How Do I Use the Product Import CSV Sample File?

Use the Product Import CSV Sample File

Shift4Shop allows you to import your products using the Import/Export feature from a CSV file. To download the sample products import file, please log into your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager and navigate to Products > Product List. Next, look towards the top right of the page and click on the Export/Import button. Once there, click on the + icon for the product import function. Directly below the Browse button for the main product import section, you will see a link that will allow you to download the Sample file.

This guide will show you how to properly use the sample CSV file to upload your products to your Shift4Shop store.

First, download the sample product's CSV from the previous link, or you can log in to your Store Manager and go to Products > Export/Import from the left navigation menu, then click on the Sample link above Products (under the Import section) and download it to your computer.

The Products Import Sample file allows you to import the following information.

id
This field is required. It is the unique product id (SKU or Part Number) of the product. This can be any combination of letters and numbers you choose. The system will assign a separate database number that will be used to keep track of each product in the backend of the system; this is called the catalogid and will only show in a product export. The catalogid is not included on the sample file since it is not needed for importing new products.
mfgid
This is the unique manufacturer id that may be provided by the manufacturer of the product, or you can assign this on your own. This is an optional field.
name
This is the name of the product. This is a required field.
manufacturer
This is the name of the Manufacturer this product is associated with.

categories
This column will assign the product to a particular category. The field refers to the path of the category, and it allows you to set one product in multiple categories.
- To add the product to the Main Category put in the Main Category name. Any new category entered in the CSV file will be automatically created in the system.
- To add a product to a Sub Category, use the / character, i.e., "Category 1/Sub Category 1."
- To add a product to multiple categories at once, use the @ character: "Category 1@Category 2" or for sub-categories, "Category 1/Sub Category 1@Category 2/Sub Category 2"

Tip: When naming your Categories, please be careful that you do not use symbols such as the forward slash (/) or the @ sign since these may be recognized by the import system as brand-new categories.

For example, a category listed as "Women's/Girl's Fashion" on the CSV file may inadvertently be created as one category for "Women's" and a separate sub-category for "Girl's Fashion."

Quotation mark symbols (") may also yield unexpected results. Therefore, we recommend the following alternatives to these special characters.

@ symbol
Use the HTML equivalent: @
Quotation marks (")
Use the HTML equivalent: "
- As an alternative, you can also use two apostrophes characters (')
Forward Slash (/)
Use the HTML equivalents: &#47; or &frasl;
- As an alternative, you can also use the backslash symbol instead. (\)

cost
This is the base cost of your product; it's for internal use and won't be displayed to the customer. This is an optional field.
price
This is the price of the product that you want to charge the customer. Use only numbers; do not enter the currency sign. It's a required field that cannot be blank for any product.
price2
This is the MSRP or Retail Price of the product. If this is added to the product, then the Savings will be displayed to the customer. This is an optional field.
stock
This is the stock (Quantity On Hand) of the product. It's required when Inventory Control is enabled. This is a numeric field.
weight
This is the weight of the product. It is a numeric field and is required when doing Real Time shipping calculations.

free_shipping
This will mark the product as free shipping. If free shipping is checked, Free Shipping will show during the checkout process as an option. Insert 1 to mark as Free Shipping. Insert 0 if you would not like this product to be marked as Free Shipping. This is an optional field.
date_created
This is a field that the system will assign once the product is added to the database. This is an optional field.
description
This is a short description of the product. This should be a short text description (less than 250 characters). The content of this cell is displayed on the Search Results page. This is an optional field.
extended_description
This is the Description of the product, there is no size limit in this field, and HTML is allowed.
keywords
These are additional keywords used by the internal search of the site, you don't need to add any keywords that are already part of the name or description of the product. This is also used in the dynamic Meta Tags function for the product pages, where the system will automatically generate Meta Tags using the name, extended_description, and keywords of your product. These keywords do not show on the website to the customer. This is an optional field.
hide
This will hide the product from the website. Insert 1 to hide. Insert 0 to keep the product visible. This is an optional field.
sorting
This will determine the product's sorting inside the Categories. This is an optional field. You can also set default sortings for the entire category from the Online Store Manager under Products > Categories | Category Options button.
thumbnail
This is the path to your product's thumbnail image.
image1
This is the path to your product's main display image.
image2 through image4
These will be used to list the paths of your alternate product images

related
This column will define the related products for this product. To assign related products, insert the related product's ids separated by commas. For example, "related item id1, related item id2, related item id3" can be listed in the cell. This is an optional field.

distributor
This is the name of the Distributor this product is associated with. This is an optional field.

shipcost
This will add an additional shipping fee to the product if you wish to do so. This fee will be added to any shipping methods that you have set. This is an optional field.
homespecial
This will mark the product as a home special which means that the system will place this product on your home page. Insert 1 to mark as a home special. Leave it blank to not mark as a home special. This is an optional field.
categoryspecial
This will mark this product as a category special which means that the system will place this product on top of the Category that it resides in. This is an optional field.
title
This will define the title of this product in the web browser. By default, the system will use the product name. This is an optional field.
metatags
This field is for more advanced users that know how to properly format Meta Tags. If you are unfamiliar with how to set up Meta Tags properly, the best thing to do is leave this field blank and use the Tag Wizard in your admin. This is an optional field.

Once you have completed adding your products to the sample file, save it as a separate CSV file and name it something that you will easily recognize for the import process.

Importing the Sample File

To import your newly created Sample import file, log in to your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager admin and follow these steps:

Go to Products > Product List.
Next, click on the Export/Import button located at the top right of the page.
Look for the Product listing section under the "Import" half of the screen.
Click on the Product's Browse button.
Using the browse button, select your saved CSV file and click on Import File.

You will then be given the following options:

Insert Only
This will insert any new products found on the CSV file which are not currently in the store's database. It will not update any existing product information found on the file.
Update Only
This will update any information found on the CSV file that is currently in the store's database. The information in this CSV file will override what is in the database.
Insert + Update
This is a combination of inserting and updating. The system will insert any new information as well as update any existing information.
Erase all products, then Insert
This will remove all the product information from your database and then insert the information. Please read the warning and make sure that this is what you want to do before using this option.
Erase all products And Categories, then Insert
This will remove all the product and category information from your database and then insert the information. Please read the warning and make sure that this is what you want to do before using this option.

Since you are importing new products, either Insert Only or Insert + Update will be the best options to choose from in this case.

6. Make your import selection and continue the import process.

The store will import the CSV file's information to your store and populate it with your products.

Additional Information: The actual import/export process takes place "behind the scenes" of your store's software to prevent it from interfering with your store's active processes. By allowing the function to work in the background, you can go to other pages of the admin and still work on your store while importing or exporting large files.

During the process, you will be taken to the Import/Export Status page, which will display a grid layout of your recent imports and exports. The progress column will show you the progress of the import.

At the far right of each grid item will be an action wheel that contains the following options:

Download: Allows you to download the CSV file after a successful import/export
Notify Me: For larger, more time-consuming files, this option will let you input your email address so that you will receive a notice once the import/export is complete.
View Log: Allows you to review the log of the import/export so you can see how many items were updated, or inserted or if any records failed.
Cancel: Allows you to cancel an impending import/export
Retry: If, for some reason, the import/export fails, you may use this option to attempt a retry of the file.
Delete: Use this to delete the record altogether from the status page.

This will be in all of the store's Export/Import functions.

Note that this product import does not allow for importing Product Options (Sizes, Colors, etc.) with these products. The options import is a separate function. Click here to learn how to import product options. Please note that all products must be imported before importing any options.