Product CSV Imports and Exports
The Product Export/Import feature allows you to Export and Import products into/out of Aurora using a simple CSV (Comma Separated Value) text document.
This article describes the fields supported by the Import and how they should be used.
Overview
- You can import a CSV into Aurora via Products > Import.
- You will notice that some fields have an @ at the beginning of them, which is designed to stop Microsoft Excel incorrectly formatting some of the rows.
- Please ensure that your Group Reference and Reference are NOT identical if the product is a Variation, i.e. the product is a different size.
Import Options
Overwrite images? - This will remove all images for uploaded products and replace with the upload CSV data.
Remove existing data? - This will remove all Additional Fields for uploaded products and replace with the upload CSV data.
Don't alter main Category? - Tick this so it does not alter the main category and therefore not alter the product URL.
Remove existing categories? - This will remove all Categories uploaded for the existing products and replace with your CSV.
CSV import files can be placed in your root folder/_uploads/csv_upload in CSV format as detailed below. All files inside this folder will then be displayed in a list on the Products > Import page, where you will be able to select and import them.
Images
We only support .jpeg/.jpg file formats, because in general photos of products don't have large areas of solid colour, which is what GIF is used for to compress better. We don't use PNG because it is not supported by some older browsers and in general does not compress as well as jpegs.
Limited Version
You may not always want to include every field in the CSV, so you can include a minimum set of values instead. These values are:
- Group Reference
- Reference
Everything else is optional if you are editing a product
Please be aware that the following are default values, so if you do not enter a value in your CSV then it will be reverted:
- "Filename" will revert to the Product Reference if no value is entered in the CSV
Available Options
| Column Name | Type | Explanation | Spec |
| Group Reference | Required | If this is a product with multiple variations, defined later with attr: columns, then the Group Reference should be common between all variations. Otherwise it should match the Reference. | Maximum of 255 characters, alphanumeric and hyphens only |
| Reference | Required | This is the unique reference for the product. If there are variations, it is the unique reference for this specific variation. | Maximum of 255 characters, alphanumeric and hyphens only |
| Name | Required | This is the product name | Maximum of 255 characters, alphanumeric and hyphens only |
| Copy | Optional | This is the text that will be used for the product's "Selling Text" field in Aurora. | String |
| Description | Optional | This is the text that will be used for the product's "Description" field in Aurora. | String |
| Meta Title | Optional | Maximum of 255 characters, alphanumeric and hyphens only | |
| Meta Description | Optional | Maximum of 255 characters, alphanumeric and hyphens only | |
| Display | Required | 1 to display the product, 0 to not display it. This will remove it from being displayed on the front-end and stop people being able to buy it instantly | Integer |
| Delete | Optional | 1 for yes, 0 for no. Previously, and still supported, you can use the value of "Yes" as well. You can just leave this field blank If the product has never been ordered by a customer ever, then it will be removed permanently without the ability to be restored. If the product has ever been ordered by any customer, then it will be marked as deleted in the database but it’s data retained for future reference. | Integer |
| Category | Required | Pipe (|) separated categories, one per line, eg:<br>Clothing | T Shirts<br>Featured | Latest<br>Where the Main Category column is omitted, empty or invalid, the product main category will be automatically set as the top level category of the first defined category, in the above case Clothing | Pipe Delimited String |
| Main Category | Optional | The name of the top level main category i.e. Clothing | String |
| Main Subcategory | Optional | A single pipe (|) separate category path i.e.<br>Clothing | Tshirts<br>Where the Main Subcategory column is omitted, empty or invalid (i.e. the category does not exists in the database or the Categories column) the Main Subcategory will be set to be nothing. | Pipe Delimited String |
| Price | Required | The selling price of the product | Float |
| RRP | Optional | Manufacturers recommended price, to show was £x.xx, now £y.yy. | Float |
| Was Price | Optional | The price this product was at some previous time (perhaps before promotion) | Float |
| Buy in | Optional | Cost price, for reporting. | Float |
| Default VAT Rate | Required | Percentage of VAT that applies to this product, included in above prices. | Float |
| Tax Band | Optional | The name of the Tax Band that this product belongs to. | String |
| Stock | Required | Quantity in stock and available to purchase | Integer |
| Bin Number | Optional | This is the BIN Number (or Pick Location Reference) assigned to a product and/or variation. Aurora only stores BIN Numbers for specific Product Variations when they differ from the parent (main) Product. If the Variations have the same BIN Number as their parent Product, then the parent Product’s BIN Number is the only BIN Number stored in Aurora (for that product). You can set different BIN Numbers for each individual Variation if you wish and these will be stored against each Variation separately. If you do this, the first Variation provided in the CSV document will usually be the BIN Number used for the main product. | String |
