Import / Export metafields, upload data through CSV

[Zeppelin83]

Hi community, 

Please tell me there is a way to upload metafield data in bulk by uploading a CSV file... without buying an app for USD20. Surely this should be an easy thing to do?

Anyone know how I can do this?  The bulk editor doesn't help as I can't paste data into the bulk editor, and need to manually input which is not possible in my case due to the number of SKUs I need to edit. 

[SBNL]

I am sorry to say that the people at Shopify are idiots in this regard.  They provide built-in metafields now but they do not provide a way to bulk export or bulk import those metafields.  They tell you to buy an app.  I got rid of my metafield app when Shopify built them in thinking they would have updated the import/export capabilities along with the metafield feature.  They did not.  Pathetic.  All they are really capable of is telling us users to just buy an app to do it.  

[SupportDC]

Hi @Zeppelin83 

With Our App DataChamp you can easily export data into a CSV file. Since we also offer a free plan, you do not necessarily have to buy our app, depending on the amount of data you want to export. Our App is also very easy to set up but if you require any support, we can assist you of course!

Hopefully we could help you with your concern and if you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us!

[itadmfragments]

Oh! that is really great! the free plan covers 1 item, and it you even have to test purchase $10 dollars just to test it! MgaPota!

[itadmfragments]

I came to a final decision of not using the meta-fields for it would only force me to purchase an addin which will not be of good use later. Just did a workaround to be able to make use and be able to post other product descriptions without using and addons.

[Zeppelin83]

1 item??  Haha that's so ridiculous it's funny. I was thinking maybe they would offer 250 or so as a trial.

[SupportDC]

During the 7-day Free Trial, you can test the app without any charges and limitations and you have access to all its features.

[Jazabi]

This is export only! What use is that to anyone??

[wonena-dev]

I have the same feeling. Shopify is never clear with the abilities of the tool and I find my self all the time looking for additional apps that meet that gap. It's impossible! 

What did you decided to do?

[SBNL]

Thanks CEOWonena,

Shopify could be so much better with not that much effort. It really is pathetic.

So far, I have just brute-forced it and manually entered my metafields data as I have kept my imports to a few products at a time, which works OK for my business a fair bit of the time. If I get to a time when I do need to export or import in large bulk, then it appears I have no choice but to buy some app and do the work, then remove the app until next time, or something like that.

Well, good luck with your efforts and let me know if you find an elegant solution.

Best,
Nils
LFMG

[Zeppelin83]

I am using the an app called Metafields2 for downloading my metafields, so at least I have backup (i keep all my warehouse locations in metafields). It was the cheapest one I could find which are not charging for a million functions that I'm not using anyway.  

I understand Shopify needs to prioritise which functions to develop. But launching meta fields without capability to up and download, seems more like a bug than anything else!

[scom]

Wow, can't believe I find myself once again wondering why Shopify has once again decided to either leave out basic functionality or half-bake it so that you need a 3rd party app to make it work in any capacity that would be considered useful.

So we can add metafields to customers account but there is no way to import or export them ..... seriously lolol

[Bonny99]

I can also not understand why this is not possible 🙈 Shopify please do something!

[merchant]

The folks at Shopify are not idiots. They do this to support the app developers from which they make a hefty commission. If Shopify had to only rely on monthly subscription fees, they would not make it. The main profit comes from commissions from the various apps they promote. 

[scom]

Yes, it is brilliant, not at all an obvious way to rake in more money, not at all frustrating for customers, not at all a good reason to look for alternatives, and not at all stopping me from ever recommending this platform to others.

Allowing 3rd party apps is great but not at the expense of basic functionality 

[merchant]

I agree but what are the alternatives? WooCommerce, Big Commerce. Shopify is very easy for non-developers and newbies. The apps allow a layman to use functionality that others require a programming knowledge.

However, one thing to note that if you don't have hundreds of items, you can still add the meta tags manually and not really have to use any apps if you are using a fully compliant 2.0 theme.

[scom]

You are right about that, the barrier to entry for Shopify is very low compared to other options but in retrospect, I would have probably been better off spending a bit more time, money and effort to go with an alternative than being in the situation now of having to constantly add more 3rd party apps, increasing monthly cost and still not having a solution that suits my current needs.

