Need to Add More Materials? Here’s How to Bulk Upload

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: 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.