Import and Export of WooCommerce Products

Export and import all the products and their related data either from the WooCommerce store or e-commerce platforms using the plugin: Import export Suite for WooCommerce.

Before you get down to the product import & export operation, you must have some knowledge about mapping fields.

For example, the post_title field gets mapped to the product name and the regular_price field gets mapped to the regular price of your product. If you want the plugin to work correctly, you must map all of the fields in the correct format. If there is any mistake in your import file, your product import may not work as expected.

Note: Attribute names with pa are global attributes and the ones without pa are called local attributes.

• meta:_yoast_wpseo_focuskw
• meta:_yoast_wpseo_title
• meta:_yoast_wpseo_metadesc
• meta:_yoast_wpseo_metakeywords

If you are migrating the store as a whole, we recommend you to import the User/Customer data prior to Products.

To import WooCommerce products:

• Navigate through the menu: WooCommerce > Import Export Suite and click on the tab: Import.
• As a first step, you need to choose the post type as Product.

Choose from the below options to continue with your import:

• Quick import 
• Pre-saved template 
• Advanced import

Let us have a look at each of these import methods:

Quick Import

• imports the basic/standard fields of the respective post type.  
• primarily used when your input file was exported using the same plugin
• One can import files from:
  1. Local
  2. URL
  3. FTP

• Click the Import button to complete the action or proceed to Step 3 for advanced options.

Pre-saved template

This method retains the previous filter criteria and other column specifications as per the chosen file and imports data accordingly. By selecting this option, one can choose a previously saved template from the Import template drop-down.

Note: The template will be listed in the drop-down only if you have saved it in previous imports, if you go through the Advanced import, at Step 4 you will get an option to save the template. Once you save that, the next time you want to import a pre-saved template, it will be populated within the drop-down.

• Click the Import button to complete the action or proceed to Step3 to map and reorder columns.

Advanced Import

This option will take you through a detailed process of filtering/column selection/advanced options that may be required for your import. 

Note: You can also save this file as a template for future use.

Here, one can map the import columns under the following 5 fields:

• Default fields
• Taxonomies
• Meta(Custom fields)
• Attributes
• Hidden meta

Note: Columns are mapped automatically only if a matching header name is found in the input file. If not, the value is left blank.
If your input file header does not have exact names or if you need to edit the existing mapping you can simply click on the respective value fields corresponding to each row. Furthermore, you can also assign expressions based on the existing input file columns.

Evaluate field

This field is used to append a value/expression to an existing item while importing. It basically selects/maps any column from the input file and computes the values with expressions and creates output.

• Expression: Any of the operators +*/-()&@ or string constants can be used along with the attributes to manipulate the respective value. 
• Input: Select the column from the dropdown which has to be modified.
• Output: Sample value will be created based on the first record from the input file.

Note: Columns that have no values in the input file may cause syntax errors if used in an expression.

• Click on Step 4 to proceed.

On reaching Step 4, the following window will appear, from where one can:

1. Skip import of new products: To skip the import of new products, choose “Yes”. To import new products from the input file, choose “No”.
   When importing new products, a new option If product ID conflicts with an existing Post ID appears. Here, one can either Skip an item or Import as a new item.
   
2. Match products by their:  ID, SKU. It is recommended to match the products by SKU, if the ID of a product in the input file is different from that of the product ID in site.
   
3. If product exists in the store: One can either Skip or Update the entry.
   On updating the existing products, you can even choose to update the product data even if some of the columns in the input file contain empty values.
   
4. Use SKU to link up-sells, cross-sells and grouped products: Choosing “Yes” will let you import the mentioned products using product SKU. 
   
5. Delete non-matching products from store: Select ‘Yes’ to remove products from your store which are not present in the input file.

Note: On expanding Advanced options, one can set the number of records that the server will process for every iteration within the configured timeout interval.
If the import fails due to timeout you can lower this number accordingly and try again.

You can also save the template file for future imports (if needed).

• Click on Import/Schedule to finish.

You can either import the products directly into your store or schedule the import using FTP.

