The Import tool in Lightspeed eCom is a powerful way to add or edit information in bulk.
In your eCom back office when you click Tools you will see Imports. Here you click on New Import and you can click on Browse Computer to upload a file.
Once uploaded, you will be asked what kind of information is in this file. This article provides links to instructions for each option in the list.
It is important to follow the instructions in this article for two reasons:
Importing can have irreversible negative effects on your eCom store information. Following these instructions will limit and prevent these problems.
Due to the complexity of spreadsheet software and Lightspeed eCom itself, some import requirements are not intuitive. Use the instructions provided in this article to help you with some of the more complex requirements to use when importing to Lightspeed eCom.
Info that can be imported
The Import tool can be used to add or update the following information in your eCom store:
Products - Instructions for importing products are divided into 2 different parts:
Importing new products - When you switch to Lightspeed eCom or have received a lot of new stock. Click hereto learn how to prepare and import your data file for new products. The maximum number of lines for this import is 1000.
Editing products via import - If you need to make many similar changes to many products in eCom, it is often faster to edit these products via import. Click here to learn how to edit products via import. The maximum number of lines for this import is 10,000.
Customers - Customers import is useful when migrating from another platform to Lightspeed eCom. Your existing customer list can be easily transferred so that returning customers are not required to enter their name and address when signing up. Instructions can be found here.
Suppliers - You can import suppliers that can be linked to your products later. You can also automatically create suppliers when importing products. You can only use the Import tool to import new suppliers. Instructions for preparing and uploading your supplier data can be found here.
Redirects - To maintain your search engine ranking, it is recommended to create redirects when you switch from a previous online platform to Lightspeed eCom and you have kept the same web address. Instructions for preparing and uploading your redirect file can be found here.
Brands - You can import brands that can be linked to your products later. Instructions for preparing and uploading your brand data file can be found here.
Product Filter Values - While you can't import filters or filter values, Lightspeed makes it easy to associate products with an existing filter and its filter values. Once the import is complete, you will see that all products are assigned the filter values. Instructions for preparing and uploading your data file to associate products with existing filters and their values can be found here.
Reference
The reference section includes:
Details when eCom is connected to a retail outlet
Recommended software and file format of your data
The importance of a worksheet
Details when eCom is connected to a retail outlet
Some eCom users have connected their eCom store to a point of sale, either Lightspeed Retail or Lightspeed OnSite, in a configuration known as an Omnichannel solution. If you're using an Omnichannel solution:
Omnichannel users have restrictions on what they can import because Omnichannel requires Retail or OnSite to be the source of certain information in eCom.
In eCom, Omnichannel users can only import the following:
Operations for products, except for these product data:
Brand
Supplier
Variant title (default language)
Keep track of the inventory
Stock Quantity
Inventory Alert Level (report below)
Minimum Inventory (Minimum Quantity)
Price excluding or including tax
Cost price
Item code
barcode (EAN)
SKU
Customers
Redirects
Product filter values
Both Retail and OnSite have their own methods to import the excluded product information, new products, suppliers and brands.
For more specific retail information:
For excluded product information and new products, click here.
For suppliers, click here.
For brands, click here.
For more specific OnSite information about:
For excluded product information and new products, click here.
Suppliers, click here.
Brands (Families), click here.
Recommended software and file format of your data
When managing your data file, it is recommended to use Google Sheets. It is recommended that you export your data as a Comma-separated values (CSV) file from Google Sheets.
About Google Sheets
Google Sheets is a free cloud-based spreadsheet software that is compatible with any device. It is available in many different languages and it is fully compatible with Lightspeed eCom. You need a Google account to access Google Sheets. Click here for help with creating a Google account.
You can open Google Sheets here .
About the CSV file format
The recommended file format compatible with the eCom Import tool is the CSV file format. Lightspeed eCom converts .XLS files to .CSV format on import.
Import: For more information about importing CSV files to Google Sheets, click here.
Export: To convert your spreadsheet into Google Spreadsheets you can download the spreadsheet as a CSV file:
Open Google Sheets.
Click File.
In Download as > Select Values separated by commas (.csv, current sheet)
The Importance of Making Changes to a Second Worksheet
In general, this is the procedure to edit eCom data by import:
Export and download current data from eCom and save it.
Copy the specified/required columns from the export into a second worksheet.
Make changes to the copied data in the spreadsheet and then upload it to eCom.
Using a worksheet is recommended for three reasons:
1. Data Persistence
eCom only stores the import files for 90 days. By creating a separate worksheet, you can use it to back up the changes you make to a specific group of data. This worksheet may be useful in the future to:
Keep track of the imports you've made in eCom
Revert the changes to the same group of data
Make the same changes to a different group of data
2. Data Security
By creating a new file that can be used as a spreadsheet, your original export can serve as a backup in case you import unwanted changes. Then, if mistakes are made, you can import your backup to revert the changes.
Unwanted changes can be made very easily with the Import tool. For example, it is possible to overwrite the product descriptions and content by importing. By keeping the original export, you can access the lost translations and correct the error.
3. Clean Data
Creating a new file to use as a worksheet allows you to make changes to a clean worksheet. Only the necessary information is copied into the worksheet.
For example, to update product weights via import, you only need 4 of the total 53 available columns. By copying and pasting the 4 columns of your backup file to your worksheet, you can keep your work data simple, reducing the risk of errors.