Importing/Exporting Product Guide

Basic Overview & Troubleshooting Tips

Written by Luke Dyer

Edition 1.0
June 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 users 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 file? ....................................................................................................................................5
Is the Product Import For Me? .............................................................................................................5

Check Your Stores 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 Specifications..........................................................................................................17

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

Introduction
This 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, were here to help.
You can find additional resources and help at the following web pages.

BigCommerce Community Support Forum

http://forum.bigcommerce.com

BigCommerce Support Portal (Knowledge Base and Support Ticket System)

http://support.bigcommerce.com

Getting Started
The export spreadsheet format is extremely powerful and also really flexible. 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.

The Basics
What is a CSV file?
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 dierent options per
product then the import is something that you will be interested in using to populate your
BigCommerce store with data.

Check Your Stores 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 Modified CSV file

Product Options -vs- Product Variations

We are a software company and we have made huge strides in the eciency and flexibility
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.

2.

Product options. With BigCommerce 7 weve really improved on product options

(what we previously called variations), because we know how important they are
to your merchandising eorts. Theyre now easier, faster and more flexible. You can
create 11 dierent option types: checkbox, date, file upload, multi-line text, radio
button, drop down, rectangle, numbers only, product list, color swatch and text
field. 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.
.
Product bundles. If you sell computers or furniture packs or any other products
that include bundled items then youll 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 stu.

3.

Single import file. You can now import both products and product options into
BigCommerce with one csv file. 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 simplified this process with rules &
skus within the new product import csv file(as mentioned above in this document).

4.

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

The Basic Export

In 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.

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.

Creating/Updating Products & Product Options

If you are creating or updating products, we recommend that you first export the products
CSV to use as a guide. Then you can add your own data to the csv file. When you import the
file back into the store please choose:
Yes, I exported this file using the Bulk Edit template.

You can also change the default option type before importing the file.

Deleting Products & Product Options

If it is your intention to delete the existing products, then you will need to leave the first
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 File
It is important when you are editing a CSV file within a spreadsheet program(MS Excel,
Numbers, Open Oce) that you make sure that you are saving the file 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 file before importing into BigCommerce.

Escaping Commas
Due 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 field type
of an option can be designated by adding a prefix
to the option name as shown to the right.
For example: if a new option called Size was
specified like this: "[S]Size=L,Size=XL" then a new
select box option with values L and XL would be
created.

[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

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

Codes Reserved for Potential Future Use:

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There are several fields 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.

[D] for date

[F] for file
[N] for numbers only text field
[T] for text field
[MT] Multi-line text field

Creating Product Option SKUs

What is a SKU?
SKU refers to a Stock-keeping unit, a unique identifier 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).

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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 file.
For example, an option Size can be specified with multiple values:
[S]Size=Small,Size=Medium,Size=Large,Size=X-Large

Price Adjustments

Rules can allow the product price can be adjusted. This can specified in the "Price" field.
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 specified in the "Product
Weight" field.

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 fixed percentage)

Color Swatch Importation

Color 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

One Color

Two Color

Three Color

One Texture

Example
Color=Silver:#c0c0c0

-OR-

Color=Silver:Silver

Colors=Aussie:Green|Yellow

Colors=American:Red|White|#000080

Colors=Texture File:http://example.com/
texture.jpg

Sample Import File

Here is what the sample import file will look like with multiple color swatches in the csv
file.

Swatch Type
One Color
One Texture

Example
[CS]Color Mix=Purple Solo:#d60fd6
[CS]Color Mix=GReen Leaves:73.preview.png

[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 dierent image' can be configured by entering into the "Product
Image File - 1" field either a filename or a URL to an image. If a filename is specified it must
reference a file in the /product_images/import/ folder. If a rule already exists and the
filename 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 wont be modified:

Product Image File - 1

6_source.jpg

Example Import File:

Import File Specifications

Blank Fields on Boolean Columns
Allow
Purchases?

Stop
Processing
Rules

Effect

default behavior
Y

default behavior
"unavailable for purchase" adjustment added to the

rule

"stop processing rules" adjustment added to the rule

default behavior

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Breakdown of Product Import File

Attribute
Item Type

Product ID

Product Name

Definition
This attribute defines the record type as

Product,

either :

Rule or
SKU

This value is defined by the system and

Numerical

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 file.

value
from the
internal
system.