To schedule the import:

• Hit the Schedule option, and you will be taken to the cron schedule window.

The plugin supports two different schedule types:

1. WordPress Cron: Upon a visit, WordPress Cron will check to see if the time/date is later than the scheduled event/s, and if it is– it will fire those events.
   • schedules your job at the specified time. 
   • is dependent on your website visitors.
2. Server Cron: You may need to trigger the URL every minute depending on the volume of data to be processed.You can use this option:
   • to generate a unique URL that can be added to your system in order to trigger the events. 
   • if you have a separate system to trigger the scheduled events.

Also, the import/export can be scheduled on a daily, weekly, monthly, custom basis. You can configure the time at which the import has to be scheduled. Click on Schedule now to finish.

To directly import:

1. Hit the Import button.

Once the import is completed, a pop-up will be displayed showing import status which contains the number of successful imports and failed imports (if any).

Steps to export products

To export WooCommerce products:

• Navigate through the menu: WooCommerce > Import Export Suite and click on the tab: Export.

As a first step, you need to choose the post type as Product.

Choose from the options below to continue with your export:

•  Quick export
•  Pre-saved template 
•  Advanced export

Let us have a look at each of these export methods:

Quick Export

• Exports the basic/standard fields of the respective post type.  
• To include fields from Taxonomies, Meta(custom fields), Attributes and Hidden meta, select the respective group’s checkboxes.

• Click the Export button to complete the action or proceed to Step3 for advanced options.

Pre-saved template

Exports data as per the specifications(filters, selective column, mapping.. etc) from the previously saved file. By selecting this option, one can choose a previously saved template from the Export template drop-down.

Note: The template will be listed in the dropdown only if you have saved it in previous exports.
If you go through the Advanced export, at Step 5 you will get an option to save the template. Once you save that, next time when you want to export a pre-saved template, it will be populated within the dropdown.

• Click the Export button to complete the action or proceed to Step3 to filter data.

Advanced Export

This option will take you through a detailed process of filtering/column selection/advanced options that may be required for your export. 

Note: You can also save this file as a template for future use.

In this step, one can filter data on the basis of:

1. Total number of products to export: The actual number of products you want to export. e.g. Entering 500 with a skip count of 10 will export products from 11th to 510th position.
2. Skip first n products: Specify the number of products to be skipped from the beginning. e.g. Enter 10 to skip the first 10 products from export.
3. Product types: Filter products by their type. You can export multiple types together.
4. Products: Export specific products. Key in the product names to export multiple products.
5. Exclude Products: Use this if you need to exclude a specific or multiple products from your export list.
6. Product categories: Export products belonging to a particular or from multiple categories. Just select the respective categories.
7. Product tags: Enter the product tags to export only the respective products that have been tagged accordingly.
8. Product Status: Filter products by their status private/draft/pending/future.
9. Sort Columns: Here, you can sort the export data based on the selected column. By default, the columns will be sorted based on the column: ID.
10. Sort By: Sorts the selected sort column in ascending or descending order, as specified.

• Click on Step 4 to proceed further.

The column names appearing in this section can be edited if required. The preferred names and choices that were last saved can be viewed by choosing a pre-saved template. You can also move the columns to reorder the arrangement.

Here, one can map and reorder the export columns under the following 5 fields:

1. Default fields
2. Taxonomies
3. Meta(Custom fields)
4. Attributes
5. Hidden meta

• Click on Step 5 to proceed.

• On reaching Step 5, the following window will appear, from where one can:
  1. Export children SKU of grouped products: Exports children of grouped products by their SKU. Default is Product ID.
  2. Export file name: Filename for the exported file.
  3. Export File Format: Supports both CSV and XML.
  4. Delimiter: Separator for differentiating the columns in the CSV file. Assumes ‘,’ by default.
  5. Enable FTP export: On opting ‘Yes’, choose an FTP profile and specify the export path.

• On expanding Advanced options, one can:
  1. Convert shortcodes to HTML
  2. Export in batches of
  3. Export images as .zip file

• Save the template file for future export (if needed).

• Click on Export to export or schedule the export to finish.