Importing Products Using The UPC to Overwrite (Not the Handle)

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

A user is seeking a way to import product updates via CSV using UPC codes instead of Shopify’s handle field. They regularly receive supplier files with updated information (like prices) that lack Shopify handles, making manual updates impractical for large product catalogs.

The user previously used Lightspeed Retail, which allowed matching products by UPC during import—either updating existing items or creating new ones if no match was found. They included a screenshot showing this functionality.

Current Status:

  • Shopify does not natively support UPC-based product matching for CSV imports
  • The handle field is required for updating existing products

Suggested Workarounds:

  • Use Excel formulas to convert UPC-based data into Shopify’s handle format before importing
  • Build a custom solution
  • Use automation apps like Mechanic that can handle CSV-based workflows

The discussion remains open with no definitive solution for replicating Lightspeed’s UPC matching feature directly in Shopify.

Summarized with AI on October 27. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Is there any way to import products with a CSV file, using the UPC to match to the exiting item to update info? I often receive files from my suppliers which obviously don’t have the Shopify handle field, and I’d like to import that file to overwrite some information, like updated prices, etc. There are too many products to one-by-one change the information in a product export from Shopify.

If anyone has used Lightspeed Retail, they offer this feature, but I’m switching over to Shopify. In Lightspeed, I can upload a product file and choose to match the item to the UPC instead of the “handle” to update, or if it does not exist it will create a new product.

Image for reference from Lightspeed.

Screenshot 2025-04-03 at 6.57.51 AM.png
Screenshot 2025-04-03 at 6.57.51 AM.png1600×907 83.4 KB

1 Like
2

Hi @partyfairshop :waving_hand: :rescue_worker_s_helmet: No native way to do this in shopify.

It’s either use excel-fu to set up a sheet that is based on UPC’s but converts to shopify-handle format.

Or built a custom solution, or use an automation app capable of something like this like the mechanic app

examples https://tasks.mechanic.dev/?tags=CSV