Bulk Upload Products (New)

The bulk upload products feature allows you to manage products in large quantities effectively. You can bulk import details such as basic information, descriptions, categories, prices, etc., with the file template.

*Notes:

• This feature is currently available for uploading product information in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, English, Vietnamese, and Thai.
• To use languages other than the above-mentioned ones, please proceed to SHOPLINE Admin > [Apps] > [Apps Store] to purchase the relevant plug-ins. Available language plug-ins include Malay, Japanese, Indonesian, German, and French.

 

This article will cover the following:

• Attention before uploading files
• Steps to upload products
• Data fields introduction
• Retail store-related columns
• Notes

 

1. Attention before uploading files ⚠ 

• There are three fields you must fill in the bulk upload file. Please fill in the following information completely: Product Handle, Product Name (either Chinese or English), and Valid image for main product image. Merchants can not leave these fields blank, or the file won't be uploaded. Please download the template spreadsheet and fill in the product information.
• Besides the three fields mentioned above, it is suggested to contain Price, Quantity, and Categories (either Chinese or English). If merchants do not fill in the price, the system will hide the price automatically after uploading. Customers can only send messages to the store for price inquiries.
• Please open and edit the import file in Excel or Google Sheets only. Before importing the file, please confirm all the content you are going to upload. If the products you listed in the file already exist in the store, the system will still import those products and cause product duplication.
• This feature currently supports merchants to upload up to 20,000 rows of data each time. For instance, there are two main products (A and B) in a bulk upload file: Main Product A has only 1 variant, so it takes up a row on the spreadsheet. Main Product B has 3 variants, so they take up 3 data rows. When importing this bulk upload file, there will be 4 data rows imported in total.
• Fields related to "Price" and "Quantity" support positive integers only. The "weight" field supports numbers up to two decimal places.

 

2. Steps to upload products

Step 1. Select Bulk Import/Update

Go to SHOPLINE Admin > [Products and Categories] > [My Products]. Click the "Import" drop-down menu and select Bulk Import/Update.

 

On the Bulk Import/Update page, click on Export Product Bulk Import File to download the template file.

*Note: If this is the first time you use this feature, we strongly recommend you download and read the instruction file (bulkupload_instruction.xlsx).

 

Step 2. Download the form

Open the file and enter the product information.

 

Important notes:

• Starting from Row 3, you can add new product data in every row.
• Please do not delete or change the columns of this form.
• Every new product should at least have a Product Handle, Product Name, and Images.
• If your shop supports multiple languages, a bulk import template file will be generated according to your shop's default languages. You can fill in information for all the languages that are supported by your shop at the same time. If you wish to use only one language, please leave fields in other languages blank; but each language-related field is required to provide at least 1 language.
• If you only need to upload information in a specific language, please leave the fields of other languages blank. Do not delete any column.
• Please make sure all categories you use are already configured in the Admin panel. Currently, we cannot create new categories in bulk import.
• Please do not include space in your image URL.
• Merchants have to re-export the upload file from the Admin if they have changed the names of the membership tier.
• Names of the membership tier cannot be repeated or identical to "Member Price". Otherwise, the system will not be able to obtain the correct data, and upload failure will occur. 
• Names of different stores cannot be repeated. Otherwise, the system will not be able to obtain the correct data of Store-Specific Prices, and upload failure will occur ([Coming Soon]).

 

3. Data field introduction

The following is an example of how to fill in a Bulk Import/Update form.

*Note: The position of the following fields applies only to this example. Since each shop supports different languages, the position of each column field in each generated template varies.

 

i. Product Handle (Mandatory)

Fill in the cell with a designated number and also for the following rows of the product's variation.

 

ii. Product Name, Product Description, SEO, Preorder Items, etc.

• Product Name (Mandatory)
  If you only have the data in English, please leave the field for Chinese blank.
• Product Summary
  If you only have the data in English, please leave the field for Chinese blank. The text limit for these fields is 300 characters.
• Product Description
  If you only have the data in English, please leave the field for Chinese blank. The product description field accepts HTML syntax. If merchants need to show line breaks or other styles, please enter the corresponding syntax. The system can show the result if the syntax is correct.
  •  
  • For instance, to enter wrap text, you could insert a code <br>.
    
    
    After uploading the file, texts will appear at the storefront like this:
    

• SEO Title and Description
  It can be a simple sentence about your product. It will usually be shown on search engines like Google and social media sharing.
• Preorder Item
  Enter Y to set the product as a preorder item, N for a non-preorder item.
• Online Store Status 
  Enter Y to make this product published automatically after import, N to make the product unpublished.

