LOADSHEET INSTRUCTIONS

This document will guide you through the process of submitting product information for items that do not already exist on Takealot.com. Go through these instructions and the Catalogue Product Information Requirements thoroughly before attempting to fill in your category specific loadsheet.

In the weeks to come, we’ll be introducing the Supplier Portal - a new self-service platform you can use to manage your account with Takealot. Over time, this portal will include most of your account activities with Takealot so that you can manage your Takealot account in a centralised and efficient manner.

For now, there are 2 important functionalities that we will introduce:

  1. Account Management & Additional Users
  2. New Catalogue & Edit Requests

We will send out communications regarding this new release in time, but for now, we need you to prepare for changes to the way in which you submit your product images.

What’s changing?

With the new Supplier Portal, you will have two options to submit your product information of which both are on the platform. These options will remove all reliance on Google Drive Folders and the Catalogue Submission form and your allocated Google Folder will become inaccessible.

How will this impact you?

With the new Supplier Portal you will have the option to upload images along with other product information directly from your computer/laptop via a form-like interface and build out submissions in an easy-to-follow manner.

Loadsheets will remain Takealot’s bulk submission tool and you will still be able to make use of these to submit your catalogue within the new platform, however, you will no longer be able to upload your images to Google Drive.

Instead, you will need to make use of direct image links.

When will this change happen?

Image links are already permitted with the current submission process and we encourage you to start exploring their use as they reduce the turnaround time of your catalogue reviews. Your teams should be ready to make use of these exclusively for loadsheets by the end of April - remember that you will have an alternative option to upload your images as stated above.

Need help?

We have compiled a quick guide, along with the notice of change and additional resources which can be downloaded via the button below - please share this with your catalogue teams to prepare for the exciting new release!

Access the guide here: https://mcusercontent.com/dec7464b3baab27824746a8ea/files/cd368a3b-a304-4ab9-a6e3-9f9a7c74e963/Get_Ready_for_a_new_way_of_submitting_catalogue_4_.pdf 

Index

Index        1

Before you start        2

Terms and Definitions        3

Basic Concepts        4

What Is a Loadsheet?        4

What are the tabs inside the loadsheet?        5

The Loadsheet Tab        5

Product or Variant Column        6

Your Own SKU and Product SKU for Variant        6

Categories        6

Product Attributes        6

Product Images        6

Product or Variant?        7

Size Variants        7

Colour Variants        7

Steps to fill in a loadsheet for products without variants        8

Step 1: Find Your Loadsheet        8

Step 2: Download Your Loadsheet        8

Step 3: Open The Loadsheet Tab In The Excel File        8

Step 4: Add your brand        8

[ OPTIONAL : Set The Product Type ]        8

[ OPTIONAL : Insert “Your Own SKU” ]        9

Step 5: Set The Main & Lowest Category        9

Step 6: Insert the barcode        9

Step 7: Follow the Red-Brick Road        9

Step 8: Insert Image (Links)        10

Step 9: Scan The Loadsheet For Optional Columns You Want To Add        10

Step 10: Add the warranty information        10

Step 11: Add the product dimensions        11

Step 12: repeat        11

Steps to fill in a loadsheet for products with variants        11

Step 1: Find Your Loadsheet        11

Step 2: Download Your Loadsheet        11

Step 3: Open The Loadsheet Tab In The Excel File        11

Step 4: Add your brand        11

Step 5: Create the “parent product” (all shared info)        11

Step 5.1: set the product type and SKU        11

Step 5.2 : select the Main and Lowest Category nodes        12

Step 5.3 : follow the red brick road and insert the generic standard information        12

Step 5.4: follow the red brick road - select the product attributes        13

Step 5.5 : add the warranty information        13

Step 5.6 : add the product dimensions        13

Step 6: add your variants (size, colour etc.)        14

Step 6.1 : select the “variant” product type        14

Step 6.2 : Link Your Variant To The Product        14

Step 6.3: give the variant its own SKU        14

Step 6.3: enter the barcode for each variant        14

Step 6.4 : Select the Variant Attributes        14

Step 6.5 : Insert the image links/file names        15

Step 7: Repeat        15

What to Do Once Your Loadsheet Is Complete        16

What Happens Next?        16

Help with Videos        17

Help with Product Attributes With Multiple Values        17

Help with Image & Product Information Edit Requests        17

Brand Registry Requests (adding a New Brand to Loadsheets)        18

Video Walkthroughs

Loadsheet Videos & Webinar Recordings

Before you start

Terms and Definitions

Brand (required)

A unique and identifiable association, name or trademark which serves to differentiate competing products. A name used to distinguish one product from its competitors.

