How To: Import Configurable Products with Variations

Note

The ability to create product variations via import first appeared CS-Cart and Multi-Vendor 4.7.2 (until then only existing variations could be updated). Product variations are a part of the Product Variations add-on.

During product import you can create and update configurable products and their variations. Variations are imported together with configurable products, as separate entries in the same CSV file.

This article only covers how to arrange configurable products and variations in an imported CSV file. Your file may include more columns such as Quantity, Price, etc.

Product variations in an imported CSV file.

Note

If the rules specified below aren’t followed when you create variations during import, the problematic variations will be skipped, and you’ll see an error message after the import is complete.

  1. The Product type column isn’t required, but is convenient, because it helps to see the type of the product:

    • P—a simple product.
    • C—a configurable product.
    • V—a variation of the configurable product.

  2. The imported CSV file must always have the entry of the configurable product when you create the variations of that product.

    The relative order of entries in the file is important: the entry of a configurable product goes first, and the entries of its variations must come right after it, in the following lines. For example, sequence СVVPCVVVPP is correct, and sequence CVVPVVCPV isn’t.

  3. As usual, the values in the Product code column serve to distinguish new products and variations from existing ones during import. So, if a product or a variation with the specified code is found in the store, the import will overwrite it.

  4. Variations are based on product options. That’s why a configurable product (C) must have a value specified in the Options field of the CSV file in the following cases:

    • The configurable product doesn’t exist yet and will be created during import.
    • The configurable product already exists but doesn’t have options and any variations yet.

    Note

    If the configurable product already exists and has at least one variation, then the values provided in the Options field won’t be imported.

  5. Each variation you’d like to create must have a value specified in the Variation options column. This column contains the information about the option variants that comprise this variation. There are several rules to remember:

    • Only variations should have variation options specified.
    • The Variation options field must include only the options and variants that the configurable product has.
    • Two different variations of a single configurable product can’t have the same variation options.

Hint

Once variations are created, you can update their properties (such as price or quantity) just like you do that for simple products. Make sure that the imported file doesn’t have the Variation options and Product type columns, and then the order of products in the file won’t matter.