Importing/Exporting Product GuideBasic Overview & Troubleshooting Tips

Written by Luke Dyer

Edition 1.0June 2011

Copyright 2011 Interspire Pty. Ltd. (ACN 107 422 631); www.interspire.com.

All rights reserved. All trademarks and registered trademarks used are the properties of their respective owners.

DISCLAIMER: The information in this user’s guide is accurate at the time of writing. This guide is provided as is” without express or implied warranty of any kind. Neither Interspire Pty. Ltd. nor its agents assume any liability for inaccuracies in this guide, or losses incurred by use or misuse of the information in this guide.

Table of Contents

........................................................................Introduction 4.......................................................................................................Structure Of This Document 4

.........................................................................................................Additional Documentation 4

..................................................................Getting Started 4..........................................................................................................................................The Basics 5

....................................................................................................................................What is a CSV !le? 5.............................................................................................................Is the Product Import For Me? 5

...........................................................................................................Check Your Store’s Version 6.........................................................................................Understand How the Import Works 6

................................................................................Product Options -vs- Product Variations 7

................................................................The Basic Export 7...........................................................................................................................................Exporting 8

................................................................................................................The Best Sample Import File 8

................................................................The Basic Import 8..........................................................................................................................................Importing 8

..........................................................................Creating/Updating Products & Product Options 9..............................................................................................Deleting Products & Product Options 9

.....................................................................................................Common CSV Formatting Issues 10

.....................................................The Advanced Import 11..............................................................................................Creating Options & Option Sets 11

.........................................................................................................Creating Product Option SKUs 12........................................................................................................Creating Product Option Rules 13

.................................................................................................................................Price Adjustments 13.............................................................................................................................Weight Adjustments 14

..................................................................................................................Color Swatch Importation 14.............................................................................................................Color Swatch Import Format 14

...................................................................................................................................Color -vs- Texture 15.......................................................................................................................................................Images 16

..........................................................................................................Import File Speci!cations 17...................................................................................................Blank Fields on Boolean Columns 17..................................................................................................Breakdown of Product Import File 18

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IntroductionThis document has been created to show you how to use the product import/export feature of BigCommerce. This includes importing any product data, and product options data via the import tool within the BigCommerce control panel.

Structure Of This Document

This Guide is divided in to several smaller parts, for easier reference and navigation.

The Basic Export deals with exporting your product data via the csv export tool.

The Basic Import deals with importing your product data using the csv import tool.

Advanced Information contains an overview of our recommended method for you to update your products, product options, and other data and import it via the control panel.

Additional Documentation

If you require additional assistance with your store to BigCommerce, we’re here to help. You can !nd additional resources and help at the following web pages.

• BigCommerce Community Support Forumhttp://forum.bigcommerce.com

• BigCommerce Support Portal (Knowledge Base and Support Ticket System)http://support.bigcommerce.com

Getting StartedThe export spreadsheet format is extremely powerful and also really "exible. You can manage your entire product and inventory data from a single spreadsheet which you can easily export, bulk update in Excel or Google Docs and then re-import in a few clicks.

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The Basics

What is a CSV !le?The file that is used to export/import data to and from from BigCommerce is called a comma-separated values (CSV) file.

This CSV file used to store tabular data in which numbers and text are stored in plain textual form that can be read in a text editor. Lines in the text file represent rows of a table, and commas in a line separate what are fields in the tables row.

CSV is a simple file format that is widely supported by almost all spreadsheet software such as Excel, Apple Numbers, OpenOffice.org as well as many online spreadsheet services such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

Is the Product Import For Me?If you are selling a handful of custom products I would recommend that you insert this data using the BigCommerce control panel interface.

However, if you are going to be selling hundreds of products with different options per product then the import is something that you will be interested in using to populate your BigCommerce store with data.

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Check Your Store’s Version

You will need to ensure that you are running a current version of BigCommerce in order to take advantage of this Import/Export tool.

This Import/Export tool is available if your BigCommerce store is running version 7.0.4+

Just login to your BigCommerce control panel and scroll to the bottom to check your version number. It needs to be at least 7.0.4

A close up version of the BigCommerce control panel looks like this.