Your Own SKU

 A unique identifier for each product which was created by your company. The SKU must be unique for each product listed. A SKU could be an alphanumeric string; 1 character minimum in length and 40 characters maximum. This is applicable to each product as well as each variant.

Main Category

Select the main category the product belongs to from the dropdown list

Lowest Category

Select the lowest category for the product, for which a drop down list will only appear once the Main Category Column has been selected

Barcode

This refers to an external barcode; UPC (12-digit number), EAN (13-digit number) or ISBN (10-digit) number found on the product packaging and/or physical product.

Supplier ID

This is your supplier ID with Takealot.com.

Title

The product title to be displayed on site should aim to be at most 65 characters (including spaces).

Subtitle

Free text field relevant to the product (supports the title)

Description

A full description of the product being listed. The description field does not support:

Extended ASCII or high ASCII (e.g. ® and ©) 

HTML (however, markdown and real line breaks are supported)

What is in the Box

It is a list of all the individual parts/contents of the product where applicable. The physical content of the “box” and all the parts the customer will receive.

Basic Concepts

What Is a Loadsheet?

A Microsoft Excel document that is used to capture comprehensive product information in a structured way. This sheet is used as an upload sheet to the Takealot.com catalogue system to automatically create new catalogue.  This document further also indicate how to edit a catalogue submission on page 19.

What are the tabs inside the loadsheet?

A loadsheet consists of the following tabs (found horizontally along the bottom of the file):

The Loadsheet Tab

The Loadsheet Tab consists of various column types containing standard product information, such as title and description, as well as additional product information called “attributes”, such as colour, size etc.

The first step will always be to fill in column A (Product/Product with Variants/Variant).

These are optional for stand-alone products but required for variants (see instructions below).

The second required step will be to select the Main and Lowest Category (you copy and paste these from the Category Tree Look-up). This will activate the required attributes for the combination.

Required Attributes will be highlighted in red

These are not highlighted but they are REQUIRED. See the requirements for image rules for your product category.

Note: These are the minimum requirements for a product to be listed on Takealot.com, failure to provide all of this information will result in the product line being rejected. Standard product information such as category, title, description and barcode will always be required, for every product, across every department.  You will find the Required and Recommended attribute columns towards the right of the standard product information. Each attribute column contains a descriptive name and a descriptive subtitle to explain what the attribute means.

Product or Variant?

Products that are fundamentally the same and that vary according to a specific and defined variation theme, such as colour or size, share a product-variation relationship. A product-variation relationship allows for one product display page on Takealot.com to display the various options, called “variants”that the customer may choose from.

Not all related products are valid variations. The following questions will help you determine whether the products are valid variations that should share a single product page:

If an appropriate variation theme or attribute exists for your product, you can set up a product/variant relationship between the relevant product lines. Every variation relationship includes a Product and a number of unique Variants.

Size Variants

The image below indicates where the size variant is completed on the loadsheet. The population of the size variant column with variant sizes enables Takealot.com to display size variants as indicated in the PDP below.

Colour Variants

Colour has three different columns in the loadsheet. These columns are named Main Colour, Secondary Colour and Colour Name. Please see a description of each column below.

This will be the colour name which is displayed on the website (Product Description Page).  

The following is an example of these columns:

Main Colour

Secondary Colour

Colour Name

Pick from drop down

Pick from drop down

Free Text Field

Blue

White

Midnight Blue

Steps to fill in a loadsheet for products without variants

If your product does not have any variants associated to it, please follow the following steps to populate the loadsheet.

