After spending hundreds of hours wrestling with the importing schemas of Magento over several versions of the platform, I'm happy to say that, starting with Version 2.0.1, there is one shortcut to helping you import products successfully.

Magento imports CSV files according to a specific layout scheme. Trying to configure an import file to accurately import a variety of different products, product types, attribute sets, and so on, will lead to many, many failed attempts as you try different ways of configuring the CSV to meet your needs. Therefore, my best advice is:

Now you can easily see how each type of product is configured in the export file. Using this format, you can easily add additional products, simply by following a similar pattern.

In the Magento 2.0.1 import interface, there is an option to download a sample file. This is a great step in the right direction and can be very helpful as a reference. Because this file only covers default products, though, we would suggest entering the type of product(s) you intend to sell into your store as described above to generate a more specific reference template.

Notice that for products with various options, particularly configurable products, only the differences between each iteration are included on the rows below the main product row. Never repeat any other fields that are the same between variations. A unique SKU is required of each product, though. For configurable products, you'll need to include a pipe delimited list of the configurable SKUS and the attribute they vary by (in the example below, this is the Color attribute).

You don't need to worry about this for simple products, but if you do have a batch of configurable products it will really help to have a sample configurable product export file as a starting point.

To import images, you must upload the images to your server in the /var/import folder. If the /var/import folder doesn't exist, you can create it (or another of your directory) and specify it as part of the import process.

Put the name of the image file in the image columns of your import CSV file (don't include any path). Magento will pick the image out of the /var/import folder, resize it as needed, and store it within the images/catalog folder hierarchy. Never use capitals, spaces, or other strange characters in your image names; only the letters a through z, the numbers 0 through 9, and the underscore.