You already have Products with Variants, and you just want to add Variants without touching existing Variants.
You can do that the following way. Let’s assume, we have this Product with one Variant:
Step 1: Construct the Import File
Construct the Import Excel file, which contains only new Variants you want to add.
Make sure that you copy the ID or Handle rows for each new Variant row, so that app knows that those rows belong to the same Product:
Now the most important part. Set the value of column “Variant Command” to MERGE for each Product, where you want to add variants. This will make the import to append Variants to existing, if the “Variant ID” will be empty. It will update those variant, which have the “Variant ID” provided.
It looks like this:
Also, you need to make sure that the following columns have unique values (if you import them):
- Variant SKU
- Variant Barcode
- Option values
That’s because – if they will not be unique for this product, then the app will consider them as an update to existing variant which will be found by any of those.
A word about images. If you want it to use the existing images from your Product, then do the Export, and take the same link from the Product Image, and put it in “Variant Image” column. However, if you will take the link from somewhere else, it will add that image to Variant and to the Product itself.
Step 2: Add Variants by Importing That Excel File
Step 3: Check The Added Variants on Product
By looking at the Product you see that it still has its previous Variant, and 3 new variants are added after that.
Also, you see that new Variant images are added to the Product.
Additional Tips
- To find out Product Handles, you can take that information from Product SEO Description section, or do the Export.
- If you update Products by ID, then remember to copy ID value for each Variant row, and make sure Excel didn’t increment it, when you copied.
- You can remove from Excel file all columns which you don’t want to update.
Where To Go From Here?
- Install the Bulk Import Export Update with Excel app from Shopify AppStore and try Free version to add variants on your own store Products.
- Get the Template Excel file, or to the Export to generate it from your own store.
- Read the Products Field Descriptions.
- Read other Tutorials.
- If you are not sure how to prepare the import file, ask our Support, we will teach you, or do that for you.
