Automate your digital catalog production in Flipsnack

Requirements

Plan: Enterprise
Company size: Mid-market and Enterprise

Overview

Automation in Flipsnack connects a CSV, XLSX, or Google Sheets product feed to elements on your flipbook by mapping spreadsheet column names to those elements, so the catalog populates and updates on its own. This feature requires an Enterprise plan and is aimed at mid-market and enterprise companies with recurring product data.

What is automation in Flipsnack?

Before going further, it’s essential to understand the automation feature in Flipsnack and how it works.

Automation in Flipsnack lets you connect the product feed from your CSV and XLSX file or Google Sheets to the various elements you want to add to your flipbook through mapping. Specifically, the columns name of your CSV file will be mapped to different Flipsnack elements. This connection forms the basis for the automation, ensuring that your content is dynamically and accurately populated.

What is a feed?

A feed is a structured data set, typically from your CSV file or Google Sheet. It works like a spreadsheet that holds your product details, which Flipsnack uses to populate your catalog automatically, based on the column names you have.

Automation if you have product feed:

If you have products, Flipsnack offers two ways to structure your feed:

1. Use Flipsnack's pre-defined templates: This option simplifies your workflow by providing a ready-to-use structure that supports automation.

Simple Product Feed Template

Purpose: For basic products: each product has just one version.
Example: A catalog where each item (like a T-shirt) has only one size and color.
Structure: Basic columns like Product Name, Description, Price, Image Link, etc.

Variant-Rich Product Feed Template

Purpose: For complex products: products that have multiple variants.
Example: A catalog where a T-shirt comes in different sizes and colors.
Structure: Extra columns to handle variants like Color, Size, SKU, etc.

2. Use your CSV structure: If you prefer to do your feed format, ensure it includes a unique ID column. Mapping will be necessary to link your data accurately into Flipsnack.

Feed upload and syncing

Once a feed is uploaded in Flipsnack, it serves various functions, including but not limited to the following:

Generate a product catalog: Automate the creation of professional-looking product catalogs in minutes. Find out how here.
Create a shoppable catalog: Transform your PDF into an interactive shoppable catalog where customers can browse and purchase products directly from the catalog. Find out how here.
Multimedia elements: Add engaging content like photo slideshows, popup frames, videos, product tags, etc. Find out how here.
Make a product catalog from scratch: Use your CSV or spreadsheet data to drag and drop products onto your pages without being limited by a template. Find out how here.
Bulk create catalogs: Select up to 50 feeds at once and generate a catalog for each in a single workflow. All feeds must share the same column structure. Find out how here.

If your product feed experiences any changes regarding prices or descriptions, you can update it automatically with the Sync feature; there is no need to redo everything manually.

Automation without products:

Even if your feed does not include product data, automation in Flipsnack still provides significant flexibility. You can customize your feed to include text, images, videos, links, product tags, or other elements with the specification to have a unique ID, to map it easily in Design Studio. Now that you’re familiar with the possibilities, it’s time to take your product catalog creation to the next level by exploring automation and what you can do next:

Next steps

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