 

iii. Product Images and Additional Images

• Merchants can add Images (used as thumbnails and primary pictures) and Additional Images (shown on more Information section after the product description on the product page).
• Please enter the URL of the image directly. If you have more than one image, please use a space to separate two URLs.

*Note: SHOPLINE has fully upgraded the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Please change your domain URL to "https" to avoid your website from being blocked by some browsers.

 

*Note: How to Get the URL of Images

There are different ways to upload your image.

1. You can upload your image to the Image gallery on SHOPLINE and copy the URL of it. Refer to this link for details.

2. You can upload your images to other public online photo platforms that support SSL encryption. For example, Imgur, Flickr, and Facebook.

3. You can search for photos directly on the search engine. After uploading, you can open the photos in a new tab, right-click on the photo and select Copy Image Address to copy the URL.

⚠️ Note: Merchants are responsible to take care of photo copyright issues. Please check Google FAQ for more details.

 

iv. Categories

Before adding new categories, please make sure that you have added corresponding categories in the SHOPLINE Admin ([Products and Categories] > [Categories]).

 

There are a few scenarios of assigning products to categories you may want to know: 

• Only assign to the main category, input the name of the category directly. E.g.: Digitals
• Assign to a subcategory, use ">" to connect. E.g.: Digitals>Phone
• Assign multi-categories to a product at the same time, use "#" to connect. E.g.: Digitals>Phone#Digitals>Trend

Please leave the Chinese column blank if you do not have a category in Chinese. 

 

v. Price, SKU, and Quantity

Fill in the Price, Sales Price, SKU, and Quantity of your product. Leaving the Quantity field blank means unlimited quantity.

*Notes:

• If a product has different variations, please refer to Specification and Options and set up Variation Quantity, Variation Price, Variation, and SKU for each variation product.
• Price and Quantity only support positive integers only.
• [Coming Soon] Store-specific Price only supports merchants using the "e-Commerce+Retail POS/ Social Commerce+Retail POS/ e-Commerce+Social Commerce+Retail POS" plans, and merchants must switch on the "Set Store-Specific Prices for products" toggle in the Product Detail Page. For more information, please refer to [Coming Soon] Store-Specific Price｜POS Admin.

 

vi. Weight (KG) and Supplier

Weight - If merchants are now using the newly launched set delivery fee by weight feature, you may also add product weight (in kg, up to 2 decimal places) in the bulk upload sheet to help count the delivery fee as order weight on the checkout page.

If the field is blank, the product would be set as 0 kg.

"Supplier" column - If you have not added a supplier in Admin > [Inventory Management] > [Supplier], you cannot add a supplier by uploading the bulk import/update file.

*Notes:

• If a product has different variants, please use Bulk Update Product and fill in "Variant Weight" after the product is uploaded to set the weight for each variation product. 
• The "Weight" column supports numbers with up to 2 decimal places. 

 

vii. Product Tag and Hidden Product

Product Tag - Set product tags for product management. Each product tag should be at least 3 characters. For example, AAA or ABC.

Hidden Product - Input "Y" to set a product as the hidden product, so it will not display at the storefront. Merchants can send the link of the hidden product to specific customers. Input "N" or leave it blank if it is a general product.

 

viii. Specification and Variation

Set the name of each specification, such as "Color" and "Size".

*Notes:

• If the specification name is identical to "Color" or "Size", it will be set as default specification automatically (Applies to Trad. Chinese, Simp. Chinese, English, Thai, and Vietnamese)
• Please enter the specification name in the store default language. Otherwise, the system will recognize it as a custom specification. 

Then fill in the corresponding variation name, quantity, and image URL for each variation. 

*Notes: The following limitations should to be noticed.

• Variation names in the same language cannot be duplicated.
  

  Specification Name A (English)	Specification Name B (English)	Variation name A (English)	Variation name B (English)
  Color	Size	Yellow	M
  		Yellow	L
  		Yellow	M
  		Green	L

  
  
• The translation of a variation name must be identical in another language.
  For example, if  thevariation "green" has different names entered in the Chinese column, it will cause the import to fail.
  

  Specification Name A (English)	Specification Name B (English)	Variation name A (English)	Variation name A (Chinese)	Variation name B (English)	Variation name B (Chinese)
  Color	Size	Yellow	黃	M	中
  		Yellow	黃	L	大
  		Green	綠	M	中
  		Green	紅	L	大

  
  
• The translations of different variation names msut not be the same but can be left in blank.
  For example: The variation name "M" correspond to "中" in Chinese. If the variation name "L" has "中" as its transation, it will cuase the import to fail. 
  

  Specification Name A (English)	Specification Name B (English)	Variation name A (English)	Variation name A (Chinese)	Variation name B (English)	Variation name B (Chinese)
  Color	Size	Yellow	黃	M	中
  		Yellow	黃	L	中
  		Green	綠	M	中
  		Green	綠	L	大

 

Optionally, if merchants wish to add images corresponding to the variation, enter an image URL (in "https") under the "Variation Image" column.

