Answers
Jul 02, 2019 - 10:22 PM
Hello @Suebarnes12! Thanks for your question.
When it comes to adding products to your online store, there are only a few ways you could do this.
Like you've mentioned:
- either adding products one by one manually (which is pretty time consuming and usually good for small inventories)
- or preparing a CSV file, using it to import all the products to your store and keeping it updated (most of the HUGE stores I've seen, use this way of tracking their inventory, updating it daily at the end of the day)
To import your products listing into WooCommerce, you can use the default Import/Export process, that WooCommerce has built-in.
It should cover all the general needs of importing/exporting products with WooCommerce.
Here is an official documentation: https://docs.woocommerce.com/document...
Alternatively, if you're looking for more advanced options like:
- automatic import on schedule
- importing custom product types (subscriptions, affiliate products, etc.)
- importing custom product taxonomies
- importing products that have description in 2 or more languages (English, Chinese or other)
- or something else, that is not available in the default Import/Export feature...
Then you should take a look at one of the 3rd party extensions/plugins for WooCommerce like: Product Import Export for WooCommerce, Product Importer Deluxe, WOOEXIM Export Import Products or other.
If you need have any additional questions, I am happy to help :)
Jul 25, 2019 - 04:29 AM
I always start to tackle a situation like this by asking the following question:
What are you using for a POS (Point of Sale) and/or Inventory Management system in your physical shop now?
One of the big tricks in online business (whether you have a physical storefront or not) is managing the disconnect between your real world SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and the things happening online. Some smaller companies are working from a simple spreadsheet (which actually can make things easier, in some cases). Other stores have invested in more expensive systems and the goal should always be to create as tight an integration as possible. The more your website works within or as an extension of your already established system, the better. The more your site is isolated or stands as a separate limb, the more time and energy is lost.
Many POS systems work on the cloud or have interfaces that will allow storage of data which can be accessible by your web site. Then, utilities like the ones @Bogdan Grigoruk mentions can come into play. One of my personal favorites for WooCommerce is WP-All-Import. The paid version has the ability to regularly poll and interact with spreadsheets (on Google Docs or other cloud/online locations). If your POS can do the same thing, then your inventory and other information is always kept in sync.
Regardless of how you manage this portion, there are elements that you're going to have to handle by hand - especially when it comes to creating new products. Someone with some good technical background can help you generate procedures that are easy to follow, but images still need to be uploaded, basic formatting of descriptions tends to be easier online (in most cases) and so on. With clothing your sizes, colors, and other minor/major variations take some careful planning to make work, as well.
In the end, though - if you take the time and energy to create a good solid plan for organization and maintenance of things - your online business can very closely integrate with your brick-and-mortar operations. It's tough to really get more specific than this because every situation is a little different from the next.
Definitely start from what you have going currently and build your plan from there toward the online end of things. Starting with a plan for the online shop and then trying to work backwards toward your real-world end of things tends to leave gaps or disconnects that are more difficult to overcome.
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