Understand How the Import Works

Step 1: Export Your Product Data

Step 2: Edit Your Product Data

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Step 3: Import Your Modi!ed CSV !le

Product Options -vs- Product Variations

We are a software company and we have made huge strides in the efficiency and "exibility of our product options compared to variations.  In order to be a competitive software company in the SAAS e-commerce market requires evolution and functionality changes from time to time.  We have to keep looking forward and cannot go back on a piece of functionality that we know is an improvement in the larger scheme of things.

Here is a list of some of the improvements that options has over the previous variations scheme:

1. Product options. With BigCommerce 7 we’ve really improved on product options (what we previously called variations), because we know how important they are to your merchandising efforts. They’re now easier, faster and more "exible. You can create 11 different option types: checkbox, date, !le upload, multi-line text, radio button, drop down, rectangle, numbers only, product list, color swatch and text !eld. On top of that you can create rules to change product attributes, such as “When Size=L AND Style=CASUAL OR Style=FORMAL, PRICE = PRICE + $5 AND WEIGHT = WEIGHT + 4LBS”.

You are now enabled to import your product option data in a manageable format that was not easily managed with the former product variations..

2. Product bundles. If you sell computers or furniture packs or any other products that include bundled items then you’ll appreciate this new feature. You can now create a product option of type “Product List”, which allows you to bundle related products into one “set”. When a bundle is purchased, the inventory on each product in the bundle can be reduced and bundled prices and weight can be increased or reduced as required. Very powerful stuff.

3. Single import !le. You can now import both products and product options into BigCommerce with one csv !le. If anyone ever used the product variations csv import it was complicated and contained a large amount of data concerning the possible combinations on variations. We have simpli!ed this process with rules & skus within the new product import csv !le(as mentioned above in this document).

4. Export SKUs. We have added a separate export/import csv !le that is speci!cally for updating inventory of both products & product options. This table contains the following three !elds: SKU, UPC, and Stock Level.

The Basic ExportIn this document we will be referring to what we call the basic export. By this we mean the standard export that you get from your trial store that contains the default sample data.

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Exporting

The Best Sample Import File

As this video tutorial will show you several examples, we will not cover all of the scenarios that you might need.

Solution: The best way for you to help yourself will be to setup one of your items manually within the BigCommerce control panel, and then export the products csv file to see how the data is saved into the file. Then you can use that first product export to populate the rest of your csv file and import back into your BigCommerce control panel.

The Basic Import

Importing

This is what the import process will look like when you are waiting on the data to be imported into the software from the CSV file.

NOTE: The more data that you are attempting to import the longer it will take the process to complete successfully.

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Creating/Updating Products & Product OptionsIf you are creating or updating products, we recommend that you !rst export the products CSV to use as a guide. Then you can add your own data to the csv !le. When you import the !le back into the store please choose:

Yes, I exported this !le using the ‘Bulk Edit’ template.

You can also change the default option type before importing the !le.

Deleting Products & Product OptionsIf it is your intention to delete the existing products, then you will need to leave the !rst option un checked. Then you will have the options to:

•Yes, override existing records

•Delete existing images

•Delete existing downloads

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Common CSV Formatting Issues

Saving the CSV FileIt is important when you are editing a CSV !le within a spreadsheet program(MS Excel, Numbers, Open Office) that you make sure that you are saving the !le with the extension .csv and not the native extension of the program. If you are using Numbers then you have to export to a CSV !le before importing into BigCommerce.

Escaping CommasDue to limitations of the CSV format, we have had to escape commas in description

elements. This was done by adding a backslash before certain characters.

For example, if you need an option like: "Ipod Capacity = 15 GB (1,000 tunes)", the exported format will output: "Ipod Capacity = 15 GB (1\,000 tunes)".

The escaping will be added during the export and removed before insertion into the

database once the item has been processed. The backslash must remain in the CSV

for re-importation or added it you create additional options containing a comma in

them.

Escaping Export Sample

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Storefront Sample (with backlash auto removed)

The Advanced Import

Creating Options & Option Sets

Only options that can be used as criteria for SKU's and Rules can be imported/exported. The !eld type of an option can be designated by adding a pre!x to the option name as shown to the right.

