Organizing your Data Before your First Plytix Import

Making sure you have all the things you need before you import your data into Plytix

Let’s start by acknowledging that the first import tends to be the most nerve-wracking one. After handling your data in different spreadsheets, being prone to error, and spending so much time fixing those errors, it is only natural that you may feel concerned about getting that first batch of data into Plytix. After all, you don’t want to mess up the data or make any mistakes right off the bat, right? We get it. But rest assured, you will be backed up by our team who will guide you through these steps. As one of our Implementation Specialists said, “Don’t be afraid of getting data in; we can always adjust it”. In this article you will find a few insights shared by our Implementation Specialists on what data you can prepare before jumping into that first import.

Define your outputs

A helpful tip when preparing your data for import is to think of the big picture first: where do you want to send your data to? Are you sending data from Plytix to Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, Google Shopping or another shopping site? Do these shopping sites have templates that require certain product attributes formatted in a specific way?

Considering where you are sending your data to will help determine beforehand what kind of data you will need, what attribute types, image formats, and more. This can always be adjusted later on, but if you know these things beforehand, your Implementation Specialist can format the data accordingly.

Have all SKUs listed and organized

SKUs (Stock Keeping Unit) are your products’ unique identifiers in Plytix and the only attribute required by our system. So before importing your data into Plytix, it is important to assign unique SKUs to your products, according to the naming convention your company follows.

💡Some shopping sites also require a product Label or GTIN, so if you know where you are sending your product data to, you can have those required attributes ready to go, in addition to your SKUs!

Gather all of your assets

Assets are all of your digital files — which you can store in their highest quality directly in Plytix due to its integrated Digital Asset Management (DAM) platform: with unlimited storage too!

If you are working with product images, videos, or technical guides, for instance, you will want to gather those assets and make a note of which products they’re linked to, so that your Implementation Specialist can import those assets along with your products.

Most importantly though, is to have a consistent nomenclature for your assets, avoiding special characters. This way, you can easily find them once they’re uploaded in Plytix.

💡 For tips on how to make the best use of Plytix’s DAM capabilities, check out our best practices for managing your assets.

Organize your product taxonomy

Product taxonomy refers to the hierarchical classification system used to categorize and organize products based on their attributes and relationships. Think of it as the backbone of your product information management strategy, providing a structured framework for organizing and navigating your product data.

By defining product categories within your taxonomy, you create a clear and consistent way to classify your products, making it easier for both your team and your customers to find what they're looking for. This not only enhances the efficiency of your internal processes but also improves the user experience, so defining your categories is an important step to take as you prepare to import your data into Plytix.

ℹ️ In Plytix, you can define categories for both products and assets. Click to learn more about creating and managing product categories and asset categories.

Define your Product Families

Product Families are a Plytix feature that allows you to organize your attributes based on product type, so that each product family only contains attributes that are relevant to the set of products belonging to a defined family. This is especially useful if you have a variety of products in your catalog that share only a specific set of attributes.

Before making your first data import into Plytix, we highly recommend thinking about which product families are most relevant to your product types, so that you can organize your product data accordingly.

ℹ️ Click here to learn how to create and manage product families.

Define how many users you’ll have and their access rights

While you don’t need to have this part completely nailed down beforehand, knowing who on your team will be managing what kind of data can help you understand how to use Plytix for collaborative work. This will help you know what team roles to create, set up different product lists based on the teams managing it and define permission rights, for instance.

Import your core data first

Depending on the number of products you’re selling and your product types, you may have a good amount of data to work with — and if you’re starting with Plytix, you’re probably looking forward to having all that information in one place for you to manage. We want Plytix to be your central source of truth for product information management, but importing data into Plytix doesn’t need to be a one-time thing right away 😊. To be fair, it is very likely that you will do several imports (either to update existing data or add new information) throughout your Plytix journey! So, it’s totally fine for you to import your core data first, and then add on to it over time. This way, your Implementation Specialist can better understand your most pressing needs and can assist you in making use of the right Plytix features to meet those needs.

This is a common case for multi-language data, for example. If you are handling data in different languages, we recommend that you start formatting your PIM in a single language, to then add on the other attributes in different languages.