Have you ever needed to quickly create a similar product listing on your Shopify store without manually entering all details again? If yes, then knowing about Shopify duplicate product can save you significant time and effort, streamlining your eCommerce operations.
In this guide, we’ll explore how to duplicate a product in Shopify, helping your product management smoother and more effective. Let’s dive in!
Why Would We Duplicate Product Shopify
Instead of creating each product listing from scratch, duplication allows you to quickly create copies of existing products, which can then be customized as needed. As your store grows, this approach is especially useful for these reasons:
- Speed up store setup: When launching a new collection with similar items, duplicating an existing product helps create the new listings faster by reusing details like descriptions, pricing, and images.
- Maintain consistent branding: Copying product details ensures brand consistency across your store without manually re-typing information.
- Backup product data: Creating duplicates can serve as a quick fallback copy before making major edits or updates to your listings.
- Overcome variant limits: Shopify has a variant limit (maximum 100 variants per product), so duplicating a product allows you to split oversized variant sets into multiple listings ( Read more the article: Shopify Variant Limit )
Shopify Duplicate Product in Bulk with BulkFlow
For businesses with extensive catalogs of hundreds or even thousands of products, it’s best to use a bulk data management tool like BulkFlow to duplicate products.
BulkFlow isn’t a one-click “duplicate product” app, but by leveraging its export, edit, and import functionality, you can effectively create product duplicates in bulk without spending hours on manual work.
Using BulkFlow doesn’t just speed up the process – its automation features also reduce the risk of human error. This method is particularly useful for stores with frequently updated inventories or for merchants who release similar seasonal collections.
Below is a simple step-by-step guide on how to duplicate Shopify products in bulk using BulkFlow:
- Step 1: Export your existing products via BulkFlow
- Step 2: Prepare a duplicate set in your spreadsheet
- Step 3: Create a new import feed on BulkFlow
- Step 4: Import products to Shopify to create duplicate listings
Step 1: Export your existing products via BulkFlow
If you have an existing Shopify duplicate product template file with data, you can skip this step. If not, you can use BulkFlow to export your product data from your Shopify store.
To begin, make sure you have a BulkFlow account connected to your Shopify store. There are 2 ways you can do it.
- Method 1: You can install the BulkFlow app directly in the Shopify App Store.
- Method 2: You register a new account from the BulkFlow website and connect your store from there. Inside the BulkFlow dashboard, go to Create New Feed > Export.
Then, provide your new feed and select the export destination as your email address or FTP/SFTP server. When you are done, click Continue to proceed.
Next, you can create a preset to use next time and choose a file format for your export, either CSV or Excel. Under Export type, select Products to ensure you’re pulling out product data.
BulkFlow allows flexible filtering, allowing you to export specific products filtered by SKU, tag, status, etc. It’s also possible to select which fields to include in the export. Remember to include at least one type of identifier to help Shopify recognize your product later.
When your configuration looks right, click Export. BulkFlow will then send your file to your chosen destination.
Step 2: Prepare a duplicate set in your spreadsheet
After exporting, open the file in Excel, Google Sheets, or another spreadsheet editor to prepare for duplication.
In your file, you should only keep the duplicate products’ row (or rows, if variants are included). For these rows, you only need to change one type of identifier (ID, Handle, SKU,…). Shopify will recognize each entry as a new product once its unique identifiers are changed.
Once you’ve finished, save the changes.
Step 3: Create a new import feed on BulkFlow
With your duplicate product data ready, now let’s import it to Shopify through BulkFlow. From your BulkFlow dashboard, navigate to Create New Feed > Import.
Give this new feed a clear name, select Products as the data entity, and choose Create Feed with your Template.
Then, you can choose your preferred connection method for importing: File upload, File URL, Google Drive, Google Sheet, Dropbox, OneDrive, or FTP/SFTP. After connecting, click Continue to proceed.
Step 4: Add your file to duplicate product Shopify
In the next step, connect your prepared product file to BulkFlow:
- File Upload: Simply upload your Excel or CSV file directly from your device.
- FTP/SFTP: enter your server credentials and test the connection to verify access before proceeding.
- Shared Connections (Google Drive, Google Sheet, Dropbox, OneDrive, File URL): paste the file link and test the connection to ensure BulkFlow can access it. These are recommended if you want to reduce manual work, as they support automation.
Next is field mapping. Remember the one type of identifier that you changed to make your new product row unique? You will need to set that field as the product identifier here.
Here, BulkFlow automatically detects and maps your columns to corresponding Shopify product fields. However, you can still review or edit the mapping if needed to ensure accuracy. The Generate AI Mapping Suggestion tool can also help by providing a quick, automatic match for your data headers.
Once your fields are confirmed, click Continue to execute the import. BulkFlow will process the data and create new duplicate listings in your Shopify store based on your edited identifiers.
After the import completes, you can open the Activity Log at the bottom of the result page to review which items were successfully added and whether any errors occurred.
If you may need to duplicate products again in the future, BulkFlow’s automated scheduling becomes a helpful option. With the Automate feed feature, you can run the product duplication again without rebuilding the setup, making product management easier and more efficient.
