Product import is the fastest way to upload or edit your catalog. Product import is based on CSV (comma separated values) files, which can be edited as spreadsheets.
CSV file basics
A CSV file contains plain text entries separated by delimiters. Each entry represents a cell in a spreadsheet, each line represents a new row, and each delimiter (comma, semicolon, or tabulation) indicates where one entry ends and another entry begins.
You can view and edit CSV files in plain text editors (e.g., Notepad for Windows, Sublime Text, TextEdit for Mac) or in spreadsheet editors (e.g., OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Google Sheets). Spreadsheet editors are generally more convenient.
Contents
Each line in a product import file represents a list of attributes (name, SKU, description, price, etc) associated with a certain product in your store. Each attribute is separated by a delimiter (comma, semicolon, or tabulation) that should be the same throughout the file.
The first line in the file may represent the column headers.
To see the import settings in your Ecwid store go to Ecwid Control Panel → Catalog → Products and click Import Products. Find the Skip First Line option:
Delimiters
Delimiters indicate where one product attribute ends and another one begins. Ecwid supports three delimiters in CSV files: commas, semicolons, and a tabulation.
Encoding
Ecwid supports more than ten charsets, including UTF-8, UTF-16, and US-ASCII. When you import your CSV file, please select the same encoding used in your CSV file for proper import.
Numbers format
Ecwid requires CSV imports to:
- use a dot (a full stop) to separate the decimals (e.g., 3.5 or 10.99)
- not use a separators for large numbers (e.g., 1350, not 1,350)
CSV file format
To see the import settings in your Ecwid store go to Ecwid Control Panel → Catalog → Products and click Import Products.
Product import in Ecwid recognizes 25 product attributes. This means your CSV may contain up to 25 columns. Here is a brief description of each attribute:
| Column name in import dialog |
Column name in CSV file |
Requirement | Type | Limits |
| SKU | sku | SKU or Name field is required | String | 255 symbols |
| Name | name | SKU or Name is required | String | 255 symbols |
| Description | description | Optional | String | No |
| Enabled | enabled | Optional | Boolean | "true", "yes", "on", "Y", "1" for enabled, any other values for disabled |
| Weight | weight | Optional | Floating number | Any valid floating number for weight, empty value for digital product or services |
| Price | price | Optional | Floating number | Any valid floating number |
| “Compare to” price | recommended_price | Optional | Floating number | Any valid floating number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantity | quantity | Optional | Integer | Any valid integer, empty value for unlimited quantity |
| Image | image | Optional | String | http:// or https:// URLs |
| Category 1 | category1 | Optional | String | 255 symbols |
| Category 2 | category2 | Optional | String | 255 symbols |
| Category 3 | category3 |
Optional |
String | 255 symbols |
| Store front page | showOnFrontpage | Optional | Boolean | "1" for true, "0" or empty value for false |
| Fixed shipping rate | shipping_freight | Optional (legacy) |
Floating number | Any valid floating number |
| Fixed shipping rate only | fixed_shipping_rate_only | Optional (legacy) |
Boolean | "true", "yes", "on", "Y", "1" for true, any other values for false |
| Shipping rate type | shippingType | Optional |
Strings | One of these values: GLOBAL_METHODS, SELECTED_METHODS, FLAT_RATE, FREE_SHIPPING |
| Shipping markup | shippingMethodMarkup | Optional It is used with GLOBAL_METHODS shipping rate type |
Floating number | Any valid floating number |
| Flat Rate Shipping amount | shippingFlatRate | Optional It is used with FLAT_RATE shipping rate type |
Floating number | Any valid floating number |
| Disabled shipping methods | shippingDisabledMethods | Optional It is used with SELECTED_METHODS shipping rate type |
List of strings split by | symbol | A string is *ID of a shipping method |
| Enabled shipping methods | shippingEnabledMethods | Optional It is used with SELECTED_METHODS shipping rate type |
List of strings split by | symbol | A string is *ID of a shipping method |
| UPC | upc | Optional | String | 255 symbols |
| Brand | brand | Optional | String | 255 symbols |
| Page title | seo_title | Optional | String | 55 symbols |
| Meta description | seo_description | Optional | String | 160 symbols |
| Width | width | Optional | Floating number | 5 symbols |
| Height | height | Optional | Floating number | 5 symbols |
| Length | length | Optional | Floating number | 5 symbols |
* To find the ID of the shipping method you’d like to enable/disable for a product via import, click on that shipping method name in Ecwid control panel → Shipping & Pickup and copy its ID from the browser’s address bar. Example:
Alternatively, you can set up one product manually in the required way, export it, find IDs of the shipping methods enabled/disabled for it in the downloaded CSV file and use them in your import file.
Importing a CSV file
Once you’ve prepared your CSV file, go to Ecwid Control Panel Catalog → Products and click Import products.
In the import dialogue window:
- Click Choose file and select the CSV file from your computer.
- Select the delimiter used in your file (comma, semicolon or tabulation).
- Select the character encoding used in your file:
- Arrange columns (drag and drop) to mimic your file:
- Uncheck the columns that are not used in the file.
- Use the Skip column option to exclude up to three columns:
- Check the option Delete all products and categories before import, if you want to clear the catalog before import.
Get a sample CSV file for import
Common errors
You may come across the following errors during import:
| In Ecwid maximum category depth is limited to 50. Your import file contains category /Category1/Category2/.../Category80, which has depth of 80. Please reduce the number of its parent categories and try again. | You have too many nested categories and must reduce the category path. |
| 'Category name' is too long (400 symbols). The maximum allowed length is 255 symbols. |
Category names are limited to 255 symbols maximum. Please reduce the name’s length. |
| Wrong columns count. You have selected 10 columns in import dialog, but the file contains only 8. |
If you select 10 columns for import, each line must contain 10 values. Please select the proper number of columns. |
| Unsupported image format (http://www.example.com/image.psd) |
Ecwid supports JPG, BMP, PNG, and GIF image file formats. Please use one of these. |
| Image http://www.example.com/image.jpg is bigger than 4 Mb | |
| 'SKU' or 'Name' column has to contain value |
Every product line has to contain at least one value: SKU or Name. Please make sure each product line in the file contains an SKU and/or Name value. |
| 'SKU' is too long (300 symbols). The maximum allowed length is 255 symbols. |
Ecwid limits SKU numbers to 255 symbols. Please reduce the SKU number. |
| 'Name' is too long (350 symbols). The maximum allowed length is 255 symbols. |
Name values are limited to 255 symbols. Please reduce the Name value. |
| Incorrect 'price'/'weight'/etc value |
The entry in the column has a wrong format. For example, the value contains letters, whereas only numbers are supported. Please make sure you use the supported data format for each column. |
| Malformed image URL htp://example.com/image.jpg |
The URL is formatted incorrectly. Please use the format: [protocol]://[server]/[file path]. For example: https://www.example.com/image.jpg |
| Cannot upload image http://www.example.com/image.jpg |
Ecwid cannot upload the image from server example.com due to server failures, timeouts, or other network problems. Please make sure that your image files are accessible online for download. |
| Ecwid has a limitation of 1000 categories per store. | Ecwid allows 1,000 unique categories per store. Please reduce the number of categories in your import file. |
Sample CSV file
Download a sample product CSV file to use as a template for creating your own CSV files. It includes an example product with comma-separated values.
You can import this sample file with the following options in import dialog:
Related articles
Guide to importing and exporting products
Importing customers
FAQ about importing products
