Importing Products via Excel Files
When businesses are moving to Hike POS, rather than having to manually create all data, like products, customers & suppliers. It may be preferable to have all information stored onto a spreadsheet, that can then be imported into Hike. Also, manually updating products one by one could be tedious. You can edit product attributes in bulk by exporting products into a file, changing values in it and importing it back again.
This requires an Excel file, a common spreadsheet or database, and is a popular option for many businesses – existing and new – to utilize when establishing their product base in Hike, especially when it contains many items.
When performing import into Hike, there are two options retailers can choose from:
- Download Hike’s file template and insert your existing data into the template’s fields.
- Import your own Excel file and map the relevant fields during the activation process.
On this page, we’ll run you through the steps needed to import your Products list - using either option - as well as troubleshoot any errors that may arise during the process.
Note: Hike recommends you download our template instead of importing your own file as there may be formatting issues or errors on things like column headings.
- How Does It Work?
- Option 1: Download & Use Hike’s Products Excel Template
- Option 2: Using Your Own Products Excel File
- Tips on Editing Products in Bulk via Import
- Guide to Excel Spreadsheet Product Column Headings
How Does It Work?
Simply put, when you import an Excel file into Hike, the system will automatically look for some of the most common import errors in your Excel file before importing the entire contents of the spreadsheet into your store.
These errors can often be seen in column headings and/or mandatory fields that have been left blank, and if present, Hike will inform you of the exact problem, and you’ll be able to fix the problem on the screen itself.
Find out more about troubleshooting any import errors here .
Option 1: Download & Use Hike’s Products Excel Template
To begin, select Products from the Hike menu.
On the Products screen, click on the IMPORT button.
Click on Download our Import File Template Here. This will commence the download of Product.xlsx file.
Once the download has been completed, open the file.
The spreadsheet will appear as blank, except for the column headings that you will need to populate to successfully import your data across.
Note: If you have already added products onto Hike itself, a portion of those products will also appear on your downloaded Product template. Do not assume that all products added will be created on the spreadsheet however, and ensure that there are entries for each product you have.
From here, you will be able to fill in the columns with your inventory. You can add, delete any column headings as per your store’s requirement. For a full list of the column headings, check out our guide .
Important: If you have product variants in your Excel file, you will need to ensure you have the column entitled Is Variant Product, and that all Variant products are listed as TRUE in your Excel file. Also, if you have ticked the option to allow the same product names, please make sure that you have included the data row of the parent products.
Once you have completed filling in your inventory, save the file and upload it into the Import screen in Hike.
A new window will then slide out with two columns:
- On the left is the column headers in your file (Data Field in your File)
- On the right are the column headers that Hike uses. (Corresponding Data Field in Hike)
As you have downloaded the template directly from Hike, the fields should automatically map with their corresponding value, but it’s always good to double-check and edit any that are incorrect by using the drop-down box.
Once you have finished, select Continue .
You will then be prompted to save the Template of the mapping you have created for future use. This is useful in instances where your template file has different field names from those that are used in Hike. Next time, you import an Excel file, Hike will automatically map the headers to Hike’s without you having to manually change each one.
Click YES if you want it saved.
You can then enter in a new template name, which you’ll be able to select next time you import an Excel file. Click OK once done.
When done, a Record Log will appear of some of the items that have been imported. If there are fields that have been incorrectly mapped, select Edit Column Mapping and you will be taken back to the mapping screen.
But if everything lines up, click on Connected & Validate to commence the upload.
Hike will then check your file, import successful entries and make a list of any unsuccessful entries. You will be taken back to the Import/Export screen, and under the Import Log you will find the status of your Products sync.
If the import has been successful it will be shown as Processed .
If the import has not been successful however, the status will ask you to View and Fix errors, which you will need to select to troubleshoot.
Find out how to troubleshoot files here
Option 2: Using Your Own Excel File
If you don’t want to use Hike’s template, as you already have your own Excel file, then importing that into Hike POS is just as easy.
Just like you would with a downloaded Hike template, use the Import function to upload your own products file.
