Inventory Updater Tool for BigCommerce
? Quick Info: Import Product or Variant Inventory.
What it does
Update Inventory lets you update stock and related inventory settings across many products at once by uploading a single file. You list your products by SKU and the values you want, and the tool finds each matching product (or variant) in BigCommerce and applies the changes.
You can update any combination of these settings:
- Inventory stock level (current quantity on hand)
- Low stock level (the warning threshold)
- Inventory tracking (track at the product level, variant level, or not at all)
- Product visibility (visible or hidden in your storefront)
- Purchasability / availability (available, disabled, or preorder)
- Minimum order quantity
- Maximum order quantity
The tool matches rows by SKU. It first looks for a matching product, and if it doesn’t find one there it checks your product variants, so both simple products and variant-level SKUs are covered. SKUs that can’t be found are skipped and reported back so you know exactly what didn’t update.
A few settings apply only to products (not individual variants): inventory tracking, visibility, purchasability, and minimum/maximum order quantity. Stock level and low stock level can be updated on both products and variants.
When to use it
- You did a stock count and need to push updated quantities into BigCommerce.
- A warehouse or supplier feed gives you fresh inventory numbers on a regular basis.
- You want to hide out-of-stock items, flip products to preorder, or re-enable them in bulk.
- You need to set or adjust low-stock warning levels or order quantity limits across many products.
Before you start
- Make sure the products you want to update already exist in BigCommerce. This tool updates existing products matched by SKU.
- Have your file ready as a spreadsheet (CSV or Excel) where the first row contains column headers.
- Every row needs a SKU. The other columns are optional, but you must include at least one of them for the update to do anything.
- For text-style fields (tracking, visibility, purchasability), use the accepted values listed in the reference table below.
- This is a paid add-on. If you haven’t subscribed yet, the button will read “Subscribe To Update Inventory” and you’ll be prompted to subscribe before you can run an update.
Step-by-step
1 Open the Update Inventory tool from your BigCommerce dashboard.
2 On the Upload Inventory step, upload your file. The first row must contain your column headers, including SKU and at least one of the optional columns.
3 Once the file is uploaded, the tool shows the Match your file’s columns screen. Pick the matching field for each column in your file (most are matched automatically).
4 Continue to the Email Delivery step. Choose whether you’d like an email when the import finishes — delivery is off by default, and your email address is prefilled if you turn it on.
5 Start the import. The work runs in the background, so you don’t need to keep the page open.
6 When it’s done, you’ll get an email confirming the import has completed (if you turned email delivery on). If any rows couldn’t be updated, an error report is included so you can review them.
File / field reference
Your file’s first row must be headers. During upload you map each of your columns to the fields below. SKU is required; include at least one of the optional columns.
| Column | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SKU | Yes | Identifies the product or variant to update. Must match a SKU already in BigCommerce. Matching is not case-sensitive. |
| Inventory Stock Level | No | The new stock quantity. Must be a number. Applies to products and variants. |
| Low Stock Level | No | The warning threshold for low stock. Must be a number. Applies to products and variants. |
| Track Inventory | No | How inventory is tracked. Accepts product (or p), variant (or v), or none (or n/no). Product-level only. |
| Product Is Visible | No | Whether the product shows in your storefront. Accepts yes (y/true/1) or no (n/false/0). Product-level only. |
| Purchasability | No | Availability state. Accepts available (a/in stock), disabled (d/out of stock), or preorder (p/pre-order). Product-level only. |
| Minimum Order Quantity | No | Smallest quantity a customer can order. Must be a whole number. Product-level only. |
| Maximum Order Quantity | No | Largest quantity a customer can order. Must be a whole number. Product-level only. |
Notes:
- Each value replaces the current value for that field on the matched product or variant.
- Leave a cell blank (or omit the column) to leave that setting untouched.
- If you set tracking to
varianton a product that has no variants, that row is reported as an error instead of being changed.
Troubleshooting / FAQ
Some SKUs say “not found in BigCommerce.”
That SKU wasn’t matched to any product or variant in your store, so it was skipped. Check the SKU matches exactly what’s in BigCommerce and that the product still exists.
My tracking / visibility / purchasability values didn’t take.
These fields only accept specific values (see the reference table). Anything else is ignored for that row. Also remember these particular settings apply to products, not individual variants.
I set a variant’s stock but a product setting didn’t change.
Stock level and low stock level work on both products and variants, but tracking, visibility, purchasability, and order quantity limits are product-level only.
The button says “Subscribe To Update Inventory.”
This is a paid add-on and your subscription isn’t active yet. Subscribe to enable the importer.
Nothing happened after I clicked start.
The import runs in the background, and emails you when it’s complete only if Email Delivery was set to “Yes.” Give it a few minutes, then check the inbox for the address shown on the Email Delivery step.