Protect the source
- Keep the original supplier file untouched.
- Record the supplier, export date, and expected row count.
- Open CSVs as UTF-8 and preserve leading zeros in identifiers.
Free resource
Shopify CSV preflight checklist.
Use this before a supplier catalog reaches Shopify. It catches the issues that create duplicate products, broken variants, missing images, and hard-to-reverse import work.
Confirm product identity
- Identify the product handle or agreed grouping rule.
- Keep source SKUs, UPCs, and other identifiers as supplied.
- Flag blanks, duplicates, and conflicting identifiers for review.
Check required data
- Map titles, vendors, product types, and publish settings.
- Do not create missing prices, attributes, inventory, or SKUs.
- Separate known values from business decisions that still need an owner.
Review variants
- Check option names and option values for every variant group.
- Find duplicate option combinations before import.
- Confirm the relationship between parent product rows and variants.
Validate commercial values
- Keep prices and inventory values unchanged unless a transformation is approved.
- Verify decimal formatting and currency conventions.
- Flag blanks, text in number fields, and unexpected negative values.
Review media and import safety
- Check image URLs and their product association.
- Confirm the CSV uses Shopify-compatible headers.
- Test a small import before a live catalog update.
Need a second set of eyes?
We will clean one supplier file for $149.
Up to 1,000 rows and 10 MB. You get a Shopify-ready CSV, a row-level change report, an unresolved-issues report, and one correction round.