In Shopify, you can set the weight of your products. Accurate weight settings are essential for shipping calculations and inventory management. This guide walks you through the steps for setting product weight and explains the weight units you can use (kilograms, grams, ounces, and pounds). We'll also introduce how to update multiple products in bulk, helping you manage your inventory more efficiently.
What weight units can you set in Shopify?
In Shopify, you can set one of the following four weight units for a product.
- Kilograms (kg)
- Grams (g)
- Ounces (oz)
- Pounds (lb)
How to set (or update) your store's default weight unit
You can change (or update) this from "Shopify admin > Settings > General," in the "Store defaults" section.
How to set (or update) a product's weight
Setting (or updating) weight one product at a time from Products
(1) Go to Shopify admin > Products
(2) Click the product you want to set the weight for from the product list
(3) Set the weight and unit in the product detail's weight field
(4) Click "Save"
Setting (or updating) weight in bulk from Products
(1) Go to Shopify admin > Products
(2) Check the products you want to set the weight for from the product list
(3) Click "Bulk edit"
(4) (If the weight column isn't displayed) click Columns
(5) (If the weight column isn't displayed) check the Weight box
(6) Set the weight and unit in the Weight column
(7) Click "Save"
Setting (or updating) weight in bulk using a CSV file
(1) Go to Shopify admin > Products
(2) Check the products you want to set the weight for from the product list
(3) Click "Export"
(4) For products to export, select "Selected"
(5) For the export type, select "Plain CSV file"
(6) Click "Export products"
ℹ️ This exports a CSV file named "products_export.csv".
(7) Open the spreadsheet and click "File"
ℹ️ Edit the data in the exported CSV file. We'll use a spreadsheet here, but feel free to use whichever spreadsheet software you prefer, such as Excel or Numbers.
(8) Click "Import"
(9) Select "products_export.csv" as the import file
(10) Click "Import data"
(11) Edit the Variant Grams column
ℹ️ Set the value in grams. Even if you normally use kg, note that this value still needs to be set in grams.
(12) Once your edits are complete, click "File"
(13) Click "Download"
(14) Click "Comma Separated Values (.csv)"
(15) Return to Products and click "Import"
(16) Select the CSV file you exported from the spreadsheet
(17) Check "Overwrite products with matching handles."
(18) Click "Upload and preview"
(19) A preview will be displayed; review the details
(20) Click "Import products"
This completes the bulk update using a CSV file.
Shopify apps that help with weight management
Matrixify - For bulk updating product weight
Matrixify is a recommended app for bulk updating product weight.
With Matrixify, you can bulk update or export to CSV virtually any data in Shopify, including products, blog posts, collections, metafields, and meta descriptions.
RuffRuff Order Limits - For weight limits and displaying weight in your online store
RuffRuff Order Limits is a Shopify app that lets you implement all kinds of purchase restrictions, including quantity limits, amount limits, weight limits, customer limits, bundling limits, payment limits, and viewing (access) restrictions.
With this app, you can set all kinds of weight limits, such as "30kg for the entire store" or "3kg minimum for a specific collection," and display the cart's total weight or a product's weight on your online store.
Conclusion
Setting the correct weight for your products is an essential part of running a Shopify store. Accurate weight information affects shipping calculations and inventory management, and also helps build customer trust. By following the steps in this guide, you can easily set the weight of your products.
Here's a summary of the key points:
- Choosing a weight unit: You can choose from four units: kilograms, grams, ounces, and pounds.
- Individual and bulk product settings: You can set the weight for each product individually, or use the bulk edit feature to update multiple products at once.
- Using export and import: You can manage your data efficiently using CSV files.
- Using helpful apps: Tools like Matrixify make bulk updates to product data even smoother.
Use this guide as a reference to set your product weights and run your online store more effectively. Feel free to make use of additional resources and apps as needed.
Lastly, the blog article below explains how to automatically change shipping rates based on the total weight of the products in a cart. If you'd like to make use of the weight you've set, check it out.
