To learn how to create a product CSV, follow the steps below.
1. Get your Vend product CSV template here.
2. Open this in Excel or use free spreadsheet software such as Google Docs, Open Office or Libre Office.
Important: Be careful when using Excel as it can sometimes truncate numbers. You can read more about this here.
3. Add your new products to the CSV file.
4. Save, and upload.
You may also find the Vend product CSV template by using the link on the Import Products page in Vend. You can also create a product in Vend first, and export your product list so that you have an example product.
If you use the Vend Product CSV template:
Make sure you update the outlet name for the inventory fields to match your store. For example, change Inventory_Main_Outlet to Inventory_Outlet_Auckland.
If you have two stores with similar names (e.g. Inventory_Outlet_Auckland and Inventory_Outlet_Auckland_Warehouse), you will need to update the name of the second store. You could change it to Outlet_Akld_Warehouse for example.
For tax-exclusive retailers, the tax is set per outlet. You will need to change the 'tax_name' field to 'outlet_tax_your_outlet_name'. You will need a column for each outlet.
Add your products
Once you have downloaded the Vend CSV template or generated your own, you will need to add in your product information. Below is a CSV glossary of all the different columns you might want to include and fill out in your product CSV.
For your information:
SKUs and Handles will be automatically populated if you don't include these as columns in your CSV.
The name field is now the only mandatory field required to import your products. /This is unless you are working with variant or composite products.
A column matcher will fix any columns that are incorrectly used when you import your product CSV.
This is an ID for your product. Make sure it only has letters and numbers. You cannot have spaces or symbols in here.
You can also choose to leave this column blank and allow Vend to automatically generate unique handles for your new products. This will be a system generated unique code, so we only recommend doing this if you don't already use a pre-existing handle format.
The stock keeping unit for your product. You can scan or type the existing barcode number for your product here if you have one.
Otherwise, you can leave this column blank and Vend will automatically generate unique SKUs for your new products.
Every product must have a unique SKU. Make sure it only has letters and numbers. You cannot have spaces or symbols in here.
The supply price for your product, excluding tax. Don't include a currency sign, just put the number.
You should always include a supply price - if your product price fluctuates, you can specify the exact price for each order when you complete a stock order.
The price you sell your product for. Don't include a currency sign, just put the number.
If you display the prices of your items including tax, this is the tax inclusive price.
If you display the prices of your items excluding tax, this is the tax exclusive price.
For tax-inclusive stores, this is the name of the tax rate you want to use for this product. Leave this blank or type 'default tax' to use the default tax for your store. Do not type the name of your tax, e.g. GST, into this field if that is your default store tax.
If you want to use a different tax rate for this product, this needs to exactly match the name of the tax you have set up in Vend.
Important: Leaving the field blank will not overwrite existing data. If you want to update a rate to default tax, type 'Default Tax'.
For tax-exclusive stores, this is the name of the tax rate you want to use for this product in this outlet. Type 'default tax' to use the default tax rate for that outlet, or specify the name of another tax rate you have set up in Vend.
Do not type the name of your tax, e.g. GST, into this field if that is your default tax for that outlet.
You need a column for each outlet.
Important: Leaving the field blank will not overwrite existing data. If you want to update a rate to default tax, type 'Default Tax'.
Important: leaving this column blank will overwrite any existing types you have on these products. If you do not wish to replace these types, delete the column (along with the 'Type' header)
Important: leaving this column blank will overwrite any existing tags you have on these products. If you do not wish to replace these tags, delete the column (along with the 'Tag' header)
3. Adding Variant Products
When you set up variant products, the products have the same name and handle, but each has their own SKU. The first line (which also includes a variant option) needs to include all the information about that product family, such as type, tags, brand, supplier, description.
4. Adding Composite Products
When you set up a composite product, you need to use the first line to create the product. This is where you need to specify the name, handle, SKU, price, tax, description and other information for the item.
The lines below this are where you add the composite handles and SKUs. These rows will have the same handle and SKU as the one creating the product. You do not need to specify pricing and other details in these lines. These products must already exist in Vend, or must also be created in the same CSV file.
Composite products do not need any inventory information as their quantities are set by the component items.
Now that you have created your product list for Vend using a CSV, you can import your product list into Vend. For more information on how to import your product list for Vend using a CSV, check out this article.
You may also wish to edit your products using a CSV file. For more information on how to do this, check out this article.