Categories in Sales Layer help you organize products in a hierarchical tree structure. You can use them to group products into main categories and subcategories, making the catalog easier to manage and easier to work with later in channels and searches.

To start the import, go to Categories from the left-hand menu and click Import. Then choose Excel Document.

Prepare your Excel file

When preparing your spreadsheet, each row should represent one category. Your data should already be organized into columns before you paste it into Sales Layer.

Excel imports support up to 25,000 items at a time. You can also import up to 750 columns in a single Excel or CSV import.

Once your spreadsheet is ready, copy the category rows from Excel and paste them directly into the import window in Sales Layer.

When importing categories, the main fields to keep in mind are:

• Category Reference
• Parent Category Reference
• Category Name
• Category Image, if needed
• Category Description, if needed

The most important field is the Category Reference, because Sales Layer uses it to identify each category. The Parent Category Reference is what creates the category hierarchy.

Use parent category references to build the tree

The Parent Category Reference field determines whether a category is a subcategory and, if it is, which parent category it belongs to.

If a category has no value in Parent Category Reference, Sales Layer treats it as a main or root category.

For example, if you import one category with no parent reference and another category that points to the first one as its parent, Sales Layer builds that relationship automatically as part of the category tree.

Review field mapping before importing

After you paste the data, Sales Layer shows the detected columns so you can review how they will be imported.

The import process is the same as for products and variants. Fields that Sales Layer recognizes appear with a green background, while new fields appear with a white background.

At this stage, you can:

• match a column to an existing field
• create a new field
• change the field title
• change the field type
• discard a column you do not want to import

Sales Layer remembers the configuration you confirm, which makes future imports easier when you use a similar structure again.

Once you have checked the references, hierarchy, and field mapping, click Import to create the categories in Sales Layer.

After the import, you will be able to review the category tree in the Categories section.

Another way to create category structure

It is also possible to create a category tree from a product import by writing the structure directly into a category column, for example:

category > subcategory > subsubcategory

This can be useful when you are importing products and category structure at the same time.

Update existing categories

You can use the same Excel import process later to update categories that already exist.

To do this, go to Categories, click Import, choose the import method, and paste the updated rows.

To update a category, include the Category Reference column together with the field or fields you want to change. If the category reference already exists, Sales Layer updates that category record.

This makes it easy to change names, descriptions, images, or parent category assignments without rebuilding the whole category table.

Update multi-value fields carefully

If you want to update multi-option fields, such as category references, images, files, related items, tags, or list fields with multi-selection enabled, you can use the ++ and -- operators.

++ adds new information without replacing the existing values.

-- removes a specific value without deleting the rest of the content in that field.

Use these operators only in fields that support this behavior.

Understand the reimport options

When you reimport categories, Sales Layer may show extra options at the bottom of the import window depending on your setup.

• New items will be saved as draft: new categories created by this import will be added in draft status
• Force import in locked fields: updates locked fields too
• The updated items that are visible will be changed to draft status: visible categories that are updated will move to draft after import
• Modify only existing items: updates existing categories only and ignores any new references in the file
• Reimport links from existing files: reprocesses images from the Excel or CSV as new while keeping existing links
• Generate backup: creates a backup copy if there is no recent one

These options are useful when you are working in a live catalog and want more control over the result of the import.

Deleting categories 

If you want to delete a category but keep its subcategories, do not delete it manually from the category table.

Instead, do it through a manual import and put an X in the status field for that category. This deletes only that specific category.

If you delete a category directly from the category table, Sales Layer also removes its related subcategories from that structure. For example, if you delete a main category, its subcategory can move up and become a main category, and lower levels will also shift position.

Common use cases

• Create your first category tree from an existing spreadsheet
• Build parent and child category relationships in bulk
• Update category names, descriptions, images, or hierarchy later
• Adjust only existing categories without creating new ones
• Maintain category structure while importing products

Best practices

Before importing categories, make sure your category references are unique and your parent category references point to the correct category codes. Start with a clean structure, review the hierarchy carefully in the first import, and be especially cautious when deleting categories. A small change in the tree can affect how products are organized across the catalog.