Once you have uploaded your Excel file, you will be asked to map the column headings to the corresponding data fields in Hike.
Note: Only the data fields that have appeared in your file will be listed.
Use the drop-down box to match each data field on your Excel file to Hike.
Once you have mapped all the fields, select Continue.
You will be asked to give your mapping a Template name. Next time you import an Excel file, you can use this saved template and Hike will automatically fill in the fields for you.
When done, a Record Log will appear of some of the items that have been imported. If there are fields that have been incorrectly mapped, select Edit Column Mapping and you will be taken back to the mapping screen.
But if everything lines up, click on Connected & Validate to commence the upload.
Note: Your Record Log will appear in the style of Hike’s template. Any blank columns may be worth considering adding into your Products manually, if such details are available.
You will then be taken back to the Import/Export Screen, and under the Import Log you will find the status of your import.
Initially, under status your file will be listed as Enqueued .
If the import has been successful it will be shown as Processed .
Note: If you have large number of products to import, the syncing process may take some time. Keep clicking on the Refresh button to see if your file has successfully imported.
If you want to manually add details to your Product, you can do so from the Product screen
If your status appears as showing errors, you will need to troubleshoot the problem
Your Products can now be viewed on your Products screen from the Hike menu.
Tips on Editing Products in Bulk via Import
- You cannot edit the SKU of a product via import.
- You cannot perform the deletion of a product or an attribute from a product via import. For example, you cannot disassociate a product with a product type.
- You cannot edit the following attributes via import, product type, product tag, brand name, season name, and supplier name. If you have a new value for the attribute, for example, product tag, in the file, Hike will append it to the existing tags.
- Name
- SKU
- Barcode
- Is variant product
- Variant option name one
- Variant option value one
- Variant option name two
- Variant option value two
- Variant option name three
- Variant option value three
Guide to Excel Spreadsheet Product Column Headings
This guide describes what each of the column headers on Hike’s default template means. There are only two mandatory fields – Name & SKU. The rest are optional.
| Name | This is the name of your product. Your product name can include letters, numbers and symbols. This is a mandatory field. |
| Description | This is a description of your product. |
| SKU | The Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) is a unique identifier of your product, that can be up to 20 characters long. If the SKU consists of only numerical values, Excel will convert it into scientific notation. To convert it to a whole number, check out our FAQ section. This is a mandatory field. If you keep the field blank, Hike will automatically generate one for you. |
| Barcode | This is the barcode number of your product. If left blank, Hike will automatically generate one for you. If the barcode consists of only numerical values, Excel will convert it into scientific notation. To convert it to a whole number, check out our FAQ section. |
| Product Type | Enter the Product Type (or Category) that your individual Product belongs to. For example, a blue t-shirt will belong to the Product Type: T-Shirts. If you have multiple product types for one product ensure that you’ve separated each product type by a semicolon, (e.g: type1;type2) Please make sure there is no space in between the product type name and the semicolon as it may cause difference when you try to sync product to third party. |
| Product Tag | Product Tags can be useful in creating item descriptors that make it easy to find on your Enter New Sale screen. Ensure that you’ve separated each tag by a semicolon, (e.g: Tag1;Tag2) Please make sure there is no space in between the tag name and the semicolon as it may cause difference when you try to sync product to third party. |
| Brand Name | The brand name of your Product – i.e. Nike, Gucci etc. |
| Season Name | This is another tag field, in which you would label the season in which this item belongs to. Season tags can be used to specify items by their calendar use – i.e. summer, winter. |
| Supplier Code | If your supplier has a unique code identifier, enter it in this field. |
| Supplier Name | This is the name of the Supplier of your product. |
| Sales Code | This field is for the sales account with which you want to track its sales. Please note, this field only shows on the product profile page when you have your accounting integration activated, though it's always showing in the import template and the exported product file. |
| Purchase Code | This field is for the purchase account with which you want to track its purchase. Please note, this field only shows on the product profile page when you have your accounting integration activated, though it's always showing in the import template and the exported product file. |