This attribute defines the product name

as well as the type of SKU or Rule
(depending on whether it is the first 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.

Product Type

Examples

Big Commerce defines 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.

Product Code/
SKU

Identifier for each product & product

Brand Name

This attribute associates a product with a

option. This column is active for both the

product row as well as the option rule
row.

brand. This value is only intended for the

primary product row, and not the skus or
rules.

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

P,D

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Attribute
Option Set

Definition

Examples

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

Product
Description

Intended for your product description

Price

This displays the basic price of the

either display your product options either

below the product image, or to the right
of the product image.

which can be both text and html code.

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.

Cost Price

How much this product costs you to buy.

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

Retail Price

Right,
Below

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

Fixed Shipping
Cost

The cost to ship one unit of this product.

On Sale and the sale price will replace the

usual price for this product.

If left blank, the default shipping

calculator will be used during checkout.

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

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Attribute
Free Shipping

Definition
Do you want to oer 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

Product
Weight

If you have chosen to add a physical

Product Width

Some shipping companies require the

go here. If you do not oer a warranty or

are unsure, check the manufacturers web
site for details.

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.

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

Allow
Purchases?

This allows you to choose whether or not

physical dimensions of a product to

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

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.

Examples

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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:

Product
Visible?

Choose Y if this product should be

Product
Availability

Here you can enter information about the

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.

time taken to provide customers with this

product from your store.

Typically ships within 7

business days

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Attribute
Track
Inventory

Definition
If you ship physical products then
inventory tracking can help you manage
your stock more eciently. When your
inventory for this product falls below a
preset level, you will be notified and can
take appropriate action.
You can track inventory by products, or
product options.

Current Stock
Level

Number of units that you currently have

Low Stock
Level

Number of units left when you wish the

Category

Allows you to assign a product to a

in stock for this product.

control panel to flag a message as low

stock to remind you to order more.

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

Product Image
Description - 1

Description for the product images also

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.

doubles as the alt attribute.

Examples

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Attribute
Product Image
Is Thumbnail 1

Definition
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, aordable,
portable.

Page Title

This defines the title for the products

page in your store. This displays in the
browser windows 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

Meta
Description

Short description of your product. This is

MYOB Asset
Acct

Fill in the number of your Mind Your Own

describe your product. These terms are

used to create the product pages meta
keywords attribute. Separate terms with
commas (for example, term 1, term 2,
term 3).

used to create the product pages meta

description attribute.

Business (MYOB) asset account that you

want to link with this product for
inventory tracking(only applies to the
individual products that you fill this out
for).

Examples

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Attribute

Definition

MYOB Income
Acct

Fill in the number of your Mind Your Own

MYOB Expense
Acct

Fill in the number of your MYOB expense

Business (MYOB) income account that you

want to link with this product for tracking
revenue from saleable items.

account that you want to link with this

product for expense, or cost of sale,
tracking (based on the Cost price that you
configure for the product).
The MYOB account numbers that you
enter must be those of valid, pre-existing
accounts, with five numerical characters.
Optionally, you may include a (nonnumerical) separator between the first
and second digits (for example, 1-2345).

Product
Condition

Select whether the product is New, Used,

Show Product
Condition?

To have the condition displayed on the

Event Date
Required?

Should the customer have to choose a

Event Date
Name

The text used to identify this date field in

Event Date Is
Limited?

Choose 'Y' if you want to limit the

or Refurbished. This information is used

when you export your products to
Google Base.

product page choose, Y within this

column of the import file as shown to the
right. That will enable the product
condition to be shown on the product
page.

date before they are able to purchase this

product? If you sell products where a date
is important (such as a delivery date for
flowers or an attendance date for a
concert) then you should choose'Y'.

your store. If you sell flowers you might

use Delivery Date. If you sell concert
tickets you might use Concert Date.

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.

Examples

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Attribute

Definition

Event Date
Start
Date

Allows you to limit the start date from

Event Date End

Date

Allows you to limit the end date up until

Sort Order

Controls where in the list the product will

which the customer can choose a date.

which the customer can choose a date.

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 classifications allow you to charge

certain types of products at dierent 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 specific product.

Product
UPC

Stop
Processing
Rules

The product UPC is optional, but if

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

Examples