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Product catalog export & import

Export your products as Shopify or WooCommerce CSV files, import them into your store, keep SKUs in sync, and bulk-create products from a spreadsheet with the API.

Your store needs products whose variant SKUs match your SKUs here — that is how orders find their way back to us. The fastest way to get there is to create products here and export them to your store.

Export to your store

In the dashboard open Products, optionally select products, then Export and pick a format. The download is a CSV ready for your store's importer:

Format File Import it in
Shopify CSV UTF-8, one row per variant, extra rows for additional images Shopify admin → Products → Import
WooCommerce CSV UTF-8 with BOM, a variable parent row + one variation row per variant WooCommerce → Products → Import
CSV UTF-8 with BOM, one row per variant Spreadsheets or any other platform

Shopify and WooCommerce files contain enabled variants only (the generic CSV lists every variant with an enabled column). Archived products are left out unless you select them.

Shopify columns

Column Value
Title, URL handle, Description (HTML), Tags From your product
Vendor Your brand name
Type The catalog product (e.g. Classic Unisex Tee)
Status, Published on online store active / draft from your product
Option1 name / Option1 value, Option2 …, Option3 … Variant options (e.g. Color, Size)
SKU Your SKU — do not change it in Shopify
Price Your retail price
Weight value (grams), Requires shipping, Charge tax Shipping weight, TRUE, TRUE
Inventory tracker Empty (print on demand: never out of stock)
Fulfillment service manual (your server forwards the order — see the Shopify recipe)
Product image URL, Variant image URL Our rendered mockups

WooCommerce columns

Type (variable / variation / simple), SKU (parent SKU on the variable row, your SKU on each variation), Parent, Name, Published, Description, Regular price (your retail price), Attribute N name / value(s) / visible / global, Images (mockups), Categories, Tags, Tax status, In stock? and Weight (lbs) or Weight (kg) (choose the unit your store uses).

Generic CSV columns

product_id, product_title, product_status, product_external_id, catalog_product_id, variant_id, sku, catalog_variant_id, variant_title, color, size, options, enabled, retail_price, currency, variant_external_id, tags, image_url, created_at.

Keep your store in sync

  • New variants or products — export again and import with "overwrite existing products" (Shopify matches on URL handle; WooCommerce on SKU).
  • Price changes — wholesale price changes arrive as catalog.price_changed events; your retail prices are yours to adjust.
  • Changing a SKU — change it here first (PATCH /products/{id}/variants/{variant_id}), then in your store. Until both match, orders for that variant fail with 400 resource_missing on items[i].sku.
  • Archiving — archive the product here (DELETE /products/{id}) and unpublish it in your store.

Import into Swaglists: bulk-create from a spreadsheet

Have many designs? Create products with the API from a CSV of artwork URLs and SKUs. Example input:

designs.csv
title,artwork_url,catalog_product_id,sku_prefix
Sunset Vibes Tee,https://cdn.example.com/art/sunset.png,cp_01k8w1a2s3d4f5g6h7j8k9m0n1,SUNSET
Mountain Air Tee,https://cdn.example.com/art/mountain.png,cp_01k8w1a2s3d4f5g6h7j8k9m0n1,MOUNTAIN
// bulk-create.mjs — node bulk-create.mjs designs.csv
import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";

const API = "https://swaglists.com/api/v1";
const headers = { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.API_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" };
const [header, ...rows] = (await readFile(process.argv[2], "utf8")).trim().split(/\r?\n/).map((l) => l.split(","));
const col = Object.fromEntries(header.map((h, i) => [h, i]));

for (const row of rows) {
  const catalogProductId = row[col.catalog_product_id];
  const catalog = await (await fetch(`${API}/catalog/products/${catalogProductId}`, { headers })).json();
  const placement = catalog.placements[0].key;
  const res = await fetch(`${API}/products`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: { ...headers, "Idempotency-Key": `bulk-${row[col.sku_prefix]}` },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      catalog_product_id: catalogProductId,
      title: row[col.title],
      designs: [{ placement, layers: [{ url: row[col.artwork_url] }] }], // we download the artwork
      variants: catalog.variants
        .filter((v) => v.available)
        .map((v) => ({ catalog_variant_id: v.id, sku: [row[col.sku_prefix], v.color, v.size].filter(Boolean).join("-").toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z0-9-]/g, "") })),
    }),
  });
  const body = await res.json();
  console.log(res.ok ? `✓ ${body.id} ${body.title} (${body.variants.length} variants)` : `✗ ${row[col.title]}: ${body.error.code} ${body.error.message}`);
  for (const w of body.warnings ?? []) console.log(`  ⚠ ${w.code}: ${w.message}`);
}

Then export the new products to your store as described above. Respect the rate limit for large batches (the scripts make two requests per product).