From the start, you’re forced to include every single SKU in your store. If I’m want the catalog to only be one type of product or product from one vendor, then you need to let Shopify load all of the products, only to remove all the extra SKUs that you don’t need within the catalog.
And if you import a catalog, you can’t create a new catalog and import it. It apparently has to be existing which means you have to do the above steps and then clear it out so that you can then import a list of SKUs.
Am I doing something wrong? Seems incredibly inefficient.
I wanted to clarify how Shopify catalogs work and recommend a more efficient setup to avoid the current challenges you’re facing.
Current Limitation
Shopify catalogs are not designed to be created from a list of SKUs. Instead, they work as a filtered view of your existing products. This is why the system forces you to include all products first and then remove unwanted ones, which can feel inefficient. Below Approach Need to Follow to avoid issue 1. Vendor-Based Catalogs
Create automated collections based on the vendor (e.g., Vendor = Nike)
Assign these collections to catalogs: This ensures only relevant vendor products are included automatically
2. Region-Based Catalogs
Use Shopify Markets to define regions (US, UAE, etc.)
Tag products by region (e.g., market_us)
Create collections based on these tags and assign them to catalogs: This allows clean regional separation without manual SKU handling
3. SKU-Based Catalogs (Best Practice)
Instead of importing SKUs into catalogs, assign tags to those Products (e.g., catalog_b2b)
Create automated collections using those tags
Assign the collection to the catalog:This converts manual catalog work into a fully automated process
We avoid managing products directly inside catalogs. Instead:
These are the peer to peer forums, shopify staff pulled stakes long ago.
Location location location:
For actual feature requests or support contact shopify support advisor DIRECTLY: https://help.shopify.com/ → click “chat with human” or question mark button next to chat (as of March 2026)
THEN search for similar complaints to join as one voice, or after search make a post to complain publicly alone.
Because it’s* a newish** baseline feature generalized for the use case of 5+ MILLION merchants not your specific needs. *ambiguity there are several systems referred to as “catalog” :agentic-catalogs or market-catalogs etc and those aren’t even two years old.
Am I doing something wrong? Seems incredibly inefficient
Yes,
this is like showing up to a jobsite to do some framing and you only use the free ballpeen hammer issued from the toolshed , because you refuse to just go and invest in a waay better framing hammer for your personal use.
The admin is shopifys’ sandbox, if you want custom and specific then build your own custom and specific sandbox that uses shopifys’ api’s or find existing CSV , ETL or automation apps to get better custom workflows. You are paying shopify for access not for them to build your specific business requirements for you.
Read: an introductory bullet point for merchants to BUILD UPON. Don’t just take what’s given to you and build your business around someone elses bare minimum. Use the apis invest in your processes.
your first point is how i’m trying to build the catalogs; however, the collections are not part of the filters/options used to load in the correct SKUs as far as i can see.
if i base the catalogs off a “type” (which is an option), even if i filter for the exact product type i want to be in the catalog, the initial step seems that it forces the catalog to save all SKUs in the store. then, you need to remove the SKUs that are not meant to be in that catalog.
These are the peer to peer forums, shopify staff pulled stakes long ago.
