Once you’ve submitted the Store intake form and decided how your store website will operate, it’s time to think about your inventory. You’ll be able to add new products to your store at any time, but your Store setup specialist will complete a bulk upload to get you started.
In this article, we’ll explain how to complete the Store datasheet and prepare your product images for upload.
Categories
If you have a lot of products in your store, you’ll probably want to divide them into categories to keep them organized and help users find what they want to purchase. On the first page of the datasheet, you can list any categories and subcategories (and even sub-subcategories) you want to use in your store.
Each row of the sheet should have either a category OR a subcategory OR a third-level subcategory. In the “Name for Category on Item Tab” column, show the path that users would take to get to the category. For example, you may have a “Youth” category with a subcategory of “Girls’ Uniforms” and a subcategory below that of “Tops.” The path in this case would be Youth\Girls' Uniforms\Tops. You’ll use this information on the next page.
You may also designate an image to be used with the category or subcategory. Insert the file name for that image in the “Category Image Name” or “Subcategory Image Name” column, as appropriate.
Items
On the next page of the datasheet, you can add all the information about each of your products. You can fill out as many of the columns as you want, as long as you have:
- Name: How you want the product to be listed on the item page and receipts.
- Price (actual/sale price): What you will actually charge for the item. If the item is discounted, this is your final price, and the original price will go in the “recommended_price” column.
- Description: Whatever you want to tell customers about the item. You don’t have to limit this to one box. Just add additional rows for extra paragraphs.
For all of your items, you can include the following information, as well.
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SKU: The code that identifies the product within your business. Each code must be unique. If you leave this column blank, the system will generate a code for you.
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Category1, Category2, Category3: An item can be displayed in multiple categories, but whatever you put in the “category1” column will be the default and will be displayed as breadcrumbs on the item page. If you don’t include any categories, the item will be shown on the front page of your store.
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Recommended_price (original price if on sale): If you’re selling an item at a discount, include a "Compare to" price in this column so customers know how much they’re saving!
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Gallery_image: List the file names of any images you want to include of the item. The first one will be the default image, which gets shown on the catalog page.
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Qty: How many do you have in stock? You don’t have to use the store for inventory management, but this information will help you keep track of how many you’ve sold and when you might be running low.
If you’re selling clothing or other items that have multiple sizes or colors, you’re dealing with what are known as variations. In this case, you will have multiple rows for a single product, and each size/color combination will have its own details. The following columns will be used for these item variations.
- Size Option and Color Option: List each of the sizes and colors you have available on a separate row. These will be the dropdown menus where customers select their preferences. You may need to add additional columns if there are other options you want to make available.
- Variations: Describe each combination of the options that you have listed in the previous columns on its own row. Use the “qty” column to indicate how many of each option you have available (even if it’s 0).
Note: Even if a particular combination of options isn’t available in your inventory, it’s necessary to include it as a variation on the datasheet with a quantity of zero. If you offer red and blue shirts in sizes small, medium, and large, for example, a customer can create six variations using the dropdown menus. Unless the system knows that “small blue” shirts are not available, it will allow such an order to be placed by the customer.
- Variation SKU: Each variation can have its own SKU, as well. If you’re not tracking inventory, though, this is optional.
- Variation Image(s): When the user selects an option, the system can display specific images for that variation. List the file name(s) for those images in this column.
Images
You can include as many images for a product as you want. We recommend using JPG, PNG or GIF images in RGB color mode. There aren’t any requirements for how to name your images, as long as each file name is unique and we know how to find them.
Use high-quality images so that your customers can zoom in and see the details of what they’re buying. For best results, make sure all the images are a consistent aspect ratio so they look the same as thumbnails. It may be easiest to use a 1:1 (square) aspect ratio.
Using Google Drive
The easiest way to send your product images to your Store setup specialist is via Google Drive. (If using Google Drive isn’t an option for you, work with your specialist to arrange a different method.) Upload all of your images into a folder, and share the folder link with your specialist.
Refer to the following articles from Google Drive Help if you have any issues uploading or sharing the files:
Next steps
That was a lot of work, but you got through it! Now you really can sit back and relax until your specialist sends you the login information for your store. Then, it will be time to look around and review everything.
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