| Loyalty | Will you be assigning any loyalty points for the purchase of this item? If so enter the value of the points in this column. |
| Visible e-Commerce | This refers to whether you would like your product to appear on your online e-Commerce sales platform as well. Enter TRUE if this will be the case, enter FALSE if you only want the item appearing on your in-store POS. |
| Depth | The depth to your product’s size, as it pertains to shipping purposes. As this is not a feature in Hike, you can leave this field blank, however if you want to record the depth of your product you can do, it however will not appear anywhere in Hike POS. |
| Width | The width to your product’s size, as it pertains to shipping purposes. As this is not a feature in Hike, you can leave this field blank, however if you want to record the width of your product you can do, it however will not appear anywhere in Hike POS. |
| Height | The height to your product’s size, as it pertains to shipping purposes. As this is not a feature in Hike, you can leave this field blank, however if you want to record the height of your product you can do, it however will not appear anywhere in Hike POS. |
| Weight | The weight to your product’s size, as it pertains to shipping purposes. As this is not a feature in Hike, you can leave this field blank, however if you want to record the weight of your product you can do, it however will not appear anywhere in Hike POS. |
| Enable SEO | This field is in development. Please leave it as empty for now. |
| Meta Title | Here, you will be able to edit your meta tags in order to help your SEO if you are selling your products online. Your meta title is the title text that will be shown of your product in search engine listings. |
| Meta Description | The meta description tag is where you enter in a summary of your product, and therefore your web page. This is where you will describe the contents of your product and how they can help the consumer. However, note that your description should not be too long. |
| Meta Keywords | The meta keywords tag is where you will enter all keywords of your product. Put simply, a user should be able to know exactly what your page is about when they read these keywords |
| Slug | The meta slug is the exact URL address of the website, and will most commonly be the product title. |
| Track Inventory | If you want Hike POS to track your inventory so you know how much stock your product has at any given time, enter TRUE in the field. Enter FALSE if you do not want Hike to track inventory. |
| Allow out of Stock | Enter TRUE if you want this product to be sold even when it appears as out of stock on Hike, enter FALSE if you don’t. |
| Is Variant Product | If your product is a variant – items with different sizes, colours etc. – then you must enter a TRUE value here. Enter FALSE if not. |
| Is Pricing Different by Outlet | Enter TRUE if the product will be priced differently in other outlets. Enter FALSE if not. |
| Variant option name one | Your variant option name will be what the variant is. For example, if your product variant will be – size: small, medium, large – then your variant option name will be size. If no variants, leave this column blank. |
| Variant option value one | Your variant option value will be the value of your product variant. So, if your product variant is size, your value be whatever that size is, i.e. small or large or extra-large. If no variants, leave this column. |
| Variant option name two | Your variant option 2 name. |
| Variant option value two | Your variant option 2 value. |
| Variant option name three | Your variant option 3 name. |
| Variant option value three | Your variant option 3 value. |
Image URL | You can insert an image URL of your product here. This will appear in your Hike POS. |
Active | The status of a product. You won't be able to sell a product if it's inactive. |
Custom field | You can put some additional product information here, such as bin location. |
Enable Serial Number | Whether the cashier needs to enter the serial number of a product when selling it. |
Component part - not sold individually | If the product is a component of a composite product, and you don't want to sell it individually, please set it as TRUE. |
The following fields are related to your store’s outlet, which you created upon first signing up to Hike. Note, the location of your store will appear on your file when you download the template. | |
| Store Location]_Tax | The Tax field is the name of your tax, set-up for this product. Please don't enter the tax rate here, but the tax name. |
| [Store Location]_Cost Price | Enter the Cost Price of your product for this outlet. |
| [Store Location]_Retail Price | Enter the Retail Price of your product for this outlet. |
| [Store Location]_Stock | Enter how much stock is in-store for the product at this outlet. |
| [Store Location]_Reorder Level | By entering a value here, Hike will alert you when stock of this product falls below this limit at this outlet. |
| [Store Location]_Reorder Value | When re-ordering stock, you will be prompted on the Purchase order to buy the entered value of stock, if reorder point is reached. |
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