If you have your product data in a CSV or spreadsheet GiftSite support can help you import it directly to your store. This can save you a lot of time and help quickly populate your GiftSite with products.
What is a CSV? #
CSV stands for “Comma Separated Values” and is a file format used to store tabular data, just like a spreadsheet. It’s commonly used to import and export data between different software applications. Many ecommerce platforms and online market places like Ebay and Etsy, use the CSV format to import and export product data.
What needs to be in my CSV? #
To create an import CSV file for WooCommerce, you’ll need to follow these basic steps:
- Open a spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
- Create a new spreadsheet and add the necessary columns for your product data. You’ll need to include at least the following column headings:
- SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)
- Product Name
- Price
- Description
- Departments
- Image URL
- Barcode
- Weight, length width and height
- Stock
- Enter your product data into the appropriate cells for each column. Each row represents a separate product.
- Save the file as a CSV file format. You can usually do this by selecting “Save As” and then choosing “CSV” as the file type.
- Email your CSV to support@giftsite.co.uk with the subject “Product Import”
What do these column headings mean? #
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) – This is a unique code that you use to identify a product you sell. It is used to ensure that you send the correct products out to your customers and maintain accurate stock levels. If your supplier has their own SKUs it is highly recommended that you use these. If you are creating your own SKUs avoid using spaces, commas and unusual characters that could cause issues. It typically contains letters and can have a descriptive elements too. A blue medium t-shirt for example might have a SKU that looks like this: 437924-BLU-M
Product Name – This is the name of the product. It should typically contain the brand of the product and a concise but descriptive title: e.g. Nike Blue Women’s T-Shirt. Try to think like a potential customer searching for your product. What they are typing into a search engine should be the basis of your product name.
Price – What you will sell your product for. You can also provide a sale price.
Description – The product description should be unique, descriptive, and provide all the relevant information about the product. Use specific and relevant keywords that are commonly searched by users.
Departments – Departments are used to break up your online catalogue into groups of related products. These departments are presented to your customer through the menu that appears on every page of your website. You can specify a product department using this format: Tier 1 > Tier 2 > Tier 3
For instance, if you wanted to put a product in the Toy department you would enter Gifts > Kids > Toys in the CSV. You can assign a product to multiple departments by comma separating the values in this cell. Find out more about departments.
Images– You’ll want to use high-quality images that showcase the product from different angles and perspectives. Image collections can be too large to send by email. The best way to send us images is to use a cloud storage service like Dropbox, Google Drive or WeTransfer to share your files. If your images are hosted on another website it’s even easier. All we need is the URL of the image and we can pull them directly into your GiftSite. A URL might look like this https://www.oldwebsite.com/images/my-image.jpg
Barcode – The barcode of your product.
Weight, length width and height – The dimensions and weight of your product in metric units.
Stock – You might want to ensure that you don’t oversell the products on your website. Enabling stock management on your site means that stock will reduce whenever you make a sale. If you are selling the same stock in a physical shop, or in other market places you’ll want to ensure that you update stock levels on your GiftSite. A good way to prevent overselling is to allocate stock for each point of sale you have.
You can download an example CSV here: Example CSV