For example: if a new option called Size was speci!ed like this: "[S]Size=L,Size=XL" – then a new select box option with values L and XL would be created.

If no pre!x is speci!ed for a new option then it will use the default 'New Option Type' speci!ed during the import mapping process (should default to select box).

Codes Reserved for Potential Future Use:

[C] for checkbox[RB] for multi-choice (radio)[RT] for multi-choice (rectangle)[S] for multi-choice (select)[P] for product list[CS] for swatch[PI] Product list with images

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There are several !elds that you do not have the ability to import at this time. The following codes have been reserved for a future update to the import/export tool.

Creating Product Option SKUs

What is a SKU?

SKU refers to a Stock-keeping unit, a unique identi!er for each distinct product and

service that can be purchased from your BigCommerce store.

SKU vs RULE

SKUs and Rules are both properties of that can be created & updated upon the product

import.

SKUs are required for inventory tracking, so if you need to manage your inventory levels

we recommend that you create options with the SKU property(as shown to the right in

orange).

If you have already created SKUs then you can use Rules in addition to the existing SKUs

(as shown to the right in yellow).

[D] for date[F] for !le[N] for numbers only text !eld[T] for text !eld[MT] Multi-line text !eld

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Creating Product Option Rules

Multiple Rules Per Option

Rules can support multiple values per option when you are entering your data directly into the CSV !le.

For example, an option Size can be speci!ed with multiple values: 

[S]Size=Small,Size=Medium,Size=Large,Size=X-Large

Price AdjustmentsRules can allow the product price can be adjusted. This can speci!ed in the "Price" !eld.

Format: [ADD|REMOVE|FIXED]{amount}

Examples:• Add $5 to the price: [ADD]5.00

• Set the price to 152.00 [FIXED]152.00

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Example:

• Valid: [ADD]15% (Add 15% to the price)

• Invalid: [FIXED]18% (There is no concept of a fixed percentage)

Weight Adjustments

Rules can allow the product weight to be adjusted. This can speci!ed in the "Product Weight" !eld.

Format: [ADD|REMOVE|FIXED]{amount}

Examples:• Add $5 to the weight: [ADD]5.0

• Set the weight to 10.5 lbs: [FIXED]10.5

Increase by Percentage

*Unlike the price value the weight value cannot be increased/decreased by

percentage.

• Invalid:[ADD]15% (Add 15% to the weight)

• Invalid: [FIXED]18% (There is no concept of a !xed percentage)

Color Swatch ImportationColor Swatch Import Format

When adding color swatch data the CSV should be in this format: "SwatchDesc:ColourName1|#HEXCode|ColourName3".

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Basic colors can be referenced by name, but more advanced colors should be HEX code.

Swatch Type Example

One ColorColor=Silver:#c0c0c0 -OR- Color=Silver:Silver

Two ColorColors=Aussie:Green|Yellow

Three ColorColors=American:Red|White|#000080

One TextureColors=Texture File:http://example.com/texture.jpg

Sample Import FileHere is what the sample import !le will look like with multiple color swatches in the csv !le.

Swatch Type Example

One Color [CS]Color Mix=Purple Solo:#d60fd6

One Texture [CS]Color Mix=GReen Leaves:73.preview.pngOne Texture

[CS]Color Mix=GReen Leaves:http://example.com/73.preview.png

Three Color [CS]Color Mix=RGB Color:#ff0000|#11f505|#0000ff

Color -vs- Texture

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Images

The rule setting 'Show a different image' can be con!gured by entering into the "Product

Image File - 1" !eld either a !lename or a URL to an image. If a !lename is speci!ed it must

reference a !le in the /product_images/import/ folder. If a rule already exists and the

!lename hasn't changed since an export was generated, then the image won't be

replaced.

Example Usage:

1.) Reference image: /product_images/import/myimage.jpg

Product Image File - 1

myimage.jpg

2.) Reference remote image:

Product Image File - 1

http://www.example.com/myimage.jpg

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3.) Image for an existing rule that won’t be modi!ed:

Product Image File - 1

6_source.jpg

Example Import File:

Import File Speci!cations

Blank Fields on Boolean Columns

Allow Purchases?

