How do I add products to Opencart Shopping Cart using Excel CSV

///How do I add products to Opencart Shopping Cart using Excel CSV

How do I add products to Opencart Shopping Cart using Excel CSV

Total Import Pro for Opencart Shopping Cart

Based on our experience of adding lots of products to our client’s websites – We have found that the most efficient method of adding products to an OpenCart online store, requires the addition of an import module.

This module basically allows you to list your products in an excel document (CSV file), and then import product information in bulk – Instead of adding products one-by-one within the OpenCart admin area.

Most shopping carts software will have some form of import module that will allow you to import bulk information in CSV file. CSV just means Comma Separated Variable – but you don’t need to get hung up of the technicalities.

If you want to import product options such as various size or color options, then the best module we have found is Total Import Pro. (This appears to be the only version that actually allows the import of size options etc).

Steps To Add Products to OpenCart Shopping Cart via Total Import PRO

1. Login to admin (http://your-web-address.co.uk/admin/)
2. Go to System>Total Import PRO
3. Click Step 1 and fill in the following:
a. Feed Source: Choose “File Upload” from drop down
b. Import Feed File: Choose file from c drive
c. Unzip Feed: Unchecked
d. Feed Format: Chose “CSV” from drop down
e. CSV Field Delimiter: Choose comma from drop down
f. First Row is Headings: Check
g. Use Safe Headings: Unchecked
4. Click “Save & Continue”
5. Leave everything in Step 2 as is with the following exceptions:
a. Add Products to: Choose “Bottom Category Only” from drop down
b. Category Delimiter: Fill in box with “>” (without quotes)
6. Click “Save & Continue”
7. Click “Skip” on Step 3
8. For Step 4, choose corresponding “OpenCart Field” with “Feed Field” which matches up
OpenCart’s product fields with however you have named your csv file. For example: You may
have labeled your product’s name column “Product Name.” This will match OpenCart’s “Name”
field so you would choose “Product Name” from drop down menu in “Feed Field” next
to “Name.” This allows you to basically name your columns anything that works for you as
you will always be matching them up to OpenCart’s fields during this step. Note: If you have
additional options such as a column for both “Size” and “Colour”, click the blue “More” button
next to “Options” for as many as you may need.
9. Click “Save & Continue”
10. Step 5 settings should be as follows:
a. Empty store before import: “No”
b. New Items: “Add”
c. Existing Items: “Skip” if just adding new products or “Update” if updating existing
products
11. Click “Import”

Note: Once you have gone through the process above once, the settings will be saved.

Notes Regarding product spreadsheet:

1. You can add as much information and as many columns as you would like for each product
as long as the information/column can be matched up to fill in a product information field as
described in Step 4 above. Examples: Product name, description, quantity, price, size, color,
manufacturer, category, image, meta tag description, etc.

2. If spreadsheet contains more than 10,000 products, break it up into multiple spreadsheets. Try
not to upload more than 10,000 products at a time as it may cause the upload process to time
out.

3. New categories and options will also be created via the product spreadsheet upload. Ex: Sizes,
Colours, etc. so no need to add those manually before uploading new products.
4. Category sections and subsections should be separated by “>” (without quotations). For
example, if you wanted a leather jacket to be under clothing, jackets, leather jackets, you may
complete the “Category” column as:
Clothing>Jackets>Leather Jackets

5. Options should be separated by “|” (without quotations). For example, if a shirt is offered in
blue, green, and yellow, your “Colour” column should show: Blue|Green|Yellow.
Again, the options (in this case, “Colours”) will be automatically created for you when you
upload the spreadsheet.

6. If uploading images via spreadsheet, it’s best to upload all images via ftp into a folder and then
reference that link within the spreadsheet. For example, a shirt’s image “shirt.jpg” may be
uploaded via ftp into a folder called “image.” Within the csv product spreadsheet you plan to
upload, under “Image” column for that product (shirt) you would need to reference: http://
www.examplewebsite.com/image/shirt.jpg.

If you are interested in adding lots of products to your online store, we offer a product population service – that can help get your online store up and running much faster than trying to add your products one-by-one.

Learn more about our Online Store design services and Product Population services for Opencart and other shopping carts.

By | 2012-08-06T14:45:12+00:00 July 6th, 2012|Ecommerce, OpenCart|0 Comments

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