How to add products and variants into categories in bulk

You can bulk create products by generating a bulk upload spreadsheet in Bulk Manage Products. The spreadsheet is based on the categories you select and includes the fields and dropdowns you need to complete. This makes it easier to add multiple products at once and keep product data accurate.

Workflow overview

These are the general steps to bulk create products. Learn more here about bulk uploading products.

1. Generate a new product spreadsheet.
2. Open the spreadsheet on your local device.
3. Update the spreadsheet.
4. Upload the updated spreadsheet.

Generate a new product spreadsheet

1. In the Seller Portal, go to Products > Bulk Manage Products.
   
2. Select Add new products.
3. Select categories you want to add products to in the Search product categories dropdown.
   
4. Click the Download button.
   
5. Select information you want included in the spreadsheet. Learn more.
   
6. Click Download at the lower right.
7. Track the file in the Recent exports history table, where all current and previous files appear.
8. Select the filename to download.
   
9. After downloading the file, you can update the spreadsheet on your local device.

After making your updates to the spreadsheet, you can proceed with the upload.

Update the spreadsheet

The spreadsheet has four key sections:

• Usage Guide sheet: Offers instructions on how to use the file. It also includes a "table of contents" listing all the dynamically generated category sheets.
• Missing Category sheet: Allows you to assign uncategorized products to the correct categories. This step is optional and can be completed now or later.
• Category sheets: Correspond to specific product categories and allow sellers to input details for their products. Category sheets are generated when you select categories Search product categories dropdown.
• Data sheet: A locked sheet containing reference data for consistent inputs. No action is required here.

How to create new products or variants

Category sheets are named after the categories you select when downloading a spreadsheet. In this article, we refer to them generically as “category sheets.”

For example, if you select Womens > Boots > Ankle boots in the Search product categories dropdown (Step 3, Generate a new product spreadsheet), the generated sheet will be titled womens-boots-ankleboots.

For this example, we’ll add products using a spreadsheet generated with only the required fields (Step 5, Generate a new product spreadsheet).

1. Select the category sheet you want to add a new product to.
   
2. Complete required fields.

   • Fill in all columns marked with an asterisk (*)

     Note: Ad ID and Variant ID are system-generated. No action required.
   • Ensure required fields are not left blank to avoid upload errors.
3. To create a new product, enter new in the Ad ID* column.
   
4. To create variants of a new product, enter variant in the Ad ID* column below the corresponding new product. 
   

5. Use dropdown options.
   • Select predefined values from dropdown menus for fields like Brand.

   • Dropdowns pull values from the Data sheet for accuracy.
     
      

     Tip: For multi-select columns, hover over the column header to view all allowed values and enter multiple values in a cell separated by | (pipe).
      
6. Manually input additional data.
   • For fields without dropdowns, type the required details (e.g., SKU, Product Description).
   • Check for typos or formatting errors before saving.
   • Add images.
7. Save your file.

How to add images

1. In the spreadsheet, go to the Image 1* column and enter a public URL for at least one product image.
2. (Optional) Add more images in the Alt Image 2–20 columns.
3. Make sure all image URLs are public. Thumbnails or non-public links are not supported.
4. Save your file. 

Upload the updated spreadsheet

1. In the Seller Portal, go to Products > Bulk Manage Products.
   
2. Select Add new products.
3. Click Next in the lower right.
   
4. In the Upload products via spreadsheet page, click Browse files.
   
5. Choose your updated spreadsheet.
6. Wait for the results.
   • If the upload has errors, you can re-download a spreadsheet that contains only the rows with issues.
     
7. Click Finish.