Stop Processing

RulesEffect

default behavior

Y default behavior

N"unavailable for purchase" adjustment added to the

rule

Y "stop processing rules" adjustment added to the rule

N default behavior

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Breakdown of Product Import File

Attribute Definition Examples

Item Type This attribute de!nes the record type as

either :

Product,

Rule or SKU

Product ID This value is de!ned by the system and

not something that can be created upon import. If you are unsure about the id then it is recommended to ignore this column when importing the CSV !le.

Numerical

value from the internal system.

Product Name This attribute de!nes the product name

as well as the type of SKU or Rule (depending on whether it is the !rst row of the record or the secondary rows that are also assigned to the product). The product option creation codes are

inserted in this column.

[CS]Color=Silver:#cccccc[RB]Capacity=16 GB (4\,000 songs)[RT]HDD Size=160 GB,[S]HDD Type=SSD

Product Type Big Commerce de!nes two basic types of

product: physical and downloadable.

Physical products are those that require shipping, whereas downloadable products are those (such as e-books, software or digital art) that, after

purchase, a customer can simply download from the Big Commerce server. Customers can do this either by clicking a link that displays after they have successfully placed their order, or by

logging into your store and checking their order status screen.

P,D

Product Code/SKU

Identi!er for each product & product

option. This column is active for both the product row as well as the option rule row.

Brand Name This attribute associates a product with a

brand. This value is only intended for the primary product row, and not the skus or rules.

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Attribute Definition Examples

Option Set This attribute assigns a product to an

option set. This value only functions when placed in the row of the primary product(and not the rows containing SKUs/Rules).

Option Set Align

This attribute gives you the ability to

either display your product options either below the product image, or to the right of the product image.

Right, Below

Product Description

Intended for your product description

which can be both text and html code.

Price This displays the basic price of the

product (before any discounts, shipping costs, etc. are applied). Here you can have the base price, and you can also ADD, REMOVE, or FIX a price for the rows containing rules or skus.

x.xx[ADD][REMOVE][FIXED]

Cost Price How much this product costs you to buy.

Used for your reference only and not displayed on your site.

Retail Price If entered, the retail price will be shown

on your site. Generally, it's used to show customers that your product is cheaper than the normal retail price and will be displayed like this:

Retail Price: $25.95

Your Price: $19.95 (You save $6.00)

Sale Price

If entered, this product will be shown as

On Sale and the sale price will replace the usual price for this product.

Fixed Shipping Cost

The cost to ship one unit of this product.

If left blank, the default shipping calculator will be used during checkout.

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Attribute Definition Examples

Free Shipping Do you want to offer free shipping when

someone buys this product? If so choose 'Y'. If not choose 'N' and the product will be factored into normal shipping calculations during checkout.

Product Warranty

Your warranty details for this product can

go here. If you do not offer a warranty or are unsure, check the manufacturers web site for details.

Product Weight

If you have chosen to add a physical

product, which needs to be shipped then you need to enter the weight of this product (in LBS) so that it can be used to calculate shipping costs when ordering.

Product Width Some shipping companies require the

physical dimensions of a product to calculate shipping charges. If this is the case, enter the width of this product (in inches) here.

Product Height Some shipping companies require the

physical dimensions of a product to calculate shipping charges. If this is the case, enter the height of this product (in inches) here.

Product Depth

Some shipping companies require the

physical dimensions of a product to calculate shipping charges. If this is the case, enter the depth of this product (in inches) here.

Allow Purchases?

This allows you to choose whether or not

your product can be purchased. Choosing ‘N’ will remove the add to cart button from the product page. Typically used for catalogs where you Call for Price.

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Attribute Definition Examples

This enables you to import a rule which stops a product(SKU) from being

purchased.

The Equivalent Control Panel Action:

This enables you to import a rule which stops a product(SKU) from being

purchased.

The Equivalent Control Panel Action:

Product Visible?

Choose ‘Y’ if this product should be

available from your store. Choose ‘N’ if this product should not be available from your store. When a product is not visible, it does not display anywhere in your store.

Product Availability

Here you can enter information about the

time taken to provide customers with this product from your store.

