Whether you’re adding new items, updating supplier data, or syncing in materials from other sources, bulk uploading is a quick way to keep your catalog fresh and up to date.
🔄 When Should You Use Bulk Upload?
As an existing user, your materials may already be synced from a field service management (FSM) platform like:
- Housecall Pro
- Jobber
- ServiceTitan
But sometimes, you might want to:
- Upload a list from a new supplier
- Import materials not tracked in your FSM
- Add missing fields like tags, categories, brands, UPCs, or images
That’s when bulk uploading comes in handy.
📍 Where to Access Bulk Upload
You can launch the Bulk Upload module from two places:
1. Settings > Bulk Upload
- Head to Settings in the sidebar
- Click on the “Bulk Upload” tab
2. Catalog > Import from CSV
- Open your Catalog
- Click the three dots (⋯)
- Select “Import from CSV”
📁 Step 1: Prepare Your File
We recommend using our Bulk Upload Template — it ensures your data matches Ply’s fields and avoids upload errors.
You can download the template directly in the upload module.
✅ File types supported: .csv, .xlsx, .xls
- Fill it in with your materials data — required fields include:
- Name
- Item number
- Description
- Brand
- Manufacturer
- Tags
- Category
- UPC
- Photo URL (optional — make sure it’s a public link)
✅ Pro tip: You can paste info from a supplier file or export from another platform. Just follow the template structure. ✅ If your file has multiple sheets (tabs), make sure you select the correct one during the upload.
🧩 Step 2: Map Your Columns
Ply will automatically try to match your columns to its internal fields (e.g., name, item number, brand, supplier, etc.).
- Required fields must be mapped
- Optional fields can be skipped
- Use the dropdowns to adjust mappings manually
- If you’re not using the template, you might see more mapping suggestions or alerts
Click Next Step when all columns are mapped correctly.
🛠️ Step 3: Fix Errors (If Any)
Ply will flag any issues in your file:
- 🔴 Dark red: Missing required fields
- 🔴 Light red: Optional fields left blank
- ⚠️ Hover on icons to see what’s wrong
- 📝 Use the pencil icon to edit all rows at once (e.g., apply a brand or category to all items)
Other helpful tools:
- Search bar to find specific items
- Show Modifications toggle to track what’s changed
- Delete row if you don’t want to import a specific item
When everything looks good, click Next.
🔁 Step 4: Handle Duplicates
If Ply detects duplicates (same name or item number), it will flag them for you.
🔄 Note: Ply does not merge duplicates automatically.
🗂️ Step 5: Assign to a Location (Optional)
You can assign materials to a specific warehouse or truck location here.
📌 You can’t create new locations during this step — if needed, add the location first, then re-run the upload.
If you skip this step, the materials will still be added to your catalog and can be assigned later.
Click Confirm Import to finish.
✅ Step 6: Review the Import
Ply will process the file and show you real-time progress:
- Detecting duplicates
- Processing images
- Uploading materials
⏱️ Files with up to 7,500 items usually import in under a minute.
Once complete, head back to your Catalog to review the newly added materials, all mapped, categorized, and ready to go.
💬 Need Help?
If you run into any issues while uploading or mapping, we’re here to help! Just reach out and we’ll make sure everything gets sorted.