This article will assist you with editing your products using the Import Tool. There are over 50 distinct pieces of product information that the import tool can modify. A summary of the process is: downloading a data file, creating a worksheet, importing the worksheet, and verifying the changes.

Manual product settings

The following product settings must be managed manually and cannot be imported:

• Custom fields
• Filters - (Filter Values can be imported)
• Quantity discounts
• Related products
• Do not index products option

A successful import depends on the quality of your data. That's why most of the steps you need to follow when importing to eCom revolve around your worksheet.

Creating a data backup

In order to begin editing your product details and importing the changes, you need to create a data backup with the current product data you have in your eCom store.

1. Navigate to Tools > Exports.

   

2. Click New Export.

   

3. From the dropdown, select Products.

   

4. Click Export.

5. When the status shows as "Finished", click Download beside the export.

   

6. Save this product somewhere on your computer that is easy to locate.

Preparing your worksheet

1. Log in to your Google account and open Google Sheets.
2. Create a new blank sheet and open your backup product data file.

3. Copy the following columns from the Backup Product Data File and paste them in your worksheet:

   • Internal_ID
   • Internal_Variant_ID
   • XX_Title_Short

   

4. Copy the columns you're intending on editing from the backup and paste them as new columns in your worksheet.

   

5. Locate and remove any products from the worksheet that you're not planning on editing by deleting the entire row. Sort the table alphabetically according to your identifying column to make it easier to locate the products you will not be editing.

   

6. Make the edits to your data in the worksheet. This can be done one by one or using the features of Google Sheets by copying one change across multiple rows. Confirm the correct format for each column.
7. Save your worksheet to your computer as a CSV file.

Importing your data file

Now that you've completed your product edits and have your worksheet saved to your computer, you can upload the file to eCom through the Import tool.

1. In eCom (C-Series), navigate to Tools > Imports.

2. Click New Import.

   

3. Click Browse computer.

   

4. Locate your worksheet and click Open.

5. Click Choose what you want to import and select Products from the dropdown.

   

6. The page will continue automatically. In the section ADDITIONAL SETTINGS:

   1. Click Choose an option: and select Only update existing products.

      

   2. Click Select a column and select Product/Variant ID.

      

7. The fields in the section Set field types will be automatically mapped to the correct fields as long as the column headers were not modified in your worksheet. Find out which columns should be mapped to the correct fields using the Column names table.

   

8. Click Continue.

   

9. Click Start the import. The import tool will begin processing your import. You do not have to remain on page and may come back to it later.

   

Verify your changes

Verify if your edits were successful after starting an import. After checking if the import tool had no errors, it is important to test some products from your worksheet at random and confirm your edits took place.

Confirm no errors occurred during the import

1. Navigate to Tools > Imports.

2. Locate your import by the date or the filename and click View report next to the status.

   

3. If any errors are visible, make corrections to your worksheet and import your edits again.

   

Confirm the edits took place

1. In Google sheets, open the worksheet that you uploaded to Lightspeed eCom.

2. Select any row at random and copy the product's Internal ID.

   

3. In eCom (C-Series), navigate to Products.
4. Select any product.

5. In the web address bar, replace the number after /admin/products/ with the copied Internal ID, and on your keyboard press Enter.

   

6. Compare the product with your worksheet to ensure the changes you made are reflected correctly.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 for a few products until you're certain all your changes have been correctly imported.

Notes

1. The recommended software to manage your data is Google Sheets. The recommended file format is CSV format.
2. Some system column names have a placeholder for a language abbreviation represented here as XX. When preparing your worksheet, use the Language table to add the correct abbreviation for your translated columns. For example, the title column is listed with the system column name beside it, followed by a description bullet points explaining the requirements for this column:
   • Title - XX_Title_Short- Description.
     • Requirement 1
     • Requirement 2

Identifying columns

Each worksheet needs columns that help identify what kind of contents are in each cell.

The Import tool uses the Internal_ID and the Internal_Variant_ID to identify contents. To help you identify which product is in each row, the XX_Title_Short column is added. You can also include any other identifying column to help you identify the product, like the product category or the article code.

Although the internal_ID and Internal_Variant_ID columns are uneditable by the import tool, any other changes to identifying columns will update the products in eCom. Make sure you don't accidentally make changes to any of your identifying columns to avoid accidental updates in Lightspeed eCom.