Instead of adding each product to your Zoho Commerce store by hand, you can import a whole catalogue from a file. This is the quickest way to move from another e-commerce platform, or to load a big range for the first time. This article explains what your file needs to look like, and how the import works. It replaces an earlier note from March 2019 that only linked to Zoho's help.
Prepare your file
Most e-commerce platforms can export their products as a CSV or spreadsheet file. In your current platform, go to the Products page and export everything you want to bring across. Then check the file against Zoho's requirements:
| Requirement |
What Zoho says |
| File type | CSV, TSV, or XLS. |
| File size | Up to 25 MB. |
| Column headings | Use Zoho's sample file as a template, so your headings line up with the fields in Zoho Commerce. |
| Mandatory fields | Product Name and Price must be present. Products missing either are skipped. |
| SEO description | Up to 255 characters. Longer ones cause the product to be skipped. |
Import your products
- Sign in to your Zoho Commerce store and choose Products from the dashboard.
- Select Import Products, and choose your file.
- Configure. Choose how to treat duplicates. Skip Duplicates, which is the default, keeps the items already in your store and ignores matching ones in the file. Overwrite items replaces the existing items with the ones in your file.
- Map fields. Zoho Commerce matches your column headings to its own fields automatically. Check each one, and use the drop-downs to map any that were missed. The mandatory columns must each be matched to a column in your file.
- Preview. You see how many products will be imported and how many will be skipped. If any are skipped, open your file, correct the missing information, and import again.
- Click Import. The products then appear under Products in your store.
Images are a separate step. Zoho's migration guides treat product images as their own stage after the products are in, so do not expect pictures to arrive with the file. Plan how you will bring them across.
The same three-step import (Configure, Map Fields, Preview) works for customers, with the same file types and size limit.
Variants
If your products come in sizes or colours, read Zoho Commerce: Product Attributes and Variants first, because a product can have up to three attributes. Zoho's import guidance on how to lay variants out in a file is less clear than for simple products, so test with a few before you load them all.
Getting it right: our advice
This section is our own advice, not Zoho's.
- Import five products first. Check names, prices, descriptions, and categories on the live store before you load the rest.
- Keep Skip Duplicates on until you are sure, because Overwrite changes products you already have.
- Clean the file first. Remove blank rows, check prices carry no currency symbols or stray spaces, and make sure each product has a unique name.
- Decide on VAT. Check whether your prices include or exclude VAT, and that your store is set up to match, before customers see them.
- Keep the original file. It is your record of what was loaded, and your fallback if something goes wrong.