Introduction

This article introduces the product importer in TRAEDE. It explains the basic concept of how products and their variations are structured when importing via spreadsheet. This is the first part of a series, and in this guide, you'll learn how the importer interprets data and how products, item numbers, and variants are connected.

This guide is for users who want to import products into TRAEDE efficiently and understand how the spreadsheet structure should be set up before importing.

Video guide

How the product importer works

Products and their variations

In TRAEDE, one product usually consists of multiple variants. For example, a product like a dress or t-shirt can have several sizes and colors. These variations are defined in your spreadsheet by item number, SKU, color, and size.

An example of a product with variations shown in TRAEDE

• Item number (also called item_number in the importer) is the unique identifier for the product model itself (e.g., the dress or t-shirt).

• SKU is the unique identifier for each variant (e.g., a white t-shirt in size M).

• Color and Size represent the product’s attributes.

All rows that share the same item number are considered part of the same product, even if the SKUs, sizes, or colors differ.

Spreadsheet structure overview

The product importer spreadsheet is designed to represent the product and its variants in rows and columns.

Here’s a breakdown:

• Each row in the spreadsheet represents one variant of a product.

• All rows with the same item number belong to the same product.

• SKUs must be unique per row.

• The columns typically include:

  • Product name

  • Item number

  • SKU

  • Color

  • Size

Spreadsheet example: Two colors of the same product, each with multiple sizes

In the example above:

• The product is "My Cool T-shirt"

• Item number is 1000

• Variants include sizes from S to XL in both white and black

Each variant has its own SKU but shares the same item number.

Further down, you may have another product with a new item number:

Spreadsheet example: A second product with item number 2000

In this case:

• Product is "Tapered Jeans"

• Item number is 2000

• Comes in two colors (black and white) and several sizes

Additional columns

There are many other columns you can include when preparing your product import. Examples include:

• Description

• Pricing

• Barcode

• Inventory quantity

Note: The order of the columns in your spreadsheet does not matter. You can rearrange them as needed when importing. TRAEDE allows you to map the columns manually during the import process.