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Import items from a data feed (XML, CSV, TXT, JSON, Google sheets)

In this article, you'll learn how to import product data from Google sheets or through a XML, CSV, TXT or JSON file.

Before you start

Good to know

  • Your data feed URL must be in an accessible online location.
  • Channable supports compressed file formats:
    • XML, JSON, CSV, text, and Google spreadsheet files in the .gz format
    • XML and JSON files in the .zip format.

Contents

 

Step 1: Set up import

The amount of information needed depends on your import type. Select your import type from the following options and follow the steps before continuing to Step 2.

Google sheets

Important: Before you start, make sure your Google sheet is published and publicly available.
  1. In Channable, go to Setup > + Setup import.
  2. Select the Google sheets file type.
  3. Provide the requested information:
    1. For Name, give your import a descriptive name. (e.g "Webshop Google import)
    2. For Google sheets url, add the URL to fetch your live product data.
  4. Click Start import. You will be directed to the Edit mapping page to import your product data.

XML

  1. In Channable, go to Setup > + Setup import.
  2. Select the XML file type.
  3. Provide the requested information:
    1. For Name, give your import a descriptive name. (e.g "Webshop XML import)
    2. For XML file url, add the URL to fetch your live product data.
    3. For Authentication, select your authentication type (if using one).
    4. For Encoding, select your encoding type.
      • Automatically detect: Channable will attempt to automatically identify your coding type.
      • If your file is encoded with a specific type, select it from the list.
  4. Click Start import. You will be directed to the Edit mapping page to import your product data.

CSV

  1. In Channable, go to Setup > + Setup import.
  2. Select the CSV file type.
  3. Provide the required information:
    1. For Name, give your import a descriptive name. (e.g "Webshop CSV import")
    2. For CSV file url, add the URL to fetch your live product data.
    3. For Authentication, select your authentication type (if using one).
    4. For Encoding, select your encoding type.
      • Automatically detect: Channable will try to automatically identify your coding type.
      • If your CSV is encoded with a specific type, select it from the list.
    5. For Quoting, select whether your data has any quoting conditions:
      • Automatically detect: Channable will try to automatically identify any quoting.
      • Yes: Select if you're using quotation marks around items.
      • No: Select this is your data doesn't use quotation marks around items.
    6. For Delimiter, select the character (delimiter) that divides your item information in your data.
      • Automatically detect: Channable will try to automatically identify your delimiter.
      • Comma (,): Often used for CSV files.
      • Semicolon (;) Often used in European data where the comma is a decimal separator.
      • Tab/vertical bar (|)
      • Tilde (~)
      • Circumflex (^)
  4. Click Start import. You will be directed to the Edit mapping page to import your product data.

TXT (Text file)

  1. In Channable, go to Setup > + Setup import.
  2. Select the TXT file type.
  3. Provide the required information:
    1. For Name, give your import a descriptive name. (e.g "Webshop TXT import")
    2. For TXT file url, add the URL to fetch your live product data.
    3. For Authentication, select your authentication type (if using one).
    4. For Encoding, select your encoding type.
      • Automatically detect: Channable will try to automatically identify your coding type.
      • If your TXT file is encoded with a specific type, select it from the list.
    5. For Quoting, select whether your data has any quoting conditions:
      • Automatically detect: Channable will try to automatically identify any quoting.
      • Yes: Select if you're using quotation marks around items.
      • No: Select this is your data doesn't use quotation marks around items.
    6. For Delimiter, select the character (delimiter) that divides your item information in your data.
      • Automatically detect: Channable will try to automatically identify your delimiter.
      • Comma (,): Often used for CSV files.
      • Semicolon (;) Often used in European data where the comma is a decimal separator.
      • Tab/vertical bar (|)
      • Tilde (~)
      • Circumflex (^)
  4. Click Start import. You will be directed to the Edit mapping page to import your product data.

JSON

  1. In Channable, go to Setup > + Setup import.
  2. Select the JSON file type.
  3. Provide the requested information:
    1. For Name, give your import a descriptive name. (e.g "Webshop JSON import)
    2. For JSON file url, add the URL to fetch your live product data.
    3. For Authentication, select your authentication type (if using one).
    4. For JSON format, select how your data is structured within your JSON file:
      • One JSON object in the file: Your entire file is within a JSON array.
      • One JSON object per line: Your file consists of multiple, independent JSON objects, with each object on its own line.
  4. Click Start import. You will be directed to the Edit mapping page to import your product data.

 

Step 2: Map your products

This page displays fields retrieved from your data feed (e.g. price, description, title). 

  • Import field: Fields from your import data.
  • Project field: Corresponding project fields in Channable. Our system will automatically detect and link most fields to standardized fields.

Match (map) your imported fields to a corresponding project field. Channable does most mapping automatically, but it's important to review and adjust before importing. 

Note: We create new project fields if we can't assign your import field to a standardized field. These fields will have a project field with the same name as your import field.

Before you continue

  1. Compare and adjust mapping: 
    Review your Import fields against Channable's matched Project fields. If a field was matched incorrectly, click on the field to select a different field.
  2. Check and correct field types:
    Check that the right field type is assigned to your project fields. If a field has the wrong type, click Edit next to the field, select the correct type in the dropdown, and click Save & Import.
  3. Exclude fields (optional):
    To exclude a field from being included in your product data, click the checkbox in the Select column for that field and click Do not import selected fields.

Once you've finished mapping, click Save & Import to start importing your product data. Depending on how much data you're importing, it can take a while to finish.

Note: Check the Status column in Setup to check your import progress. Your product data is fully imported when the Status is Finished.


Step 3: Review your imported items

After your product data has finished importing:

  1. Go to the Items page to view your imported products.
  2. Click on an item to see detailed information. 
product-details.gif

Your import is now successfully set up! You can now use this product data to create and optimize Feeds, Marketplaces, Shopping Ads, and more in Channable.