Solved: Importing Items into Square

TallTalesTackle · ‎07-09-2018

Hello All,

We recently changed to square and are now looking at using it for inventory management as well as just a POS. We have a bait and tackle shop and it worked fine if we utilized the custom amount button, but we just received the barcode scanner and are looking at utilizing the barcode scanner to help us manage our inventory (we have 1500+ skus).

Is there an easy way to upload skus? One of our distributors has a "POS Data dump" file but not sure that would work for what we are doing. Would we just have to scan each barcode and item and enter a description for each? It would take us months to complete and keep updated. Was hoping there was a better way.

Thanks in advance for the help!

LocavoreStore · ‎07-12-2018

Oh, my... 69,000. That's a lot of SKUs. BUT! I think I see what your problem is... From the small sample data you shared, you've got Several "Boone, Regular" items... The only thing differentiating them is the 'Description (...and the SKU). If that upload was sucessful and you were scrolling through your library on a device, you would not be able to tell what item is what, without toggling to the Items menu then selecting an item at random then looking at its description field... Say you try and sell someone a "Boone" manually without a barcode scanner... Your device will then prompt you to choose exactly what Boone variation you are selling... Which right now are all "Regular"... Until/unless each 'Item Name is unique it is going to combine them all into 1 group which needs to be differentiated somehow (the 'Variation Name).

Try pasting your 'Description into the 'Variation Name column. Pretty sure that's the problem. If it's not, I haven't a clue. Goodluck @TallTalesTackle

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LocavoreStore · ‎07-09-2018

Hi @TallTalesTackle

You can batch import your library from a CSV file. It'll require you download your library CSV from Square and use that as a template. You should get that "Data Dump" file from your distributor, and copy/paste the SKU from their file to the appropriate field in your template from Square... Then save and upload that file back to Square. It might get a little tricky, but if you're savvy handling large amounts of data in a spreadsheet, it should be pretty easy.

Here's an article that ought to get you started.

TallTalesTackle · ‎07-10-2018

Thank you for the help @LocavoreStore!

I have definitely run into some snags with the retail POS dump from the distributor I use. The item list is over 69,000 skus so I have had to reduce the file to about 30,000 skus to import. However, below is an error I cannot seem to shake. I am using their descriptions and it seems that there is no way around importing as I am running into this error:

The item library requires that all item variations within the same item share the same description. Please confirm that the descriptions match for the following rows (x, y). Is there a possible work around?

Below is a screenshot from what the distributor has available for info, as well as the last screenshot is what I am attempting to upload.

:

LocavoreStore · ‎07-11-2018

The last screenshot is what you're trying to upload?

It looks like it's got some extra columns and different header names than what the template that you download from Square has. Am I understanding that correctly? If So you won't be able to rearrange/rename any of the column headers for your upload file. You should only paste relevant information (from the distributor file) into the provided columns within Square's template... You can create new rows but not new columns. I've never seen the Description error like you described before... Doesn't seem to make sense to me.

TallTalesTackle · ‎07-12-2018

Hi @LocavoreStore thank you for replying!

The second photo is what I am trying to upload. I apologize, it must have shown up in a different order. The total file has 69000 skus in it, so it is quite large (square will only let u upload 30k at a time-I found this out after my first upload attempt). However, I believe I followed directions as they said. I will try calling square and directing them to this post to see if they can help me. Thank you again for all of your help!

LocavoreStore · ‎07-12-2018

Oh, my... 69,000. That's a lot of SKUs. BUT! I think I see what your problem is... From the small sample data you shared, you've got Several "Boone, Regular" items... The only thing differentiating them is the 'Description (...and the SKU). If that upload was sucessful and you were scrolling through your library on a device, you would not be able to tell what item is what, without toggling to the Items menu then selecting an item at random then looking at its description field... Say you try and sell someone a "Boone" manually without a barcode scanner... Your device will then prompt you to choose exactly what Boone variation you are selling... Which right now are all "Regular"... Until/unless each 'Item Name is unique it is going to combine them all into 1 group which needs to be differentiated somehow (the 'Variation Name).

