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Import inventory

Import products and stock from a CSV file.

Owner or Manager access is required.

Upload your CSV

In Products, find Import inventoryin the upper-right corner, between Export inventory and Create.

Start in Products; the import button and surrounding workspace are visible together.Cossad interface shown with sample data.

Select Import inventory to open the full-screen Import products & inventory dialog shown below. The screenshot includes its title, close control and bottom actions.

Before a CSV file is selected.Cossad interface shown with sample data.
  1. Open Products and select Import inventory. This opens the Import products & inventory dialog; it does not import anything yet.
  2. In Import products & inventory, use Download manifest template if you need the column format. This downloads a CSV containing the manifest column headers; fill in your product and stock rows before uploading it.
  3. Choose your file under CSV Manifest. The importer reads its headers and opens Column mapping after the file is accepted.
Where to clickWhat opens or changes
Import inventoryOpens Import products & inventory with a template download and CSV Manifest file field.
Download manifest templateDownloads the CSV header template. It does not export your current products or upload a file.
CSV ManifestOpens the file chooser. Selecting a CSV inspects its headers and displays Column mapping; stock is not created at this stage.

The importer accepts up to 2,000 stock rows, 100 products and 500 variants in a CSV of up to 2 MB.

Review column mapping

  1. Review the detected headers in Column mapping.
  2. Match your CSV headers to the product and stock fields.
  3. Check the product name, brand, SKU, quantity, location and other required fields before continuing.
Column mapping after file selection.Cossad interface shown with sample data.

Canonical headers such as product_name, brand and quantity are matched when present. For a different heading, choose the matching source column in that field’s dropdown. In this sample, Product maps to product_name, Brand to brand and Quantity to quantity. Not mapped leaves that field empty; required fields cannot be omitted from a valid product manifest.

For the product manifest format, provide product name, brand, a valid platform category path, SKU, a nonnegative whole-number quantity, location, condition, prices and description. Use the category paths available in Cossad. Rows with the same product name and brand are grouped into one product, while option values define its variants. Use an options JSON object or columns such as option:Size to describe those values.

Validate and confirm

  1. Select Validate & preview. It is available after a CSV has been selected and inspected.
  2. Review the grouped products, variants, SKUs and actual stock quantities. Resolve any validation errors. Validation checks the data without creating products or stock.
  3. Confirm that you independently own the inventory and have listing rights. The checkbox appears with the successful preview. Confirm import remains disabled until you check it.
  4. Select Confirm import at the bottom of the dialog.
Validated preview, before confirming the import.Cossad interface shown with sample data.
Where to clickWhat opens or changes
Validate & previewValidates the mapped CSV and displays grouped products, variants, stock-row count and total actual units. Errors are shown in the dialog instead of creating records.
Ownership and listing-rights checkboxConfirms independently owned, non-Shopify-derived inventory and listing rights for this import. It enables Confirm import after a successful preview.
Confirm importCreates the validated catalog products and stock together. The button shows Importing atomically… while the request runs, then the dialog displays the actual result.
Cancel / close dialogBefore confirmation, closes the unsaved import. After a successful import, closes the result; it does not undo the imported products or stock.

If validation or import fails

Read the message in the dialog. Check the reported row, category path, required values, quantity, prices and option combinations. Correct the CSV, choose the corrected file and review its mapping before validating again. Selecting another file resets the current mapping, preview, confirmation and result.

The complete confirmed import succeeds or rolls back. Existing SKU or catalog conflicts are errors, not instructions to overwrite those records. If the request result is unclear, check Products before retrying; do not change SKUs just to bypass a duplicate error.

Review the imported draft

After the success message, select Cancel or close the dialog, then open the imported product from Products. Cancel closes this result; it does not reverse the successful import. The example creates one product with three variants and 120 stock units.

  1. Check that the success message reports the expected draft product and stock-unit totals.
  2. Close the dialog and find the imported product by name or SKU in Products. Select its name to open the product details.
  3. Review its description, option values, variant SKUs and linked stock, then add the actual product photographs.

The later stock examples in this guide show the same 120 units after a separate 12-unit manual hold: 108 available and 12 reserved. The CSV import itself did not create that hold, an order or a payment.

Continue to Product details for the exact editing menus, or Stock & status to understand the quantities in the list.