Shopify Smart Collections – Available Columns For Export And Import

Shopify’s smart collections offer a powerful way to automatically group products based on specific criteria set by the store owner. Unlike custom collections, which require manual selection of each product, smart collections serve as dynamic organizers that save time and effort.

While importing or exporting Shopify smart collections, it’s crucial to understand the concept of mapping fields. Mapping all fields correctly is essential for the plugin to function properly. Any errors in your import file could lead to unexpected issues with your product import.

This article provides a detailed overview of the data columns that can be imported or exported using the StoreRobo Import Export Suite.

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Basic columns in a Shopify smart collection export file typically contain the core smart collection related information essential for managing your product data.

Column	Explanation	Allowed values / Examples
ID	Unique characters generated by Shopify to identify each collection.	Allowed values: Number Example: 232342332
Handle	This is a URL-friendly version of a collection’s title. URL address has a great impact on SEO, so be sure to give it a meaningful name. For the given URL, men's-t-shirts is the handle. https://thestore.com/collections/mens-t-shirts	Allowed values: Any characters Example: men's-t-shirts
Title	Title of the collection	Allowed values: Text Example: Men’s T-Shirts
Body (HTML)	Description created using HTML markup. This description gets displayed on the collection page itself.	Allowed values; Text/HTML Example: <b>Description</b> <p>This is a demo descriptionin paragraph format</p>
Sort Order	Defines the sort order for products within a custom collection.	Allowed values: Best selling Product title A – Z Product title Z – A Highest price Lowest price Newest Oldest Manually
Template Suffix	Template Suffix allows you to use an existing template from your theme for this specific collection. The name of the template will be used here.	Allowed values: Text Example: Shirts
Updated At	Timestamp of the last modification made to the collection.	Allowed values: Date & Time Example: 2024-12-17 18:20:07 +0200
Published	Indicates whether the product is live and visible on your online store for customers to purchase.	Allowed values: TRUE FALSE
Published At	Timestamp indicating when the collection was published on the store.	Allowed values: Date & Time Example: 2024-12-17 18:20:07 +0200
Published Scope	Specifies where the collections are published. Global – Product available on all sales channels. Web – Product only available on online storefront (web channel).	Allowed values: global web
Image Src	Publicly available image URL for the collection. This image will be used as the collection image.	Allowed values: Text Example: https://store.com/images.png
Image Width	Width of the collection image in pixels.	Allowed values: Number Example: 1232
Image Height	Height of the collection image in pixels.	Allowed values: Number Example: 1232
Image Alt Text	Alt Text for the Collection image. Great for SEO, because then search engines will know, what is inside the image	Allowed values: Text Example: This is an image of shirts

Rules are the core functionality that defines which products automatically qualify to be included in the collection. These rules act like filters, constantly evaluating your product data to ensure the collection stays up-to-date.

This is the same as you can enter in Shopify Admin for collection.

Example: include products where the product tag is equal to Plants.

Column	Explanation	Allowed values / Examples
Must match	Determines whether a product needs to meet all the specified conditions or just one of them in order to be included in a smart collection.	Allowed values: all condition any condition
Rule: Product Column	Defines which Product Column should be the rule applied for. Same as the one available in the Admin panel.	Allowed values: Title Type Category Vendor Tag Price Compare At Price Weight Inventory Stock Variant Title Example: Tag
Rule: Relation	Defines what relation should be applied for that product column and the condition.	Allowed values: Greater Than Less Than Equals Not Equals Starts With Ends With Contains Not Contains Is Empty Is Not Empty Example: Equals
Rule: Condition	Condition value set on the selected product column.	Allowed values: Text Example: Plants

linked products are the building blocks of custom collections, individual items you’ve chosen to include within a custom collection.

Column	Explanation	Allowed values / Examples
Product: ID	During export, all products linked to the collection will be listed under a Product: ID column. This feature is useful when importing a custom collection with linked products to another Shopify store, as it helps identify which products need to be linked in the new store using the Product: ID. Make sure to add the correct product ID in case of migration/import as ID on the import site might not be the same when migrating.	Allowed values: Number Example: 232342332
Product: Handle	Product handle for linked products. Complements the Product: ID by providing a user-friendly identifier for each linked product.	Allowed values: Any characters Example: polo-shirt
Product: Position	Specifies the order in which each product appear within the collection on your storefront. This information might not always be present in the export, depending on the collection’s “Sort Order” setting	Allowed values: Number Example: 23

Exporting product counts allows you to track your overall inventory levels across different categories or brands. This can help you identify potential stockouts and plan your ordering needs more effectively.

Column	Explanation	Allowed values / Examples
Products Count	Total number of products preset in each collection.	Allowed values: Number Example: 35

The Meta Field column in the Shopify export data refers to custom data you’ve added to your products, collections, orders, or customers. Shopify itself doesn’t have data fields for every specific detail you might want to track. Meta fields are a way for you to add your own custom fields to store that extra information.

If you’re migrating your store to a new platform, having your SEO data readily available can save time and ensure a smoother transition. You can import the data into the new platform and potentially maintain your existing SEO efforts.

Column	Explanation	Allowed values / Examples
SEO title	The SEO title you set for each product within a smart collection is what matters for search engines. This title is displayed in search results when someone searches for terms related to your product.	Allowed values: Text Example: Polo Shirt
SEO description	SEO descriptions, displayed in search results beneath the title, are crucial for product visibility.	Allowed values: Text Example: Description about the product.