Import CSV Utility for the Real Time Shipping Quotes App for Shopify

Instructions on how to use the Import CSV Utility included in Eniture Technology's Real Time Shipping Quotes App for Shopify

Eniture's Real Time Shipping Quotes App includes a utility that allows merchants to bulk update the shipping parameters of the products and product variants in their catalogs. This method can be more time-efficient than navigating in and out of the app's user interface, particularly if there are many products.

Eniture Technology also has apps that provide shipping quotes in Shopify with "LTL Freight Quotes" or "Small Package Quotes" in their name.  Those products also have an Import CSV Utility, but their instructions differ slightly.  Use this link to view instructions for the Import CSV Utility included in Shopify's LTL Freight Quotes and Small Package Quotes apps.

Download the CSV template

While logged into the Admin are of your store, navigate to Apps and click on the DIY Real Time Shipping Quotes.

Click on Import CSV in the app's navigation.  Locate and click on the link labeled "template" in the instructions.

Enter your email address when prompted, and then the Send Email button. You should receive the CSV file within a few minutes  If you don't see the email in your inbox, check your Junk folder.

Populating the CSV file

Open the CSV file in Excel or a similar application. Each row of the spreadsheet represents one of your products or product variants. The Real Time Shipping Quotes app has many shipping provider integrations.  The CSV file can be used for all of them. You only need to import the file once.

Save a copy of the CSV file as a backup, particularly if you have product shipping parameters already present. If you make a mistake with your current update exercise, you can use the backup file to restore your product shipping parameters to their previous state.

Columns A and B contain unique identifiers from Shopify. Do not disturb these fields. The columns between Column B and the column with the heading Quote Method are columns that contain information from Shopify that is provided to help identify the product or product variant represented by the row in the file. They aren't used in the CSV import process. The column with the heading Quote Method and all the columns afterward are relevant to the app and are where your focus will be while populating data for use by the app.

We recommend deleting the rows from the CSV file related to products or product variants that you don't want to update. Doing so will prevent them from being updated in the event you make a mistake. You can also delete columns that you don’t want to update. For example, if you only want to update product/variant weights, your final CSV file needs only contain Column A (Product ID), Column B (Variant ID), and the column with the heading Weight.

Removing data from the field labeled Quote Method and any of the columns afterward has the same effect as removing the data when using the user interface. For example, if the Weight field for a product/variant is populated in the downloaded CSV file, and it is empty (a.k.a. NULL) when the file is uploaded, then the weight of the product/variant is erased.

 

Column Header Instructions
A Product ID This column is critical to the import process. Do not remove the column or modify its contents.
B Variant ID This column is critical to the import process. Do not remove the column or modify its contents.
L Quote Method

Required. The default shipping method for the item. If you only have the Small Package Quotes app installed, enter S. If you only have the LTL Freight Quotes app installed, enter L. If you have both apps installed, enter S or L depending on which shipping method would be used if the cart contained only one unit of the item and no other items were in the cart. If left blank, the apps will ignore the product.

S = Small Package (Parcel)
L = LTL Freight

M Freight Class

Required only if the LTL Freight Quotes app is installed. If so, you should enter a freight class on all products, even those that will ship small package (parcel) by default. Small package products can be quoted as part of an LTL shipment depending on the content of the cart. Permitted values are: 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 77.5, 85, 92.5, 100, 110, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 300, 400, 500, Density Based.

If you are unfamiliar with freight classes and need to populate this column, the knowledge base article What is a freight class? is a good resource to start with.

N NMFC Do not populate this field unless you want to get LTL freight quotes and your pricing tariff requires an NMFC number to get a rate quote. To confirm if this is the case, log into your LTL provider's website and get a rate quote. If you can do so without providing an NMFC number, then leave this field blank. (NMFC numbers can be thought of as a "sub-freight class" and are rarely required for the purpose of obtaining a LTL freight rate quote.)
O Weight

Required. Enter the weight of the item in pounds. You can can enter a value to the thousandths of a pound. For example, enter 1.125 for an item that weighs 1 pound and 2 ounces or 1 1/8 pounds.

