Uploading Products to a Shopify Website

Importing inventory into Shopify

Whether your business has five products or 5,000, creating your product listings is one of the most important parts of setting up your eCommerce store. Your products are the star players of your business, so it’s important that your website showcases them in the best light.

From product imagery and text descriptions to categorisation and pricing, there’s a lot of information to upload and configure for each product. Depending on how many products your business sells, uploading your products and getting them looking just right can be one of the most time-consuming parts of setting up your website.

Fortunately, if you’re using Shopify, the platform offers plenty of tools for uploading and optimising your Shopify product listings. With several different upload methods to choose from, the right option for you really depends on how many products you have. At Create8, our team of Shopify web designers and developers has helped countless businesses upload products to their Shopify stores quickly and efficiently, optimising all fields to create dynamic product listings.

In this article, we’ll share an invaluable step-by-step guide to adding products to your Shopify store. We’ll cover all the different upload methods, including manual entry, CSV file import, and third-party apps. Whether you’re adding a few products or a large inventory, we’ve got you covered!

What are the different methods for importing products to Shopify?

The first important decision to make when preparing to update inventory on Shopify is which method to use. Are you going to upload products manually, one at a time, or in bulk? Generally, the manual method is only suitable if you have a small inventory, as it can be very time-consuming. The alternative is to upload products in bulk using a CVS file. If you have a large inventory of products, then bulk uploading is much more efficient.

Adding products to Shopify manually

If you’ve decided to upload your products manually, the only prep work you’ll need to do is gather all your product details, as you’ll be entering the information directly into Shopify’s product editor. Here are the key steps to upload products to Shopify:

Step 1: Log in to your Shopify Admin

Begin by navigating to your Shopify Admin page and logging in with your credentials.

Step 2: Navigate to ‘Products’

Once logged in, click on the “Products” tab from the main dashboard.

Step 3: Add a new product

Click on the “Add Product” button to open a new product template.

Step 4: Enter product details

Next, fill out all the fields on the template to generate a dynamic product listing that provides visitors with all the information they need to find your product and make an informed buying decision.

• Title: Enter the name of your product.
• Description: Write SEO-optimised product descriptions.
• Images: Upload product images on Shopify. Use Shopify-supported image formats and high-quality, clear images of your product from different angles.
• Pricing: Set product pricing on Shopify.
• Inventory: Input details like the product’s SKU, barcode, and quantity available to help manage your inventory effectively.
• Shipping: Specify the product weight and choose whether it requires shipping.
• Variants: If you’re managing Shopify product variations, such as different sizes or colours, add these details here.
• SEO for Shopify products: Edit the Search Engine Listing Preview to optimise your product for search engines. 

Step 5: Save your product

Click the “Save” button to upload the product to your store.

Bulk uploading products to Shopify using a CSV file

If you have a large inventory, manually uploading products one by one may not be feasible. Instead, you should consider uploading your products in bulk using a CSV file. Before you can get started with this method, you’ll need to prepare a CSV file containing all your product details. Shopify offers a template CSV file that makes it easy to ensure that your data is formatted correctly. Let’s walk through the steps.

Step 1: Prepare your CSV file

• Start by downloading Shopify’s sample product CSV file. This template ensures that your CSV file meets the required format.
• Next, populate the CSV file with your product information, including details like product name, description, price, SKU, quantity, and variants.

Step 2: Import your CSV file

In your Shopify admin, go to “Products”> “Import”> “Add file”, select your CSV file, and then click “Upload”.

Step 3: Map your fields

Shopify will automatically attempt to match the CSV columns to the correct product fields in your store. Confirm that all fields are correctly mapped and adjust any errors. 

Step 4: Import Products

Once all fields are correctly mapped, click “Import products”. Shopify will then upload the products to your store.

What tools are available to bulk upload products to a Shopify store?

While Shopify’s built-in import tool meets the needs of most stores, those with more complex data or requirements may benefit from using third-party Shopify bulk upload tools. These tools can help streamline the import process and reduce the potential for errors.

Our favourite third-party tool for bulk importing Shopify products is Matrixify, which is available from the Shopify App Store. Matrixify, formerly known as Excelify, is particularly useful for stores with complex inventories or those migrating to Shopify from another platform. The app allows you to import and export data in various formats, including Excel, Google Sheets, or CSV files.

A step-by-step guide to bulk editing Shopify products using Matrixify

If you have a lot of products, making large-scale edits can be daunting without the right tools. Matrixify is not only a powerful tool for importing products to Shopify, but it also excels at bulk editing. You can use it to make bulk changes to product prices, descriptions, inventory levels, and more. Here’s how to perform bulk edits using Matrixify:

Step 1: Install Matrixify

If you haven’t already, install Matrixify from the Shopify App Store and connect it to your Shopify store.

Step 2: Export Your Products

Open Matrixify by selecting the Matrixify app within your Shopify admin panel and then click on the “Export” button. Next, select “Products,” choose the file format you are using, and select the specific fields you wish to edit (e.g., product titles and prices). Finally, click “Export” to download your product data file.

Step 3: Edit Your Products in Excel or CSV

Open the exported file in Excel or a compatible spreadsheet program and then edit the fields as needed. After making your edits, save the file in the original format. 

