ChannelEngine: create and update product bundles in bulk via CSV

About this article

This article explains how to create and update product bundles in bulk using a CSV file.

Table of contents

Introduction

Upload a CSV file

Choose an upload type

Requirements

How it works

Example CSV files

FAQs

Introduction

CSV uploads are useful when you need to add a lot of product information or work with many bundles at once. You can use a CSV file to create new bundles, edit existing ones, and edit bundle compositions in bulk.

To manage bundles in other ways, check out ChannelEngine: product bundles (web interface) and Merchant API: product bundles.

Upload a CSV file

To create or update product bundles in bulk via CSV upload:

1. From the left sidebar menu, go to Products, Product bundles.
2. Click Upload CSV, and choose an upload type – Create or edit bundles or Edit bundle composition. See Choose an upload type.
   • To use the Edit bundle composition option, editable bundle composition must be enabled for your tenant. Contact your customer success manager or the Support team to activate it.
3. Select the CSV file from your computer.

Choose an upload type

Choose between two upload options:

• Create or edit bundles - create new bundles or edit their name, price, GTIN, and other details. Your CSV must include all the columns listed in Requirements. To also change which products are in each bundle and their respective quantities, enable the Also update bundle compositions toggle.
• Edit bundle composition - change which products are included in a bundle and their quantities. Your CSV only needs the composition columns: mpn_bundle, product1_mpn, product1_qty, product1_pricepercent, and the same three columns for each additional product (product2_mpn, product2_qty, product2_pricepercent, and so on).

Requirements

The following requirements must be met for you to successfully create or update bundles in bulk:

• The CSV must use the comma as a delimiter. Delimiters such as semicolons, pipes, or tabs cannot be used.
• Prices must have decimals, be more than zero, and not contain thousands separators. Use a dot as the decimal separator. E.g.: 59.99. It is also possible to use the string value 'default', which uses the current price of the product.
• The price of each bundle part must be more than zero. Therefore, you specify the price percentage of each bundle part instead of the raw price per bundle part.
• Duplicate Merchant product numbers for individual products (i.e.: product1_mpn) are not allowed. Instead, use the product_qty columns to increase the number of units per product.
• Duplicate Merchant product numbers for bundles (i.e.: mpn_bundle) are not allowed within the same CSV. If you use a Merchant product number that was created previously, it updates the existing bundle with the latest details and does not create a new one.
• Merchant product numbers tied to parent products are not allowed.
• The CSV must contain columns as per the example in Example CSV files. Note that the locations of the headers and their values are fixed. I.e.: column #1 needs to contain a unique Merchant product number for your bundle, column #2 must contain a unique GTIN, etc. Include the following headers in your CSV file:
  • mpn_bundle - the bundle's unique Merchant product number. The maximum number of characters is 64.
  • ean_bundle - the bundle's unique GTIN, such as an EAN or UPC. Note that this GTIN cannot already be known to ChannelEngine.
  • name_bundle - the bundle's title. The maximum number of characters is 256.
  • img_link¹ - the bundle's main image. The maximum number of characters is 512.
  • description_bundle - (optional) the description of your bundle product; the bundle's Description field on ChannelEngine.
  • price_bundle - the total price of the bundle product; the bundle's Price field on ChannelEngine.
  • product1_mpn - the Merchant product number of the bundle's first product. This product must be known to ChannelEngine.
  • product1_qty - the quantity of the first product included in the bundle.
  • product1_pricepercent - the percent of the total bundle product price that represents the first product included in the bundle, also known as the percentage split.
  • product2_mpn² - the Merchant product number of the bundle's second product. This product must be known to ChannelEngine.
  • product2_qty² - the quantity of the second product included in the bundle.
  • product2_pricepercent² - the percent of the total bundle product price that represents the second product included in the bundle, also known as the percentage split.
  • And so on.

1. If you provide the bundle's image link via an additional feed, you do not have to include it in your bundle feed. However, the column related to this attribute must be included in your CSV file.

2. If one of these values is left empty for one of the products in the bundle, the product is excluded from the bundle.

Scheduled tasks

Once you select the CSV file for upload, ChannelEngine processes the file. If file processing succeeds, the task is marked as a success. To see the status of this task on ChannelEngine, go to Settings, Scheduled tasks.

If file processing fails, the task is marked as Failed – and a notification is shown. To receive it, you need to enable the Product bundles import failed notification. To learn more about enabling notifications, check out the article ChannelEngine: how to configure notifications.

The error in the notification should state that a definition cannot be found, which either means that one of your column headers is named incorrectly or the GTIN/Merchant product number for the individual parts of the bundle cannot be found. If the error is unclear, contact ChannelEngine's Support team – and make sure to have your CSV file ready.

Example CSV files

Create or edit bundles

For Create or edit bundles uploads, include all the required columns. The example below creates or updates a bundle with three products.

mpn_bundle,ean_bundle,name_bundle,img_link,description_bundle,price_bundle,product1_mpn,product1_qty,product1_pricepercent,product2_mpn,product2_qty,product2_pricepercent,product3_mpn,product3_qty,product3_pricepercent
COFFEE-SET-01,8711000442296,Coffee Lover's Starter Set,https://example.com/img/coffee-set-01.jpg;width=800&height=800,Everything you need to start brewing at home.,89.99,CM-DRIP-1000,1,60,MUG-CER-350,2,20,BEANS-ARAB-500,1,20
KNIFE-DUO-02,8711000442232,Chef's Knife Duo,https://example.com/img/knife-duo-02.jpg;width=800&height=800,A chef's knife and paring knife in one set.,54.50,KNIFE-CHEF-20,1,70,KNIFE-PAR-9,1,30,,,
TOWEL-PACK-03,8711000447751,Kitchen Towel Pack,https://example.com/img/towel-pack-03.jpg;width=800&height=800,A pack of four cotton kitchen towels.,19.95,TOWEL-COT-50,4,100,,,,,,

Edit bundle composition

For Edit bundle composition uploads, include only the composition columns. The example below updates a bundle with two products.

mpn_bundle,product1_mpn,product1_qty,product1_pricepercent,product2_mpn,product2_qty,product2_pricepercent
COFFEE-SET-01,CM-DRIP-1000,1,70,MUG-CER-350,2,30
KNIFE-DUO-02,KNIFE-CHEF-20,1,65,KNIFE-PAR-9,1,35

FAQs

How do I enable editing bundle compositions via CSV?
Contact the Support team or your customer success manager to activate the feature for your tenant.

What happens if I leave a bundle part out of the CSV?
The part is removed from the bundle. Always include every part you want to keep in the bundle.

Does editing a composition affect existing orders?
No. Each order keeps the composition that applied when it was placed, and that composition is used for shipments and, if needed, cancelations and returns.