Skip to main content
How to Import Products
Updated this week

Learn how to upload a CSV file in your Wondersign CAM (Commerce Automation Manager) account to create your own custom products or enhance existing product data. Wondersign Product Importer allows you to:

  • Create or update your own custom products

  • Update existing feed-based products, names and other data

  • Add or update a custom SKU

  • Add or update a custom product sort order

  • Add or update image and video URLs

  • Create custom product relationships & kits

  • Update custom fields

Please Note: This article is a guide on how the Wondersign Product Importer can create custom products using a CSV file import. If you'd like to create products individually without an import, please see How to Manually Create a Custom Product.

Requirements/Tools Needed:

Getting Started

1. Click Content from the top navigation, then click Products from the drop-down.

2. Click the green Import Products button.



You'll be taken to the 4-step Import Wizard:

3. Step 1 - Introduction: This explains the various import functions, links to this article and also offers and option to Download an Example CSV File that can be used as a template for your own catalog data. Once you are ready to proceed, click Next.


4. Step 2 - Import Settings: Use the checkboxes to select if you are creating new products or updating existing products. You can also check both options if your CSV file contains both new products (to be created) and existing products (to be updated).

  • Create new products that don't exist in the database is to import custom products that are not included in the Wondersign-managed vendor feeds.

  • Update existing products in the database is for updating existing custom products or making changes to products in the Wondersign-managed vendor feeds.

When updating existing products in your Wondersign platform, check the corresponding box (Update existing products in the database), then select from the optional checkboxes below.

  • Skip empty fields: If a field in the Wondersign platform contains data and the same field in the CSV file does not, the importer will not delete the field information in the platform on import - as long as this option is checked. (This is recommended)

  • Skip items that originated from a 3rd party data feed: With this option selected, the import process skips items from a managed vendor feed and only updates custom items.

  • Enhance only: With this option checked, empty fields on the Wondersign platform will be filled with content from the imported file.

The Import Wizard also allows you to keep your catalogs up-to-date by deleting items if they are NOT on the CSV file you are importing. This is useful when removing discontinued items or temporarily hiding out-of-stock products that you have custom-created.

Please Note: Using this option will not delete products in a managed data feed.

To delete custom-created products in your CAM account that are not in the imported CSV file, check the box Delete items.

Once you have selected the appropriate checkboxes on this step, click Next to proceed.

5. Step 3 - File Upload: Use the Choose File button to upload your CSV file from your computer. If you are using the provided template file or if your CSV has a header row, leave the box CSV Has Header Row checked.

Choose the image file from your local desktop, then click Open.

You'll receive a green confirmation message, File Captured. Click Next to import.

6. Step 4 - Column Mapping: The Import Wizard automatically detects columns if the column header names match. A green header indicates that columns are successfully mapped, however, but you should also verify that the data in the column is aligned with the column header.

Any red column headers indicate a possible column mismatch. These will need to be manually mapped to the correct column header. Simply click the down arrow on the column header to select from one of the options in the drop-down (see image below in Column Mapping).

Column Mapping

To add or update/enhance data in Step 4 of the Import Wizard, select an available field to map the column's product data to the correct data set. Continue on to learn more about these fields.

Please Note: The following fields are required for custom product creation. These fields also cannot be edited on existing product data from a managed feed:

  • brand

  • SKU

  • name

  • price.cost

Available Fields

Below are a list of fields that serve a special purpose in the import process:

attributes:

Specific product characteristics known as attributes are included in product data from managed feeds. These can also be imported with custom product creation or edited on managed feeds.

  • attributes.#.attribute - defines the attribute type or name.

  • attributes.#.values.# - defines the attribute actual value or attribute itself

When importing attributes for a product, replace the '#' placeholder with a numeric value to distinguish the different attributes. The '#' placeholder should begin at 0 (if there is only 1 attribute) then increase (1, 2, 3...), depending on the number of attributes and values for that product.