Finally, you can also log in to your Shopify Admin > Products to view all your newly duplicated products.
Bonus: How to Duplicate a Product in Shopify by Default
If you only need to duplicate a handful of products rather than hundreds, Shopify’s built-in duplication tool is your easiest and safest choice. This native feature lets you quickly copy all the essential details of an existing product without using third-party apps.
Below are the two main ways to do this using Shopify’s default options:
Duplicate product manually
This is the simplest way to duplicate a single product directly within your Shopify admin. It’s great for quick, occasional copies when you only need a few duplicates.
Here is how to duplicate product in Shopify manually:
- Log in to your Shopify admin and go to Products.
- Find the product you want to duplicate and click to open the product detail page.
- Click Duplicate in the top right corner. Select the details you want to duplicate and set the new product status.
- Make any edits to the duplicated product’s details. Save the new product.
Bulk duplicate product with CSV
For duplicating multiple products at once, using the Shopify import/export CSV feature is a powerful bulk duplication method.
Here is how to duplicate product in Shopify with a CSV file:
- Navigate to Products in Shopify admin, select all the products you want to duplicate, and then export them.
- Open the CSV file. Change the products’ handles to make them unique. You can also make any adjustments to the product details to differentiate or let it be. Save the CSV file when you’re done.
- Return to the Shopify admin, go to Products > Import, and upload your file. Remember to uncheck “Overwrite products with matching handles.”
- Start the import. Shopify will add the duplicates as new products in your store.
Best Practice for Shopify Duplicate Products
Duplicating products in Shopify can save you tons of time, but if done carelessly, it may lead to cluttered catalogs, SEO issues, or inventory mix-ups. To make the most of the feature while keeping your store clean and optimized, follow these best practices:
Be careful of duplicate product info
When you create a duplicate product, Shopify copies everything from the original, including the title, description, and SEO data. If you publish it without changes, search engines may see it as duplicate content, which can hurt your SEO rankings.
What you should always do is take a few minutes to adjust the product title, description, and other product details. Even small tweaks like updating the title or changing keywords can help make each product unique and discoverable.
Adjust inventory levels and SKU
Duplicated products usually keep the same SKU or inventory quantity, which can lead to syncing errors. Shopify uses SKUs to track stock, and duplicating without changes can cause fulfillment errors or mismatched inventory counts.
After duplication, you should assign a unique SKU or barcode to every new product and set the right stock level for it. This ensures your reporting and order management stay accurate, especially if you use fulfillment centers or apps that depend on SKUs.
Keep your catalog organized
Duplicating too many products can make your catalog harder to manage. Before you start, ask whether you truly need a new product or just a new variant (like a size or color). Keeping similar products as variants keeps your store clean and easier for customers to browse.
If you already have unnecessary duplicates, archive or delete them regularly. Keeping your catalog tidy also helps maintain faster site performance and better customer experience.
Shopify Duplicate Product – FAQ
Can you duplicate a product in Shopify to create new variants?
Duplicating products and creating variants are 2 different processes. If your goal is to add new options like color or size under the same product, it’s usually better to add variants instead of creating separate duplicates. This keeps your store layout simpler and prevents product clutter.
However, Shopify does have a 100-variant limit per product. When you need more than that, duplicating the product and adding the additional variants to the new listing becomes a practical workaround.
How to duplicate a product in Shopify without affecting SEO?
To prevent SEO issues when duplicating a product, you should make small but meaningful edits that differentiate the new listing. Here are some tips:
– Update the product title, description, and meta description so they’re unique.
– Edit the URL to something new and descriptive.
– Change or rename images if possible to make the content distinct.
– Avoid using identical keywords on multiple product pages.
Can I undo a duplicate product Shopify?
There isn’t an undo feature for product duplication in Shopify. Once a duplicate product is created, you’ll need to delete or archive it manually if you don’t need it. To stay safe, always back up your product list by exporting a CSV before creating large numbers of duplicates so you can easily restore if something goes wrong.
Can I duplicate a product to another Shopify store?
You can’t directly duplicate a product across different stores using the Duplicate feature, but you can export and import it via CSV. Here’s how:
1. Export the product (or entire catalog) as a CSV from your first store.
2. Log into the second store and go to Products > Import.
3. Upload the CSV and import the product data.
This method lets you easily clone products across multiple stores while maintaining consistent product information.
Conclusion
Shopify duplicate product can be a smart way to speed up catalog management – especially when you need to test new listings, create seasonal versions, or launch product variations without starting from scratch. While Shopify’s built-in duplication feature works perfectly for small stores, it quickly becomes inefficient when you’re handling hundreds or thousands of products.
That’s where BulkFlow comes in. Designed for Shopify merchants managing large catalogs, BulkFlow simplifies bulk product duplication by letting you export, edit, and re-import product data with complete control. You can use your own file in formats like CSV, Excel, or Google Sheets; no need to adjust or reformat like Shopify’s default features.
BulkFlow also offers powerful automation tools to ensure accuracy and efficiency. Its field mapping features help match your data to the correct Shopify fields automatically, while the Automate Feed option lets you schedule recurring updates to keep your product management clean, consistent, and effortless.