• If the field is left blank, the variant will appear in the main product image at the storefront.
• A maximum of 1 image URL (in "https") can be entered in the field. Adding multiple links will cause import failure. 
• Merchants can refer to this tip to retrieve image URLs.

 

ix. Variant Price, Cost, SKU and Weight

Merchants can edit the SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) of each variant for better inventory management.

To add product variations to each product, starting from Variation A, Variation B, Variation quantity, Variation Price, and Variation SKU (SKU of each variation) from top to bottom, row to row.

 

x. Barcode

• If you are a POS merchant, after importing the product barcode, it will be synchronized to the POS App for use at the retail store. If this field is left blank, the system will automatically generate an 8-code Barcode.
• After the import, if merchants need to check the barcode, go to Admin > [Product & Categories] > [Products] and click on the Edit button of the product. Select the Product Feed Data tab and go to the barcode field. If you need to use the barcode field yet cannot see the "Product Feed Data" tab, please contact the Online Merchant Success Team. 

 

xi. Upload Bulk Upload File

After inputting all product information, go back to SHOPLINE Admin > [Product & Categories] > [Products] and upload that file you have edited.

 

The page below will be shown after the products are successfully imported.  

 

If there is an error in the data entry, the system will import the rest of the valid product information first. Merchants can check the bulk upload progress by clicking "Take me to Bulk Import/Export Progress now!" or going to the [Report & Analytics] > [Bulk Action Process]. If you have failed items when uploading, there will be a button for downloading the failure report.

 

In the upload failure report, merchants can find the part in error highlighted in red and the failure reason. Please revise the file according to the failure reason, then re-upload the file.

To speed up the efficiency of bulk product import, the sorting order of the new products will be in the order of the system processing sequence. Merchants can go to the Categories page to manually adjust the sorting. Other pages such as the list of products in the Admin, inventory management page, and all product pages at the storefront, will be displayed in the order arranged in the file.

 

4. Retail store-related columns:

Merchants using O2O, Retail POS, e-Commerce + Retail POS plans will have Retail Store Status and POS Categories columns when bulk importing products. Please note that other columns in the form will be moved backward sequentially.

[Coming Soon] i. Store-Specific Price & Variant Store-Specific Price

*Store-Specific Price only supports merchants using the Retail POS plan, and merchants must switch on the "Set Store-Specific Prices for products" toggle in the Product Detail Page. For more information, please refer to [Coming Soon] Store-Specific Price｜POS Admin.

Please input the product's price for different stores in the "Store-Specific Price" field. If this product has multiple variants, please input the prices in the "Variant Store-Specific Price" field.

• Store-Specific Price
  
  
  
• Variant Store-Specific Price
  

ii. Online Store & Retail Store Status

Please update the product statuses of your online store and retail store with the "Online Store Status" and "Retail Store Status" columns.

• Online Store Status
  Enter Y to make this product published automatically after import, enter N or leave it blank to make the product unpublished.
• Retail Store Status
  Enter Y to make this product published automatically after import, enter N or leave it blank to make the product unpublished.

 

iii. Online Store Categories & POS Categories

• Online Store Categories
  Before adding a new online store category, please make sure that you have added the corresponding categories in [Products & Categories] > [Categories]. You can leave the Chinese column blank if you don't have a Chinese category.
  
  There are a few scenarios of assigning products to categories you may want to know: 
• Only assign to the main category: Input the name of the category directly. E.g., Digitals.
• Assign to a subcategory: Use ">" to connect. E.g., Digitals>Phone.
• Assign multi-categories to a product at the same time: Use "#" to connect. E.g., Digitals>Phone#Digitals>Trend.
• POS Categories
  Before adding a new POS category, please make sure that you have added the corresponding categories in [Products & Categories] > [Categories]. Please note that POS Categories only support importing main categories.
  You can leave the Chinese column blank if you don't have a Chinese category.

*Notes:

• Subcategories are currently not supported in POS categories. Therefore, ">" is not available for assigning products to subcategories in retail stores.
• Assigning one product to multiple POS categories is currently not supported. Therefore, "#" is not available for assigning products to multiple categories in retail stores.

 

5. Notes

The Retail Store Status, POS Categories, Supplier, Product Retail Store Price, and Variant Retail Store Price, [Coming Soon] Store-Specific Price, [Coming Soon] Variant Store-Specific Price columns are only available for merchants using O2O, Retail POS, e-Commerce + Retail POS plans.

 

 

 

 

Read more

• Upload Products
• Bulk Update Products