How to Export Categories in Bigcommerce
You might have noticed after searching the backend of your store that there isn’t a specific export for categories in Bigcommerce, and if there is an export button tucked away somewhere, then it hasn’t been documented well enough to find it easily. Rather than exporting products and picking out the categories that were exportable through Bigcommerce’s Bulk Edit, (which would take ages to do) I was able to grab all of the categories I needed through their API, and you can too!
Step 1: Create an API Account
The first thing that you will need to do is create an API account in Bigcommerce by navigating to Setup & Tools > Legacy API account. Once you have created the account it will generate an API Path and an API Token for you to use in the next steps.
An Example API Path & API Token is Shown Below:
- Username: MasterApi
- API Path: https://your-website.mybigcommerce.com/api/v2/
- API Token: 9ebc922a799bc49d21125dsa2fdac0722008ed1a
Step 2: Generate XML List of Categories
To generate an XML list of categories you will need to type in the following path in addition to your API Path: /api/v2/categories?limit={count}& page={number}
Step 3: Save File in CSV Format & You’re Done!
After I saved the XML, I then created a script to utilize the XML in a specific format, and saved the file in CSV format for import into another eCommerce platform. I hope this helps you export your categories, and if you have any additional methods of exporting we’d love to hear them!
Interested in starting a project, or have a question for the Border7 Team? Send us a message!
i didnt get this one how can i do this?
Hey Mitesh,
I’m sorry you are having difficulty with exporting categories from your Bigcommerce store. Which step are you getting stuck on? I might be able to provide further information to help you out.
Best Regards,
David Baer
Thanks! Saved me a bit of time that did.
Happy to hear it, Tom!
Step 2: Generate XML List of Categories
To generate an XML list of categories you will need to type in the following path in addition to your API Path: /api/v2/categories?limit={count}& page={number}
I am helping manage my friends bigcommerce site, but just want a csv list of their categories. They have completed step 1 and created an API Account but I am unclear as to where to type in the API Path
“you will need to type in the following path in addition to your API Path: /api/v2/categories?limit={count}& page={number}”
Will you please advise? Thank you in advance
Hey Bonita,
This is a pretty old post, and the BigCommerce API has changed since.
To Answer Your question, Step 2 is meant to build the following URL https://your-website.mybigcommerce.com/api/v2/categories?limit={count}&page={number} and then visit that link in your browser (i.e Chrome, Edge, Firefox).
When you visit that link, BigCommerce should prompt you for the credentials you created in Step 1 to authenticate yourself. If the credentials are correct, BigCommerce will display XML data that you’ll need to save. After that, you’ll need to proceed to step 3.
This approach is very roundabout since BigCommerce doesn’t have a native Category Export and required custom code to convert the XML to a CSV or a very good online converter. We’ve done plenty of these ourselves and each of them has their complications, my best advice is to be patient and to take it a step at a time. I wish you the best of luck!
Kindest Regards,
David Baer