Commerce CSV import versus Data Loader and import APIs
Key Takeaway
Use the Commerce CSV import for up to 10,000 products with nine images each, because it maintains object relationships for you. For larger loads, use Data Loader and maintain those relationships yourself.
B2B Commerce gives you three ways to load store data such as products, categories, prices, images, and entitlement policies. You can run the Commerce CSV import in the Commerce app, run it from code through the Commerce Import APIs, or use Data Loader. The choice matters because it decides who keeps the relationships between commerce objects correct: the import or you.
Commerce CSV import or Data Loader
Salesforce recommends the Commerce CSV import because the import file maintains the correct relationships between commerce objects. The import file also makes the required updates to records in related objects. Those updates add up fast: 10,000 imported products typically need more than 50,000 updates to related objects.
If your load is up to 10,000 products with nine images each per session...
Use the Commerce CSV import, which handles that size per session.
If you need to bulk import more than 10,000 products with nine images each...
Use Data Loader, which is the fallback for very large product loads. Unlike the Commerce CSV import, Data Loader does not manage commerce relationships, so you must explicitly maintain the correct relationships between objects. Use Schema Builder to discover how the objects are related.
Priya is setting up a B2B store for a tool supplier. The launch load is 6,000 products with nine images each, so she uses the Commerce CSV import and lets the import file keep the object relationships correct. A year later, the supplier adds a brand of 32,000 products with nine images each. Because the load is past the Commerce CSV import limit, she switches to Data Loader. She opens Schema Builder first to see how the objects relate, because keeping those relationships correct is now her job.