Zero Price Woes: Fixing Product Feed Errors in Shopify

Decoding the Zero-Dollar Product Mystery

Hey everyone! I was browsing the Shopify Community the other day and stumbled upon a thread started by Jetcyclesmarketing about a frustrating issue: products showing up as zero dollars in their store. This can be a real headache, especially when you're dealing with live feeds and automated inventory updates. Let's dive into the problem and explore some solutions based on the community's insights.

The Case of the Vanishing Price

Jetcyclesmarketing explained that they were pulling a live feed from a supplier. The weird part? When a product hit zero stock, it was being listed as $0.00 on their Shopify store. They were using Matrixify to update their feed four times a day, and the app flagged an issue with the price column, almost as if it didn't recognize it.

Here's the original question, for context:

I was wondering if you’d be able to help us, we’re pulling a live feed from a supplier but specific products when they hit zero in stock will put the prouduct as zero dollars, matrixify is publishing our feed 4 times a day and is saying there is an issue with our column as if it doesnt know what price is?

Has anyone ever seen this before or know how to fix it?

Investigating the Culprit: The CSV File

Tim_1, another helpful community member, jumped in to offer assistance. He suggested examining the CSV file being used for the import, along with the import results file. He rightly pointed out that the issue might not be directly related to the price being zero, but rather a potential shift in the columns within the CSV. This could happen if the price is completely omitted when the stock is zero, causing the data to misalign.

Tim_1 offered some valuable advice, saying:

And what the import results file has?
Does not look like these errors are directly because of price being zero (maybe it’s omitted completely and all columns are shifted?).
Anyways, hard to tell without seeing the CSV.

He even raised a valid point about the supplier's file naming convention (pdsfed_AU_*Shopify*.csv), questioning why it would be incompatible if the supplier labeled it for Shopify.

Possible Solutions: Pre-processing with Google Sheets

Tim_1 also suggested using Google Sheets as an intermediary step to pre-process the data before importing it into Shopify. This is a fantastic idea because it gives you more control over the data and allows you to clean and transform it as needed. He linked to a Matrixify tutorial on this very topic:

Actionable Steps to Fix the Zero-Price Issue

Based on the community discussion, here's a step-by-step approach you can take to resolve this issue:

1. Examine the CSV and Import Results: Download both the CSV file from your supplier and the import results file from Matrixify. Open them and carefully compare the data, paying close attention to the price column and any potential shifts in the data.
2. Identify the Root Cause: Determine if the price is actually being set to zero in the CSV when the stock is zero, or if the price column is being omitted altogether.
3. Pre-process with Google Sheets (Recommended):
   • Import the CSV into Google Sheets.
   • Create a new column (e.g., "Price Fix")
   • Use an IF formula to check if the stock is zero. If it is, either set the price to a default value (e.g., the original price) or leave it blank (depending on your desired behavior). For example:

     =IF(A2=0, B2, B2)

     (Assuming stock is in column A and price is in column B).
   • Download the modified data as a new CSV file.
4. Update Matrixify Settings: If you're pre-processing the data, make sure Matrixify is configured to use the correct columns from your modified CSV.
5. Contact Your Supplier: If the issue originates from the supplier's feed, reach out to them and explain the problem. Ask them to provide a feed that doesn't set the price to zero when stock is depleted.

Ultimately, the solution will depend on the specific structure of your supplier's CSV file and how Matrixify is configured. By systematically investigating the data and using tools like Google Sheets for pre-processing, you can regain control over your product prices and ensure a smooth shopping experience for your customers.