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The Bulk Product Import tool lets you load hundreds of products — complete with variants, images, categories, brands, inventory, tax settings, shipping weights, digital downloads, and event tickets — from a single CSV, TXT, or Excel file. The importer features smart header auto-detection, custom column mapping, a live row preview before committing, and a post-import report that details every record created, updated, or skipped.

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Accessing the Import Tool

Navigate to Admin → eCommerce → Import to open the Bulk Product Import tool.

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Supported File Formats

.csv

Standard comma-separated values

.txt

Tab or custom delimiter-separated text files

.xlsx / .xls

Microsoft Excel spreadsheets via phpoffice/phpspreadsheet

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Excel Dependency

Excel support requires the phpspreadsheet package:
If this package is not installed, .xlsx and .xls uploads will fail silently. CSV and TXT have no extra dependencies.

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Sample Templates

Ready-made sample files are available directly on the import page. Download either the Sample CSV or Sample Excel file — they contain all supported column headers and several example rows covering physical products, digital downloads, and event tickets.

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Smart Header Auto-Detection & Custom Field Mapping

The importer reads the first row of your file and maps headers to Site Store Pro fields automatically. Matching is case-insensitive and works with both spaced forms (Variant Attributes) and underscored forms (variant_attributes). If your headers don’t match, use the Configure Field Mapping dropdowns to assign columns manually.

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Supported Column Mappings

Title The product title. Required. Rows sharing the exact same title are grouped into one parent product with multiple variants. Also detected as: product title, name, product_name, item_name, product
Short Description Brief summary shown in product listings and category pages. Also detected as: short desc, summary
Long Description Full product description. HTML is accepted. Also detected as: long desc, long_description, description, body, details, content
Public Price Standard retail price displayed to all customers. Also detected as: price, retail_price, retail price, msrp, regular price, public_price
Wholesale Price Price shown to wholesale / B2B customers. Also detected as: wholesale, wholesale_price, trade_price, b2b_price
Meta Title The <title> tag for the product page. Leave blank to inherit the product title. Also detected as: meta_title, seo title, seo_title, page_title
Meta Description The meta description shown in search engine results. Also detected as: meta_description, seo description, seo_description, page_description
Category The category (or categories) to assign to the product. Supports multiple formats:Missing parent or child categories are created automatically in the correct nesting order. Also detected as: categories, category_name, tags, departments
Brand Brand name or slug. A new brand record is created automatically if the name doesn’t match an existing one. Also detected as: brand_name, manufacturer, vendor
Thumbnail URL URL or path for the small thumbnail image. Also detected as: thumbnail_url, thumbnail url, thumb, thumb_url, small_image
Main Image URL URL or path for the primary product image. Also detected as: main_image_url, main image url, featured_image, featured image, image_url, image url, picture
Zoom Images URL URL or path for the high-resolution zoom/gallery image. Also detected as: zoom_images_url, zoom images url, zoom images, gallery_images, additional_images, more_images
Image Source Type Controls how image URLs are handled. Accepts 1 or 0.Also detected as: image_url_source, image source type, image_source_type, use_direct_url
Downloading large numbers of high-resolution images during import can be slow. Use Direct URL mode (1) for bulk imports with hundreds of images.
Variant SKU Unique SKU for this variant row. Used to detect existing records: a matching SKU triggers an update instead of an insert. Also detected as: variant_sku, variant sku, sku, product_sku, item_code
Variant Name The label displayed above the option selector on the storefront — for example "Choose Your Style:" or "Select a Size:". Saved to the variant_label column on the product record. Also detected as: variant_name, variant name, option name, option label, selector label, variant label
Variant Attributes Key:value pairs that describe this specific variant option. Accepts two formats:Both are auto-detected and stored as JSON in product_variants.attributes. In the live preview, parsed attributes are displayed as colour-coded badge pills. Also detected as: variant_attributes, variant attributes, attributes, options, specs, properties
Variant Price Retail price override for this specific variant. Falls back to Public Price if left blank. Also detected as: variant_price, variant price, option_price
Variant Wholesale Price Wholesale price override for this specific variant. Also detected as: variant_wholesale_price, variant wholesale price, variant wholesale
Stock Quantity Initial stock level. Written to products_inventory.quantity_available. Also detected as: inventory, stock quantity, stock_quantity, stock, qty, quantity, inventory_level
Charge Tax Whether sales tax applies to this variant. Defaults to 1 (taxable) if omitted. Accepts: 1 = yes, 0 = no Also detected as: charge_tax, charge tax, taxable, sales_tax
Shipping Whether this variant requires physical shipping. Defaults to 1. Set to 0 for digital or in-person items. Accepts: 1 = shippable, 0 = not shippable Also detected as: shipping, shippable, requires_shipping, physical
Weight Item weight used for shipping rate calculations. Enter a numeric value. Also detected as: weight, item_weight, product_weight, ship_weight
Weight Type Unit of measurement for the weight. Defaults to lbs if omitted. Accepts: lbs, ozs, kg, g Also detected as: weight_type, weight type, weight_unit, unit_of_weight
Downloadable Marks this variant as a digital product. When enabled, stock is treated as unlimited and the Shipping flag is ignored. Accepts: 1 = digital item, 0 = physical item Also detected as: download_item, download item, downloadable, digital, is_digital, is_download
Direct Download URL A direct URL to the downloadable file (PDF, ZIP, MP3, etc.). Stored in product_variants.direct_download_url. Also detected as: direct_download_url, download_url, download url, file_url, digital_url, asset_url
Is Event Marks this variant as an event ticket. When enabled, the importer creates or updates a product_variant_events child record using the event fields below. Accepts: 1 = event, 0 = not an event Also detected as: is_event, is event, event, ticket
Event Title Display name for this event occurrence (e.g. "Annual Gala — Chicago"). Saved to event_label on the event record. Also detected as: event_label, event label, event_title, event title, event_name, event name
Event Location Venue name or address for the event. Also detected as: event_location, event location, venue, location
Event Start Date Event start date and time. Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM (e.g. 2025-10-15 09:00). Also detected as: event_start_date, event start date, start_date, start date, event_start, event date
Event End Date Event end date and time. Same format as start date. Also detected as: event_end_date, event end date, end_date, end date, event_end

