Getting Started with Product Import and Export

Why This Tutorial Matters

This tutorial shows you how to bulk create and update products using CSV import/export so you can launch collections faster, keep prices accurate, and reduce manual work.

Business Impact:

  • Reduce manual data entry, speed up catalog launches, and standardize data quality to decrease returns and support tickets.
  • By standardizing your import process you cut catalog update time from hours to minutes, reduce data errors that lead to returns, and accelerate campaign launches. Example: Updating 500 SKUs manually (30 seconds each) takes ~4 hours; with import (~10 minutes prep + ~5 minutes processing) it's ~15 minutes, saving >3.5 hours per update cycle.

What You'll Achieve:

  • Set up a repeatable import/export workflow to bulk create, update, or retire products using CSV.

Learning Journey Overview

Your Situation

You need a reliable, fast way to add or update many products at once, keep images and attributes consistent, and ensure storefront accuracy after changes.

What You'll Learn

By completing this tutorial, you will:

  • Export a product CSV template
  • Prepare a valid CSV with required columns
  • Import products and images
  • Handle Multi‑Source Inventory (MSI) source‑level stock
  • Verify results and troubleshoot common issues

Success Criteria

You'll know you've succeeded when:

  • Import completes with 0 errors and all rows processed.
  • Products appear in the catalog with correct price, visibility, and images.
  • Category assignments and stock/salable quantity display as expected.
  • Indexers show "Ready" and the storefront reflects updates.

Time Investment

  • Estimated time: 25–45 minutes
  • Skill level after completion: Confident with core product import/export and basic troubleshooting
  • Business value unlock: Faster catalog updates, fewer errors, scalable operations

Before We Start

Who This Is For

This tutorial is designed for:

  • Merchants and catalog managers who need to update many products at once.
  • Agencies onboarding catalogs from suppliers or migrating from another platform.
  • Ops teams maintaining seasonal price and inventory changes.

What You Need

Make sure you have:

  • Admin access with permission to Import/Export (System > Permissions > User Roles).
  • A CSV editor (Google Sheets, Excel) and ability to save UTF‑8 CSV.
  • Attribute sets and required attributes defined.
  • Website/store views created.
  • File system or SFTP access to place product images on the server (recommended: pub/media/import).
  • Sufficient PHP upload limits (upload_max_filesize and post_max_size greater than your CSV size).

Preparation Checklist

Before starting, complete these preparation steps:

  1. In Admin, export a small sample of products to get a valid header template (System > Data Transfer > Export > Entity Type: Products).
  2. Create/confirm attribute sets and required attributes (Stores > Attributes > Product; Stores > Attribute Set).
  3. Place product images on server: pub/media/import, and use those filenames in the CSV image columns.
  4. Plan import behavior: Add/Update vs Replace vs Delete.
  5. Schedule a maintenance window if importing thousands of SKUs.

Step-by-Step Learning Path

Follow these steps:

  1. Export a product CSV template
  • Go to Admin: System > Data Transfer > Export.
  • Entity Type: Products. Optionally filter to export a small set.
  • Click Continue and download the CSV. Use its headers as your template to avoid mapping errors.
  1. Prepare your CSV
  • Keep the exported headers exactly as-is; encode as UTF‑8.
  • Include required fields for each product, such as:
    • sku, attribute_set_code, product_type (simple, configurable, virtual, downloadable, bundle, grouped)
    • name, price, tax_class_name
    • status (1 = Enabled, 2 = Disabled), visibility
    • weight (required for shippable product types)
    • categories (use full paths like "Default Category/Gear/Bags"; separate multiple with |)
    • websites (use website codes, e.g., base)
    • image, small_image, thumbnail, additional_images (filenames located in pub/media/import)
  • Tips:
    • Use exact attribute option labels or values that exist in your store. Create missing options before import.
    • For configurable products, prepare simple children first and plan configurable_variations if building via CSV (see Next Steps).
  1. Import products
  • Go to System > Data Transfer > Import.
  • Entity Type: Products.
  • Import Behavior: Add/Update (recommended for upserts). Use Replace for full overwrites and Delete to remove products.
  • Choose your CSV file. Click Check Data to validate. If successful, click Import.
  • After import, check System > Tools > Cache Management and refresh caches if needed.
  1. (MSI) Import source items (quantities per source)
  • If you use Multi‑Source Inventory, go to System > Data Transfer > Import.
  • Entity Type: Stock Sources (source items).
  • Use a CSV with columns like: source_code, sku, quantity, status (1 = In Stock, 0 = Out of Stock).
  • Click Check Data, then Import.
  1. Verify results
  • Confirm products in Catalog > Products and on the storefront.
  • Check System > Tools > Index Management; ensure indexers show Ready. Reindex if necessary.
  • Validate prices, visibility, categories, images, and salable quantity.

