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Add and manage products in your product catalogue

Add and manage products in your product catalogue so your orders have the product details they need to ship as efficiently as possible.
Updated 17 days ago

Orders don't always arrive with every product detail. An order might include a product's SKU but not its size, how to pack it, or its customs codes. Shippit can often still ship these orders, but not always in the most effective way. Your product catalogue stores these details once, so when a new order arrives with a matching SKU, Shippit fills in any details the order left blank.

This article covers how to add, import, edit and delete products in your product catalogue, and how Shippit uses them on your orders.


How the product catalogue works

Your catalogue has one entry for each product you ship, identified by the product's SKU. It holds four types of details, each with a different purpose:

Type

Fields

Used for

Reference

Product title

SKU

Price

Product line ID

Location

Filling product details on orders and pick lists

Customs

Country of manufacture

Tariff / HS code

Manufacturer part number

GTIN / EAN / UPC / ISBN

EUDR Due Diligence Statement reference

EUDR TARIC document code

Filling customs details on international orders

Dangerous goods

Dangerous goods class

Dangerous goods UN code

Dangerous goods packing group

Dangerous goods details on orders

Packing

Length

Width

Height

Dead weight

Packing rules, such as fragile or stackable

Working out how orders are packed. Note this only applies to stores where package allocation is influenced by product dimensions.

How the catalogue fills your orders

When a new order is created - through an integration, the Shippit API or your Shippit account - Shippit checks each product's SKU against your catalogue. When it finds a match, it fills in any of these details the order doesn't already have:

  • product title, price and location

  • country of manufacture and tariff / HS code

  • manufacturer part number, GTIN / EAN / UPC / ISBN, and the two EUDR fields

For each of these fields, Shippit uses the first value it finds, in this order:

  1. The value on the order, if your store sent one.

  2. The value in your catalogue.

  3. For international orders, your default international settings.

This example shows an order for a mug that arrives from your store with some fields blank:

Field

Sent on the order

In your catalogue

On the order in Shippit

SKU

mug-12oz-wht

MUG-12OZ-WHT

mug-12oz-wht (matched)

Product title

White mug

Ceramic mug (12oz)

White mug (from the order)

Tariff / HS code

blank

123456

123456 (from the catalogue)

Manufacturer part number

blank

MUG12-W

MUG12-W (from the catalogue)

NOTE: The catalogue fills new orders only. It doesn't change orders created before you added the product, orders you update, or orders you rebook. 

You can still fill those orders from your catalogue by searching for the product, so you don't need to enter the details by hand. See My order doesn't have the product details from my catalogue in the Troubleshooting section below, for instructions on how to do this.

Managing product catalogues across multiple stores

Each store has its own product catalogue. Products you add for one store aren't available in your other stores.


Add products to the catalogue

There are two ways to add products to your catalogue: manually, one product at a time, or in bulk by importing a CSV file.

NOTE: Shippit doesn't sync products from Shopify, NetSuite, Cin7 or other platforms.

Add a product manually

Add a product manually.png

  1. Log in to your Shippit account.

  2. Open the drop-down menu in the top right of your screen, and click Settings.

  3. In the Store section, click Product catalogue.

  4. If you manage more than one store, select the store whose catalogue you want to update.

  5. Click Add to open the Add new product form.

  6. Enter the product's details. Product title, SKU, Length, Width and Height are required. Everything else is optional.

  7. Click Create to save the product.

Import products from a CSV file

Use an import to add or update several products at a time. If a row's SKU is already in your catalogue, Shippit updates that product instead of creating a duplicate.

Import CSV.png

  1. Log in to your Shippit account.

  2. Open the drop-down menu in the top right of your screen, and click Settings.

  3. In the Store section, click Product catalogue. 

  4. If you manage more than one store, select the store whose catalogue you want to update.

  5. Click Import, then Download CSV template. The template contains a column for every detail you can include, plus two example rows for reference.

  6. Fill in the template, one row per product, and save it as a .csv file. As you fill it in:

    1. Enter a SKU, title, length, width and height for every product. These are the sku, title, length_cm, width_cm and height_cm columns. All other columns are optional.

    2. Use each SKU once.

    3. Leave a cell blank to keep a product’s current value.

    4. Keep the column names as they are, and don’t add your own. Shippit can’t import a column it doesn’t recognise.

  7. Back in the Import products screen, click Choose file, and select your file. Shippit checks your file for problems and shows how many products it creates and updates, so you can review the result before you import.

  8. Click Import to save the products.

NOTE: Keep each file to 1,000 products. For a bigger catalogue, split it into several files.


Edit or delete a product

Editing a product

  1. On the Product catalogue page, find the product and click the three-dot menu at the end of its row.

  2. Click Edit to open the Edit product form.

  3. Update the relevant details, and click Save changes.

To update several products at once, import a CSV file that includes their SKUs. Shippit updates each product that has a matching SKU.

To remove a stored value, clear the field on the Edit product form and click Save changes. You can't clear a value by importing a CSV file.

Deleting a product

  1. On the Product catalogue page, find the product and click the three-dot menu at the end of its row.

  2. Click Delete to remove the product.

WARNING: The product is removed as soon as you click Delete. There's no confirmation step, so check you've selected the right product before doing so. To remove several products, delete them one at a time.

Editing or deleting a product doesn't change orders that already exist. It applies to orders created after the change.


Product fields

The table below contains the fields available in the product catalogue.

