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Shopify product CSV guide

Migrate a Shopify product CSV with a review-first workflow

Start with a small product export, review the imported drafts and their images, then approve the products you want to create. The result is Inactive Products that you can check before making them public.

See plansSell digital products

Before you start

This moves product information, not your whole store. Your Lantanios plan must include bulk product operations. Catalog Migration stages CSV or strict JSON v1 product files for review; file, row, image, and plan limits still apply. This guide follows the Shopify CSV path.

  • No Shopify Admin API or OAuth connection.
  • Customer accounts, orders, and purchase entitlements do not transfer.
  • Reimporting a file does not update existing Products.
  • Image copying does not support arbitrary remote URLs.
  • This is not a complete-store migration.

From export to reviewed products

Keep your original export and leave the source products and images available while you work. Review one manageable batch before preparing the next.

1. Export the products you want to move

In Shopify, open Products and choose Export. Select the products you want to review rather than assuming the entire catalog will fit in one import. The CSV contains image URLs, not the image files.

  • Keep an untouched source export before making spreadsheet edits.
  • Do not sort individual rows in the export: you can separate a product from its variants or images.

2. Create a migration and inspect the drafts

In Catalog Migration, choose New migration and select your product CSV. Lantanios handles recognized current and older Shopify product exports, including supported blank-SKU and default-variant cases. It uses the shipping field to suggest Physical or Digital product type.

  • Review titles, descriptions, options, variants, prices, type, tags, and media assignments.
  • Check the suggested field mappings and reported problems. Correct unsupported or incomplete data; if a file is rejected or too large, fix or split it before continuing.

3. Check copied product and variant images

For recognized Shopify CSVs, Lantanios can copy eligible product and variant images from https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/ URLs into your site's Files library. Other hosts and other URL paths are not supported by this image-copy step.

  • An image that redirects, cannot be read safely, or exceeds the image limits is not copied.
  • Keep the source store and product images reachable until the copied files and assignments are reviewed.

4. Approve drafts and create Inactive Products

You review, correct, and approve each draft before creating its Product. Created Products are Inactive: importing them does not activate them or make them public.

  • Resolve validation and media questions before approval.
  • Open each created Product and check it again before deciding whether to activate or publish it.

Worked example: one digital product, two variants

This original practice example uses current Shopify-style headers. It is not a customer export or a complete Shopify template. Download the UTF-8 .csv or copy the text to inspect two draft variants in Migration Studio; it contains no images, delivery files, customer data, or past orders.

URL handle,Title,Description,Option1 name,Option1 value,SKU,Price,Requires shipping,Product image URL
studio-sounds,Studio Sounds,Example audio pack for import practice.,Edition,Starter,SOUNDS-STARTER,19.00,FALSE,
studio-sounds,,,Edition,Complete,SOUNDS-COMPLETE,39.00,FALSE,
Download practice CSV

What the preview should show

One product named Studio Sounds with an Edition option: Starter (SOUNDS-STARTER, 19.00) and Complete (SOUNDS-COMPLETE, 39.00). Both rows share the studio-sounds handle, so they belong to the same product. Requires shipping is FALSE, which suggests Digital.

What you still need to supply

Review the currency and tax category, add your actual product images, and attach the private delivery files to the correct variants. These illustrative prices are not an offer for sale. Approve only after resolving the reported issues; created Products remain Inactive.

If variants split into separate products

Check that the handle is identical on each variant row and that the option name is consistent. Keep each complete row together when editing a spreadsheet. Review the preview before committing; do not repeatedly import the file expecting it to update products already created.

If images or purchase access are missing

Product images are separate from purchased files. Eligible Shopify-hosted images can be copied during migration, but a CSV does not carry the private downloads from your Shopify delivery app or give past buyers access in Lantanios. Keep your existing store serving those buyers while you plan that transition.

Check before making products public

A finished import is a starting point for reviewing your catalog, not a complete store launch. Keep the source export until you have checked the created Products and their images.

Review the created Products

Check names, descriptions, product type, options, variants, prices, and image assignments. Resolve anything missing or incorrect before taking a Product out of Inactive status.

Keep the remaining work separate

Customer accounts, past orders, purchase access, and the rest of your storefront are outside this import. Plan that work separately; a successful product import does not transfer them.