If you’re migrating to WooCommerce from another e-commerce platform, it’s a lot of hard work to recreate existing products in your new store. If you only sell a few different items without a ton of variations, you can get by inputting them manually, one by one. However, if you have hundreds or thousands of products with any number of variations for each one, some automation is in order. There are many existing options for WooCommerce imports, but they handle only generic data. Most likely, you need an individualized solution for your catalog.
There are many different ways of replicating existing data in a new database, and each situation calls for a different method. Here’s just a few ways I’ve handled product exports and imports.
Scripting with MySQL
A quick, one-off PHP script can accomplish the task by querying data from the old database and using core WooCommerce and/or WordPress methods to save products in the new database structure.
CSV Data
This is a popular option since a lot of platforms utilize CSV exports and imports to bulk edit or backup product data. I’ve built custom plugins to handle file uploads then process the file to create or update products. Also, many clients are great with spreadsheet programs, so they can manipulate the data quickly.
In-House API
If the existing data store is crucial and just remain the single source of product data, a purpose-built REST API or some other feed is a viable option. Granted, it’s not the simple choice, but it will can be accessed by any app or platform you add in the future. A custom API can also unify your data between your website, mobile apps, internal systems, and third-party requests to ensure consistency.