Field

What to enter

Required

CSV column

Product title

The name of the product, shown on orders. Up to 255 characters. Customs uses it as the item description; see the Writing effective product descriptions article.

Yes

title

Price

The price of one unit. Enter a number from 0 to 1,000,000.

No

price

Product line ID

Your own code for the product line. Up to 255 characters.

No

product_line_id

SKU

Your own code for the product. Up to 255 characters. Each SKU can appear only once in a store's catalogue.

Yes

sku

Location

Where in your warehouse the product is picked from. Up to 250 characters.

No

location

Country of manufacture

The country where the product was made. The default is Australia. In a CSV file, use a 2-letter country code, such as AU or CN.

No

country_of_manufacture

Tariff / HS code

The Harmonised System code customs uses to classify the product, relevant for international orders. Enter 6 to 14 letters or numbers. You can include dots between them.

No

tariff_code

Manufacturer part number

The manufacturer's or supplier's own code for the product. Up to 70 characters.

No

manufacturer_part_number

GTIN / EAN / UPC / ISBN

The product's barcode number. Up to 70 characters. Leave it blank if the product has no barcode.

No

gtin_ean_upc_isbn

EUDR Due Diligence Statement reference

For orders to the EU. This is the reference for your due diligence statement under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Up to 70 characters.

No

eudr_dds_reference

EUDR TARIC document code

For orders to the EU. This is the customs document code for the due diligence requirement. This is different from your HS code. Up to 70 characters.

No

eudr_document_code

Dangerous goods class

The hazard class of the product, if it's a dangerous good. The default is not a dangerous good. In a CSV file, enter the class number, such as 4.1, or leave the cell blank if the product isn't a dangerous good.

No

dangerous_goods_code

Dangerous goods UN code

Appears when you choose a Dangerous goods class. The 4-digit number that identifies the substance, with no "UN" in front, such as 1950.

No

dangerous_goods_un_code

Dangerous goods packing group

Appears when you choose a Dangerous goods class. The group that shows how dangerous the substance is: I, II or III, or N/A.

No

dangerous_goods_packing_group

Dead weight

The weight of one unit. Enter it in kilograms.

No

dead_weight_kg

Length, Width, Height

The size of one unit as it's packed. Enter each as a number greater than 0 and up to 600, in centimetres.

Yes

length_cm, width_cm,  height_cm

Ship in its own box

Tick this if the unit should be packed in its own parcel. In a CSV file, enter true or false.

No

ship_in_own_box

Fragile good

Tick this for products that break easily. When it's ticked, only items lighter than this one should be packed on top of it. In a CSV file, enter true or false.

No

fragile

Stackable (other items may be placed on top of it)

Tick this if other items can be packed on top of this one. It's ticked by default. In a CSV file, enter true or false.

No

stackable

Compressible (soft good that can be compressed to save space)

Tick this if the product is a soft good that can be squashed, like cushions. In a CSV file, enter true or false.

No

compressible

Rotation

How the item can be turned when packed. Any side means it can be turned any way that fits the box. This side up means it should be kept upright. Flat only lays its biggest face down. The default is any side. In a CSV file, enter this_side_up or flat_only, or leave the cell blank for any side.

Note this only applies to stores where package allocation is influenced by product dimensions.

No

rotation

IMPORTANT: A dangerous goods class in your catalogue isn't a declaration to the carrier. If you ship dangerous goods, you still need to declare them on each order. For more information, see the Dangerous goods collection.


Troubleshooting

This section covers common issues with the product catalogue. If you can't find an answer here, contact Shippit support.

My order doesn't have the product details from my catalogue

Shippit fills in product details when a new order arrives with a SKU that matches your catalogue. If details are missing, check these things:

  • The SKU. The SKU on the order needs to match the SKU in your catalogue. Capitalisation and spaces at the start or end don't matter, so mug-01 matches MUG-01. A different character does, so MUG01 doesn't match MUG-01.

  • When the order was created. Shippit fills in details only on new orders. If you added the product after the order arrived, or you've updated or rebooked the order, the details aren't automatically added. You can still fill the order with details from your catalogue, using the steps below: 

    • In your Shippit account, find and open the relevant order.

    • Click Add product. 

    • In the Find a product in your catalogue panel, search for the product and select it.

    • Click Save.

  • Whether your store already sent a value. If the order arrives with a value for a field, Shippit keeps it and doesn't replace it with the catalogue value.

I can't add a product because the SKU is already used

When you add a product and the SKU is already in your catalogue, you'll see the error: "Is already used by another product in this catalogue".

Each SKU can appear in your catalogue only once - use Search products to find the existing product, then edit it instead of adding a new one.

I can't click Import after choosing my file

Shippit checks your file as soon as you choose it. If at least one row has a problem, Import stays greyed out and you'll see a list of the problems. Row shows which row in your file has the issue, Column shows which column, and Problem describes what's wrong. Fix these in your file, then click Choose another file and select it again.

I entered "no" in a checkbox column, but the product is ticked

Enter true or false in checkbox columns, such as fragile or stackable. If a cell has anything else, Shippit reads false, 0, f and off as unticked, and everything else, including "no", as ticked. Change those cells to false, then import your file again.

I cleared a cell in my CSV file, but the product still has its old value

A blank cell in a CSV file means "leave this as it is", so an import can't remove a value. To clear one:

  1. On the Product catalogue page, find the product and click the three-dot menu at the end of its row.

  2. Click Edit to open the Edit product form.

  3. Clear the relevant details, and click Save changes.


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