Groupon Goods Gateway allows for merchants to upload their product catalogs in bulk to facilitate a better merchant experience. Below you will find a guide to the ins and outs of the Bulk Tool. You can also refer to our Full Gateway Training Video here.




Finding the Bulk Upload Template 

After logging into your Gateway account, navigate to the Bulk Upload tab. The Bulk Upload Template can be downloaded by clicking on the Download Generic Third-Party Template button on the Bulk Upload page. If you are having trouble logging into Gateway, please refer to this support article.


This template is a spreadsheet document you will be using to input all information needed to create your product catalog and inventory. Download the template, then use this guide to assist in filling it out to completion. 

Once you are finished, you will return to the Bulk Upload page and upload your completed copy of the template. 

NOTE : Each time you make a new bulk upload, be sure to download a new template 






Bulk Upload Template Tabs and Definitions 

The Bulk Upload template Excel file has 6 different tabs to assist you in filling out your product information. This section explains the function of each of these tabs. 


Instructions & Best Practices tab

  • A quick supplementary guide to using the Bulk Upload tool


Goods Marketplace Template tab

  • Input all product’s information here

  • Note, Blue highlighted columns are REQUIRED, Orange highlighted columns are HIGHLY recommended, and White columns are optional EXCEPT Attributes columns (Attribute columns are required and are determined by the product's category).


Definitions tab

  • An overview of what columns mean and their accepted values


Category ID tab

  • A list of valid category IDs (the category your product will sell in)


Attributes tab

  • List of attributes that are associated with each Category ID. 

  • Any attributes listed in all caps are required.


Attribute values tab

  • List of values that are valid for each attribute





Bulk Upload Best Practices


Create A Product Group


Before creating your first product group, please read What Are "Products" and "Product Groups"? to better understand how products and product groups are structured.

  • Creating a Product Group is optional, but is used when there are multiple options for the same product that you would like to sell together on the same deal

  • To group your products together, utilize the Variation Grouping ID column (column K). To group products together properly, make sure:

    • The Variation Grouping ID is unique and less than 40 characters

    • The Variation Grouping ID must be the same for all products being grouped together

    • In addition to the Variation Grouping ID matching, the following columns must also match across all items in order for them to be grouped together

      • Category ID (column A)

      • Product/Product Group Title (column C)

      • Description (column D)

      • Manufacturer (column E)

      • Brand (column G)

      • Bullet Points (column AZ-BF)

    • If you chose to group products after they have been uploaded, please review the steps provided in Regrouping and Ungrouping Products in Your Catalog  

    • Notes: (1) If the Variation Grouping ID column is left blank, each individual item will upload to its own deal page. (2) A maximum of 80 products can be grouped together under the same Variation Grouping ID. 



Adding Product Images

 

● When using the Bulk Upload tool, all images must be added using an URL. 

● All image URLs must end in .jpg, .gif, or .png. 

● Your URL must be a direct link to the image. To check if a URL is a direct image link, paste the URL in your browser; if you only see the image with no other information on the page (eg, site logos, text), the URL is a direct link. 

● Be sure that the image is set to public, as Gateway will not accept password protected images. 

● Some merchants choose to use the Dropbox service to host their product images. If you are planning on using Dropbox, please see our tips for Dropbox users on the support page How to Create an Image Link. 


NOTE: If you’re not sure that your product photos are compliant with our guidelines, please see Image Requirements and Creating a Great Product Photo.




Adding Product Attributes


Types of Attributes & How They Appear on the Deal Page


There are two type of attributes:

  • Distinguishing Attributes - Attributes that differentiate one product from another in the product group

  • Supplementary Attributes - Attributes that “tag” product for search and Left-Hand Navigation


What attributes create drop-downs on the deal page?

  • Only Distinguishing Attributes that have more than one different value throughout the product group will create drop-downs. 

