A supplier workbook is usually designed for the supplier’s workflow. It may contain trade prices, warehouse notes, merged headings, or one sheet per collection. Your store needs a consistent product file. Treat conversion as a controlled mapping exercise: preserve the source, decide what each column means, and test a few representative items before producing a full catalog.
1. Keep the source and choose the job
Save an untouched copy of the workbook with its date. Make a working sheet containing only the products you intend to process. Decide whether this import will create products, update existing ones, or add variants to an existing parent. Write that decision at the top of your working notes; a sheet that mixes these jobs is harder to review.
Choose five sample products that cover the difficult cases: a simple item, a size or color family, a leading-zero SKU, an accented name, and an item with several images. A useful test sample reveals the edge cases instead of merely selecting the first five rows.
2. Agree on a column map
Use a WooCommerce export from your own store as a working template. Keep a small mapping table beside the spreadsheet so another person can review each decision. Supplier descriptions may be usable directly; supplier price fields require a commercial decision.
| Supplier field | Candidate target | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Item code | SKU | Is it unique per sellable item? |
| Retail price | Regular price | Correct currency and tax basis? |
| Color description | Attribute value | Which store label is approved? |
| Photo link | Images | Is this a usable image link? |
Do not silently convert cost into retail price, add a margin, change currencies, or strip punctuation from identifiers. Flag unclear fields for approval. Keep supplier-only fields in your workbook so you can trace decisions, while excluding them from the import output unless they have a supported destination.
3. Protect text before editing
Product codes are labels, even when they look numeric. Import or format those columns as text before manipulating the data. Microsoft’s text and CSV guidance explains why leading zeros need attention. Once digits have been lost, formatting the shortened value as text cannot tell you what the original code was.
Compare a handful of identifiers with the untouched supplier workbook after every export. Check long codes, dates, commas, and accented characters. Avoid a bulk “clean everything” operation: removing spaces from a description and removing spaces from a SKU are different decisions.
4. Build a deliberate variation structure
Sketch the product families first. Which rows are choices of the same item, and which deserve separate product pages? Give each real sellable variant its intended identifier. Keep the approved option labels consistent. A missing parent row in a variation-only CSV may be valid when the parent already exists; confirm this in your store rather than creating a duplicate family.
Use the WooCommerce importer documentation for the supported column names, parent references, and workflow for your installed version. Extension-specific product fields need the extension’s own import instructions.
5. Export the file you will actually import
In Excel, use Save As or Save a Copy and select CSV UTF-8 when that option is available. Confirm the intended sheet is active. A CSV contains sheet data rather than the whole workbook; Microsoft’s export guidance explains the format limitations.
Run that saved .csv through our browser-local checker. It accepts CSV, not .xlsx, and cannot confirm your store’s existing records or supplier pricing intent. Then test the sample on staging, review the mapping screen, and compare imported products with your checklist. Keep the successful sample and notes as the recipe for the remaining batch. For an unclear mapping, request a manual review before changing the full file.
These are practical review steps, not an import guarantee. Always use the documentation for your WooCommerce version.