“Typically ships within 7 business days”

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Attribute Definition Examples

Track Inventory

If you ship physical products then

inventory tracking can help you manage your stock more efficiently. When your inventory for this product falls below a preset level, you will be noti!ed and can take appropriate action.

You can track inventory by products, or product options.

Current Stock Level

Number of units that you currently have

in stock for this product.

Low Stock Level

Number of units left when you wish the

control panel to $ag a message as low stock to remind you to order more.

Category Allows you to assign a product to a

category, child category, or grandchild category.

Product Image ID - 1

An ID that is automatically assigned to a

product from the software, and not something that you can create upon import. If you are importing existing images then you can use the ID that is assigned to the image, if unsure just leave

it blank.

Product Image File - 1

Location/name of the product image in

question. If you are importing a new image then you must specify the path. If the image already has been imported then you can leave the image name the same.

Product Image Description - 1

Description for the product images also

doubles as the alt attribute.

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Attribute Definition Examples

Product Image Is Thumbnail - 1

If ‘Y’ then this image be displayed as the

thumbnail for this product wherever it appears in product lists on your store. Product lists include category browsing, search results, new products, top products, etc.

Product Image Sort - 1

Search Keywords

The search keywords are optional, but if

entered will be used for two things. First, they will be used along with the product name to create meta tags for search engines. Second, they will be used to assist people when searching your

products. Enter keywords separated by commas, such as: widget, affordable, portable.

Page Title This de!nes the title for the product’s

page in your store. This displays in the browser window’s title bar. If you leave this blank, BigCommerce uses the product name as the page title.

Meta Keywords

This should be made up of words that

describe your product. These terms are used to create the product page’s meta keywords attribute. Separate terms with commas (for example, “term 1, term 2, term 3”).

Meta Description

Short description of your product. This is

used to create the product page’s meta description attribute.

MYOB Asset Acct

Fill in the number of your Mind Your Own

Business (MYOB) asset account that you want to link with this product for inventory tracking(only applies to the individual products that you !ll this out for).

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Attribute Definition Examples

MYOB Income Acct

Fill in the number of your Mind Your Own

Business (MYOB) income account that you want to link with this product for tracking revenue from saleable items.

MYOB Expense Acct

Fill in the number of your MYOB expense

account that you want to link with this product for expense, or cost of sale, tracking (based on the Cost price that you con!gure for the product).

The MYOB account numbers that you

enter must be those of valid, pre-existing accounts, with !ve numerical characters. Optionally, you may include a (non-numerical) separator between the !rst and second digits (for example, 1-2345).

Product Condition

Select whether the product is New, Used,

or Refurbished. This information is used when you export your products to Google Base.

Show Product Condition?

To have the condition displayed on the

product page choose, ‘Y’ within this column of the import !le as shown to the right. That will enable the product condition to be shown on the product page.

Event Date Required?

Should the customer have to choose a

date before they are able to purchase this product? If you sell products where a date is important (such as a delivery date for $owers or an attendance date for a concert) then you should choose'Y'.

Event Date Name

The text used to identify this date !eld in

your store. If you sell $owers you might use Delivery Date. If you sell concert tickets you might use Concert Date.

Event Date Is Limited?

Choose 'Y' if you want to limit the

available dates for selection when a customer is adding this product to their cart in your store. Note that the available dates are inclusive of the start and end dates.

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Attribute Definition Examples

Event Date Start Date

Allows you to limit the start date from

which the customer can choose a date.

Event Date End Date

Allows you to limit the end date up until

which the customer can choose a date.

Sort Order Controls where in the list the product will

be displayed when viewed in search results and categories. The lower the number, the closer to the top of the results list the product will be shown.

Product Tax Class

Tax classi!cations allow you to charge

certain types of products at different tax rates and can be managed from >Settings >Tax Settings >Tax Classes.

If this product should not be taxable, you should create a 'Non-Taxable Items' tax

class, leave it at 0% for your tax rates and then type that tax class name into this column it for the speci!c product.

Product UPC

The product UPC is optional, but if

entered will be used when generating product export feeds for shopping comparison engines & Google Base.

Stop Processing Rules

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