If you intend to have a large number of products list on your site, you might want to think about importing them rather than creating each one manually. The following information covers how to prepare your product for importing into your Blaze Commerce Online Store.
Product Categories for Importing
The first thing you need to do is prepare your list of product categories for your site. You might only have a few product categories, or you might have a significant number, with categories and sub categories.
If you structure is very simple, then you can just write it down in a Word or Excel document. However, if it’s a more complex structure, you can download the Category Import file by clicking here.
The file contains an example of a category structure with multiple sub-categories, and subcategories within subcategories. These categories and subcategories are used in the Product Import file in the next section.
Product Information for Importing
You can download the Product Import file by clicking here. When prompted, save the file to your PC and open it. You’ll need Microsoft Excel in order to open and use the file.
The file contains a couple of examples, which you can delete once you’re comfortable with entering your own product information.
Use the following table of how to populate the various columns in the Excel spreadsheet, with one product on each row.
Please do not add or remove columns from the spreadsheet, and be sure to include information in the mandatory fields; name and SKU.
Please also take the time to double-check your work, including spelling, as we will not check for spelling or grammar. You may also incur charges if we have to import product information more than once.
| Field | description | mandatory | example | Notes |
| name | the product name / heading | y | Head Raptor S.Shape RS HF Pro | This field is used by search engines when indexing your site, so make sure it describes your product, and where possible the manufacturer. |
| description | a detailed description of the product. Can be in html format to include tables and other formating | Very nice egyptian cotton bed sheets | ||
| SKU | product model number. Note – this must be unique to this product | y | b1010 | |
| Catalogue | the category this product belongs to. If its more than one category, they are sepparted by || Note that the structure of the categories is separated by >> | Ski>>Skis>>Mens>>K2||Ski>>Skis>>Womens>>K2 | ||
| Cost | Cost price – optional | |||
| List Price | Standar RRP price. Can be left blank, but if you put a price in here, and the sell price is lower, the list price will be shown with a line through it. If the list price and sell price are the same, the List price will not be displayed. | 150 | ||
| Sell Price | Sell price for item | 130 | ||
| Shippable | is it shippable – a physical product? | 1 | ||
| Weight | product weight | 1 | If you plan on using Australia Post for shipping, they require that each product has a weight, so it may be worth including this information now rather than have to add it later. | |
| Unit of Measurement Weight | Kilograms or Grams – can be displayed as product information, but also used to calculate shipping. | Kilograms, Grams, Ounces, Pounds | Try to stick with one unit of measure for all products. Eg, use either Grams OR Kilograms for all products. | |
| length | product length – can be displayed as product information, but also used to calulate shipping. | 50 | ||
| width | product width | 50 | ||
| height | Product height | 25 | ||
| Unit of measurement length | Centimeters, Inches | Centimeters, Milimeters, Feet, Inches | other units are not acceptable | |
| Package Quantity | qantity in a package. Usually 1 | 1 | ||
| Default Quantity | usually left as 1 | 1 | ||
| image | the name of the image that is associated with this product. Format must be jpg, png or gif, and there should be no spaces in the file name. If there is more than one image, they are sepparted by || | darkstar.jpg||horroscope.jpg||ten_eighty_gun.jpg | Be sure to include the full image name. Eg. if the image name is darkstar.jpg it must have .jpg on the end.If it’s not an exact match, the import process will not import your product images and you’ll have to add them manually to the site later. |
