item will be an action wheel that contains the following options:
- Download: Allows you to download the CSV file after a successful import/export
- Notify Me: For larger, more time consuming files; this option will let you input your email address so that you will receive a notice once the import/export is complete.
- View Log: Allows you to review the log of the import/export so you can see how many items were updated, inserted or if any records failed.
- Cancel: Allows you to cancel an impending import/export
- Retry: If for some reason the import/export fails, you may use this option to attempt a retry of the file.
- Delete: Use this to delete the record altogether from the status page.
This will be present in all of the store's Export/Import functions.
Note
Please make sure your store's secure URL is pointing to your Shift4Shop store.
Important
Due to encoding, it is recommended to avoid special characters for fields such as the product name, descriptions, and so on. They also run the risk of potentially causing imports to fail. As an alternative, we recommend the use of HTML code to display these characters as needed. This helps to ensure proper compatibility, and to prevent any unnecessary errors. You can find a number of sources online housing these codes, such as W3 Schools here.
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