Skip to main content
ZenBusiness

Import Products, SKUs, and Inventory into Website Builder

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF

To load products in bulk, open Store → Catalog → Product Catalog → Import, select your catalog source, and download the CSV template. Add your products using the template’s exact headers, upload the completed file, review the detected product count, correct any errors, and import the catalog.

Before You Start

Bulk import is best when you have an existing catalog or more products than you want to enter individually. One CSV file can contain up to 500 products and variants combined and can be up to 20 MB. Variants count toward the file limit. The current ZenBusiness Native Store configuration separately limits the catalog to 100 products and each product to 8 variants, so the lower store limits still apply during import.

Prepare the following before editing the file:

  • A unique name and price for every product
  • A unique SKU for each product or sellable variant
  • Current inventory quantities
  • Product type: physical, digital, service, or donation
  • Category and subcategory structure
  • Public image URLs and image alt text
  • Product options such as size, color, or material
  • Package weight and dimensions for shippable items
  • Product page SEO titles and descriptions

For the first import, test with two or three products. Confirm the catalog, variants, images, and inventory look correct before importing the full file.

Download the Website Builder CSV Template

  1. Log in to ZenBusiness and open Website Builder in the Advanced editor.
  2. In the editor’s side panel, select Store.
  3. Select Catalog, then Product Catalog.
  4. Click Import.
  5. Select where the catalog is coming from.
  6. Click Download CSV Template.
  7. Open a copy of the template in Google Sheets or another CSV-compatible spreadsheet editor.

Use the downloaded template instead of creating headers from memory. Column names must match exactly. Additional or misspelled headers can cause an unsupported-header error.

Keep the sku column—and any UPC values in your source sheet or custom product-attribute columns—formatted as plain text. This prevents spreadsheet software from removing leading zeros, converting long codes to scientific notation, or changing values into dates.

Complete the Required and Optional Columns

Every product requires a unique title and a numeric price. Do not include currency symbols in price fields.

Column How to use it
field-type Use product for a product row; required when updating variations
title Unique product name; required
price Product price as a number; required
sku Product or variant SKU, up to 50 characters
inventory A quantity, IN STOCK, or OUT OF STOCK
status ACTIVE, INACTIVE, or DRAFT for products
type PHYSICAL, SERVICE, or DONATION for the current ZenBusiness Native Store; Duda CSV also recognizes DIGITAL on eligible configurations
description Product description in supported HTML, up to 5,000 characters
category Category name; separate multiple categories with semicolons
product-image-url Publicly accessible image URL
product-image-alt-text Text describing the product image
weight, height, width, length Package measurements using your store’s unit system
product-option-name-1 First option name, such as Size
product-option-value-1 Option values, such as Small; Medium; Large
seo-title Product page title, up to 70 characters
seo-description Product meta description, up to 320 characters
url-handle Unique product URL identifier; preserve it during updates

The template supports up to six numbered option columns and up to 20 product-attribute fields. Keep the template's spelling and numbering exactly as downloaded. Duda's CSV format can recognize a digital product without its downloadable resource, but it must remain Draft or Inactive until a file or secure link is added. The current ZenBusiness Native Store configuration does not allow digital products to appear on the published site.

Example for a product without variants

field-type,title,price,sku,status,type,inventory,category,weight
product,Ceramic Coffee Mug,24.00,MUG-BLK-12,ACTIVE,PHYSICAL,25,Drinkware,1 lb

This creates one physical product with a price of $24, an SKU of MUG-BLK-12, and an inventory quantity of 25. Add image URLs, descriptions, dimensions, and SEO fields in their matching columns before importing.

Import Products with Size, Color, or Other Options

Options create variants. A backpack with three sizes and two colors creates six variants. The product row can define those choices as follows:

Field Example value
product-option-name-1 Size
product-option-value-1 Small; Medium; Large
product-option-name-2 Color
product-option-value-2 Red; Green

The importer generates the combinations. After import, open the product and select Manage Variants. Review every generated variant and enter its specific SKU, inventory quantity, image, availability, and price adjustment.

Add all options before making variant-level edits. Adding another option later can regenerate the variants and overwrite prior SKU, inventory, image, or price changes.

The current ZenBusiness Website Builder eCommerce configuration supports up to 100 products and 8 variants per product. Duda allows up to 20 reusable options across the catalog and up to 50 values per option, but those larger option libraries do not override the eight sellable-variant limit. If the combinations exceed eight, reduce the choices or split them into separate products before importing.

