Product variation data being dropped with CSV import

Some background: I created my product inventory over time using 5 different CSV files as the data entry team cleaned up and submitted the data. Now I have a master CSV file that I want to use to update my products.

Hi @dwaynne,

So for example, I go from 2 initial products with 4 variations apiece to about 10 products with the original 2 losing their variation data.

An “Existing Items” import, currently, can’t maintain the variable/variant relationship when updating all data, which is likely what you’re running into here. You can read more about that and your options to fix it in this gist: https://gist.github.com/607f09db8c470d2170cb358223de9384.

With that said, importing variable products is a Pro feature, so you’ll need to open a support request at https://www.wpallimport.com/support/ if you still have issues after reading the gist. We can only help with the free versions of our plugins in this forum.

I have the Woocommerce Pro Add-on, and I’ve tried the New Items approach: mapped my attributes, SKU/Parent SKU, limited my custom fields to only update prices, tried to ignore/utilise recognising duplicate posts, change the unique identifier to name and the generated string, et al, only for All Import to skip my products entirely.

I am at my wit’s end trying to figure this out.

WP AI keeps reporting

Duplicate post wasn’t found with unique key
SKIPPED: The option ‘Create new posts from records newly present in your file’ is disabled

Hi @dwaynne,

WP AI keeps reporting. Duplicate post wasn’t found with unique key SKIPPED: The option ‘Create new posts from records newly present in your file’ is disabled

This makes sense. A “New Items” import can only update existing items if it previously created them, it can’t update existing items that were created manually or by other imports.

If you’re only updating things like price, attributes, and stock, you should use an “Existing Items” import while being careful to only update the fields you’re actually importing via the “Choose which data to update” option. For example, here’s how to update stock: https://www.wpallimport.com/documentation/syncing-stock/ – note that you don’t have to change the product type on step 3 because you’re not choosing to update the product type on step 4.

If you’re setting up a new import to add new variations to existing products, then you need to select “New Items” and import a file that only contains the new variations that should be added to the existing products.

If you still have trouble, replicate the issue on a sandbox site at https://www.wpallimport.com/debug/, then send us a support request at https://www.wpallimport.com/support/ with the sandbox site URL and a brief description of what’s going wrong. We’ll have to review your import settings/data to advise further.