[merchant]

I tell my clients not to expect $39/month, but rather around $125 to $200 which will include all necessary apps to run their business. For uploading products I suggest using Matrixify which costs $20/month for 5000 items and you can upload all the metafields you like using an excel spreadsheet in CSV format. Plus you can use the same subscription for a 2nd shop at no charge. Their how to manuals are fantastic and the app functions so well, you almost never need any support, but when you do, it is top notch. If you have been using Shopify for more than just a few months, then you know that there is no way you can run with the $39/month budget. But what gets most people is that there are so many apps out there all run by other companies, each having their own systems of support, manuals, etc., that it takes time to learn to use an app only to find out it just does not work the way you want it to. I wish Shopify would use a better approach in the ranking system. In my opinion only about 10% of all the apps are worth the money. 
By the way I don't get paid for mentioning Matrixify, but it is the only app I use in all my accounts for uploading products with metafields and have never needed to look elsewhere for something better. If you want to give it a try, here is the link: https://matrixify.app/pricing/  

You can try 10 products at no charge to see if this fits your bill.
If you have any questions, let me know.
~Nick

[Renars]

Hey @merchant 

Thank you for suggesting the use of the Matrixify app for bulk managing Metafields.

Indeed that is one of the features that we offer with our app and we actually have a great tutorial specifically for this feature - How to manage Shopify Metafields?

If any questions or concerns come up along the way, our Support team is always ready to assist - Contact Matrixify.

[Mrk786]

Why should we pay for this basic requirement that Shopify should provide in exporting products?

[marvic]

I would happily pay more for not having to look up every basic functionality and deal with 3rd party apps. They are a massive privacy liability. The amount of data that they need to access,... we could basically just provide all of our customer data, revenue and other critical business data as a zip file for anyone to download.

Export and import of data, product bundling and bulk printing of shipping labels should be the minimum standard of every ecommerce platform. I see that it makes sense for shopify to outsource connectivity to external services, like shipping providers, advertisement, social media platforms as it's beyond shopify's core business. It's not only the aforementioned privacy risk, but also the often ridiculous pricing of these apps! There are product bundle apps that not only charge a monthly fee but also a percentage of the revenue of each bundle sold. Like seriously?! How can shopify even allow that. Shipping apps that charge monthly fees + a commision for every printed label. Monthly subscription to import and export data every once in a while!? That's capitalism at its best. Shopify willingly offers a very average product while it is so easy for them to offer a great product! The only thing I am really happy with is their support. Whenever I had critical issues it was resolved in 5-10 minutes through their chat.

[Tanay]

We've come up with a workaround that works for us. We bulk upload tags, and we use Shopify Flow to convert the tag into a metafield.

e.g. we have a tag called brand_b1. Shopify Flow will automatically set the "brand" metafield to "b1" for this product.

You can read more on the Shopify Flow required in this post.

Two downsides:

1. Tags are unstructured data, so you lose the data validations that you get with metafields.
2. Shopify Flow doesn't have a trigger for "product update", so we've set the trigger for product creation. You need to remember to manually trigger the workflow if you later update these tags.

[marvic]

That's great to know, but I am more concerned about the other way around atm, as I've added metafields manually while growing the shop. It'll be a pain to copy paste them manually to create a backup, also they change from time to time, so it will be tedious to keep any manual backup up to date.

[Tanay]

You should be able to modify the Shopify flow to do the inverse, i.e. push metafield values into tags. A backup will then be an occasional product export since tags are part of the product export.

Of course, if you're updating the metafields regularly then syncing metafields to tags requires a manual execution of the workflow.

[marvic]

Will try that! Even though our meta tags are complex product descriptions with lists and tables. Let's see how that works out...

[webcase_Design]

I was also able to convert tags to metafields using Shopify Flow, however I'm having trouble with single line text lists. For some reason I can't add multiple values from a metafield list without overwriting one or the other. 

Would anyone be able to help?

[Bryan_Cez]

Hi there,

I was looking to do the same and as of today in 2024 it is possible to export/import Shopify native Metafields.

Export a customer test with metafields in it and you will have the column in the csv file

e.g. NDIS Number (customer.metafields.custom.ndis_number)

Then during the importation process leave the same Metafield column, I just tested and it works great.

Note that column like First Name, Last Name, Default Address fields will also be overwritten during the process to leave them into your CSV.

Tested on Shopify Advanced plan.

Cheers

[Dan30707077]

When i "Export" CSV file i do not get any column with metafield names? 😞

[itadmfragments]

Nice one if you do have Shopify Advance Plan. But this is the basic reason for us regular plan holders have, this is also the reason why we are on this forum.

@Dan30707077 

Been there, done that. No other workaround without purchasing an add-on, and also have to make sure it is compatible with your currently installed theme.

[AndrewsRigom]

Faced the same problem, solved by using Metafields Guru to import/export metafields

[Zeppelin83]

Ok guys, looks like we are many having the same issue, and have resolved to manually entering meta fields, SO HERE IS A WARNING!!!

I just did a bulk upload of my products after making some changes, and I chose 'overwrite existing products'.  However, turns out that by doing this, ALL MY META DATA GOT DELETED!!!!!

For me, I was using meta data for warehouse location.  So I now have 3 warehouses with a few thousand SKUs, and I have no idea where to find each product 😞

In case anyone knows about a roll back option, please le me know.  And don't make the same mistake, as these meta fields are so fragile when we have no way of doing backups....