We also have the following video available for more visual references: How To Fill In A Loadsheet


Example of a standalone product

Step 1: Find Your Loadsheet

Find the relevant loadsheet for your products using the Global Category Tree Look-Up.

Step 2: Download Your Loadsheet

Download the loadsheet on the Catalogue page of your Seller Portal (all sheets are available at the bottom of the page).

Step 3: Open The Loadsheet Tab In The Excel File

The Loadsheet Tab can be found along the bottom of the Excel file.

Step 4: Add your brand

If your item is branded, you can select the relevant brand from the drop down list. Alternatively, you can quickly and easily find a brand that you would like to list against by searching for it on the “Brand look up tab”, copying the entire cell and pasting it into the brand column. Click here if your brand is not in the list.

[ OPTIONAL : Set The Product Type ]

In some loadsheets you will find the option to select the Product Type: Product with Variants, Variants or Product without Variants. For stand-alone products you may leave this column blank OR you may set the Product Type to “Product without Variants”.

[ OPTIONAL : Insert “Your Own SKU” ]

You have the option to provide a “stock keeping unit” (SKU) for the product.

Note: ignore the column Product SKU for variant”. This is a required column for linking of variant lines only.

Step 5: Set The Main & Lowest Category

Select the Main Category. The selection of the Main Category will allow you to set the Lowest Category Node from the dropdown. Once both have been selected, a set of visual cues will appear indicating which attribute columns are required.

Step 6: Insert the barcode

Enter the “Barcode” - this refers to the external UPC, EAN or ISBN number found on the product packaging and/or physical product.

 

Step 7: Follow the Red-Brick Road

Once the Main and Lowest Category nodes have been selected, the loadsheet will highlight all required cells in red. Complete all of these cells by selecting from the dropdowns. Wherever you find that there is no dropdown, you are required to type information into the cell. If you cannot find a value you need to use in the relevant cell’s dropdown, use the nearest alternative or contact catalogue.listings@takealot.com.

Step 8: Insert Image (Links)

Even though the image columns are not highlighted in red, all products must have images as prescribed by the Product Information Rules and Requirements document. You may submit up to 5 images per product. Product images may be submitted to Takealot.com in 2 ways, either via the:

  1. Direct Image URLS: these URLs must be publicly accessible and must be in the same format as one would use in a web browser. You can paste the direct image links for each of your images into the columns provided.
  1. Alternatively, via your allocated Supplier Submission Folder: Supply your images via your allocated Supplier Submission Google Drive Folder. All product images must be named as per the barcode or your product SKU e.g. phoneblue1, phoneblue2, phoneblue3, etc.  

Step 9: Scan The Loadsheet For Optional Columns You Want To Add

Some additional fields are available on a PRODUCT WITHOUT VARIANT line. These are the white cells which you can populate if the information is relevant to your product. Add optional information such as Gender and Colour. For more information on adding colour click here. For more information on Gender, click here.

Step 10: Add the warranty information

The loadsheet contains two columns related to the warranty of the product. Please ensure that both these columns are completed in order to result in a  successful loadsheet submission.

Step 11: Add the product dimensions

“Packed Dimensions” refer to the product’s “in package” size, or weight -  this is important for Takealot.com to know for logistics purposes. This is applicable to one piece of product i.e one shirt not the entire box of shirts it is delivered in.

The “Assembled Dimensions” refer to the unpackaged and assembled size of the product. These dimensions are an important factor in a customer’s purchasing decision and could help reduce customer returns. This refers to an individual product only.

Step 12: repeat

Repeat the above steps for each product you wish to create within the department loadsheet. You can fill in up to 1000 single products (rows).

Click here to find out what to do next.

Steps to fill in a loadsheet for products with variants

If you have identified that your products share a valid product-variation relationship please follow the guidelines below as well as the example tab in your loadsheet, to create a product variation relationship.

Step 1: Find Your Loadsheet

Find the relevant loadsheet for your products using the Global Category Tree Look-Up.

Step 2: Download Your Loadsheet

Download the loadsheet on the Catalogue page of your Seller Portal (all sheets are available at the bottom of the page).