  • For example, a product group with three options that have the same color but different sizes will only have a “Size” drop-down. Adding a fourth product with a different color will create a “Color” drop-down. 


What attributes will not create drop-downs on the deal page?

  • Supplementary Attributes

  • Distinguishing Attributes that have the same value for all products in the group


How do I edit product attributes values?

  • Merchants can edit product attribute values on the Update Product Groups page by clicking the “Edit” link next to the product. Merchants can also change attributes using the Bulk Upload tool.


How do I change the values in the deal drop-down?

  • The deal drop-downs are directly linked to product attribute values. Changing product attribute values will change the values in the deal drop-downs.






Adding Product Attributes in the Bulk Template


Before we go over how to add attributes in bulk, here are some important things to note:

  • All products that are created must have at least one attribute value, even if it is the only product in a group.

  • If you enter an attribute for one product, you must enter that attribute for all products in the group or you will encounter an upload error. 

  • Some categories have particular attributes that are required in order to create products.

  • If there is more than one product in a group, there must be at least one Distinguishing Attribute to tell the difference between products (eg different colors, different sizes).

  • Required attributes are reflected in all caps in the “Attributes” tab of the bulk file.


1. Once all other information has been provided in the Bulk Upload Template, navigate to the end of the spreadsheet where the "Attribute Name" (Column BM) and "Attribute Value" (Column BN) columns are located. Here you will enter attributes for each product.




2. Click on the Attributes tab and search for the product category to see what attributes are available and which attributes are required for your product(s).



3. Enter the attribute(s) noted in the Attributes tab into the "Attribute Name" column that matches your product's row, either by copying/pasting or choosing from the dropdown provided. Each attribute should have it's own "Attribute Name" cell. For example, if there are the attributes "Men's Apparel Size" and "Color" that are required for a category, "Men's Apparel Size" would be entered under "Attribute 1 Name" and "Color" would be entered under "Attribute 2 Name".




4. Enter the corresponding attribute value for each attribute under the "Attribute Value" column that matches the products row. Each attribute value should have it's own "Attribute Value" cell. For example if the attribute names "Men's Apparel Size" and "Color" have already been provided as "Attribute 1 Name" and "Attribute 2 Name", then "Small" would be entered under "Attribute 1 Value" and "Green" would be entered under "Attribute 2 Value". If you are unsure what attribute values are accepted, reference the Attribute Values tab of the Bulk Upload file or use the drop-down provided to choose a valid attribute value.



5. Confirm that each product in each product group (designated by the Variation Grouping ID) has their own unique set of attribute values. For example, no two products both have "Green" and "Small" as their unique attribute value set.



Troubleshooting Attribute Issues and Errors


The attribute that you need is not available


"Attributes Do Not Have a Unique Set" Message

  • If you are receiving the message "Attributes do not have a unique set" on the Update Product Groups page, this means that there are no distinguishing attributes different between this product and at least one other product in the group.

  •  Follow these instructions to resolve the issue.




The examples highlighted in yellow above are incorrect because two products within the same product group contain the same exact combination of attribute values. The combination of values must be unique, as these will eventually become dropdown options for the customer on the deal page.


“All products selling together in a product group must have a unique combination set of distinguishing/variation attributes” or “Attributes have inconsistent attributes” Error

  • All product groups must contain the same (consistent) attributes for both distinguishing and supplementary attributes regardless of attribute being required or not.

  • For more information on inconsistent attributes, please refer to this article.


How will the attributes show up on my deal page?

  • More information on this is outlined here. 






Bulk Upload Tips & Tricks

  • To keep a product from going live immediately after approvals, enter the number 0 in the Quantity field. Please remember that you must add a value, and cannot leave the Quantity field blank.


  • Do not change the column headers on the template tab. Also, you may not add any extra columns. Any modifications to the template will cause errors with your upload.


  • Reference Price, Reference Price Type, and Reference Price URL fields must be completed for each option. Leaving these fields empty will result in a file upload error.