Handle SKUs, UPCs, and Barcodes

An SKU is your internal identifier for a sellable item. Use a different SKU for every inventory-tracked variant. For example:

  • TSHIRT-BLK-S
  • TSHIRT-BLK-M
  • TSHIRT-BLU-S
  • TSHIRT-BLU-M

The native-store CSV does not have a dedicated UPC or barcode column. If you have UPCs, either use the SKU field for the UPC when no separate internal SKU is needed or add a custom product field named UPC or Barcode.

Website Builder does not include a built-in handheld barcode-scanning workflow. If you need receiving scans, purchase orders, warehouse management, or automatic supplier and point-of-sale synchronization, verify the external system before importing the full catalog.

Upload and Validate the CSV

  1. Save or download the current sheet as a .csv file.
  2. Return to Store → Catalog → Product Catalog → Import.
  3. Select the source of the catalog.
  4. Upload the CSV. The maximum file size is 20 MB.
  5. Compare the detected product count with the count you expected.
  6. Click Import Products only when the count is correct.
  7. If errors appear, click Download CSV Error Report.
  8. Correct the listed rows or headers, save a new CSV, and upload it again.
  9. Select See Product Catalog when the import finishes.

Review product names, images, prices, categories, variants, SKUs, and quantities. Keep test products inactive until the data is correct.

Update Prices and Inventory in Bulk

Do not rebuild the CSV from an old source when updating an existing catalog. Export the live catalog first so the file contains the current URL handles and store identifiers.

  1. Go to Store → Catalog → Product Catalog.
  2. Click Export.
  3. Save an untouched backup of the exported file.
  4. Edit prices, SKUs, inventory, descriptions, or other supported fields in a copy.
  5. Return to Product Catalog → Import.
  6. Upload the edited CSV.
  7. Select Update existing products.
  8. Verify the number of products that will be updated.
  9. Import the file and review the catalog.

Do not change url-handle during a bulk update. It identifies the existing product. Changing it can create a duplicate instead of updating the original. Product type also cannot be changed through CSV; recreate the product if its type must change.

Fix Common CSV Import Errors

Problem What to check
File is greyed out Confirm it was saved as .csv, not .xlsx or another format
Unsupported header Download a fresh template and copy data into its exact columns
Missing mandatory header Confirm title and price are present
Wrong product count Check option values, variation rows, blank lines, and duplicate products
Images do not import Confirm image URLs are public, complete, and use HTTPS
SKU lost leading zeros Format the spreadsheet column as plain text before saving
Existing product duplicated Export the current catalog and preserve its url-handle
Some rows fail Download the CSV Error Report and correct only the reported rows
Non-Latin characters change Edit and export through Google Sheets instead of opening the CSV in Excel

After correcting a file, upload it again and confirm the detected count before importing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I import a Shopify or WooCommerce product catalog?

Yes. Export the catalog from the current platform, then use Product Catalog → Import and select its source. Reformat the data using the Website Builder template before uploading. Product data can migrate, but store design, payment connections, shipping rules, taxes, policies, and other configuration must be rebuilt separately.

How many products can I import at once?

Each CSV can contain up to 500 products and variants combined and can be up to 20 MB. A product with six generated variants uses seven items toward the file limit: one main product and six variants. The current ZenBusiness Native Store still limits the complete catalog to 100 products and each product to eight variants. Dividing a larger catalog into batches does not bypass the 100-product store limit.

Why were my SKUs changed in the spreadsheet?

Spreadsheet software may interpret numeric SKUs as numbers, remove leading zeros, or display long values in scientific notation. Format the SKU column as plain text before entering or opening values. Confirm the exported CSV still contains the exact original strings before uploading it to Website Builder.

Can I import UPC codes?

There is no dedicated UPC column in the native-store CSV format. Use the SKU field when the UPC can serve as your stock identifier. To retain both an internal SKU and UPC, use the numbered custom-field-name, custom-field-type, and custom-field-value columns to create a product attribute named UPC. Confirm how that attribute appears on product pages before importing the full catalog.

Why did the import create duplicate products?

Bulk updates rely on each product’s url-handle. If that value is changed, removed, or replaced, Website Builder can treat the row as a new product. Start with a fresh catalog export, preserve every URL handle, select Update existing products, and confirm the expected update count before importing.

Can I undo an import?

Do not assume an import has a one-click undo. Export and save the current catalog before any bulk update, and test a small batch first. If an import creates incorrect products, keep them inactive while you review the error report and your backup. Contact support before making another large corrective import.