Import Product Stock and Inventory
Use the Inventory section of the WooCommerce Products template to import SKUs, GTINs, stock quantities, and stock status — including variation-level stock for variable products.
Table of Contents
Inventory fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Product SKU | Unique stock-keeping unit. Also used as unique identifier for updates |
| GTIN, UPC, EAN, or ISBN | Global product identifier; can be used as unique identifier |
| Manage Stock? | Yes/No — turn on quantity tracking |
| Stock status | In stock / Out of stock / On backorder |
| Stock quantity | Numeric quantity when managing stock |
| Allow back-orders? | Allow / Do not allow / Allow, but notify customer |
| Low stock threshold | Optional low-stock amount |
| Sold individually | Yes/No |
Enable the Stock subgroup fields via Enable Fields if they are hidden.
Enable stock management
To import quantities:
- Set Manage Stock? to Yes (or map a column that outputs
yes). - Map Stock quantity.
- Optionally map Stock status, backorders, and low stock threshold.
If Manage Stock? stays No, WooCommerce will not track quantity even if a quantity column is present.
Example CSV — simple products
| Name | SKU | Price | Manage Stock | Stock | Stock Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Product 1 | simple-one | 10.99 | yes | 25 | instock |
| Simple Product 2 | simple-two | 12.99 | yes | 0 | outofstock |
| Simple Product 3 | simple-three | 14.99 | yes | 5 | instock |
Map:
- Product SKU ← SKU
- Manage Stock? ← Manage Stock
- Stock quantity ← Stock
- Stock status ← Stock Status (optional if quantity implies status)
Stock on variations
For variable products, stock is usually managed per variation:
| Name | SKU | Product Type | Parent | Colour | Manage Stock | Stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shirt | shirt-parent | variable | red,blue | |||
| Shirt Red | shirt-red | variation | shirt-parent | red | yes | 10 |
| Shirt Blue | shirt-blue | variation | shirt-parent | blue | yes | 0 |
See Import Variable Products and Variations.
Stock-only update feeds
When a supplier file only contains SKU + quantity:
- Map Product SKU and stock fields only.
- Set unique identifier to Product SKU.
- Permissions: Update enabled, Create disabled (unless new SKUs should be added).
- Restrict update fields to inventory fields so descriptions/images are not overwritten.
See Update Existing WooCommerce Products.
Stock status without quantities
If you do not manage stock by quantity, map Stock status alone:
instockoutofstockonbackorder
Leave Manage Stock? as No.
External products
Stock fields are not applied to external / affiliate products. Use product type external with a product URL instead — see Import Grouped and External Products.