Import products to Shopify in bulk

To bulk import products to Shopify with Mixtable, you add one row per new product or variant to a products worksheet, then click Sync now. You can type the rows in, paste them from Excel or Google Sheets, or import a CSV file from a supplier. Unlike Shopify’s own CSV import, your file doesn’t have to follow Shopify’s template: you match its columns to the worksheet’s columns when you import it. Mixtable creates the new products in Shopify when you sync, and you can review every one first.

It works whether you’re adding a few new products or hundreds, and whether they have variants or not. You can also add variants to products you already sell.

There are two ways to add products in bulk to Shopify with Mixtable. You can use a Products (with variants) worksheet, which displays all your products and their variants, or you can use a Products (no variants) worksheet, which only displays product-level information. In this article we’ll cover both approaches.

Upload products with the “Products (with variants)” worksheet

Here are the steps to add such a worksheet in your Mixtable app, if you don’t have one already.

• Click the + at the end of the worksheet tabs, or choose Worksheet > Add worksheet… from the menu bar
• In the window that opens, select Full product information on the Store data tab
• Click Next: Columns and Next: Rows to keep the suggested columns, then click Add worksheet
• You’ll see the new worksheet show up in your spreadsheet, and it will automatically start to populate with your existing Shopify products, along with their variants

Each row in this worksheet represents a variant, for products that have them, or a product for products that don’t use variants. You can modify either product or variant fields by editing this worksheet.

Now that our Products (with variants) worksheet is set up, it’s time to add some data. This worksheet works exactly like the Shopify CSV import template - each row can be used to add/update a variant or the product associated with it. The worksheet has columns showing the fields most requested by our users, but you are welcome to remove columns you don’t need or map blank columns to fields that you do.

Let’s run through a few common use cases:

Create a product with multiple variants

Here we want to add a product to Shopify, and the product has multiple variants. So we want to create the product and the variants at the same time.

1. Go to the first empty row at the bottom of the worksheet
2. Now, in this example, we are going to populate three rows with data, because we want to create three variants. We are going to add both product and variant information to our rows, so that Mixtable can create the product and variants at the same time
3. In the first row, set Title to the name of your product and Product URL handle to the URL handle you want to use for it. You only need to type the title on the first variant’s row: the other variants get it filled in after you sync and Mixtable creates the product in Shopify
4. Set the Product URL handle of the other two rows to the same value as the one on the first row. This signals to Mixtable that all three variants belong to the same product
5. Add your product level data, such as the product description or tags. To add product-level data ensure that you have the fields you need mapped to columns. Similar to the Shopify CSV import template you only need to specify the data for the product fields on the row that represents the first variant for the product. Mixtable will set the data when it creates the product, and will automatically populate the same data into the remaining variant rows
6. Add your variant data for all three variants. At the very least, each row needs the option’s name in Option 1 Name (e.g., Color) and the variant’s value in Option 1 (e.g., Red). For a second or third option, use Option 2 Name and Option 2, or Option 3 Name and Option 3. This is sufficient to create the variants in Shopify. You can, of course, also add other information, such as price, cost, or inventory at a location
7. In our example we’ll be creating two options for the product (size and color), and so will have to specify the variant option values for both options
8. When you are done entering your data, click Sync now at the top right of the spreadsheet, review your changes in the preview that opens, then click Sync in the preview. Mixtable will create the product with its variants for you

Create a product with no variants

The steps to create a product with no variants is the exact same as when adding a product with variants, with one difference - omit the Option data.

1. In your Mixtable app, go to the first empty row at the bottom of the worksheet
2. Set the Title for the product we are adding, and its Product URL handle if you want to choose one. If you leave the handle empty, Shopify makes one from the title (but if your store already has a product with the same title, Mixtable adds the row to that product as a new variant, so fill in a handle when titles might repeat). The title is all the information you need to create a barebones product, but you are welcome to add any other data you need: description, price, cost, inventory, etc. Just map any fields you need to columns in the spreadsheet, and populate their cells
3. When you are done entering your data, click Sync now at the top right of the spreadsheet, review your changes in the preview that opens, then click Sync in the preview. Mixtable will create the new product for you
4. After the product is created, you’ll see its Option 1 Name and Option 1 cells populate with Title and Default Title respectively. In Shopify a product always has at least one variant as it is on the variant that Shopify stores pricing and inventory information. So if you don’t provide variant information (the Options data), Shopify auto-creates a variant for you with an option named Title and the value Default Title

Add variants to an existing product

Here we want to add a variant to an existing product:

1. In your Mixtable app, go to the first empty row at the bottom of the worksheet
2. Set the Product URL handle cell to the handle of the product that we want to add a variant to. You can either type in this value (or paste it), or you can click on the 🔍 icon that Mixtable automatically adds to cells in this column. Clicking on the 🔍 icon will bring up the Product for this variant window, showing you a list of your existing products that you can search. Select the product you want to add the variant to and click Update cell, and Mixtable will automatically populate the handle into the cell for you
3. Add your variant data. At the very least you need to enter Option values for all the Options that the product has (e.g., size, color). This is sufficient to create the variant in Shopify. You can, of course, also add other information, such as price, cost, or inventory at a location
4. When you are done entering your data, click Sync now at the top right of the spreadsheet, review your changes in the preview that opens, then click Sync in the preview. Mixtable will create the new variants for you

Add a new Option to an existing product and its variants

Here we have an existing product, and some variants, and we want to add a new Option into the mix. In our example the product already has an Option 1, and we’ll be adding an Option 2.

1. Find the first row that contains a variant for our product. In this row find the column displaying the Option 2 Name. Set the cell value in this row for this column to the new option we are adding. In our example video we’ll be adding the “Loaf size” option to our product and its variants
2. Now find the column displaying the Option 2 values. Set the cell value in this column for every variant row to the option value that each variant should have (e.g., small)
3. When you are done entering your data, click Sync now at the top right of the spreadsheet, review your changes in the preview that opens, then click Sync in the preview. Mixtable will add the new option to your product and its variants

Import a CSV into your products worksheet

Got a CSV file of products, such as a price list from a supplier? You can import it straight into your products worksheet, without copying and pasting. Your file’s column names don’t have to match the worksheet’s: you choose where each column goes. Use it to add new products, update products you already sell, or both, then sync the changes to Shopify.

Here is the quick flow:

1. Click Import & Export and select Import CSV file
2. Upload your CSV file
3. Pick a column that’s in both your file and the worksheet, so Mixtable can match rows. It suggests one from your column names, such as SKU, Handle, or Product ID
4. Choose what to do: Update matching rows only, Update existing rows and add new ones, or Add new rows only. For a file of brand-new products, choose Add new rows only
5. Pick where each file column goes in the worksheet, for example your file’s Handle into Product URL handle and Cost into Cost per item. Columns you don’t pick stay out of the import
6. Click Review changes, check the rows that will be updated or added, then click Run import

For the full walkthrough, see Import CSV to update or add Shopify store data

The imported rows work just like rows you typed or pasted. When the import is done, click Sync now at the top right of the spreadsheet, review every pending edit in the preview that opens, then click Sync in the preview whenever you are ready to create or update those products in your Shopify store.