Try pasting your 'Description into the 'Variation Name column. Pretty sure that's the problem. If it's not, I haven't a clue. Goodluck @TallTalesTackle

TallTalesTackle · ‎07-12-2018

@LocavoreStore Thank you so much! I think that is exactly it!

I will try that!

madamepirie · ‎10-29-2019

I am considering moving to square for POS. I currently have a POS system that I spent a large amount of time populating with the products I sell. These products have manufacturer bar codes that I use with a barcode reader. I would really like to avoid having to enter in all the information about my products again. I have hundreds! Will this be necessary if I switch to square? I am hoping perhaps square can lookup information about an item using the manufacturer barcode. Does any feature like this exist? Or will I be manually entering in all the information for my products like I had to do for my current POS system?

AshleyK · ‎10-30-2019

Hey!! Welcome to the Seller Community :).

I merged your thread with an existing one that will help you out further, but basically, you will be able to import your item library into Square and save yourself lots of time from manually entering in all of your items. Make sure to use our Item Import file otherwise your library will not import. You can check that out here (http://squ.re/importitems).

To get the template for importing your library, you will need to:

Sign into your Dashboard and visit Items
Click Actions
Click Export Library
Export to Excel

The manual part will be making sure your existing library fits into this template. Also, make sure to leave the Token column blank. This is the first column in the file and our system uses this to assign a "code" to the items.

You may also be interested in subscribing to Square for Retail, which is built for retailers with large item libraries that are based on bar codes. The app has a feature that allows you to create a new item just from scanning an unknown bar code, which will save you time if you are in a rush. It also supports Purchase Orders, unit costs, and in depth inventory reporting.

AshleyK
Community Moderator, Square
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cottagelane · ‎10-07-2020

We have been manually adding products to the free Square site. Now we have a lot of items to add. I downloaded the excel spreadsheet of my current items. Now I'm ready to use that excel spreadsheet as a template. Correct?

I'm thinking I delete all of the items from the excel spreadsheet and use the headers as a template, then add new items to the excel spreadsheet and import it. Correct?

Question: Can I upload a new templated spreadsheet with new items and not overwrite the current items on the site?

Kassi_ · ‎10-09-2020

Hey there, @cottagelane -

Stepping in for @AshleyK!

Yes, you can use the spreadsheet as a template when adding or editing your Item Library. As you import the library it will ask you if you want to update or replace the library totally. The screenshot below is what it will look like.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Kassi
Community Moderator, Square
Sign in and click Mark as Best Answer if my reply answers your question.

mystylistryan1 · ‎06-01-2023

I'm having major issues trying to IMPORT my woo commerce items to SQUARE... can someone help me?

Candlestore · ‎06-02-2023

@mystylistryan1 ;

From your Square Dashboard create 1 to 5 Items that are different and may need the most type of information you require.

After Creating these 5 items or so here: https://squareup.com/dashboard/items/library

Then from Square export Your Items Catalog as either a CSV or Excel File.

This exported file will be YOUR template on which information you need filled in to upload to Square.

The Reference Handle and Token fields are to be left Blank for new items being imported for the First time to Square. These are fields that Square assigns to a Row of an Item for its reference in Square.

Once you have the Template file You can copy and Paste the Column that matches what you entered into Square. Make sure columns GTIN and SKU are defined as TEXT fields especially if your SKU or GTIN have a Leading 0 (zero). Spreadsheets sometimes drop leading Zeros and then your barcode scanner will not read that item, or give you other issues later on.

You need All the header fields from Square to import but you do not need Data in every column. There are a few columns that need to have something in them.... Like ITEM Name, Price, etc which will have data in them after you entered the 1-5 sample items in your Square Dashboard.

Keith
Owner
Pocono Candle

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