In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, keeping your WooCommerce product catalog accurate and up to date is crucial, especially considering that 88% of consumers are unlikely to return after a negative website experience. Whether adding new products, updating descriptions and prices, or migrating your store data, effective product management can influence your store’s performance and customer satisfaction.
However, manually managing these updates can be time-consuming and error-prone, especially for businesses with large inventories. This is where WooCommerce import-export plugins come in handy.
These specialized plugins allow you to bulk-manage product data with just a few clicks. A well-regarded and widely used choice is WebToffee’s free Product Import Export for WooCommerce plugin.
In this article, we’ll demonstrate how to efficiently import and export products in WooCommerce with this robust plugin. This will allow you to save time, minimize errors, and maintain a well-organized catalog that’s always ready for your customers.
Product Import Export Plugin For WooCommerce
The WooCommerce Product Import Export is a free and easy-to-use plugin available in the WordPress directory. It has remained a highly regarded choice for transferring products and their related data between WooCommerce stores. This powerful tool effortlessly imports and exports products into CSV files and supports simple, groped and external/affiliate product types.
You can handle bulk import-export tasks encompassing product images, reviews, categories, tags, and other attributes. Advanced filtering and automated column mapping options make the process more efficient and streamlined.
While the free version caters to basic import-export requirements, it does come with limitations regarding the types of products and file formats you can use. For larger WooCommerce stores and more control over the migration process, the premium version of the WooCommerce Product Importer plugin is strongly recommended, as it offers extra features to improve your experience. Some of its key features include:
- Support for variable and subscription products
- Ability to import custom fields and data from third-party plugins
- Excel, CSV, XML, and TSV file format compatibility
- Advanced filtering options,
- FTP/SFTP import support
- Schedule automatic imports using WordPress or server cron.
Here, we will focus on importing and exporting products using the free version of WebToffee’s Product Import Export plugin. This cost-effective solution offers robust features, allowing you to simplify your product management without incurring additional expenses.
Let’s dive in.
How to Export WooCommerce Products
The free Product Import Export plugin allows you to export products from your WooCommerce store easily to a CSV file.
Here’s the step-by-step process of exporting WooCommerce products using the Product Import Export for WooCommerce plugin.
Step 1: Install WebToffee Product Import Export Plugin
The first step is to install and activate the plugin. For this, login to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to:
- Plugins > Add New Plugin from your WordPress dashboard.
- Search “Product Import Export for WooCommerce” plugin.
- Then Install and Activate the plugin.
Step 2: Choose Product as Post Type
After you have installed the plugin,
- Go to WebToffee Import Export (Basic) > Export.
- Choose the post type to export as Product.
- Click the Select an export method button to proceed to the next step.
Step 3: Select Export Method
Two export methods are available for products: Quick export and Advanced export.
The Quick Export feature makes exporting all your products and essential fields easy. This option enables you to finish the export process with just one click.
The Advanced Export feature is preferred if you require more control over your export. This option lets you choose specific products or fields to include or exclude from your export file. Various filtering options, column selection, and advanced settings allow you to customize your export to suit your particular requirements.
- Let’s select Advanced export and proceed to the next step.
Filter Export Data
Here, various filter options filter out the data that needs to be exported, such as limiting the number of products, excluding the first n products, or exporting specific products based on their categories and tags.
Once you have selected your required configuration, proceed to the next step.
Step 4: Map & Reorder Export Columns
Here,
- Choose the product data columns you want to export.
- Specify the names of these columns in the CSV file.
- Rearrange the column positions using the drag-and-drop icons.
Once selected, proceed to the next step.
Step 5: Export Products
This is the final step in exporting your WooCommerce products. Here, you need to configure a few options.
- Export in batches – This setting controls how many products the server processes at once within a set time limit. It helps break down the export process so that only a certain number of products are handled in each batch.
- Delimiter – Choose a delimiter from the dropdown menu to distinguish the columns in the CSV file, such as a comma, tab, semi-colon, etc.
- Once selected, click Export.
Upon export, a CSV file containing all the columns and products that meet the selected criteria will be downloaded to your system.
How to Import WooCommerce Products
You can use the same plugin to import your products back to the same or another store.
Note that your input CSV file should be encoded in UTF-8 format to import your products accurately. Follow the steps to import products to WooCommerce using the free WooCommerce product import export plugin.
Step 1: Select Post Type
From the WordPress dashboard,
- Go to – WebToffee Import Export (Basic) > Import.
- Select Product as post type.
- Click Select import method.
Step 2: Choose Import Method
Next, select an import method for importing your products: Quick import and Advanced import.
You can use the Quick import option if you have used the same plugin to export the input file.
With Quick import, you can simply upload the exported file and click Import to transfer WooCommerce products to your store.
The Advanced import method works differently. It has advanced options for more control over the import process.
- Upload the input CSV file.
- Select a delimiter to separate columns in the CSV file from the drop-down.
- Click the Map import columns button to proceed.
Step 3: Reorder Columns of Products CSV File
Next, you’ll need to match the column headers in your CSV file with the correct WooCommerce product fields.
The plugin automatically maps columns if the headers in your CSV match WooCommerce fields. If any headers don’t match or you want to adjust the mappings, you can easily do so by:
- Clicking the file columns and choosing a header name from the drop-down.
- Once done, click on Advanced options/Batch import.
It’s important to accurately map the different product fields and ensure they are in the right format.
Double-check that all required fields are correctly mapped to avoid any errors or issues during the import process.
Proceed to the next step.
Step 4: Configure Advanced Import Options
Next, there are several advanced options for deciding the course of the import.
- Choose whether to skip or proceed with the import of new products.
- Select ID or SKU to match products.
- Skip or Update the existing products in your store.
- Set the number of products to import in a single batch.
Once done, click Import to import your WooCommerce products from a CSV file.
That’s it. After the import is completed, a pop-up will appear showing the import status, such as the number of successful imports and any failed imports.
Conclusion
The migration of product data from one platform to another, especially in the case of larger catalogs, is a very daunting task. The Product Import Export Plugin for WooCommerce has made this process smooth and efficient.
However, if you’re looking to migrate other essential data like users, orders, and customer details, you’ll need more than just a product migration tool. Luckily, WebToffee has several other plugins that deal with this, such as WooCommerce Order Import Export and WordPress Users Import Export, making it easy to transfer orders and user data between stores.
We hope this article clarifies the steps for product import/export. Feel free to share your feedback in the comments and join the conversation!
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