Product synchronization with external estore

[chilumo]

Hello, 

 

I have e-store which contains more than 1000 products from different suppliers. Therefore it gets too hard to keep updated names, descriptions, quantity and etc. I'm looking for a module which would enable me to set up auto synchronization (name, ref number, descriptions, images, quantity) with my external partners e-stores. 

I've heard about possibility to set up this using xml. However are the any solutions to set up this without xml - just redirecting it to external suppliers webpage?  

 

Appreciate all your ideas! 

 

I was checking for previous discussions regarding this topic, but without a luck. If this was already discussed, kindly asking for a reference. Thanks!

 

I'm using PS 1.6.1.2.

 

 

[Daresh]

The external supplier must provide you with some standardized file with that data. Just directing to the website would require writing some parsing script, and it would be very resource consuming and expensive to do.

 

Usually suppliers have provide links to a xml or csv file with data. Then you need some module that allows you to set an automatic process, that reads the data and updates products in your shop. For CSV files I often use this module, as it's probably the cheapest solution for automatic sync.

[chilumo]

The external supplier must provide you with some standardized file with that data. Just directing to the website would require writing some parsing script, and it would be very resource consuming and expensive to do.

 

Usually suppliers have provide links to a xml or csv file with data. Then you need some module that allows you to set an automatic process, that reads the data and updates products in your shop. For CSV files I often use this module, as it's probably the cheapest solution for automatic sync.

 

Thank you Daresh for a quick reply.So then I should ask for a csv or xml file from suppliers.

 

Additional question regarding xml. One of my suppliers provides xml in two files: one version contains: name, ref number, price, quantity, another - ean, description, and wholesale price. Do I correctly understand that then it would be impossible to sync images? I mean, picture url should also needs to be included in file? 

 

Any recommendations what to use for xml files? 

[Daresh]

The general rule is that each file must contain some key, that you can use to recognize the product on your shop. Usually it's a reference. So if there is a reference in your suppliers file, and it matches the ref on your shop, the sync is possible. And yes, if there is no data in the file, you can't sync it so the picture url must be included. Sometimes the image URL can be guessed by using the product REF or ID, if the image naming follow some pattern, but that requires additional scripts. For XML I usually write my own scripts, transforming the XML file to CSV, and then import the CSV to Prestashop.