Bulk editing of products after import: how to quickly define directories

After importing price lists from Excel, a situation often arises where new products are successfully added to the database but remain «unclassified». That is, the supplier’s file simply did not contain columns for product category, brand, or season.

You should not leave products without these parameters: they will not appear in the correct sections of the online store, configured promotions will not apply to them, and sales analytics will be incomplete.

To avoid opening each of thousands of product cards manually, Torgsoft has a special tool for bulk filling in characteristics — «Directory Assignment».

Before making any changes to the database, create a database backup.

Which fields can be filled in bulk?

This tool allows you to bulk assign the selected group of products to system directories:

• Product type (category)

• Manufacturer (brand)

• Season

• Color, Material, Size, Gender.

Step 1. How to find unclassified products

To find all items that need adjustment after import:

1. Open the main menu item Merchandising ➔ Error Diagnostics.

2. Go to the «Directory Assignment» tab.

3. At the top of the window, find filters by the required parameters (for example, «Product type» or «Manufacturer») and set the value «Not marked».

4. Click the Refresh button. The program will generate a list of all products where this field is empty.

Step 2. Bulk directory assignment for products

Once the list of problematic products has been generated, they need to be assigned to the correct groups:

1. Select the required products in the list. You can use word search and multi-row selection (by holding Shift or Ctrl) or select everything at once with Ctrl+A.

2. Click the «Edit» button on the toolbar.

3. The «Product Directory Assignment» window will open. Select the correct value from the drop-down list or directory (for example, product type — «Winter jackets», manufacturer — «Columbia»).

4. If the required brand or category does not exist yet, you can create it right here by clicking the directory call button next to the field.

5. Click “Allow information overwrite” and Save.

   

 Safety rules: how not to damage the database

When working with bulk editing, it is important to follow several rules so you do not accidentally overwrite correct information:

• Overwrite control. In the assignment window, to the right of each field, there is a switch «Allow information overwrite». Turn it on only next to the field you are currently changing in bulk. If you enable it everywhere, you risk deleting already existing correct parameters for the selected products.

• Correcting mistakes. If you accidentally imported products into the wrong category (incorrect reassignment), the algorithm is as follows: in the upper «Product type» filter, set «Any», then in the lower filter select that same incorrect category ➔ select the products ➔ click «Edit» ➔ choose the correct category ➔ enable «Allow overwrite» and save.

• Be careful with automatic name generation. If automatic product name generation is enabled in the program settings (for example, Product type + Manufacturer), bulk assignment will change not only hidden characteristics, but will also physically rename all selected products according to the new directories.

What to do with other fields (prices, quantity)?

The «Directory Assignment» tool works exclusively with classifiers.

• If after import you need to bulk change retail or wholesale prices, use the mode Warehouse ➔ Stock Status (select products ➔ Product sales conditions ➔ Change retail price).

• Text descriptions, article numbers or barcodes are not changed in bulk — they are updated either during the Excel import process itself, or edited individually in the product card.