Step 3: Open The Loadsheet Tab In The Excel File

The Loadsheet Tab can be found along the bottom of the Excel file.

Step 4: Add your brand

Select the relevant brand from the drop down list. Alternatively, you can quickly and easily find a brand that you would like to list against by searching for it on the “Brand look up tab”, copying the entire cell and pasting it into the brand column. Click here if your brand is not in the list.

Step 5: Create the “parent product” (all shared info)

Step 5.1: set the product type and SKU

The “parent” will have the Product Type “Product with Variants”. This will activate the first set of visual cues.

Insert the generic Parent SKU in the “Your Own SKU” column. This SKU will be used to link all variants to each other. You may insert any combination of numbers and/or letters.

Step 5.2 : select the Main and Lowest Category nodes

Select the Main and Lowest Category Node from the drop-down list.

This will activate the visual cues. These can be found when scrolling right and may be far apart. You need not complete these yet.

Step 5.3 : follow the red brick road and insert the generic standard information

All generic and shared information can now be inserted into Title and Key Selling Features. This information will appear on takealot.com. Keep in mind that a customer will land on the shared description and title. These will not change as they select their size.

FORMATTING TIPS

Double click on a cell before pasting. This will prevent your information from pasting into many cells.

Once you have pasted the information, you can create paragraphs by using the keystroke Alt+Enter.

Step 5.4: follow the red brick road - select the product attributes

Complete the row by filling in the red cells. As these are completed, the cells will turn white.

Step 5.5 : add the warranty information

The loadsheet contains two columns related to the warranty of the product. Please ensure that both these columns are completed in order to result in a  successful loadsheet submission.

Step 5.6 : add the product dimensions

“Packed Dimensions” refer to the product’s “in package” size, or weight -  this is important for Takealot.com to know for logistics purposes. This is applicable to one piece of product i.e one shirt not the entire box of shirts it is delivered in.

The “Assembled Dimensions” refer to the unpackaged and assembled size of the product. These dimensions are an important factor in a customer’s purchasing decision and could help reduce customer returns.

Step 6: add your variants (size, colour etc.)

Step 6.1 : select the “variant” product type

Once you have selected the Product Type to “Variant”, you will see the visual cues highlight the required cells in red. This set of cues is different to the Parent. This is because all generic information has already been provided and only Variant information is required.

Step 6.2 : Link Your Variant To The Product

In the column titled “Product SKU for Variant”, copy and paste the Parent SKU. This now links the Variant or “child” to the Product or “parent”. The cells will turn light green if done correctly and will activate the second set of visual cues.

Step 6.3: give the variant its own SKU

In the column titled “Your Own SKU”, insert a unique SKU (stock keeping unit).

Step 6.3: enter the barcode for each variant

In the column titled “Your Own SKU”, insert a unique SKU (stock keeping unit).

Step 6.4 : Select the Variant Attributes

The second set of visual cues will highlight ALL available variant attributes. Once a variant column has been filled in, all the columns will turn white.

You are able to select up to 2 variant attributes.

Once you have selected the relevant variant attribute, the rest of the variant options will turn white. You can still select up to 1 additional variant attribute.

Step 6.5 : Insert the image links/file names

Even though the image columns are not highlighted in red, all products must have images as prescribed by the Product Information Rules and Requirements document. You may submit up to 5 images per product. Product images may be submitted to Takealot.com in 2 ways, either via the:

  1. Direct Image URLS: these URLs must be publicly accessible and must be in the same format as one would use in a web browser. You can paste the direct image links for each of your images into the columns provided. Please note that the image link must start with either http:// or https://.
  2. Alternatively, via your allocated Supplier Submission Folder: Supply your images via your allocated Supplier Submission Google Drive Folder. All product images must be named as per the barcode or your product SKU e.g. phoneblue1, phoneblue2, phoneblue3, etc.  
  1. Place the relevant image names in the Image 1 URL, Image 2 URL, etc. columns.

Where to place your image links depends on the type of variation that exists:

Step 7: Repeat

Repeat the above steps for each product you wish to list within the department loadsheet. You can fill in up to 1000 single products (rows).

Click here to find out what to do next.

What to Do Once Your Loadsheet Is Complete

Watch our video for help: How to Submit your Loadsheet using Google Drive (minutes 12:00 to 16:00) for a visual walkthrough.

  1. Save the file in .xlsm format, with the following naming convention: Your Supplier Display Name – Your Supplier ID – Submission Date. e.g. Top Gear - 2957- 13 February 18.
  1. A link to your Supplier Submission Google Drive folder would have been shared with you via email. Click on the link in the email to access the folder. If you have not received this link, please check your spam folder, otherwise contact the the Catalogue Team or alternatively the Department Manager for assistance.
  1. In this folder click on "New" on the left-hand side, then select "Folder". Name the new folder as follows: Your Supplier Display Name + Your Supplier ID + Submission Date + Loadsheet Type + Number of Number (if submitting multiple loadsheets for the same department in a day). e.g. Top Gear - 2957 - 01 March 18 - TV, Audio & Video - 1 of 2
  2. Once you have saved the loadsheet and images (if applicable) inside this sub-folder, you will need to add your submission to the queue by completing the Catalogue Request Form. You will receive an email from Takealot.com confirming that your submission has been received with a submission number for reference.

What Happens Next?

Once Takealot.com has finished reviewing and processing your submission, you will receive an email stating that your products have been created. Please note, your products will be in an inactive state. Your products will only be active once the following steps occur and the Department Manager has decided on which SKU’s will be activated:

If you supply product information that fails our system validation, or quality review, we will populate an excel spreadsheet containing the supplied product information for the products that failed validation, along with error reason(s) per product. You will need to correct these errors and submit these product lines in a new submission.

Help with Videos

Please follow the following links to view the first two videos in the Catalogue series. This will enable you to complete and submit your loadsheets to Takealot.

Catalogue Basics: How to create new products on Takealot.com

Interacting with a Loadsheet

Help with Product Attributes With Multiple Values

Certain product attributes may need to have multiple values, for example, a device may have multiple connectivity features, such as micro USB, Bluetooth, WIFI etc. Only attribute columns with a [ 0 ] in the title allow for multiple values to be associated with an attribute.

Please note that this is only applicable to certain loadsheets.

  1. To add multiple values to an attribute select both the relevant column and the immediate column to the right; e.g. Connectivity [0] and Display Width in Pixels
  2. “Right click” on the selected columns, and select “Unhide”, to reveal the hidden attribute columns allowing for more values to be associate with the attribute
  3. Now select the additional values that you require from each of the unhidden columns

Help with Image & Product Information Edit Requests

For any Image & Product Information Edit Request for existing products on Takealot.com, follow this process:

  1. Download and complete the Product Edit Request Template
  2. Save the file in .xlsm format, with the following naming convention: Your Supplier Display Name – Your Supplier ID – Edit Request – Request Date .e.g. Treasure Box - 29823577 - Edit Request - 13 February 18
  3. In your allocated Submission Google Drive folder click on "New" on the left-hand side and select "Folder". Name the new folder as follows: Your Supplier Display Name – Your Supplier ID – Request Date. e.g. ShoppyMcshopper - 29823577 - 13 February 18. Note: If you do not use the Submission Google Drive Folder provided to you, or the link is restricted, your submission will be rejected and you will need to resubmit.
  4. Add your completed Product Edit Request Template and any applicable product images (only if not providing direct download URLs) named as per the barcode or SKU of the product, to this folder.
  5. To notify our catalogue team of your request, please complete the Catalogue Request Form.

Brand Registry Requests (adding a New Brand to Loadsheets)

To register a brand on Takealot.com, and to have that brand added to the “Brand” Column and “Brand Lookup Tab” in all category specific loadsheets, please follow these steps:

  1. Type your brand name in the brand column on the loadsheet and submit the completed loadsheet.
  2. The Catalogue Assistant will request your brand logo (image) to add this to the Takealot.com website.

If you have read the instructions above, and you still have
questions, please feel free to reach out to the Catalogue Operations Team