Improve Your EPoS Data Fast with Imports

We’ve all been there. A new delivery arrives. A supplier sends over a new range. Everything needs to be live immediately. You’re staring at your EPoS system preparing for hours of copy, paste, repeat. It’s easy to assume that this is just part of the e-commerce operation. The truth is it doesn’t have to be.

One of the most powerful and underused features in most modern EPoS systems is imports. In this blog, we’ll use Pursuit as an example. Pursuit is a Point-of-Sale platform that manages products, stock, orders etc. However, at Autify, we’ve worked with a wide variety of e-commerce systems so the strategies discussed here can be applied across most e-commerce platforms.

Why Imports Matter

Imports might not sound exciting but they can offer something crucial to e-commerce business: speed, control and accuracy. With a properly structured import file, you can turn a day of repetitive data entry into a quick update. Within minutes products can be created, pricing updated, categories reorganised, stock levels adjusted, descriptions refreshed and images assigned. All of this without manually opening each product record.

Imports also help to reduce human error. When you spend hours typing inside a system, mistakes are easily made. However, a spreadsheet gives you the ability to sort, filter, review data before it is in your live system.

Creating New Products in Bulk

Rather than entering product details individually, EPoS systems allow you to add multiple products at once using imports. This generally involves preparing a spreadsheet in which each column represents a specific field and each row corresponds to a product. When uploaded, the system processes the file and updates the product data accordingly.

This approach is particularly helpful when working with supplier data that may not match your system’s format. Using spreadsheet functions, you can quickly standardise naming conventions, calculate pricing adjustments or generate SKUs automatically, allowing bulk updates that would otherwise require significant manual effort. For example, some functions I find particularly helpful include UPPER() or LOWER() to standardise text, ROUND() for adjusting pricing and IF() or VLOOKUP() to adjust values based on conditions or other data sheets.

Most systems, including Pursuit, provide structured import templates to guide you. These templates outline exactly how the import should be formatted and what fields you can set. Using the template is particularly useful as even a small change to a column heading can cause an import to fail.

Managing Product Variants Efficiently

E-commerce rarely deals in “one size fits all”. Products tend to come in a variety of sizes, colours, and styles. Therefore, manually creating each variant inside your EPoS can quickly become repetitive. Imports make this much simpler.

To do this, it is best to create a parent product row, then duplicate that row for each variant adjusting relevant fields such as size, stock or description for each version. By creating it in this way, when uploaded, the system will recognise these as variants under one configurable product. This ensures that your data remains organised and well structured.

When creating variants, it’s important to consider consistency. For example, if sizes are entered as “Small” in one row and “S” in another, your system may treat them as separate values, leading to messy data and future issues. Spending a little extra time to standardise variant names in your spreadsheet helps prevent confusion down the line.

Updating Products at Scale

Another area where imports are essential is updates. Instead of editing items one by one, you can export your product list, make the needed changes in a spreadsheet and re-upload it to your system. This allows you to update descriptions, prices, stock etc all at once. Not only does this save time but it also reduces errors and ensures consistency across your listings. It also makes large-scale updates such as seasonal changes, merchandising adjustments or stock synchronisation quick and stress-free.

Some platforms allow specific fields to be left blank during an update, enabling users to modify only the fields that require changes. For example, within Pursuit using the symbol “^” will have this effect. However, this will vary by system, so it’s always worth checking the documentation before updating anything.

Managing Custom Properties and Images

Imports aren’t limited to standard product information, they’re also invaluable for managing custom properties that are unique to your setup. This means you can update key business information that only applies to your store. When working with these custom properties, it’s important to ensure that the names and data format in your import file match exactly with what’s set up in your system, as even small discrepancies can cause errors or prevent updates from applying correctly.

Images can also be added through imports. This usually requires pairing each product SKU with its corresponding images in an import spreadsheet. The best approach is to name your image files using the SKU and the image’s order, for example: WATC-TAGH-CARA-0001234-1. This method not only helps prevent errors during the import process but also makes your spreadsheet easier to manage, populate and keep organised.

Top Tips

There are a few common areas where import errors can occur, so here are some top tips to help you avoid them:

Use the correct import templates. Most systems offer multiple templates for different types of imports. Using the wrong one can lead to unexpected results or failed uploads, so always double-check you’re working with the right template for your task.

Watch out for duplicate SKUs. Since the SKU is typically the unique identifier, duplicates can overwrite data or cause errors during import. Most spreadsheet programs allow you to highlight duplicate values, making it easy to identify and fix them before uploading.

Check your file type. Not all systems accept the same file formats but CSV files are generally the most widely supported. Always verify the required format before importing to reduce failure.

Run a small test first. Even if your import looks perfect, issues can still occur. Start with a smaller file containing just a few records to check that everything uploads correctly before running a full import.

If you’re still creating or updating products one by one in your EPoS, it may be time to rethink your process. A well-structured import can be one of the most powerful tools in your EPoS system, helping you work faster, smarter and more accurately. While this blog provides a starting point for using imports within your EPoS system, if you require further assistance or information, please don’t hesitate to contact our team!