Inventory Updater Tool for BigCommerce
🔧 Quick Info: Update Inventory lets you update stock quantities and related inventory settings for existing BigCommerce products and variants from a CSV or Excel spreadsheet. Rows are matched by SKU, and only the fields you include and map are changed.
What It Does
Update Inventory lets you change inventory quantities and related product settings across many BigCommerce products at once by uploading a single spreadsheet.
Each row contains a SKU and one or more values to update. The tool first looks for a product with the matching SKU. If no product is found, it searches your product variants.
This allows the same file to update simple products, products with their own inventory, and individual variant-level SKUs.
You can update any combination of the following:
- Inventory Stock Level – The current quantity available.
- Low Stock Level – The quantity that triggers a low-stock warning.
- Inventory Tracking – Track inventory by product, by variant, or not at all.
- Product Visibility – Show or hide the product on the storefront.
- Purchasability – Set the product to available, disabled, or preorder.
- Minimum Order Quantity – The smallest quantity a customer may purchase.
- Maximum Order Quantity – The largest quantity a customer may purchase.
Product vs. Variant Fields: Stock Level and Low Stock Level can be updated on both products and variants. Inventory Tracking, Product Visibility, Purchasability, Minimum Order Quantity, and Maximum Order Quantity apply only to products.
SKUs that cannot be matched to a product or variant are skipped and included in the error report.
The update runs as a background job, so you can close the page after starting it. When the process is complete, you’ll receive an email notification. If any rows could not be updated, an error report is provided.
When Should You Use This?
- You completed a stock count and need to upload new quantities to BigCommerce.
- You receive regular inventory files from a warehouse, supplier, distributor, or inventory system.
- You need to update stock for both products and individual variants.
- You want to change low-stock warning levels across many SKUs.
- You need to switch products between product-level and variant-level inventory tracking.
- You want to hide out-of-stock products or make them visible again.
- You need to mark products as available, disabled, or preorder.
- You want to set minimum or maximum order quantities in bulk.
Before You Get Started
- Make sure the products and variants you want to update already exist in BigCommerce.
- Prepare a CSV or Excel spreadsheet.
- The first row of the file must contain your column names or headers.
- Include a SKU column. Every row must have a SKU.
- Include at least one inventory or product setting to update.
- Use the accepted values listed in the field reference for tracking, visibility, and purchasability.
- Confirm that you are working with the correct connected BigCommerce store.
Blank Cells Are Ignored: Leave a cell blank or omit a column to keep the current BigCommerce value unchanged. Values supplied in mapped columns replace the current values.
Subscription Required: Update Inventory is a paid add-on. If it is not active for your store, the launch button reads Subscribe To Update Inventory. Subscribe before running an update.
How to Use It
1 Open the Tool
Open the Update Inventory tool from your BigCommerce tools dashboard.
2 Prepare the File
Make sure the first row contains column headers. Your file must include a SKU column and at least one field containing a value to update.
3 Upload the Inventory File
On the Upload Inventory step, upload your CSV or Excel spreadsheet.
The tool reads the first row to identify the available columns.
4 Map the Columns
After the file is uploaded, match each spreadsheet column to the corresponding Update Inventory field.
At minimum, map the column containing your SKUs to SKU. Then map each inventory or product setting you want to update.
Columns that are not mapped are ignored.
5 Confirm Email Delivery
Continue to the Email Delivery step and confirm the address that should receive the completion notice. Your account email is filled in by default, but you can change it.
6 Start the Update
Start the import. The tool processes the file as a background job, so you can close the page while it runs.
7 Review the Results
When the update is complete, check your email for the completion notice.
If any rows could not be updated, download the error report, review the problem for each row, correct the file, and import those rows again.
How SKUs Are Matched
Each row is matched using its SKU. Matching is not case-sensitive.
| Lookup Result | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Product SKU found | The supported mapped fields are updated on the product. |
| No product found, but variant SKU found | Stock Level and Low Stock Level can be updated on the variant. Product-only fields are not applied. |
| No product or variant found | The row is skipped and included in the error report. |
Product and Variant Field Support
| Field | Products | Variants |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory Stock Level | Yes | Yes |
| Low Stock Level | Yes | Yes |
| Track Inventory | Yes | No |
| Product Is Visible | Yes | No |
| Purchasability | Yes | No |
| Minimum Order Quantity | Yes | No |
| Maximum Order Quantity | Yes | No |
File and Field Reference
The first row of your spreadsheet must contain headers. SKU is required, and you must include at least one optional field to update.
| Column | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SKU | Yes | Identifies the product or variant to update. It must match an existing BigCommerce SKU. Matching is not case-sensitive. |
| Inventory Stock Level | No | The new quantity on hand. Must be numeric. Applies to products and variants. |
| Low Stock Level | No | The quantity that triggers a low-stock warning. Must be numeric. Applies to products and variants. |
| Track Inventory | No | Controls inventory tracking. Accepts product or p, variant or v, and none, n, or no. Product-level only. |
| Product Is Visible | No | Controls storefront visibility. Accepts yes, y, true, or 1 for visible, and no, n, false, or 0 for hidden. Product-level only. |
| Purchasability | No | Controls product availability. Accepts available, a, or in stock; disabled, d, or out of stock; and preorder, p, or pre-order. Product-level only. |
| Minimum Order Quantity | No | The smallest quantity a customer may order. Must be a whole number. Product-level only. |
| Maximum Order Quantity | No | The largest quantity a customer may order. Must be a whole number. Product-level only. |
Important Update Rules
- Each supplied value replaces the current value for that field.
- Leave a cell blank to keep the current value unchanged.
- Omit a column entirely if you do not want to update that setting.
- Product-only settings are not applied to a variant SKU.
- Setting inventory tracking to variant requires the product to have variants.
Variant Tracking Requirement: If you set Track Inventory to variant for a product that has no variants, the row is reported as an error and the setting is not changed.
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Some SKUs say “not found in BigCommerce”
The SKU could not be matched to a product or variant in your store, so the row was skipped. Confirm that the SKU is correct and that the product or variant still exists.
SKU matching is not case-sensitive, but spaces, punctuation, and other characters must still match the stored SKU.
Tracking, visibility, or purchasability did not change
These fields only accept the supported values listed in the field reference. Unsupported values are not applied.
Also confirm that the SKU belongs to a product. These settings cannot be updated on individual variants.
I updated a variant’s stock, but a product setting did not change
Stock Level and Low Stock Level work with product and variant SKUs. Inventory Tracking, Product Visibility, Purchasability, Minimum Order Quantity, and Maximum Order Quantity only work with product SKUs.
The button says “Subscribe To Update Inventory”
Update Inventory is not active on your current plan. Subscribe to the add-on, then reopen the tool to upload your inventory file.
Nothing happened after I clicked Start
The update runs as a background job. You do not need to keep the page open. Give the process time to finish, then check the inbox and spam folder for the email address shown on the Email Delivery step.
Some rows failed
Download the error report included with the completion results. Review the error for each failed row, correct the SKU or field values, and import those rows again.