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AI Catalog Import

Price list from Excel/Word/PDF/photo → AI recognition → plan → import

6 min read Open this screen in the demo
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AI Catalog Import

AI import removes the manual typing: upload a ready price list — in Excel, Word, PDF or even a photo — and the AI recognizes the names, prices and categories and proposes a plan that you just review and apply.

Open: the down-arrow button (tooltip Import catalogue) on the Menu / Catalog toolbar (admin.cenaly.ge).

What you can upload#

  • Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx, .xls);
  • Word documents (.docx);
  • PDF price lists and menus;
  • Photos of a price list or menu pages;
  • CSV/TXT — if the columns are recognized, a fast path without AI is used.

How the import works#

  1. Upload. Drag in a file or photo. For tabular CSVs with clear columns, the system offers a fast path with column mapping.
  2. Recognition (AI). For documents and photos the file goes to the AI (Gemini): it reads the content and extracts items, prices and descriptions. A ticker of recognized items shows the progress.
  3. Change plan. The AI presents a ready plan — a list of items with name, price and category. Each row can be edited before applying.
  4. Apply. Click import — the items are added to your catalog/menu.

Update stock in bulk with a CSV#

The fast CSV path writes actual stock for many products at once — for example after a count in the storeroom. The quantity in the file replaces the stock level in the warehouse, it is not added to it: this works like a stocktake, not a goods receipt. Record deliveries as a receipt in Inventory.

  1. Open the catalog import/export page — /catalog/import in the Admin Panel; the import row in the Background tasks window leads there too. Click the ⬇️ catalog export button and open the file in Excel or Google Sheets. The import window opened from Menu has no export button. The Variant Inventory Qty column is empty in the export: current stock is not written to the file.
  2. In Variant Inventory Qty, enter the actual quantity in the unit of the product's inventory card (pcs, kg, l…). Leave the cell empty in rows whose stock should not change. Do not change or delete the other columns: the import finds the product by Handle and its variant by the option values.
  3. Save the file as CSV (.csv or .tsv). An Excel file (.xlsx, .xls) does not take this path: it goes to AI recognition. A CSV without the Handle and Title columns also goes to AI.
  4. Upload the file on the same page or with the Import catalogue button in Menu. In the column mapping, check that the quantity is mapped to Variant Inventory Qty (the headers Inventory Qty and Quantity work too).
  5. In the block that asks where to write the stock from the file, choose the location. Stock goes only to that location's warehouse; other locations are not changed. If the location has several warehouses, choose the warehouse as well; the sales warehouse is preselected. Until a location is chosen, the import button stays disabled and a hint under the field asks you to pick one.
  6. Start the import. In the result, check the line that stock was written: the number of rows and the warehouse name.

Result: for every product with a filled cell, stock in the chosen warehouse becomes equal to the number in the file. In the product's movement history this entry appears as Adjustment.

Good to know:

  • Permissions. Stock can be set by the owner, a manager or a role with the stocktake posting right. Without it, a warning appears before the import: the catalog loads, stock does not.
  • Stock tracking. A product without variants that has a quantity in the file gets stock tracking switched on, and sales start deducting it. A new product gets the unit "pcs"; an existing inventory card keeps its unit and other settings.
  • Write failure. If the catalog loaded but stock did not, the result says so and offers a button to retry writing the stock. The retry does not load the catalog again and does not double stock that was already written.
  • Rollback. Rolling back the run does not restore stock. Fix it with a new upload or a stocktake.

Import log and run rollback#

Every import is recorded in the Import runs log — shown under the import result and on the file upload step: date, file, how many items were created and updated. Picked the wrong file or columns? Click Roll back run:

  • items the run created go to the trash (restore them or delete for good from there);
  • items the run changed get back their previous values for exactly the fields it touched;
  • it is one action whether the run had three items or three hundred.

Rollback never overwrites later work: items edited by hand or removed after the import stay as they are — the confirmation tells you how many, and after the rollback the list with reasons is shown under the run. Opening stock (fix it with a new stocktake), new catalog sections and warehouse SKU cards are not rolled back.

All runs, menu changes still being applied and (for the account owner) data exports are listed in the Background tasks window — the row in the Shortcuts block at the top of the sidebar.

Good to know#

  • The plan is a draft: you control exactly what enters the catalog and edit any rows before applying.
  • Re-uploading is handy for updating prices and stock. Importing only the fields you need works for products without variants; for products with variants upload the full export.
  • Photo recognition quality depends on how readable the shot is: the clearer the price list, the more accurate the plan.

FAQ#

Does the import change the catalog right away?#

No. First you see a change plan and can edit it; the catalog only changes after you apply the import.

What if the AI got a price or name wrong?#

Fix the row right in the plan before applying — your edits are kept on import.

Do I have to use AI?#

No. For CSVs with clear columns there's a fast path with manual mapping, no AI.

Export variants and correct CSV errors#

  1. Open catalog import and use CSV export. Keep a separate copy of the original file before editing it.
  2. Check each product's Handle and variant rows: rows sharing a Handle belong to the same product. Keep SKUs and barcodes as text so your spreadsheet does not remove leading zeros.
  3. Upload the corrected CSV and check column mapping and the preview. For products with variants, keep every variant column from the export mapped: if only some are mapped, the other variant fields are cleared. Unmapping columns you do not need is safe only for products without variants.
  4. Fix reported parsing or row errors and upload the file again. Do not treat a partially successful import as complete: check the result and error list.
  5. Open a few updated products and verify variants, prices and codes. If you need to roll back, use the import history subject to its stock and concurrent-edit limitations described above.
Items, import & images
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