The Import and Export Products feature allows you to create new products or make changes to existing products using a spreadsheet file that you work with outside of the Command Console. When you done with the file you simply import it back into the system and the products are created or updated with the changes you have made.
The Import and Export feature is a great way to make the same or very simple changes to multiple products at once. If you do not have much experience creating or editing products we do not recommend you use the Import and Export feature because there are several things that can go wrong. To learn how to use the Import and Export Products feature, see Using Import and Export Products.
Using Import and Export: An Overview
The steps you take to create or edit products with Import and Export is mostly the same, with just a couple minor differences. The following outlines the process to create or edit products with Import and Export:
| Required Role: Catalog ManagerA user role that allows the user access to the catalog and product features. Search this file for the "user role definitions" topic for more information. |
- First, export a blank template spreadsheet (if creating new products) or a spreadsheet of the product data you want to change (if editing existing products). See About the Spreadsheets below for more information about the spreadsheets.
- Second, enter or edit the product data in the spreadsheet. You can use the information and instructions in the spreadsheet to help you learn how to use the spreadsheets. If you want to use the spreadsheet to
Note: You cannot create a new variation using the spreadsheet if the base product does not already have at least one existing variation. This means that if you are creating new products, you cannot create a product with variations until you use the Command Console to create the first variation. We recommend that you create the base product in the spreadsheet, upload the spreadsheet and create a variation, then use the spreadsheet to create your additional variations.
- Finally, import the spreadsheet with the new or changed product data into the Command Console. What happens to the product data upon import varies, depending on the status (state) that is entered for the product in the spreadsheet and whether there are errors or warnings during the import.
About the Spreadsheets
All of the Import and Export tasks are done using standard Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet files that you export, add data to or make changes to, and import back into the system.
Spreadsheet Format
When you export a blank template or file with existing products you must select the version of Excel file you want to use (.xls or .xlsx). The version you select should reflect the version of Microsoft® Excel® you have on your computer.
Blank Templates
Blank spreadsheets do not contain any actual data when they are exported. After you export a blank spreadsheet, you should enter data into that spreadsheet to create new products for your store. Each cell in the spreadsheet is used to enter specific information for the product, similar to the spreadsheets you export with product data.
Exporting Existing Products
When you export existing products you can choose to export all products, specific products, or products with "design" or "deployed" status only. The products you choose to export will be in the spreadsheet file you get when the export completes.
Information at Top
When you export a blank template or a spreadsheet with product data you will see some information at the top of the file that indicates the catalog for the blank template or the product data, the date of the export, and the current locale.
Hidden Rows
Important! When working with the spreadsheets make sure you do not change anything above row 15, or delete rows 12 and 13. Rows 12 and 13 are automatically hidden in the spreadsheet because they contain important information required by the Import and Export tool to process imported data.
Locale Worksheets
When you export a blank template or file with existing products you must select the locales you want to export. Within the spreadsheets you will see tabs (also called "worksheets") along the bottom that represent the locales supported on your store. A sample of the locale tabs is shown below:
When creating or editing products, make sure you have the right locale tab selected or you may get unexpected results on your store.
The tabs appear in alphabetical order, so you will need to find the default locale for your store (usually en_US) to see all the products you chose to export. Products will only appear on a locale tab if that product has been set to support that locale or been localized for that locale.
For example, if you have a product has been localized for the French (fr_FR) locale so that the Site Display Name, Short Description, Long Description, and so on appear in French on the store, that product will appear on the "fr_FR" tab.
If you add a product to a locale tab, you should localize that product for that locale. If you add a product to a locale and do not localize it, shoppers who visit your store from that locale will not see the product in the language or currency they expect.
Entering Data in the Spreadsheet
In the body of the spreadsheet you will see cells in which you can enter (or change) data or information about a product. Make sure that you complete all required cells in a row or the row may not be imported.
- Cells that are grayed out cannot (or should not) be edited. These cells usually contain data that is generated by the system.
- Each cell has a column heading that indicates what the cell is used to define, such as Product Name (also called Internal Product Name), SKU, Long Description, and so on.