| Style Code | Optional | This Product Retailer (Style) Code can be provided here if needed. This can be used with the Grouping Products by Retailer (Style) Code system. | String |
| Stock control? | Required | A value of 1 for yes, or 0 for no. If stock control is enabled stock will deplete once an order takes place | Integer |
| Stock action on zero | Required | Determines what happens once a product has 0 in stock. no-purchase will allow the product to remain and searchable, but not able to be purchased. purchase means it can still be purchased preorder will be available to preorder, and it is recommended you enter the maximum preorder amount via the Pre-order Stock column hide means it will be taken off the website completely | no-purchase, purchase, pre-order, hide |
| Stock warning level | Optional | A level of stock for the product that once it hits this level you will be emailed | Integer |
| Restock In (days) | Optional | How many days it is until it's back in stock. To be used instead of Restock Date, but as per Restock Date, the customer can still purchase it depending on the Stock action on zero rules, but their shipping estimate will be altered | Integer |
| Restock Date | Optional | The date when the product will be available again. The customer can still purchase it depending on the Stock action on zero rules, but their shipping estimate will be altered | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Min Delivery Time | Optional | Used for drop shipping to show the minimum time it takes your supplier to ship the items | Integer |
| Max Delivery Time | Optional | Used for drop shipping to show the maximum time it takes your supplier to ship the items | Integer |
| Product EAN | Optional | The EAN used for the main Product | Alphanumeric |
| Product UPC | Optional | The UPC used for the main Product | Alphanumeric |
| Variation EAN | Optional | The EAN used for the Individual Variation | Alphanumeric |
| Variation UPC | Optional | The UPC used for the Individual Variation | Alphanumeric |
| Filename | Optional | If blank, it'll use the product code If "name", it'll use the product name If anything else, it'll use what's entered | Alphanumeric, no more than 255 characters, but recommended less than 60 for SEO |
| Pre-order Stock | Optional | The amount of pre-order stock available. If left blank and "Stock action on zero" is set to "preorder", then the customer can preorder an unlimited amount | Integer |
| Keywords | Optional | Additional words related to the product that could be searched on by a customer in the front-end | Text |
| Width | Optional | Width of the product, used for couriers | Integer |
| Length | Optional | Length of the product, used for couriers | Integer |
| Height | Optional | Height of the product, used for couriers | Integer |
| Dimension Measurement | Optional | What are the measurements using (cm, mm, etc) | |
| Weight | Optional | Weight of the product | Integer |
| Weight Measurement | Optional | What are the measurements of the weight? | grams or kilograms are accepted measurements. |
| Product Search Terms | Optional | Words separated by commas, that will appear when someone searches for this product | Text |
| Is Searchable? | Optional | Displays the product on the product listings page and makes it searchable via the search | 1 = Yes 0 = No |
| Google Product Category | Optional | You can specify the Google Product Category. To find out this link, please go here:http://support.google.com/merchants/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=160081 You should search for the relevant category, and then copy the "Text" that displays once you click onto this category, i.e. XML: Sporting Goods > Team Sports > Hockey > Roller Hockey Skates | |
| Send to Google Base | Optional | If set to "1", the product will be included in the Google Base feed. | Integer |
| Discontinued | Optional | Is the product discontinued? | Integer |
| Redirect URL | Optional | If the product is discontinued, what is the URL it should now point to? | Text |
For more information regarding eBay fields in the Product CSV Import/Export process, please see the Editing eBay products via the CSV import guide.
Optional Fields
adtl: prefixed fields
Fields prefixed with adtl: will be imported as product additional fields, eg adtl:Resolution. You can also provide additional options within square brackets as a suffix. These are:
- filter - to mark as a filter field.
- filter:abbrv - same but also defines the abbreviation for the url.
- private - to mark it as a private field.
Eg, adtl:Resolution filter:res or adtl:Lead time
attr: prefixed fields
Product attributes. These are directly related to the Group Reference. If we have a product with variations, they will have a unique Group Reference. There must be attributes defined to distinguish the different variations from each other, Eg a tshirt that is available in small, medium, and large, and red, green and blue, would have 9 variations:
| attr:Size[filter:si] | attr:Colour[filter:co] |
| Small | Red |
| Small | Green |
| Small | Blue |
| Medium | Red |
| Medium | Green |
| Medium | Blue |
| Large | Red |
| Large | Green |
| Large | Blue |
Although if, for instance, the small was not available in blue, then that variation would just be skipped.
Updated over 2 years ago