Inventory set to zero after importing CSV

[BeamJokerFavor]

I am importing a CSV generated by the Shapeways Integration app and modified by me. It says there is an Variant Inventory Qty of 1 on the CSV but it is coming in as 0 in my shop. Is this because I added a second location?

[Andrew]

Hi @BeamJokerFavor,

CSVs are great for bulk importing data, but they do need to be in a format that Shopify can recognize and read. This is why we have a help guide on Using CSV files, which also includes a sample CSV file you can use that is in the right format!

While I cannot speak to the Shapeways Integration app CSV format and whether it is compatible with Shopify, you mentioned that you modified it yourself, so it is quite possible that the data is therefore not being read properly.

With all that said, you also mentioned that you have enabled a second location - which helps give me greater context, so thank you! Because if you have locations enabled and are trying to update your inventory quantities you will need to use an inventory CSV format rather than a standard CSV.

The inventory CSV file contains information that uniquely identifies a product or product variant and the inventory quantities at the specified locations. It's similar to other CSV files that you use with Shopify but has different columns. So its sole purpose is to update the inventory at designated locations!

I hope that helps, let me know if you have any further questions!

[BeamJokerFavor]

So if I have a second location, I will need to upload two CSVs, one for product and one for inventory?

[poweredby]

You are on the right thought path here... The Variant Inventory Qty will be ignored unless you have only a single location there.

If you want to update the qty after they come in as 0, view the options under "How do I import my inventory quantities after my products are created?" on this page, it shows some options:

https://the-migration-hub.myshopify.com/pages/faqs

[Andrew]

@BeamJokerFavor  If you have a second location, then there are two ways you can update the inventory:

1. You can update the inventory quantities from the *Inventory page* or the *Product page*.
2. If you need to update the inventory quantities for a large number of products across locations, then you can use a CSV file. If you're updating using a CSV file, then it simply must be the inventory CSV file because it has a column specifically for specifying the location:

You can get a better sense of all this in our guide on changing product quantities. Please have a read of that and let me know if that helps!