Tip: The cells you see in the spreadsheet vary based on the configuration of the Catalog Import & Export template. See Configuring the Import and Export Product Spreadsheet for more information about how you can configure which cells appear in the Catalog Import & Export spreadsheet.
A Note About Editing Deployed Products
When you export product data, products that were previously deployed will have “deployed” in the "State" cell of the spreadsheet. If you change any of the data for a deployed product, the change(s) will be automatically deployed when you import the spreadsheet as long as no errors are found (and assuming you do not change the "State" cell to something other than deployed). If the product contains warnings it is still deployed but you should fix the warnings as soon as possible to prevent problems with the product.
A Note About Creating Download Products
If you are creating download products using Import and Export, you must perform an additional step to add the download files (product files) to the products after they are imported. There are two ways to add download files to a product after it is imported from a spreadsheet:
- The first way is best used for a small number of products. You can edit a product after it is imported and add the download file as you would normally would in the Command Console.
- The second way is best used for large numbers of products. You can upload all the download files for products imported in a spreadsheet using your Digital River FTP account. Then you can contact your Store Operations team and arrange for the files to be moved from your FTP account to the location on your site where all download files are saved. If you entered the correct file name in the "Application File" cell of the spreadsheet before you imported, the products will be updated to use the correct download files.
Localizing Products using Import and Export
When you export products and categories, you specify the catalog and locale for the items you want to export. When you view the file you will see all your products or categories even if they do not support the selected locale. This is done on purpose so that you can localize your products using Catalog Import & Export.
For example, assume you have a catalog with ten products. All ten products use a default locale of English (en_US) and two also support the Japanese (Japan) locale. When you export products for the Japanese locale, all ten products are included in the export file. To keep the eight English (en_US) products unlocalized, you would delete them from the file and import it to the system. To localize the eight products you would simply import the file with the products still included, with or without localized changes. Even if you do not make localized changes to the products the system still recognizes them as localized since they were imported for a specific locale. Localized products do not automatically update with changes made to the default locale for a catalog.
What Happens When You Import
What happens when you import your spreadsheet depends on whether you are importing new product data or edited product data.
How Imports and Exports are Processed
All of the Import and Export jobs are processed asynchronously. This means that you can start an import and export job and then work in other areas of the Command Console as the job completes. You can also start multiple import or export jobs at the same time and each job will be processed in order until all jobs are completed. You can view the status of your import and export jobs from the Job Queue. See The Import and Export Job Queue for more information.
Imported New Products
When you import new products (that is, products that have never existed in the Command Console before) and you do not set a "State" (status) in the spreadsheet, the products will have the "open" status until you deploy them.
Importing Changed Products
When you import changed products (that is, products that you exported and then changed) the products will have the same status they did when you exported them. If wanted, you can change the state/status of a product in the spreadsheet before you import so the product has that state/status when the import completes. However, be careful when giving products the "deployed" state (status) because if there are no errors with the product, it will in fact be deployed immediately upon import.
Tip: To automatically deploy changes or additions you make to products when you import, enter "Deployed" in the "State" column for those products you want to deploy when imported. As long as the product data does not have any warnings or errors, the product will be deployed when the import completes.
Importing Products and Ownership
When you import changes to products you automatically take "ownership" of that product. Ownership simply means that you were the last person to change the product and someone else cannot make changes to the product until they take ownership. This prevents two people from making changes to the same product at the same time.
Import Warnings and Errors
When you import a product spreadsheet, the data in the spreadsheet is checked for errors the same way products are when you create or edit them in the Command Console. If the data in your spreadsheet contains any warnings or errors (for example, a required cell was not completed, or a cell contains the wrong type of value) you will see messages at the top of the page when your import completes detailing what is wrong with the product data in your spreadsheet. A copy of these warnings and errors will also be emailed to you for reference. You must fix any errors before you can deploy the products, however products with warnings can be deployed.
When you import product data that has errors, the product will be given the "Design" status so you can fix the error(s), Once the error is fixed you will have to deploy the product for the changes to be seen on your store.
If you import changes for a product that has already been deployed on your store (you will see "deployed" in the "State" cell of the spreadsheet) and that product has no errors, the changes you import will automatically be deployed. This is also true if the product has warnings because products with warnings can be deployed.
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