Aero import sheet explanation (for client) exampleBelow should be tweaked / expanded as needed and sent out with and example export from Aero

In general for an Aero export we want default format, ex Vat, don’t combine products and variants

Hi All,

Apologies in advance, a complicated email, but I’m hoping to introduce key points for understanding and happy to answer any questions on the back of it to get us to where we need to be, the ultimate goal here is for us to start backwards and forwarding the attached sheet, you populating and updating, and us importing into the system and for us too import and you to see the end outcome.

Your products are setup as what we call variants, this is where we have a master product, eg short spreader bracket, and it then has a matrix of options (colour, model, galvanising) and each unique combination is called a variant. All the variants share the same ‘model number’ but have a unique ’SKU’ and this is how we define which unique product they have ordered, and what the price is. We have initially populated the site with the example products you have sent over, and used that to generate the starting sheet attached

During development we would expect you to send over all the import sheets for us to import and manage, often there’s some processing we need to do first (eg image uploads), but we also need to test first. Also, sometimes, when there are significant changes in the early days it’s often cleaner to dump and reimport the sheet from scratch, which is why it’s very important that you maintain a master copy of the sheet so at any point we can achieve this - towards the end of the process, we are far less likely to do this. You can update products (see notes below) and create new ones from the sheet.

Once live we would only recommend that the import sheet is used to import new products to the system, and even then import them as inactive products so you can test and validate before making them live. Again there is always a staging site for you to use safely.

Below are a few notes/pointers/nuances to be aware of;

  • I’ve not talked about images yet, typically we ask you to put the image file name on the sheet, bundle all those images together, and we post-process that data to ensure the images get imported. Alternatively, you can put a publicly accessible web link to the image on the sheet and it will import from there, we can focus on images as the next step.
  • Many fields are empty deliberately, that’s ok
  • It is non-destructive where possible, eg;
  • Please note the formatting of the Categories column
  • We can import Categories, Manufacturers, Attribute lists separately if it’s easier for you to populate them first, and then products after - let us know

On the sheet itself there are many columns, most of which we don’t use, or don’t use specifically, there are some screenshots below to highlight some columns, even if just for understanding and why not to touch!

  • The product id and variant id (if populated) in red you should not touch, these are needed to update products already in the system, if you add new products then leave them blank

  • The SKU must be unique (for each Variant) which must also be a unique combination of Attributes

  • In order for products to be active, visible, and purchasable the columns highlighted in yellow must have a value of 1, 0 is the negative value to disable them

  • We are assuming that we don’t need to manage stock (you may do for parts) if that’s the case then the Infinite Stock column should be 1, else it’s 0 and the Stock Level must be the count that’s available (both green).

  • We are assuming that everything is Ex Vat, Vatable, and UK Vat of 20% (Blue box) if that’s not the case let us know, but we can adjust that per product / variant

  • The Ex Vat price for each variant combo is in the grey column

Hopefully this makes sense, and you can addd / edit a few products. If seeing the back end and / or walking through these side to side on a video call would be of help then we can arrange that.

Thanks