How to create a bulk catalog on PrestaShop

How to create a catalog with PrestaShop

Without a mass editing module and without using the file import method, it's possible to create a complete catalog from the PrestaShop back office. But on one condition:

• You have very few categories and products to create (15 and 50 large max).

or

• Have plenty of time on your hands and don't be in a hurry.

To do this, you'll need:

1. Create categories and sub-categories one by one.
2. Create products one by one.
3. Associate products with categories one by one.
4. Associate photos to products and logo to categories, one by one here again.

And so on for variations, features.

Don't get into this mess if you've got hundreds of products to enter. Invest in the right module from the outset, and you'll get a return on your investment in just one day's work.

Step-by-step method for creating a complex catalog with Merlin Backoffice ™, without import in French)

Here's our complete, step-by-step method for creating a catalog from A to Z in PrestaShop, whether in a basic, simple French-only store configuration, or in a multi-shop, multi-language configuration.

We've chosen the case of a car parts site as an example to demonstrate certain notions such as mass duplication of sub-categories.

Many points are addressed, but not necessarily covered in detail, for which you'll need to follow the other, more specialized tutorials. The important thing here is to understand the overall method and the role of each of these tools:

• Deleting demo categories and products.
• Rapidly add new categories.
• Associate categories with customer groups when creating.
• Duplicate sub-category branches.
Associations between products and categories.
• Association of products and categories with various stores.
Copy data between headings to quickly populate SEO fields.
• Fast association of photos.
• Automatic generation of simplified URLs.
• Using MagicEdit.
• Generate and fill EAN barcodes.
Edit descriptions in HTML editors.
• Add features.

However, this tutorial does not cover the alternative technique of importing catalogs via CSV or XLS file. For this alternative technique, see the following paragraph.

 Increase the resolution to 720p if the video is too blurry, replay it in Auto if it freezes.

Create a catalog by importing a CSV or Excel file

This is by far the quickest method IF you already have a file containing the complete catalog (or part of the catalog if you're working with several suppliers). This is the preferred method if you're setting up a dropshipping site.

However, we strongly advise against the approach of creating and filling in your table in Excel yourself, and then importing it. If you don't have a file already filled in, opt instead for method two explained above, working directly in Merlin, which will go much faster than entering everything in Excel.

Is an import module required to create a catalog?

It depends on the size of your file. Below 200 to 400 lines max, you can experiment with PrestaShop's native import tool. Just be aware of its limitations:

• Probable crash risk beyond 400 lines.
• Very inflexible process, in particular their file format must be scrupulously respected.
• Particularly slow.
• We work blind, forced to import everything at once by crossing our fingers.

As you can see, we're really not fans of this part of PrestaShop. Along with update management, it's what they've missed the most :-).

So the answer to the question is probably yes, you need a real import module and if you're going to do that, you might as well use the best of them all according to its users, Merlin Backoffice.

Some of the benefits of this method, with Merlin:

• Very fast, averaging 0.3sec per product and category and up to 0.04sec per line (depending on server and connection quality).
• No file size limit and very stable. The current record is an import of 360000 products in a single operation.
• Free choice of data to import or not, columns, file format.
• Know how to differentiate products to be updated or created thanks to their Id, but also their reference, barcode or name.
• Possibility of automating and chaining multiple imports, so that they can be carried out at night.
• Possibility to test on the first lines of large files, and filter which lines to import and which to ignore.
• Ability to view and modify file data from the import tool, during the process.
• Know how to manage almost all data, such as attributes, declinations, multiple characteristics, meta fields, descriptions, stocks, even images and sliding-scale prices.
• Sales margin management.
Read CSV/XLS files directly from suppliers' servers.
• And many other advantages to discover according to your own needs...