Compare catalogue imports using a difficult sample

A catalogue import should preserve meaning, not just produce rows. Compare platforms with a small, difficult sample before moving hundreds of products.

The test should reveal how options, images and updates are interpreted. An upload reporting success is not enough if the customer sees the wrong selection or the merchant loses a useful identifier.

Build the sample deliberately

Include a simple product, a variant product, an unavailable item and a product with several photographs. Use one long description and a name containing ordinary punctuation.

Keep the sample small enough to inspect manually. Ten carefully chosen records can expose more than a large file containing only easy items.

Use public catalogue information or fictional data. Private customer records are unnecessary for this test.

Define the expected result

For every sample item, record the intended title, options, price, availability and image order. Note which fields should remain separate.

This gives you something to compare against the imported output. Without an expected result, a visually plausible page can hide a changed meaning.

Do not assume that similarly named source and destination fields use the same units or structure.

Review mapping before upload

Ask how the importer treats blank values, repeated identifiers and unsupported fields. Find out whether missing data is refused, ignored or replaced with a default.

A default can be useful, but it must not silently make an unavailable item purchasable or invent a price.

Keep the mapping record with the source file. It will help when a later correction needs to be imported.

Inspect relationships, not only text

Check that variant images and stock belong to the right combinations. Verify that categories contain the intended products and that a set has not become several unrelated listings.

Follow one product through selection into a safe order record. The import is not operationally correct if the visible option and recorded option differ.

Do not let a neat grid of product cards end the acceptance test.

Read the refusal report

A useful importer should make omitted or invalid records discoverable through its supported reporting. Ask how you identify partial success.

Compare the count of intended products with created, updated and refused items. Investigate the difference rather than repeatedly uploading the same file.

A partial import can be manageable when the result is explicit. Silent omission creates a catalogue that looks complete but is not.

Test an update and a repeated upload

Change one price or description in the source sample and import it again using the intended update process. Check whether the existing product changes or a duplicate appears.

Then ask how the process behaves if the same file is submitted twice after an uncertain result. Do not assume duplicate protection exists.

Use a disposable catalogue for these tests. Repeated imports into a live range can create confusing public changes.

Check media durability

Determine whether images are copied into the destination or referenced from the original host. Ask what happens if the old store closes.

A successful preview today does not prove that externally referenced images will remain available after migration.

Keep originals and rights information organised. Do not use images you cannot lawfully reuse simply because an importer can retrieve them.

Verify the currency and unit convention

Inspect a price and a measured dimension after import. A numeric value can be syntactically valid while using the wrong currency scale or unit. Keep those conventions explicit in the mapping, especially when a source file was prepared for a different system or supplier.

Plan the full transfer in stages

Once the sample passes, choose manageable batches and repeat the checks. Keep the original source file and a record of each import.

Avoid changing the live catalogue in two places without a reconciliation rule. Otherwise the final transfer may overwrite newer corrections.

Choose the provider whose import process is understandable and repeatable for your catalogue. A fast bulk upload is useful only when you can verify what it created and safely correct what it did not.

For a broader exit assessment, also inspect what a platform can export. Import and export are related, but neither one proves the other.