See the table and images below for examples.

attributes.0.attribute (column header)

attributes.0.values.0 (column header)

Number of Seats

2

attributes.1.attribute (column header)

attributes.1.values.0 (column header)

Number of Drawers

0

attributes.2.attribute (column header)

attributes.2.values.0 (column header)

Features

Storage

  • 1: Any characteristic should be imported as an attribute and each has its own attribute value.

    number_of_seats_attribute.png

  • 2: the attributes.#.values.# (VALUE) should always follow to the right of the attributes.#.attribute (ATTRIBUTE NAME) column, as shown above.

    color_and_material.png

  • 3: attributes can have multiple values, but each unique value requires its own column.

    multiple_values.png

Imported custom attributes will appear on the Product Details page in the Catalog App Manager (CAM) and as filter options in the Catalog Kiosk App.

column_mapping_2_imported_custom.png

column_mapping_3.png

PRO TIP: In combination with the Wondersign Connector, attributes such as "On Display" or "In-Store Now" can showcase specific products available to your online shoppers!

attributes.4.attribute (column header)

attributes.4.values.0 (column header)

On Display

TRUE

customerSku:

This field can be used to import your own custom SKUs to be displayed in place of the manufacturer's SKUs. This is critical for retailers with their own unique SKU systems. Using custom SKU numbers also makes cross-shopping or "showrooming" much more difficult.

packageProducts:

These fields can be used when importing kitted or bundled items that consist of multiple components. The component SKUs and quantity can be defined by using these fields.

rank:

When importing a custom sort order, the rank column needs to contain a numeric value. This value determines the order that products appear in the Catalog Kiosk app.

Please Note: The Custom Sort Order feature must be selected in your device group settings (Advanced Configuration > Product Sorting).

relatedProducts:

These fields define which products should be shown as associated items.

  • completeYourCollection: This is for up-sell purposes to recommend a matching items of a collection, such as a love seat to a sofa, or a matching nightstand to a bed.

  • crossSell: As the name indicates, this is to associate items that pair well with a main item, such as accessories and decor items for individual products or collections.

  • series: These fields define items that pertain to the same series/collection as the main item.

Other Mapping Tips

Importing Products to Existing Categories

To import and assign products to categories, please refer to this Wondersign Taxonomy Table.

The full category path of department level > category level > product level must be used when importing products to existing categories.

  • Furniture > Bedroom > Beds

  • Furniture > Dining Room > Tables

  • Furniture > Living Room > Sectionals

To help your shoppers drill down and find specific items, it's also helpful to include the productType (separate column) with each imported product/category. For example:


Please Note: The importer is case-sensitive

Refer to the the Wondersign Taxonomy table to import and assign products to categories

*Wondersign's Taxonomy and category structure are subject to change at any time. To manage and modify the category structure for your account, please see How to Add Custom Categories

Importing Images

We support importing images served over http or https endpoints.

  • RGB Images only, no CMYK

  • Supported formats: JPG, PNG

  • Minimum resolution: 1200 px (longer edge)

  • Maximum resolution: 100 Mpx (width x height. Eg. 10000 x 10000 px for 1.0 aspect ratio)

  • Do not include extra whitespace in rectangular / scene imagery

  • URL must return the proper content-length header for the image file, try to avoid redirects

Please note: when using DropBox or importing images via URL it's important to make sure the URL points to the actual image and not the web page (HTML). You can look into these settings in your DropBox configuration.

Do: The following is pointing to the actual image. Content-Type = Image

image.png

Don't: The following is pointing at an HTML webpage. Content-Type = Text

This will cause an error when attempting to import image via URL

image

Using Feature Bullets in Product Description

Feature bullets can be added to your product description through import using structured HTML.

<b>Product Features</b>
<ul>
<li>Feature 1</li>
<li>Feature 2</li>
<li>Feature 3</li>
</ul>

Product Features

  • Feature 1

  • Feature 2

  • Feature 3

Your HTML code must include an open and close to the format you're implementing. For the example above: <b> is the opener for "bold" text and </b> is the closer. The text between the open and close code is what will be formatted based on your request.

Cheat sheet:

  • <b> = bold

  • <ul> = unordered list (bullets)

  • <li> = line item

  • <ol> = ordered list (numbers)

  • &nbsp = space

7. Once your mapping is complete, click Finish to proceed.

8. The CSV file will now import in the background. You can use the Wondersign platform without limitations while the import process is underway.

9. To check on the status of the import, click the Background Tasks icon (check mark) from the top navigation and click See Details.


10. The list of background tasks shows you the nature and status of each task, together with time stamps, the outcome, and a link to View Results.

11. To help fix potential data issues, click Download log file to access a log that documents failed row(s) and reasoning for the product import error(s).

To fully automate product data import and to move from manual imports to automated (managed) data feeds, please contact us and we're happy to go over the various methods to automate product data feed ingestion.

Did this answer your question?