Overview

Importing data is pretty convenient especially if you want to update your catalog with external sources: vendors, ERP, etc.

When importing data, Akeneo PIM extracts the data from the file and converts them to save in the PIM.

You can import product data, but also catalog entities such as the families, the categories, the attributes...

Steps of an import

File import process is really simple. It consists of:

1. Creating an import profile (see below for more information about it)
2. Building the file, manually or via a third party application
3. Uploading this file in the PIM or enabling the PIM to fetch this file on a given path (this last option is not available in the Serenity offer)
4. Launching the CSV or XLSX file import

What is a import profile?

An import profile allows to perform imports in the PIM. This profile format is based on:

• A code to identify the import profile
• A job to define what will make the import when executing. For instance, is it a product import in XLSX file or a category import in CSV
• A set of configuration fields, available as a form in the PIM. Each import profile can have its own configuration.

Browse import profiles

To view the available import profiles:

1. Log in with a user account with permissions to View the list of profiles for imports
2. Go to the Imports menu
   
3. To narrow down the list of displayed import profiles, use the available filters above the grid or the search bar that will search on the label

To see the information on a given import profile, click on its row in the grid.

To create a new import profile:

1. Go to the Imports menu
2. Click on Create import profile
   
3. All fields in the pop-up window must be filled in:
   • A unique code
   • A label to identify the profile more easily
   • A job according to what you wish to import
     
4. Click on Save to finalise your import profile creation. The profile page screen is displayed. You can then configure it.

To update an import profile:

1. Log in with a user account
2. Go to the Imports menu
3. Click on the import profile that needs to be modified
4. Click on the Edit button
5. Make your changes
6. Click on Save to update the profile

In the Properties tab, you can edit the label of your profile.
In the Global settings tab, properties depend on the import job. For example, for the CSV product import, you will find the following properties:

Import images & files

If you have Image and/or File attribute types in your families, then you can import their content directly via the product import profile. To do this:

1. First, export the relevant product or product models via an archive.
2. Then, configure the archive in order to modify the product/product model file by adding your images and/or files.
3. Finally, import back the new archive in the PIM.

Export the relevant products or product models

1. From the left menu, click Exports
2. From the top right corner, click Create, type a label and a code and select the job Product export in XLSX or product model export in XLSX
3. Under Global settings, switch Export files and images to Yes
4. Under Content, select the relevant Image or File attributes
5. Save and click Export
6. Once the job is finished, click on Download generated files and get the archive

Configure the archive

1. Open the archive you just downloaded
2. Open the Files folder
3. Each folder under Files corresponds to a product or product model and their names are the SKUs or codes of your product or product models
   
4. To add new images or files, click on the relevant folders, open the folders and add your image into each one
5. Once done, open the CSV or XLSX files corresponding to your products or product models
6. Go to the columns corresponding to your image or file attributes
7. Change the filenames of the images or files corresponding to the name of the images of files you added in the previous steps
8. Save your spreadsheet
   Select simultaneously the spreadsheets and the folder File and create an archive

Import back the new archive

1. From the left menu, click Imports
2. Select the export profile named XLSX product import
3. Upload your archive and click Import

You're done 😃

Duplicate an import profile

If you want to create another import profile based on an existing one, you can duplicate it. To do this, please follow the steps below:

1. Select the export profile you would like to duplicate
2. Click on Edit
3. In the top right corner, click on the three dots "..." and select Duplicate
4. Write a label and a code then click on Save

Run an import

How to

To start an import:

1. Go to the Imports menu to see the list of the import profiles available
2. Select the import profile you want to execute, then click on the relevant line
3. The page for the import profile is prompted. Click on the Import now button if you want the PIM to fetch the file for you in the path you gave in your profile configuration. Or click on the Upload a file button if you want to upload a file by yourself
4. The page of the import execution is displayed. The page refreshes continually to let know at what stage the import is

When the import ends, a notification is available on the top right corner of the PIM.

An email can also be sent depending on your user configuration. For further details on this, please refer to the Manage your account article.

With the user groups rights (EE only)

RIGHTS ON THE PRODUCT INFORMATION

In the case of product imports, the PIM takes into account your permissions based on the user groups you are in:

• you own the products of the Clothes category, if you try to import product information for these products, the import will directly update your products
• you only have an edit rights on the products that are in the Audio video category, if you try to import product information for these products, the import will automatically create draft for you as you cannot direclty update these products
• you only have a view right on the products that are in the Goodies category, if you try to import product information for these products, the import won't work for these products and you will receive errors saying that you cannot modify these products

If you want to know more about how the rights on product data works in the PIM, take a look to the Access rights on products article.

RIGHTS ON IMPORT EXECUTION

The permission to execute imports can be customized for each import profile. So if you cannot launch an import, be sure that you have the right to run it in the Permissions tab of your import profile in edition mode. See the Access rights on imports/exports article for more details.

New import processes with the UUID

New import processes have been implemented with the UUID being recently introduced as a new way to identify your products.

Please find the following usecases when running imports:

• You can create a product with no SKU & no UUID: a new product will be created and a UUID will be randomly assigned.
• You can create a product with a SKU and no UUID: a new product will be created with this SKU and a UUID will be randomly assigned.
• You can update a product only with its UUID: the product will be updated even if the SKU is not available.
• You can update a product only with its SKU: the product will be updated even if the UUID is not available.
• You can update the SKU of a product using its UUID: the product will be updated with a new SKU.
• You can create a product with my own UUID: you can generate a v4 UUID anywhere (on this website for ex.) and add it during the product creation process.

Here is the table listing all usecases depending on what you fill in the UUID and SKU columns: