Shuttle enables you to designate products that should not be included in transfer or update processes between your Etsy and Shopify stores. Excluding products can be beneficial for managing platform-specific items, handling seasonal inventory, or when products are under review before being fully synced.
When a product is excluded, Shuttle will omit it during product transfers from one platform to another. Similarly, these products will not be included in product updates.
Important Note: The exclusion settings discussed here pertain specifically to the transfer and updating of product information. To exclude products from stock syncing operations, please refer to the dedicated "Stock Syncing" settings page, as these are managed under a separate configuration.
Methods for Excluding Entire Products
When you need Shuttle to entirely ignore certain products during transfers and updates, use the following methods.
Direct Exclusion from the Product List
For excluding specific products, the most straightforward approach is directly from the product pages within Shuttle.
Locate the product(s) you wish to exclude in your product list.
Select these products.
Utilize the 'Exclude Products' button. This method is best suited for targeted, individual product exclusions.
Bulk Exclusion Settings
For excluding a larger volume of products that share common attributes, the exclusion settings section, found at Product Settings → Exclusions, provides several efficient options.
Recommendation: While these bulk exclusion methods are powerful, it is often preferable to use the 'Exclude' button on the products page for excluding individual or small groups of products. The settings fields outlined below are best reserved for situations requiring large-scale exclusion based on shared characteristics.
Exclude by specific tags
If you use tags to categorize products (e.g., "Archive," "Etsy Only"), you can enter these tags into the designated field. Separate multiple tags with a comma. Shuttle will then ignore any product associated with these tags.
This leverages your existing product organization system, streamlining the exclusion process.
Exclude by title keywords
If products to be excluded share common terms in their titles (e.g., "Discontinued," "Local Pickup Only"), list these keywords in the appropriate field. Separate multiple keywords with a comma.
This allows for quick exclusion based on established naming conventions within your product titles.
Exclude by vendor (Shopify only)
To exclude all products from a particular vendor in your Shopify store, enter the vendor's name. If you need to exclude products from multiple vendors, separate their names with commas.
This is useful for managing inventory from specific suppliers that you do not wish to sync or transfer.
Exclude by collections (Shopify)
Products can also be excluded based on their inclusion in specific Shopify collections. Enter the names of the collections whose products you wish Shuttle to ignore.
This is ideal for scenarios where Shopify collections contain items not intended for transfer or cross-platform updates.
Methods for Excluding Specific Product Variations
In some instances, you may want to transfer a primary product but exclude certain variations, such as a specific size or color that is exclusive to one platform. These settings are found under Exclude Variations.
Exclude by SKU
If your product variations are identified by unique SKUs, you can list the SKUs of the variations you wish to exclude. Ensure SKUs are separated by commas.
SKUs provide precise identification for variations, making this a highly reliable exclusion method, particularly for products with complex or numerous variations.
Exclude by Name
Variations can also be excluded by their names. Enter the names of the variations to be excluded, separated by commas.
For variations consisting of multiple options (e.g., a product that comes in "Medium" size and "Blue" color), you must combine the option names using "||". For example, to exclude a Medium, Blue variation, you would enter Medium||Blue.
This method is useful if SKUs are not extensively used for all variations or if identifying variations by their descriptive names is more straightforward for your workflow.
Important Considerations for Variations
When using variation exclusion, please note the following:
Behavior during Transfers: If an excluded variation is part of a product being transferred for the first time from Shopify to Etsy, Shuttle will transfer the main product. However, the specifically excluded variations will be created as hidden on Etsy. They will not be visible or orderable by customers.
Impact on Stock Syncing: These variation exclusion settings are active only during product transfers and when Shuttle performs an inventory recreation. They do not affect ongoing stock syncing for variations that have already been successfully transferred and are part of the regular sync process.
Single-Variation Products: Products that inherently have only a single variation (i.e., no selectable options like size or color) will not be affected by these "Exclude Variations" settings. To exclude a product that has only one version, you must use the "Exclude Products" methods detailed in the previous section.
Benefits of Excluding Products
Controlling which products are included in transfers and updates offers significant advantages for managing your e-commerce operations effectively:
Maintain Platform Exclusivity: Easily designate products as unique to either your Etsy or Shopify store, tailoring your offerings for each audience.
Manage Seasonal or Limited Inventory: Prevent out-of-season items or sold-out limited editions from being included in routine updates or transfers across platforms.
Facilitate Product Testing: Introduce new products to one platform for a trial period without automatically propagating them to the other, allowing for controlled testing.
Improve Accuracy and Efficiency: Avoid unintended modifications to specific products, ensuring that your listings remain accurate and as intended on each respective platform.
By utilizing Shuttle's comprehensive product exclusion features, you can achieve more precise control over your product catalog across multiple sales channels. This leads to more efficient store management and helps maintain the integrity of your product data.