There is a column in the CSV file with the heading Variant Grams. It contains what you entered into Shopify to identify the weight of the product. Shopify stores this data in grams. If you’re comfortable with spreadsheet formulas, you can use the data in the Variant Grams column to populate the Weight (this) column. The Excel formula for row 2 of the CSV file would be:

=ROUNDUP(J2*0.00220462,3)

Once you have the formula entered into the Weight column of your spreadsheet, you can copy it and paste it into all the remaining rows of the spreadsheet. Or use the spreadsheet’s drag-and-fill feature.

The weight entered for use by the app does not have to equal the weight entered for Shopify.

P Length

Enter the length of the item in inches. You can enter a value to the thousandths of an inch. For example, enter 1.125 for an item with a length of 1 1/8 inches. Length is always the longest dimension of the item.

Small Package Quotes

Length is required if you will be using the Standard Box Sizes feature. If you won’t be using the Standard Box Sizes feature, we still recommend that you enter dimensions since carriers identify the billable weight of a shipment as the greater of the actual or dimensional weight.

LTL Freight Quotes
Length is not required unless…

  • You are using the Density Based option for Freight Class.
  • The carrier variant of the app you are using requires it for shipments to certain destinations.
  • The carrier variant of the app you are using requires length to identify when the excessive length fee applies.

Refer to the section on how to use the user interface to populate the product shipping parameters to determine if you should enter dimensions for items that will ship LTL freight by default. It will indicate if dimensions are required for shipments to certain destinations or the excessive length fee.

Q Width

Enter the width of the item in inches. You can enter a value to the thousandths of an inch. For example, enter 1.125 for an item with a length of 1 1/8 inches.

Small Package Quotes

Width is required if you will be using the Standard Box Sizes feature. If you won’t be using the Standard Box Sizes feature, we still recommend that you enter dimensions since carriers identify the billable weight of a shipment as the greater of the actual or dimensional weight.

LTL Freight Quotes
Width is not required unless…

  • You are using the Density Based option for Freight Class.
  • The carrier variant of the app you are using requires it for shipments to certain destinations.

Refer to the section on how to use the user interface to populate the product shipping parameters to determine if you should enter dimensions for items that will ship LTL freight by default. It will indicate if dimensions are required for shipments to certain destinations.

R Height

Enter the height of the item in inches. You can enter a value to the thousandths of an inch. For example, enter 1.125 for an item with a length of 1 1/8 inches.

Small Package Quotes

Height is required if you will be using the Standard Box Sizes feature. If you won’t be using the Standard Box Sizes feature, we still recommend that you enter dimensions since carriers identify the billable weight of a shipment as the greater of actual or dimensional weight.

LTL Freight Quotes
Height is not required unless…

  • You are using the Density Based option for Freight Class.
  • The carrier variant of the app you are using requires it for shipments to certain destinations.

Refer to the section on how to use the user interface to populate the product shipping parameters to determine if you should enter dimensions for items that will ship LTL freight by default. It will indicate if dimensions are required for shipments to certain destinations.

S Dropship Nickname If the item will ship from a drop ship location, enter its nickname. Leave it blank if the item ships from one of your warehouses. If the drop ship location wasn’t defined previously, it will be created. Read the knowledge base article Warehouses versus Drop Ship locations if you’re unclear about the difference.
T Dropship Zipcode If the item will ship from a drop ship location, enter its 5 digit ZIP code (US) or 6 character postal code (Canada). If the ZIP code has a leading zero (0), preface it with an apostrophe (i.e. ‘02111). Leave it blank if the item ships from one of your warehouses. If the drop ship location wasn’t defined previously, it will be created. Read the knowledge base article Warehouses versus Drop Ship locations if you’re unclear about the difference.
U Dropship City If the item will ship from a drop ship location, enter its City. Leave it blank if the item ships from one of your warehouses. If the drop ship location wasn’t defined previously, it will be created. Read the knowledge base article Warehouses versus Drop Ship locations if you’re unclear about the difference.
V Dropship State If the item will ship from a drop ship location, enter the two character abbreviation for the state or province. Leave it blank if the item ships from one of your warehouses. If the drop ship location wasn’t defined previously, it will be created. Read the knowledge base article Warehouses versus Drop Ship locations if you’re unclear about the difference.
W Dropship Country

If the item will ship from a drop ship location, enter the two character abbreviation for the country. Leave it blank if the item ships from one of your warehouses. If the drop ship location wasn’t defined previously, it will be created. Read the knowledge base article Warehouses versus Drop Ship locations if you’re unclear about the difference.

