Can Shopify support bulk import, in-store payment, and discount codes?

Technical Q&A
1

I have a potential customer who is looking for a few key features of a temporary online storefront, and I’m not sure if Shopify has all the capabilities, or what ‘plan’ they would need.

Here’s the features we are looking for:

  1. Ability to bulk import products

  2. Ability to bulk import product imagery (1 photo per product)

  3. Ability to ‘Pay in Store’ or to not require payment for an order (aka a Pre-order)

  4. Ability to pay a Deposit on an order (optional)

  5. Ability to have a discount code

  6. Ability to import customers (optional)

  7. Ability to export orders

Does shopify have these capabilities and which plan would be required?

2

Hi @KelownaSoftware

Great questions! I’d be happy to assist you with this. TLDR - Yes to all of your requests, with some limitations. The most difficult one is importing product imagery in bulk.

1. Ability to bulk import products

Yes! Although they will need to be formatted into the appropriate CSV layout. We provide CSV templates you can use, or you can create a product manually in the admin and then export it out to see the CSV layout. Importing products with a CSV file · Shopify Help Center - Please review all the details in our Help Center for best practices when working with CSV files.

2. Ability to bulk import product imagery (1 photo per product)

Potentially yes. If your images are already hosted online then you can add the URL into the media section of the CSV before importing. Otherwise, images need to be connected to the products manually to ensure the right image goes with the right product.

3. Ability to ‘Pay in Store’ or to not require payment for an order (aka a Pre-order)

Yes. We offer a “Pick up in store” shipping option as well as “Cash on Delivery” as a method of payment. You can also set a product price to $0, so if they want to place a pre-order and pay upon pickup, you can absolutely do that.

4. Ability to pay a Deposit on an order (optional)

Yes, with limitations. You can sell a product in your store at a portion of it’s full retail price and then send an invoice to the customer at a later date to finish payment. Third party payment gateways may also offer the ability to authorize a payment in advance, without capturing until a later date.

NOTE: Capturing payment for orders, even pre-orders, that are not going to be fulfilled for an extended period of time can be seen as a high risk venture by many payment gateways. Accepting large amounts of payments with no products being shipped could create a risk flag on your merchant account. This could lead to your access to your payment gateway being revoked, or your payouts from the gateway could be held in total or partial for an extended period of time. This changes based on the payment gateway, but you will definitely want to discuss with your gateway provider if that is the avenue you are taking with payments.

5. Ability to have a discount code

Absolutely yes! You can have discount codes, automatic discounts, and digital gift cards. Discount types · Shopify Help Center

6. Ability to import customers (optional)

Absolutely yes! You can import customers via CSV or automatically if your previous platform has a supported integration with Shopify. Importing and exporting customer lists · Shopify Help Center

7. Ability to export orders

Absolutely yes as well. Export orders to a CSV file · Shopify Help Center

Let me know if you have any other questions or concerns that I can help you with. We also offer 24/7 live support through our Help Center. Follow any of the links above and click the Support tab at the top of the page. Follow the prompts to sign into your merchant/partner account to get connected.

3

Thank you, that’s wonderful. Is it possible to also have a store be Private or Password protected?

Also I’m still trying to figure out what plan I would need, or if these features are all included in the basic plan.

4

I’m glad that information helped!

All stores come with a customizable password page (through the theme editor) that can be enabled or disabled. This feature will stop access to the entire website until a single password is entered, which then allows them to use the site as normal to shop and checkout.

If you are looking for alternatives that restrict certain collections/products based on different criteria you will most likely want to invest in an app designed for that. You can take a look at apps that offer that functionality here: Shopify App Store. The “Locksmith” app is very popular with merchants looking for this.

All other mentioned features/functions are included standard with all Shopify plans. Increasing plans mostly affects staff count, accessing third party shipping rates, Shopify provided discounts on rates, fees and shipping labels, analytic reports and automated functionality using Shopify Flow. You can check out the localized pricing options and plan features here: Shopify Pricing.

If you don’t need more than 2 staff accounts and don’t require the next tier features I mentioned, then the Basic plan is a great place to start. You can change plans at any time, even part way through a billing cycle.

5

Thank you for the reply. Do you know where I may find documentation on what columns the import needs?

6

You can find a link for each of the CSV templates for inventory, products, and customers by using these links:

Importing and exporting customer lists · Shopify Help Center

Importing products with a CSV file · Shopify Help Center

Exporting or importing inventory with a CSV file · Shopify Help Center