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Shopify product uploadsfrom your supplier’s spreadsheet

Send the spreadsheet exactly as your supplier sent it. We hand back a file laid out in Shopify’s own import columns, with every product matched, the gaps filled from sources you can check, and the formats fixed so it imports first time. You check it, then import it.

How it works
  • Nothing goes live without your sign-off
  • Every value keeps its source
  • Your data is never shared
Shopify columnBeforeSupplier sentAfterReady for Shopify
URL handlenone400-thread-count-fitted-sheet
TitleFITTED SHEET 400TC WHITE KING400 Thread Count Fitted Sheet
Vendornone; the brand was in the file nameHollinsby
TypeBeddingFitted Sheets
Option1 name and valuein the titleSize, King
Option2 name and valuein the titleColour, White
SKUFS400-WH-KFS400-WH-K
Barcodes5.01235E+12gtin:5012345678900
Price£34.9934.99
Weight value (grams)0.9 kg900
Product image URLFS400_thumb.jpg, 160 × 160https link to the 1500 × 1500 original
One supplier row for a king-size fitted sheet, as it arrived and as its first row for Shopify. The product and its type are examples. The handle, barcode, price and weight follow Shopify’s rules for those columns.1

How it works

  1. Send the file as it arrived

    Any columns, any names, no template to fill in. A SKU or barcode on each row is enough to start.

  2. We get it ready for Shopify

    Every product is matched to the real thing and checked against a source. The gaps are filled, the formats are fixed, and the rows are laid out the way Shopify’s import reads them: one handle per product, and a row for each size or colour.1

  3. You check it, then import it

    Nothing goes live without your sign-off. When you are happy, you upload the file in Shopify and click Import products.2

Where supplier spreadsheets break a Shopify import

Each of these starts in the supplier’s file. Shopify’s own help pages set out every rule, and each one is linked below.

  • Sizes that turn into separate products

    BeforeFITTED SHEET 400TC WHITE KINGFITTED SHEET 400TC WHITE DOUBLE

    After400-thread-count-fitted-sheet

    Shopify tells products apart by the URL handle, “the unique identifier for each product”, and makes one from the title when the file has none. When a supplier’s titles hold the size, every size gets a handle, and so a product, of its own. Each product needs one handle, of letters, dashes and numbers, on every one of its rows.1

  • Prices with a pound sign

    Before£34.9934,99

    After34.99

    Shopify’s price columns take the amount and nothing else, “without a currency symbol”, and its own example is 9.99.1 A supplier on the continent writes 34,99, which needs the same fix.

  • Barcodes the spreadsheet has mangled

    Before5.01235E+12

    Aftergtin:5012345678900

    Excel removes leading zeros and turns long numbers into scientific notation, which is how a 13 digit barcode ends up reading 5.01235E+12.3 The real number has to be found again, not guessed. Shopify then takes the barcode with its type in front, like gtin:5012345678900; without a type it imports as a custom barcode.1

  • Weights in kilos and pounds

    Before0.9 kg900g2 lb

    After900

    Shopify’s weight column is in grams, written as a plain number with no unit, so 5.125 kg goes in as 5125.1 Every row is converted to grams before the unit comes off, so nothing arrives a thousand times too light.

  • Image links that will not download

    BeforeFS400_thumb.jpg

    Afterhttps link to the full-size image

    Shopify downloads every image during the import, so each link has to be public and point straight at the picture. A link that does not fails with “An error occurred while trying to download the image”.14 We open every link before the file is built, and swap thumbnails for the full-size original.

  • Sizes and colours crammed into one cell

    BeforeSize: M / Colour: Black

    AfterSize M, Colour Black, as two options

    To Shopify that cell is two options, Size with the value M and Colour with the value Black, each in its own pair of columns. If two variants end up with the same values, the import stops with “options are not unique”.4 We split cells like this into their parts.

What you get back

A Google Sheet or Excel file laid out for Shopify’s import, one tab per category, and the same products before and after so you can see exactly what changed.

  • Every product matched and checked

    Each SKU or barcode is matched to the real product, and every source page is checked to make sure it really shows that product.

  • The gaps filled, with sources

    Missing specifications, descriptions and images are found on manufacturer and retailer pages, and every value keeps a link to where it came from, so anyone on your team can check it.

