Importing Product CSV Files – Detailed Guide

Importing products via CSV in Xada is an efficient way to create or update products in bulk. Understanding the purpose and behaviour of each column ensures your products are correctly configured, optimised for the storefront, and ready for automation with rules.

Not all columns are required, but some are mandatory for successful imports. This article explains each field, behaviours, and best practices.

Supplier and Product Identification

• Supplier Name – Required
  • Every product must be linked to a supplier. Xada uses this to assign ownership and feed data correctly.
  • New suppliers will be automatically created if they don’t exist.
• Product ID
  • Unique identifier in Xada for updates.
  • Leave blank to create a new product.
• SKU
  • Required for product identification and syncing. Must be unique per product. The SKU can be edited, but it must always remain unique.
• Active
  • Determines if the product is active in Xada.
  • Yes   = Eligible for sync to the storefront (if other conditions are met).
  • No   = Product remains in Xada but will not sync.

Product Names and Descriptions

• Original Name & Original Description
  • Use these when creating a new product, as you are the originator.
  • Provides baseline reference values that cannot be overwritten if the product already comes from a supplier feed.
• New Name / New Description (if editing products from a feed)
  • Use these columns to update existing feed products. Original supplier values remain intact.
• Supplier URL
  • Optional reference link to the supplier’s product page.

Brands and Categories

• Brand
  • Assigns the product to a brand page on your storefront.
  • Only brands are visible on the storefront; suppliers themselves are not published.
• Categories
  • Assign products to one or multiple categories.
  • Use ;   to separate multiple categories, e.g., Apparel/Bottoms;Apparel/Tops  .
  • New categories will be automatically created if they don’t exist.

Custom Fields

• Custom Field 1–X Name & Value
  • Unlimited number of custom fields can be added by increasing X in the headers.
  • These are optional and can store additional attributes, internal codes, or special data.
  • Always pair Name with Value; leaving either blank may result in skipped data.

Product Availability and Purchase Settings

• Allow Purchases – Enables customers to purchase the product.
• Visible – Controls storefront visibility. Yes   = product is accessible via URL; No   = returns 404.
• Add to Cart – Controls whether the product can be added to the cart.
• Discontinued – Marks product as discontinued.

Physical Attributes

• Weight, Height, Width, Depth
  • Optional fields for shipping calculations or display purposes.
  • Ensure consistent units with your storefront settings.

SEO and Storefront Optimisation

• Page Title, Meta Description, Search Keywords – Optional SEO fields.
• Featured – Marks product as featured on the storefront.
• Warranty – Optional display for customer reference.
• Sort Order – Controls product listing order. Lower numbers appear first.

Images

Xada supports unlimited images; simply increase X in the headers for each additional image. For each image, include:

• Image Active - X – Must be Yes   for the image to appear.
• Image URL - X – Required if the image is active.
• Image Description - X – Optional alt text for SEO and accessibility.
• Image Is Thumbnail - X – Marks the primary thumbnail image.
• Image Sort Order - X – Determines display order; lower numbers appear first.

Best Practices

1. Always include Supplier Name – mandatory for every product.
2. Use categories carefully – separate multiple categories with ;  .
3. Custom fields and images – can be unlimited; just increment the column number (X).
4. Original vs New columns –
   • Original Name/Description = use when creating new products.
   • New Name/Description = use when editing products from a supplier feed. Original values cannot be replaced.
5. Activate and validate suppliers, categories, and products before importing.
6. Test small batches first to ensure data integrity.
7. Use rules to automate tasks like SEO, activation, and pricing to avoid repetitive CSV edits.

Optional vs Required Columns