Practice and Reinforcement

Now that you've learned the core process, let's reinforce your skills:

Practice: Export one existing product, duplicate the row with a new SKU, change name, price, and image; import using Add/Update; verify it appears on the storefront and is purchasable.

What You've Accomplished

🎉 Congratulations! You have successfully:

  • Exported a product template and prepared a valid CSV.
  • Imported products with images using the Add/Update behavior.
  • Updated inventory at the source level (MSI) when applicable.
  • Verified indexers, caches, and storefront output.

Business Impact

  • Your team can now perform bulk updates in minutes, reduce catalog errors, and accelerate campaign and product launches.

Skills Gained

You now have the ability to:

  • Create and update products at scale via CSV.
  • Manage images and categories through data import.
  • Maintain MSI quantities using source item imports.
  • Validate and troubleshoot import results confidently.

Next Steps in Your Journey

Now that you've mastered this process, here's how to build on your success:

Immediate Actions

  • Document your import template and store it in version control.
  • Schedule monthly export snapshots for rollback and auditing.

Level Up Your Skills

  • Learn Advanced Pricing import to bulk manage tier and customer group prices.
  • Automate recurring imports via Scheduled Import/Export (if available) or CLI/cron-driven scripts.

Advanced Applications

  • Build configurable products from CSV using configurable_variations and configurable_variation_labels.
  • Run price promotions at scale by importing tier/group prices.
  • Schedule regular stock updates from supplier feeds to prevent oversells and lost sales.

When Things Don't Go as Expected

Even experienced merchants encounter challenges. Here's how to handle common situations:

  • Problem: CSV fails validation.

    • Solution: Ensure UTF‑8 encoding, keep headers exact from the export template, and remove stray formulas or hidden characters.

  • Problem: SKU not found when updating.

    • Solution: Use Add/Update behavior or include a row that creates the missing SKU.

  • Problem: Images missing after import.

    • Solution: Place files in pub/media/import; ensure filenames and extensions in image/small_image/thumbnail/additional_images match exactly (case-sensitive). Refresh caches.

  • Problem: Categories not applied.

    • Solution: Use full category paths starting from Default Category and separate multiple paths with |. Verify categories exist.

  • Problem: Attribute option value doesn't exist.

    • Solution: Create the option first (Stores > Attributes > Product), then re-import.

  • Problem: Salable quantity is 0 with MSI.

    • Solution: Import source items with quantity and status = 1 (In Stock), and ensure products are assigned to the correct source and stock.

  • Problem: Import times out or file is too large.

    • Solution: Increase PHP limits (upload_max_filesize, post_max_size, max_execution_time) or split the CSV into smaller batches.

  • Risk mitigation:

    • Export a full product snapshot before major imports to enable rollback.
    • Test imports on a staging environment before running on production.

Continue Learning

  • Advanced Pricing Import (tier and group prices)
  • Building Configurable Products via CSV
  • Scheduled Imports/Exports and automation options

How-To Guides

  • Fix common import errors
  • Manage attribute sets and required attributes

Reference Materials

  • Sample product CSV template
  • MSI Source Items CSV format and field definitions

Summary

Key Takeaways

  • Export first to get a valid template.
  • Keep headers exact and values valid to avoid mapping errors.
  • Use Add/Update for safe upserts; Replace for full overwrites.
  • Store images in pub/media/import and reference filenames in CSV.
  • Verify indexers and storefront after import.

Remember

  • Always back up with an export before bulk changes, and test on staging when possible.
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