  • If you are using a 13 digit UPC as a Product Identifier, select EAN as the Product Identifier Type.


  • 3rd party marketplace merchants must meet additional qualifications to sell certain items, brands or luxury products within different categories on our site. Please refer to these Product Limitation and Product Restriction support articles for more information.


  • Using the word “velcro” in your product group listing will cause the permalink to be blocked from going live. This is due to the use of the trademark word and violates the VELCRO® Brand and their trademark rights.  Please correct the listing and resubmit for approval.


  • Hover over the column header in Excel for tips and definitions. Also, some columns offer a dropdown where you can select the values directly from a list. For example, accepted “customer ship fee” values are noted in this dropdown in Excel:
  • For products in the same Product Group, it is best practice to order items from lowest to highest price at upload. Also, please do not include a “$” before your price as that will trigger upload errors.


  • When editing .CSVs, Excel will automatically attempt to format the figures in your UPC column in Scientific Notation. To prevent errors, convert the format to "NUMBER" or "TEXT" if there are any leading zeros.


  • Product Identifier (column I)  and Merchant SKU (column B) can only be used ONCE in your catalog.




How do I know if my bulk upload was successful? 

When creating new products, or updating existing products in bulk, you can determine the success of your upload by checking the color of the cloud icon next to the “Import” and “Catalog” on the bulk upload page. 


Upload Successful

If a green cloud icon appears next to your file upload, all products in your file were successfully added to your inventory, and there were no errors. 

A screenshot of a user’s screen after successfully completing their bulk upload.


Congratulations on the successful upload! To view your created or updated products, visit the Products page. Your listings must now be reviewed by our screening team before going live on our customer-facing site. This process generally takes 7 days. 


Upload Encountered Errors

 If a red cloud icon appears next to your file upload, there are file errors. The number by the cloud indicates how many products experienced errors and were consequently not created/updated.


A screenshot of a user’s screen after encountering 5 errors during their Bulk Upload. 


NOTE: Any products in this upload NOT affected by an error are successfully created/updated! To determine which specific products were affected, and to discover solutions for these issues, your next step should be visiting the How to Fix a Bulk Upload Error section of this guide.


If you get a red cloud icon with no number next to it, that could indicate that you are uploading the wrong file type. You must only upload .csv not .xlsx. Please see below for the correct .csv formats you need to save as:



Locating Your Error File


Upon download, open the file and scroll to the far right (column DQ) to view the various errors in the file that need correction.



How to Fix a Bulk Upload Error

List of Common Error Messages

 

This support article, Bulk Upload File Errors, lists out error messages you may encounter on your returned error file. Accompanying each error on this list is an explanation of the problem, as well as a solution to the issue. 




How Do I Fix “Duplicate Universal ID” Error?


Cause of the “Duplicate Universal ID” Error


If you are receiving the following error, your Product Identifier may be formatted incorrectly:



In Excel, your Product Identifier will automatically format in scientific notation. This means a value entered as “855031021476” becomes formatted as “8.55031E+11”.  Since this formatting will be rejected by the Bulk Upload tool, you will need to change your Product ID cells into number format. Take the steps below, then re-upload to the Bulk Tool.


Resolving “Duplicate Universal ID” Error

 

1. Highlight all cells containing Product Identifiers. 

2. Find the dropdown menu above your spreadsheet, in the section labeled “Number”. 

3. Open this menu, and change the formatting for your highlighted Product Identifiers from “General” to “Number”. 

4. Use the “Decrease Decimal” button below the formatting drop-down to decrease the number of decimal places to zero, giving you a whole number with no numbers following a decimal place. (example: 855031021476 instead of 855031021476.5452 )




Upon correction of all the errors, you may now re-import your file into Gateway. If all errors were addressed, the new file upload will be denoted with a green cloud icon. 





If you encounter any issues, or have any additional questions about bulk product creation, you are encouraged to open a support ticket with the Merchant Success Team.