Step 4: Import the Edited File

Next, return to the Matrixify app in your Shopify admin and click on the “Import” button. Upload the file you just saved, and Matrixify will automatically align the file’s columns with Shopify’s fields. Check that the mapped fields, and if everything looks as it should, it’s time to click the “import” button to update your store’s products with the changes you’ve made.

Step 5: Verify Changes

Once the import is complete, go to the “Products” section in your Shopify admin to check that the updates have been successfully applied. If any issues occur during the import, Matrixify will provide you with a detailed log to help identifying and fixing Shopify upload errors.

Best practices when bulk editing Shopify products using Matrixify

Making bulk changes to your Shopify store can be a quick and efficient way of keeping things accurate and up-to-date. However, the process isn’t without its risks, so it’s important to understand what can go wrong and take precautions to prevent mistakes. To help you minimise risk, save time, and streamline your inventory management, we’ve compiled our top five tips for bulk editing products using Matrixify.

Always backup data first: Before making bulk edits, always export a backup of your current product data. This ensures you have a copy of the original data in case anything goes wrong during the editing process and allows you to restore your store to its previous state if needed.

Use filters: When exporting data, use filters to narrow down the products you need to edit. For example, you might filter by product category, supplier, or price range. Focusing on a specific subset of your inventory makes the process more manageable and reduces the risk of errors.

Use consistent formatting: Ensure that any changes you make in your spreadsheet follow the same formatting rules used by Shopify. Pay close attention to details like date formats, price formats, and how you enter numerical values (eg. don’t use commas in numerical fields). Consistency helps to avoid upload errors.

Test with small batches: If you’re new to bulk editing, start with a small batch of products to familiarise yourself with the process.

Perform regular updates: Keep your inventory and product details accurate and up-to-date by regularly using tools like Matrixify for bulk updates. Setting a routine schedule for inventory checks and updates can help prevent issues with stock levels, pricing errors, and outdated product information.

Our top 4 Shopify inventory management tools

Once your products are live in your Shopify store, it doesn’t mean the job is done—far from it! Inventory management is an important task that must be managed efficiently on an ongoing basis to keep everything running smoothly. Effective inventory management streamlines business operations and offers several other benefits. It can help reduce costs and improve cash flow by minimising the amount of unnecessary stock held, enhance customer satisfaction by ensuring the right products are available at the right time, and mitigate the risks associated with price fluctuations and changes in demand.

Within the Shopify App Store, you can find numerous tools designed to supercharge your store’s inventory management process. These tools can be integrated seamlessly with your Shopify store to make inventory management simple and effective. Let’s find out more about our four favourite Shopify apps for inventory management.

Cin7

Cin7 is an inventory and order management system designed to help growing businesses operate more efficiently by managing inventory and automating order workflows.

Features:

• Inventory Management: Provides real-time inventory tracking and management.
• Order Management: Automates order processing and fulfilment across multiple channels.
• POS Integration: Integrates with point-of-sale systems for seamless retail operations.
• Warehouse Management: Optimises warehouse operations and logistics.
• Integrated 3PL communications: Provides real-time information about shipping and handling through automated communication with third-party logistics providers.

Veeqo

Veeqo is a multichannel shipping software that features powerful multichannel order and inventory management tools.

Features:

• Inventory Control: Provides real-time inventory tracking across all of your sales channels.
• Multi-Channel Selling: Manage products seamlessly across multiple sales channels.
• Order Fulfilment: Streamlines order processing and shipping.
• Reporting: Generates detailed reports on product performance and sale metrics.
• Competitive shipping rates: Accesses the lowest commercially available shipping rates with major carriers.

NetSuite (by Oracle)

NetSuite is a cloud-based ERP solution that streamlines core business operations for companies of all sizes by integrating functions like inventory management, order processing, financials, and customer relations into a single unified platform.

Features:

• Inventory Management: Provides real-time tracking of inventory levels and automated replenishment.
• Order Management: Streamlines order processing and fulfilment across multiple channels.
• Financial Management: Automatically records Shopify sales and transactions in Netsuite’s accounting module.
• CRM: Provides customer relationship management tool to help boost customer engagement.
• Real-time data sync: Provides real-time synchronisation of data between Shopify and Netsuite, including customer data, orders, inventory levels, and more.

Brightpearl 

Brightpearl is a retail operating system designed to help retail and wholesale businesses manage various business operations efficiently.

Features:

• Multichannel inventory management: Provides real-time synchronisation of inventory across multiple sales channels.
• Order management: Automates and centralises order processing from various channels into a single interface.
• Integrated accounting: Features a fully integrated accounting system that provides real-time financial data and reporting.
• Warehouse management: Provides tools for efficient warehouse operations, including barcode scanning, batch tracking, and optimised picking and packing processes.
• Real-time reporting and analytics: Offers robust reporting tools and analytics that provide insights into sales performance, inventory health, and more.

Partner with Create8 for help uploading products to your Shopify store

Need help uploading products to your Shopify store?

At Create8, we are proud to be a Shopify partner with a dedicated team of expert Shopify web designers and developers. Whether you’re managing a small inventory or handling thousands of items, our team can help you upload and optimise your product listings quickly and efficiently to boost your online presence.

Contact our team on 0161 820 9686 for more information about our Shopify services or to get a quote for your project.