CA = Canada
US = United States

X Hazmat

This setting will be operational only if you are subscribed to a plan which includes the feature.

0 = The item isn’t hazardous material.

1 = The item is hazardous material.

An empty field is the equivalent of entering a 0.

Y Markup

Enter a dollar amount (e.g. 5.00 for $5.00) or a percentage (e.g. 5.0% for five percent) to mark up the shipping charges when this item is in the cart. Leave this field blank if you don’t want the inclusion of this product in the cart to be the reason why the shipping quotes that are returned by the carrier are modified.

A dollar amount will be multiplied by the quantity of the item that is in the cart and the result added to the shipping quotes that are returned from the carrier before any markups on the Quote Settings page are applied.

A percentage will be applied to the total value of the item in the cart (price x quantity x (1 + markup percentage)) and the result added to the shipping quotes that are returned from the carrier before any markups on the Quote Settings page are applied.

Z Offset Days

The setting is only relevant if you have the Display estimated delivery date setting enabled on the Quote Settings page.

When the app requests shipping quotes, it identifies a ship date. The estimated delivery date is dependent on the ship date. The Quote Settings page has three settings that are applied globally that will alter the ship date so that it aligns with your fulfillment operations. The product-level setting for Fulfillment offset days allows the offset to be different for individual products. The product-level setting for Fulfillment offset days takes precedent over its globally applied counterpart on the Quote Settings page. In cases where the Cart contains multiple products with different Fulfillment offset days, the largest number of offset days is used to adjust the ship date.

Enter the number of days to offset the ship date for this product.

AA Ships Alone

This setting will be operational only if you have the Standard Box Sizes feature enabled.

0 = The item can be placed in a box with other items when identifying the packaging solution.

1 = The item ships as its own package.

2 = The item ships as multiple packages.

3 = The item ships as its own package when it is the only item in the Cart.

An empty field is the equivalent of entering a 0.

AB Vertical Rotation

This setting will be operational only if you have the Standard Box Sizes feature enabled.

0 = The item may not be rotated when identifying the packaging solution for the order.

1 = The item can be rotated when identifying the packaging solution for the order.

An empty field is the equivalent of entering a 0.

AC Insurance

Some providers allow for shipment insurance. This setting is used to indicate if the shipment should be insured in the event that the quoting carrier provides the option for insurance.

0 = Don't insure the item.

1 = Insure the item.

An empty field is the equivalent of entering a 0.

If the shipment contains an item that is insured, then the entire contents of the shipment will be quoted as insured. You can not partially insure a shipment for specific items.

Saving the CSV File

Make sure you save the file as a CSV (comma separated value) file.  This is done by using the Save As... entry in the appropriate menu of the spreadsheet application you are using. If you are using a Mac, you need to pick the Windows or MS-DOS specialty formats. 

Import the CSV File

Return to the app preferences/settings and click on the Import CSV link.

If your file still has the column headers in the first row (recommended), enable the checkbox for The first row contains column headers.

Next, click on the Choose file button, select the file, and click the Next button.

You'll be presented with a page that will allow you to map the columns in your CSV file to the app's database table.  The column on the left represents the columns in the app's database table. The dropdown fields on the right contain the column headings in your CSV file. Unless you renamed the columns after downloading the template, these should be the same.

From the dropdowns, select the column heading that matches the heading in the app's database table. You must match the Product ID and Variant ID columns, but otherwise, you only need to match the columns you want to update.  If you only want to update the product weights, then you only need to match the columns for the weight field. You can ignore everything else.

When you complete the matching exercise, click the Next button at the bottom of the page.

The import process will begin.  It usually takes just a few minutes for the update to complete.  Afterward, you should receive an email notifying you of the import process results.  If you don't receive the email notification, use the app's user interface to check if the update occurred.  If it didn't, then there was an issue with the file.

If you're having difficulty importing your file, look over the following document:

Trouble importing the CSV file