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Multi-Variant Grouping & Duplicate Handling

1

Group Rows by Title

Multiple rows that share the exact same Title value are automatically merged into a single parent product with multiple variant children. Matching is case-insensitive after slug normalisation.
2

Single-Variant Fallback

If a row has no variant attributes defined, a single default variant is still created — every product always has at least one purchasable option.
3

SKU-Based Duplicate Detection

If a row’s Variant SKU exactly matches an existing variant in the database, the importer updates that variant instead of creating a duplicate. Unmatched SKUs are always inserted as new variants.
Running the importer twice with the same file is safe — matched SKUs are updated rather than duplicated.

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Taxonomy Auto-Creation

You do not need to pre-create categories or brands before importing.
  • Hierarchy strings (e.g. Apparel > Outerwear > Jackets) are parsed recursively
  • Any missing parent or child category is created automatically in the correct nesting order
  • The product is linked to all resolved category IDs in the hierarchy
  • Comma-separated values create or match each category independently

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Admin Dashboard Features

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Live Preview

Before executing the import, a parsed rows preview table (up to 50 rows) is rendered showing how your file will be interpreted:
  • Product title, category, brand, and prices
  • Variant SKU and the resolved Variant Name / Label
  • Variant Attributes rendered as colour-coded badge pills (Color: Black · Size: Medium)
  • Image mode indicator (Direct URL vs. Local Download)
Review this carefully before pressing Run Import.

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Post-Import Report

After the import completes, a summary report is displayed: