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Importing items using a spreadsheet

Please refer to this article to import inventory items via our Retail Imports team.

There are multiple ways to add or update items and images in Retail POS, but importing using a spreadsheet file (.CSV or .XSLX) can save time and effort, especially if:

Downloading the Retail POS item import template

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Import Items.

    Inventory page with Import Items emphasized.

  2. Click + New Import.

    Item Imports page with + New Import emphasized.

  3. Click Download template to download the product import template spreadsheet. This pre-formatted template includes all of the relevant information needed to import products into Retail POS.

    New Import page with Download template button emphasized.

  4. Open the product import template spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets. If using Excel with a .CSV file, you need to follow specific instructions.

You can’t create new columns or change any column headings or errors will occur. You can reorder columns or remove unused columns if needed.

Adding standard products

A standard product is a single product with a single SKU and its own inventory. To create a standard product, you only need to action on the fields mentioned in this section and can leave other fields blank. Blank fields will be skipped during the import process. 

Your import file can contain up to 10,000 items. All fields have a 255 character limit unless otherwise noted.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing Description, System ID, and UPC columns.

Description

Name of your item.

System ID

Unique identifier generated by Lightspeed Retail to ensure data in your import file syncs with the correct inventory item.

  • 12 digits.

UPC

Universal Product Code of the item.

  • 12 digits.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing EAN, Custom SKU, and Manufacturer SKU columns.

EAN

European Article Number of the item.

  • 13 digits.

Custom SKU

SKU used for internal shop use.

Manufacturer SKU

SKU as assigned by the manufacturer.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing Vendor, Vendor ID, and Vendor cost columns.

Vendor

Name of vendor who sold you the item.

If you get an item from multiple vendors, you need to duplicate the item in the spreadsheet, changing the Vendor, Vendor ID, and Vendor cost fields appropriately.

Vendor ID

Vendor’s part number for the item.

Vendor cost

Cost at which you purchased the item from the vendor.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing Is Default Vendor, Brand, and Default Cost columns.

Is Default Vendor

Is this vendor the default vendor for this item?

  • Type Yes or No.

Brand

Brand of the item.

When adding a new brand, it can't have the same name as an existing brand, regardless of text case. For example, “Lightspeed” and “LIGHTSPEED” would be considered the same brand.

If you have an eCom store, refer to Managing product brands in eCom to understand how brands are pushed to eCom.

Default Cost

Cost at which you purchase the item from your default vendor.

  • Use currency format without a currency symbol, e.g. 1.99.
  • If left blank, defaults to 0.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing Default - Price, MSRP - Price, and Online - Price columns.

Default - Price

Price associated with the item’s Default pricing level, charged to your customer.

  • Use currency format without a currency symbol, e.g. 1.99.
  • If left blank, defaults to 0.

MSRP - Price

Price associated with the item’s MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) pricing level. This amount is not charged to your customer unless you set it to be.

  • Use currency format without a currency symbol, e.g. 1.99.
  • If left blank, defaults to 0.

Online - Price

Price associated with the item’s Online pricing level, charged to your customer in your eCom store (if not using Default pricing level).

  • Use currency format without a currency symbol, e.g. 1.99.
  • If left blank, defaults to 0 and uses Default pricing level.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing CUSTOM - Price, Discountable, and Taxable columns.

[CUSTOM] - Price

Price associated with the item’s custom pricing level. This amount is not charged to your customer unless you set it to be.

  • Use currency format without a currency symbol, e.g. 1.99.
  • If left blank, defaults to 0.

Discountable

Specifies whether or not discounts can be applied to the item.

  • Type Yes or No.
  • If left blank, defaults to Yes.

Taxable

Specifies whether or not the item is taxable.

  • Type Yes or No.
  • If left blank, defaults to Yes.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing Tax Class, Item Type, and Publish to eCom columns.

Tax Class

Specifies the tax class to apply to the item.

Retail POS has three built-in tax classes: Item, Labor (if Service module is enabled), and Gift Card (if Gift Cards is enabled).

  • You can add custom tax classes.
    • Type Item, Labor, Gift Card, or the name of your custom tax class.
    • If left blank, defaults to Item tax class.

Item Type

Specifies the type of item you’re importing.

Retail POS has four types of items: Single, Non-inventory (an item with no stock, such as gift wrapping), Assembly, and Box.

  • Type Single, Non-inventory, Assembly, or Box.
  • If left blank, defaults to Single item type.

Publish to eCom

Specifies if the item should be published to eCom (with online visibility hidden).

  • Type Yes or No.
  • If left blank, when creating a new item, defaults to your chosen Automatically publish to eCom setting under SettingsGeneral Options > General.
  • If left blank when updating an existing item, the field is skipped.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing Serialized, Add Tags, and Note columns.

Serialized

Specifies whether or not to track serial number information for the item.

  • Type Yes or No.
  • If left blank, defaults to No.

Category

Category where you want the item to be organized into.

Subcategory fields

Subcategories where you want the item to be organized into.

For example, if your Category is Apparel, Subcategory 1 might be Tops, and Subcategory 2 might be Sweaters.

  • You can have up to 9 subcategories.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing Clear Existing Tags, Add Tags, and Note columns.

Clear Existing Tags

Specifies whether or not to delete the item’s existing tags.

  • Type Yes or No.
  • If left blank, defaults to No.

Add tags

Specifies any new tags to add to the item.

  • If adding multiple tags, separate them with a comma.

Note

Subcategories where you want the item to be organized into.

Note that will appear on sales and receipts for the item.

Must have Display Note column set to Yes.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing Display Note, Archive, and Featured Image columns.

Display Note

Specifies whether or not to display the note in the Note column on sales and receipts for the item.

  • Type Yes or No.
  • If left blank, defaults to No.

Archive

Specifies whether or not the item should be archived.

  • Type Yes or No.

Featured Image, Image

Refer to our Importing item images article.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing STORE - Quantity on Hand and STORE - Unit Cost columns.

[STORE] - Quantity on Hand

Specifies the shop’s current stock level of the item.

You can only enter this value when creating an item, not updating an existing item.

Each of your stores will have an individual column.

  • Must be a positive whole number.
  • If left blank, defaults to 0.

[STORE] - Unit Cost

Specifies the unit cost at which your store purchased the item’s QOH.

You can only enter a value here if your shop is importing a QOH for a new item.

Each of your stores will have an individual column.

  • Use currency format without a currency symbol, e.g. 1.99.
  • If left blank, the item’s Default cost will be used.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing STORE - Reorder Point and STORE - Reorder Level columns.

[STORE] - Reorder Point

If the item is at or below this quantity, your item will show as needing to be reordered.

Each of your stores will have an individual column.

  • Must be a positive whole number.
  • If left blank, defaults to 0.

[STORE] - Reorder Level

Specifies the stock level your store will replenish up to when you reorder stock.

For example, if you have 3 items in stock, your reorder point is 5, and your reorder level is 10, the Reorder List report will show that you need to reorder 7 of this item to stock the desired quantity.

  • Must be a positive whole number.
  • If left blank, defaults to 0.

Adding matrix variant products

A product with variants is a product offered in different variations, like size or color. Each variant product must have a unique SKU and its own inventory.

Each product can have up to three attributes. Lightspeed Retail POS has three built-in matrix attribute sets: Color, Size, and Color/Size. You can also create custom matrix attribute sets.

Creating a variant product involves the same fields and steps as creating a standard product, with some differences:

  • Description: Leave this field blank. Your item’s description will instead come from the Matrix Description field.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing Matrix Description, Matrix Attribute Set, and Attribute 1 columns.

Matrix Description

Name of your item.

Matrix Attribute Set

The attribute set that your product comes in, such as Color or Size.

Attribute 1, Attribute 2, Attribute 3

The individual options for the attribute set.

For example, if your Attribute Set is Color, Attribute 1 might be Red, Attribute 2 might be Black, and Attribute 3 might be White.

Creating more complex matrix variants

If you have a product with more than one attribute set, you can create a custom attribute set to accommodate these varieties.

For example, if you were selling a T-shirt that comes in three colors, three sizes, and two types of material, you would need to create a custom attribute set called “Color/Size/Material.”

To then enter this into the spreadsheet, you would need to write out all of the potential combinations of variables in the spreadsheet.

Item Imports spreadsheet showing matrix with T-Shirts using two Attributes for Color and Size.

Formatting to update matrix variants

It’s important to understand which columns will update every variant in the matrix, which will only update the individual variant product, and which can't be updated.

Columns that will update every variant in the matrix:

  • Brand
  • Category
  • Subcategory 1, 2, etc.
  • Tax Class
  • Vendor
  • Item Type
  • Serialized

Matrix Attribute Set

  • UPC
  • EAN
  • Custom SKU
  • Manufacturer SKU
  • Price
  • MSRP
  • Online Price
  • Default Cost
  • Reorder Point
  • Reorder Level
  • Vendor ID
  • Publish to eCom
  • Clear Existing Tags
  • Add Tags
  • Image
  • Archived

Attribute 1, Attribute 2, Attribute 3

  • Matrix Attribute Set
  • Attribute 1-3
  • Archived
    • Entering Yes in this column will archive a matrix variant, but not the matrix it belongs to.
  • Shop Quantity on Hand
  • Shop Unit Cost

Using a spreadsheet to update existing items

When using a spreadsheet to update existing items, you can either replace or delete the item’s details.

To replace details, enter the new details in your spreadsheet. To delete details, type NULL into the columns in your spreadsheet. Leaving columns empty for an existing item will prompt Retail POS to ignore and skip that column, but will not delete the information.

Uploading the item import spreadsheet

Once complete, you're ready to import the product import template spreadsheet into Retail POS. Make sure that your spreadsheet is in .XLSX or .CSV format, and note that only 1 import can run at a time per account. 

To validate and import your spreadsheet:

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Import Items.
  2. Click + New Import.
  3. Drag and drop your import file, or, click Choose file and select your import file. 
  4. In the Select import method dropdown, choose your desired import method.

    New Import page with Select import method drop-down displaying options to Create new and update existing items, Update existing items only, or Create new items only.

  5. (Optional) If you're updating existing items, use the Match on field dropdown to select the field that your Retail POS account will match on to update your existing items correctly.

    New Import page with Match on field drop-down displaying options for System ID, UPC, EAN, Custom SKU, or Manufacturer SKU.

  6. (Optional) Enter your email address to be notified once your import file is reviewed and your import is done.

    New Import page with email section emphasized.

  7. Check that all of your columns are mapped.
    1. If you have invalid columns in your import file, individually select the appropriate column designation from the dropdown list.

      New Import page with Map Columns header emphasized, showing that all columns have been mapped.

  8. (Optional) Select the Skip checkbox of columns you don't want to import.
  9. Click Review import.

    New Import page with Review Import button emphasized.

  10. Review your import information. 
  11. (Optional) Enter your email address to receive a notification when your import is done uploading.
  12. If your inventory data looks correct, click Import items. Your items will start importing and the Import report will display once your import is done.
    1. If your data does not look correct, edit and reupload your file or fix the errors.

    Item Import review page showing total number of items that will be imported, updated, additional item information, and Item Previews.

Items Imported page showing how many items were created and updated, as well as additional information and links to all new and updated items.

Your items should now be created or updated in your inventory. To make sure your inventory was imported correctly, you can find your items by navigating to Inventory > Item Search.

Completing your item import

Items Imported page with More actions section emphasized, showing options to Add Labels, Upload images, or Download the file.

Adding labels to the queue

If you imported a QOH for your new items, you can click Add Labels to queue for Items with Inventory to create a label queue. This way, you can print your label queue.

Uploading item images

If you imported the file names of your item images, you need to upload the image files to your Retail POS account to add them to your items.

Downloading the item import file

For your record-keeping, the file used for the import is stored in your Retail POS account. Click Download the file used for this import to download a copy of the original file.

Fixing errors in your item import

Your account will automatically review your import file for formatting errors. If there are any formatting errors, Retail POS will tell you how many errors are present and how to fix each of them.

To fix errors in your import file:

  1. Click Download and fix.

    Item Imports page with Fix errors and upload file again section emphasized.

    1. This will automatically download a copy of your import file, adding two additional columns listing Errors and Suggested Fixes.
  2. Open the new file in Google Sheets or Excel.
  3. Fix the errors noted in the Errors column.

    Item Imports spreadsheet showing Errors and Suggested Fixes columns.

  4. Delete the Errors and Suggested Fixes columns.
  5. Save your spreadsheet as an .XLSX or .CSV file.
  6. Reupload your import file.

What's next?

Importing item images

Learn how to import images to add them to your items.

Learn more

Migrating your inventory from your previous POS

Move your inventory to Lightspeed Retail POS.

Learn more

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