What are products in Sumtracker?
In Sumtracker, products refer to the unique items that a merchant is selling or wants to keep track of its inventory.
Products created from your store
All the listings and variants with SKUs are automatically fetched and created as products in Sumtracker. If two or more listings have the same SKU, they will be linked to the same product in Sumtracker. For more information on how listings are synced and updated in Sumtracker, click here.
Sumtracker syncs all the changes made to the product details such as name, variant name, images , etc from your store automatically. You can see the stores where the product is connected through the “Stores” column in Product list.
To see details of which store a product is connected to, click on the product, and then browse to the "Listings" section.
Please note: Sumtracker cannot publish or edit products on your store. You have to add all new products on your online store. They will be synced to Sumtracker automatically. The inventory for new products created after turning on the inventory sync has to be added through Sumtracker.
Creating products directly in Sumtracker
You can also create products directly within Sumtracker. If the product's SKU doesn't exist in your store, the Stores column in the Product list will be left blank.
Use cases for creating products in Sumtracker
Products that you don’t sell online but want to track inventory (eg: packing materials for the products)
Products that are only sold as a part of a bundle/kit online and not separately so you don’t have to create their listing on your store. (Eg: You can create products like frame and lens, but online it will be sold as glasses)
You could create new products in Sumtracker to purchase and receive before listing them online. When you add the listing with the same SKU, it will be linked to the existing product in Sumtracker.
You can create products
through Sumtracker interface
in bulk through a CSV file
Create products through Sumtracker interface
Start by going to the Product List page in Sumtracker.
Click the "Add New Product" button on the top right.
Fill in the Product Fields in the form and click Save.
The new product will now appear in the Product List.
You can refer to the Product Fields Explained section to know about each field.
Create products in bulk through a CSV file
Download the import-products-sample.csv
Fill in the Required Columns in the sample file and save the completed file in CSV format.
Mandatory Fields: Name, SKU
Optional Fields: Fields like Variant name, Barcode, Tax, Categories, Notes. Landed cost can be 0 if not applicable.
Categories can be added as comma separated. If the categories don’t exist in Sumtracker, new categories will automatically be created.
Import the file from Product list
Editing products in Sumtracker
Editing products in Sumtracker does not push any of the product details on your store. If a product is connected to an online listing, the product information that is copied from the store should not be edited in Sumtracker. Otherwise, it will be overridden from the store. To check which fields are copied from the store, click here.
Edit a product by clicking on Product SKU in Product List
Click on the SKU of the product you wish to edit from the Product List.
Make the necessary changes to the product details.
Click "Save" to update the product information.
Editing products in bulk via CSV
Click on the Export button in the Product list to export a CSV file
Do not change or delete the ID column as it uniquely identifies each product. If ID field is left blank in a row, a new product will be created for that row.
Multiple categories can be added as comma separated values in the Category column. Any new category added in the CSV file will be automatically created in Sumtracker.
Use Import Products button at top right in the Product list to import the CSV file
Common Errors While Importing
Incorrect CSV Format: One of the most common errors occurs when the file is not saved in the correct format. Ensure that your file is saved as a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format. Other formats like Excel (.xlsx) or plain text (.txt) will not be accepted by the system. Always double-check the file extension before attempting to import.
ID Column Changes: When editing existing products, it is important not to change or delete the ID column. The ID column is used by Sumtracker to identify and update existing products correctly. Altering this column can lead to errors in matching the data, causing the import to fail or create duplicate entries. Always leave the ID column intact when making edits.
Tip: To avoid file formatting errors, use Google Spreadsheets to generate the CSV file and upload it directly in Sumtracker.
Product Fields Explained
Field | Description |
Name | A descriptive and unique name for the product. Sumtracker fetches the name from online listings. For products created in Sumtracker the name can be anything which helps you identify the product. |
SKU | Stock Keeping Unit; must be unique. Crucial for linking online listings and product in Sumtracker. |
Variant Name | Describes the variant (e.g., size S for a t-shirt). |
UOM | Unit of Measure (e.g., pcs, kg). The default is pcs unless specified otherwise. |
Categories | Sumtracker supports adding multiple categories to a product. The category field helps filter and organize your products effectively. For Shopify, the Category field is updated from the Product Type field. Any categories added in Sumtracker will not be overridden by updates from Shopify. Bulk adding categories can be done using comma-separated values in an Excel file. |
Barcode | You can add a barcode if you want to search for products using barcodes. Barcodes are automatically updated from the Barcode field on Shopify. |
Weighted Average Landed Cost | Weighted average landed cost per unit is included in reports like Stock valuation and cost of goods sold. The cost is automatically updated when receiving items in a PO. Learn more. |
Tax | Optional to fill. This is applied to the products cost price used when creating purchase orders and stock transfers |
Notes | Any notes you want to include about the product. |
Inventory Sync | Can be turned on or off. If inventory sync is off for a product, its inventory will not be updated on your online store by Sumtracker. |
Image | The product image is fetched from your online listings. You can also upload the image using the upload image button on the edit product page. |
Fields Synced from Online Stores
Product fields in Sumtracker are synced from your online listings based on the platform you are using. These fields should not be edited in Sumtracker because they will be overridden from the corresponding values on the store.
Here’s how these fields are managed for each platform:
Platform | Fields Synced from Online Listings |
Shopify
| SKU, name, variant name, image, barcode, category, tags, and average landed cost price. To sync the average landed cost price, ensure that the “Save cost from listings” option is enabled in the store settings. Learn more. |
Etsy, Amazon, eBay | SKU, name, variant name, and image. If an Etsy listing has variants, the variant images are not copied; instead, the parent SKU’s image is used for the variants in Sumtracker. |
Walmart | SKU, name, and variant name. |
If you do not want the product details to be updated from a store, you can turn the Product information overwrite setting off for the store. Learn more.