TL;DR: The fastest 1688 import is a browser extension that sniffs the product page for you: open the 1688 listing, click once, and EasyCatch sniffs the title, variants and full gallery in about 10 seconds per SKU. That beats a manual Shopify CSV, which takes about 2 minutes per SKU and often breaks image links. The exported ZIP is ready for a bulk tool; the column mapping and import settings for that step live in the complete guide linked below.
Which import method should you use?
The figures below come from one 500-SKU benchmark (Zi Dong Liang, EasyCatch Lab, August 2026) and the published EasyCatch pricing. See the testing methodology for how each metric was measured.
| Decision point | Manual: Shopify native CSV | EasyCatch + Matrixify |
|---|---|---|
| Software cost | $0 (Shopify’s built-in CSV importer) | Free plan $0 (5 captures/day) or Pro $9.90/month; Matrixify’s free plan covers basic imports, bulk variant-image mapping needs a paid Matrixify plan |
| Time per SKU | 118.2 s | 10.4 s |
| Broken image link rate | 34.6% | 0.0% |
| Variant-name mismatch rate | 19.2% | 0.2% |
| Image handling | Save, rename, and convert WebP/AVIF to JPG yourself | Auto-downloaded and converted to JPG with variant-matched filenames |
| Best fit | A few one-off products | Regular catalog imports and multi-variant SKUs |
| Main limitation | 1688 CDNs block hot-linking; every variant row is mapped by hand | Needs Chrome; you still upload images to Shopify Files (3–5 min per product) |
The 4 steps, in order
- Capture the 1688 page. Open the product detail page and click the EasyCatch icon. It reads the title, price, SKU, variant options, description, and full gallery.
- Check the handle and variants. Review the auto-generated SEO handle and the normalized option names (for example, 颜色分类 becomes Color) in the sidebar.
- Export the ZIP. You get a 57-column Matrixify-compatible CSV, standardized JPG images, and a variant-to-image manifest.
- Import into Shopify. Upload the images to Shopify Content > Files, then import the CSV with Matrixify.
This page stays on the extension side: capture, sidebar review, and export. What happens to the CSV after that, including column mapping and fixes for image URLs, option names, price rounding, and duplicate handles, is covered in the Matrixify CSV import process. If you have not picked a supplier yet, work through the 1688 supplier and payment checklist first.
FAQ
Which 1688 to Shopify import method is actually fastest for drop shippers?
An image-sniffing extension is fastest. In our 500-SKU benchmark EasyCatch averaged 10.4 seconds per SKU, while a hand-built Shopify CSV averaged 118.2 seconds and broke 34.6% of image links. A bulk tool such as Matrixify does not capture 1688 pages itself; it imports the extension’s CSV and images for the whole catalog at once, so the fastest route is extension capture plus a Matrixify import.
Is there a faster alternative to building the CSV by hand?
Yes. EasyCatch captures titles, prices, variants, and the full gallery in one click and exports a Matrixify-compatible CSV with pre-matched variant images. In the same 500-SKU benchmark it averaged 10.4 seconds per SKU. The Free plan includes 5 captures per day; Pro removes the limit for $9.90/month.
What are the most common reasons a 1688 import fails?
Three causes account for most failures: 1688 CDN images that block hot-linking or use WebP/AVIF formats, inconsistent variant option names such as 颜色分类 versus Color, and duplicate handles that make Matrixify overwrite an existing product. In the benchmark, manual imports had a 34.6% broken image link rate and a 19.2% variant-name mismatch rate.
Related reading
- Map 1688 data to Matrixify columns and fix import errors — Column-by-column CSV mapping and the import order that avoids Matrixify errors.
- Matrixify CSV & 1688 Variant Matching — Column-level CSV reference.
- 1688 Payment Methods for Foreigners — Pay suppliers without a Chinese bank card.
- Landed Cost & Margin Calculator — Check profit before you import.
Written by Zi Dong Liang
Founder & Lead Engineer, EasyCatch
Zi Dong Liang is the founder and lead engineer behind EasyCatch. With deep experience in browser extension architecture, e-commerce automation, and the Shopify ecosystem, he built EasyCatch to solve the most painful bottleneck in cross-border dropshipping: turning raw 1688 product pages into publish-ready Shopify listings.