How do I Manually Add Products?

This guide is a quick reference on how to add your products manually (without CSV import) to your Shift4Shop store. We will go over all of the main fields involved in adding a product – please keep in mind there are many more features available to you for this process, so the more information you add, the more descriptive your products will be.

Adding a Product

To manually add a new product:

1. Go to Products > Product List.

2. Look to the top right of the page and click on the Add a Product button.

This will create a base product for you to edit with basic details. Required details for this page are the product's name, SKU, and price. All other details are optional at this stage.

Once you save the basic details of the product, you will see a page with a series of tabs found along the top. The very first tab you see will be the information tab which will be the focus of this article.

In the information tab, you will see the following fields:

• ID/SKU
  This is the item's Store Keeping Unit and is your store's unique identifier for the product.

• GTIN
  This is the product's Global Trade Identification Number and is typically the universal identifier for the product. For example, the product's UPC number could be considered a GTIN.

• MPN
  This field can be used for the product's Manufacturer Part Number if applicable to the item.

• Name
  This field will be used for the product's name as you would like it to appear on the storefront.

• Short Description
  This field is used to provide a short summary of the product's description. It typically will appear on search results when a search is made on your storefront.

• Manufacturer
  Use this drop-down to assign the product to one of your store's product manufacturers if you have created them.

• Distributor
  Use this drop-down to assign the product to one of your store's distributors if you have created them.

• Categories
  Choose an existing category to add this product to in the Category field by clicking +Add, then selecting the category.
  You can choose more than one category to add this product to. Alternatively, you can also remove categories from a product by clicking on the name of a category and then clicking the Remove button.

• Pricing
  This section will allow you to set your product's pricing information

  • Cost
    This is how much the product costs you as a merchant.
    This is an internal number and is typically used for sales vs. profit reporting.

  • Retail Price
    This is how much the product sells for at other stores.
    On the storefront, the "Retail Price" will be shown with a strikethrough indicating that the product is cheaper on your store. Furthermore, the storefront will display a "Your Savings" message to show how much cheaper the price is when shopping at your store.

  • Price
    This is how much the product sells for at your store.

  • On Sale
    While this field is for the price of your product when it is on sale.

• Options
  This section will allow you to set some individual display and function parameters for the product.

  • Non-Taxable
    Mark this checkbox if you'd like the product to be tax-exempt.
    This will make it so that the product is not factored in to the store's tax calculation during checkout.

  • Not for Sale
    This checkbox allows you to set the item as "not for sale" which will allow you to display the product, but not sell it.
    (Can be useful for items that have upcoming street dates)

  • Non-Searchable
    This checkbox will omit the product from search results when a search is made on your store.
    This can be useful for situations where the product is more of a service that you simply don't want to have found on a routine search of your store. (example, gift wrapping services, engraving packages, etc)

  • Hide
    Mark this checkbox if you need to hide the product from view for any reason.
    This allows you to keep the product in your catalog (rather than deleting) if you need to take it out of view.

  • Gift Certificate
    This checkbox will be used if you are creating a Gift Certificate product.
    Marking this checkbox will add a To: and From: form onto the product so that the shopper can address the GC to another person.

  • Home Special
    This checkbox will mark the item as a "Featured Item" on your store's home page.

  • Category Special
    Similar to the Home Special, this checkbox will mark the item as a "Featured Item" on any category the product belongs to

• Shipping Options
  Here you will see some configurations for the product that pertains to the way shipping is calculated when the item is purchased.

  • Ship/Markup
    If you would like to add an additional markup to the shipping rate specifically for the item, enter the amount here.

  • One Box/Mult. Boxes
    Use this setting to configure whether the item (by itself) is typically shipped in one container or if it uses multiple containers.
    For example, some office furniture products may be shipped in two separate containers - one for the furniture components and a separate box for the hardware (door knobs, glass windows, wheels, etc.)

  • Weight/Length/Width/Height
    These fields are for entering the weight and dimensional information of the product when it ships. These are typically sent to your store's shipping carrier in order to return real-time shipping rates.

  • Free Shipping
    Mark this checkbox if you would like to omit the product from shipping calculation.
    This will offer the shopper free shipping on the item itself.

  • Ships by Itself
    Use this checkbox if the product absolutely needs to ship by itself. If the product is purchased along with other items, then shipping will be factored for this one product shipping in a separate container.

Additional Information
As mentioned, the product dimensions (weight, height, length, etc.) are typically used for real-time shipping calculation. When the item is ordered, the store will send this information to the respective shipping carrier and calculate rates based on the weight and dimensions of the product.

Whether you need to enter the numbers in standard (lbs, inches, etc.) or metric (kg, cm, etc.) units depends on your specific carrier. If your carrier deals with metric units (like AustraliaPost, or RoyalMail/ParcelForce), you will enter your measurements in metric units. If your carrier deals in Standard measurement, you will enter standard units.

• Inventory Options
  This section can be used for setting how inventory control is handled for the product.

  • Inventory Control
    Set the action that you would like to occur when the item reaches 0 in stock.
    Your choices are:

    • Default
      Use the store's global setting as set in Settings >General >Store Settings

    • Out of Stock
      Shows the item as out of stock and does not allow the purchase of the product

    • Back Order
      Shows the item as on "Back Order" (to indicate it is out of stock) but allows the purchase of the item so that the order can be filled when stock is replenished.

    • Waiting List
      Shows the item as Out of Stock but allows the shopper to sign up for a waiting list to be notified when the item is replenished.

  • New Stock
    Enter the number of stock you have on hand for the item. As you replenish stock, you can update stock via this field as well.

  • Stock Alert
    If you would like to receive alerts from your store when you are running out of the item, enter a number here.
    When the stock reaches below this number, the store will send you a notification.
    0 turns off the function.

  • In Stock/Out of Stock/Back Order Messages
    Use these fields if you'd like to have the product display specific text when the item is In stock, Out of Stock or on Back Order.

Additional Information
The stock messages will override the store's global stock messages, which can be edited by going to Settings > Design > Store Language.

• Description
  This field will allow you to enter an extended description of the product. The description will appear on the product's listing page in your storefront. This field will take either straight text or HTML coding to format your description. Furthermore, you can use WYSIWYG on this field to help you format the text as needed.

• Keywords
  Words and phrases entered here will be added to the product listing page's Metatags section and will assist in searches and SEO. Multiple keywords and phrases should be separated by a comma.

Once you have completed setting up the product's information tab, click Save at the top right to commit your changes.