  • One spelling for every value

    Freestanding, Free-standing and freestanding become the one word you choose, so your shop’s filters offer one option instead of three, and every future file lands on the same word.

  • Titles and descriptions written from the facts

    Product titles, descriptions, page titles and search snippets are written from the values already in the data, to length limits that are enforced.

  • Images that will import

    The full-size original behind every thumbnail, with logos, badges and duplicates taken out, and any format Shopify will not take converted, at a link we host for 30 days.

  • A score before anything goes live

    One quality score for the file and a grade for each product, worst first, so you know what to look at. It warns and never blocks.

Recent jobs

Our own account of work we have done. The customers are unnamed here, and every figure comes from our own records of the job.

Questions

Questions Shopify sellers ask

What Shopify sellers ask before they send us a file. Anything else, ask us and a person answers.

Is this a Shopify data entry service?

Yes, in effect, but nobody retypes anything. Shopify’s import needs only a Title to create a product, yet its other columns have rules of their own: a URL handle of letters, dashes and numbers, a price with no currency symbol, an SEO title of up to 70 characters and an SEO description of up to 320. We fill the gaps from checked sources and write every value to those rules.

Do you upload the products to my Shopify store?

No, you import it yourself, from Products, then Import, and Shopify shows you the details before you click Import products. It asks for a backup first, since imports “can’t be canceled once they begin”, so the file comes to you to check before it gets that far. Its Status column also takes draft, for a product that “isn’t yet ready to be sold”, so nothing is offered to customers until you set it active.

Do you need my Shopify login, or an app?

Neither. Shopify’s own product import, under Products, then Import in your admin, is all the file needs, so there is no app to install and no login to share. One limit is worth knowing: a product CSV “can’t exceed 15 MB”, and if an upload times out, Shopify’s advice is to split the file into smaller ones and upload each.

Is there a Shopify product CSV template?

Yes, Shopify offers a sample CSV with two example products, which have to come out before you add your own. Its pages name the columns two ways, Handle and Variant Grams in its error help, URL handle and Weight value (grams) in its column guide, and it still reads older names. You will not need the template, though: the file comes back in Shopify’s columns.

Can you handle products in sizes and colours?

Yes. Shopify allows up to three options per product, such as Size and Colour, and every row of one product shares its URL handle. The first row carries the title, description, vendor and tags; the rows after it skip those and give each variant its own option values, SKU, price and weight. Where a supplier puts size and colour in one cell, the two are split apart.

Will importing it overwrite products I already have?

Only if you tick Overwrite products with matching handles. Left unticked, Shopify ignores rows for products you already have. Ticked, the file’s values replace yours, and a blank cell clears the value in your store, so a file meant to update products should carry only the columns you want changed.

Can I update a single column, like SKU, by CSV?

Yes, as long as the option columns stay in. Shopify needs only URL handle and Title to update a product, but SKU and Weight value (grams) belong to variants and depend on Option1 name and Option1 value. Leave those out and “a new default variant is created and existing variants are deleted”. Changing an option value also replaces the variant’s ID, which can break anything outside Shopify that depends on it.

Can I edit the file in Excel before importing it?

With care. Shopify warns that sorting a product CSV in Excel or Apple Numbers can separate products from their image links, so their images are lost. Excel can also turn straight quotes into curly ones, which Shopify reports as “Missing or stray quote on line”. Shopify suggests Google Sheets for viewing the file. Ours comes back ready to import, so it needs no sorting first.

Doing it yourself?

Everything on this page is written up in full on the blog, with Shopify’s own pages cited, and every word of the trade is in the glossary in plain English.

Sources

  1. Shopify Help Center. Using CSV files to import and export products.
  2. Shopify Help Center. Importing products with a CSV file.
  3. Microsoft Support. Keeping leading zeros and large numbers.
  4. Shopify Help Center. Solutions to common product CSV import problems.

Shopify is a trademark of its owner. RefynData is an independent service, not affiliated with or endorsed by Shopify.

Send the fileas it arrived

Nothing goes live without your sign-offEvery value keeps its sourceYour data is never shared

Send one supplier spreadsheet, exactly as it came. We will show you the same products before and after, ready for the platform you sell on, with a source on every value we add.

One email with the upload link. Nothing else lands in your inbox.