Shopify product import CSV template: map a simple supplier file
Translate supplier columns into a checked new-product file while keeping identifiers and prices intact.
Obtain the destination template first
Start manual mapping from the sample product CSV that Shopify's product CSV format guide offers as a template, and remove the sample's example products before adding your own. A supplier's CSV with familiar column names is not automatically a compatible product file: Shopify's current template uses headers such as Title, URL handle, SKU, Barcodes, Price and Status, and the first line must be that header row. Keep both files unchanged and create a working copy for the mapping. For a short list of new single-variant products, an existing spreadsheet may be enough without buying a converter. Leave Overwrite products with matching handles unselected when every product should be new, and check headers against Shopify's current product CSV format guide rather than an old template copied from another store or an unrelated tutorial.
Write a source-to-destination map
List the supplier field for each destination value before editing. A source Product Name might supply Title, Item No. might supply SKU, and RRP might supply the intended price, but verify their meaning with the source. A recommended retail price is not necessarily the price you want to charge. Barcode is optional only when your workflow permits it; do not invent one to fill a blank. Identify the columns you are deliberately leaving out, such as a supplier's stock count, image URL or variant option, so their values are not pasted into an unrelated destination column.
Preserve strings before spreadsheet coercion
Import supplier data with SKU and barcode columns explicitly typed as Text. Check the stored values in the first rows and a row containing leading zeros. Do not use a guessed padding format to reconstruct an identifier: you need the supplier's original string, including its actual number of zeros. If zeros have already been lost, obtain the original supplier value. Correct unwanted surrounding whitespace from the source when necessary rather than assuming every tool trims it safely. Keep product descriptions with commas properly quoted, and do not use a manual comma-join operation to generate CSV rows.
Treat price formatting as a separate mapping
Determine whether the supplier uses dot decimals or European punctuation before converting. A printed 1.234,56 can represent 1234.56 under an explicit European convention, but an ambiguous value must be clarified from the source. Prices must already use the intended store currency; replacing punctuation is not an exchange-rate calculation. Decide any business pricing adjustments separately and retain a record of them. Check the saved output values rather than only a spreadsheet's currency display, because Shopify's Price column takes only the monetary value without a currency symbol, for example 9.99. Excel saves CSV values as they are displayed, so a currency symbol, thousands separator or rounded display in a price cell is what ends up in the saved file.
Inspect the template result in context
Review the import details Shopify shows before you click Import products, then check the product count, identifier strings, prices and draft status on the imported product records. Test a small list before a full file and compare actual store records afterward. A simple one-default-variant file is not a template for size/color variants, image rows or inventory changes. Keep those tasks separate unless your chosen workflow explicitly supports them. Retain the mapped file with the original supplier export, especially when you will rerun a revision; changing a mapping after an unlock or import creates a different result that needs another review.
Compare the eight-column output with the current schema
Rowmoss's output headers are Handle, Title, Option1 Name, Option1 Value, Variant SKU, Variant Price, Variant Barcode and Status. The default option is Title with Default Title as its value, and Status is draft. The output does not contain image or inventory rows. Shopify's current guide uses updated names such as URL handle, SKU, Price and Barcodes; do not create two competing copies of the same field when comparing an older output with a current template. Keep the original generated file and use the documented compatibility rules, then inspect actual records after a small import.
Verify the literal price before the template leaves your desk
Take one supplier value in the selected notation and calculate its intended output. For example, European 24,90 should become the plain monetary value 24.90 when no business price adjustment is intended. Remove display currency symbols and grouping separators from the delivery price cells, and inspect the saved CSV because Excel writes displayed values. Check a zero-prefixed SKU in the same row to ensure a price cleanup did not coerce identifiers. If the supplier price is wholesale and the destination needs retail, obtain the pricing decision separately; changing the decimal notation must not silently apply an assumed markup.
Where Rowmoss fits
Rowmoss writes eight columns for new single-variant drafts, using older names including Handle, Variant SKU, Variant Price and Variant Barcode. Shopify documents backward compatibility but recommends its current format. Rowmoss accepts UTF-8 or Windows-1252 comma/semicolon CSV, limited to 1 MiB, 2,000 rows, 30 columns and 1,000 characters per cell. XLS/XLSX, TSV, UTF-16, images, size/color variants, inventory changes, updates, synchronization and saved templates are unsupported. Choose price notation explicitly; it does not convert currency. Anonymous preview provides twenty rows, twenty issues, total counts and the skipped-row list; sign-in and a credit unlock the complete revision.
Preview your supplier CSV free Pricing details
Written by Zijian Xiao. Check the source, review the import details, and verify the resulting Shopify product records.