XLS, CSV, XML, YML: How to work with the most popular price list formats?

XLS and XLSX are universal spreadsheet formats.

Excel remains the most common format for price lists due to its familiar interface and flexibility. XLS (the older format before Excel 2007) and XLSX (the modern XML-based format) are used by most small and medium-sized business suppliers.

Technical specifications

XLS (Excel 97-2003):

• Format: binary (BIFF - Binary Interchange File Format)
• Restrictions: maximum 65,536 rows and 256 columns
• File size: usually 5-10 MB for a typical price
• Compatibility: supported by all versions of Excel
• Functions: formulas, formatting, multiple sheets

XLSX (Excel 2007+):

• Format: Open XML (a compressed ZIP archive of XML files)
• Restrictions: up to 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns
• File size: 40-60% smaller than XLS due to compression
• Compatibility: Excel 2007+, LibreOffice, Google Sheets
• Functions: advanced formatting, tables, charts

Advantages of Excel formats

• Versatility: opens on any computer with Excel or similar programs
• Visual processing: It's convenient to edit manually and see the structure
• Formatting: color coding, highlighting important data
• Multiple sheets: division by categories, regions, warehouses
• Formulas: automatic calculation of prices, markups, and discounts
• Filters and sorting: quick search for the products you need

Flaws

• Large file size: especially XLS for large catalogs
• Slow processing: Parsing 50,000+ positions can take minutes
• Inconsistency of structure: each supplier makes its own table
• Complexity of automation: libraries like Apache POI and OpenPyXL are required
• Risk of damage: files can break if saved incorrectly

When to use XLS/XLSX

Ideal for:

• Exchange of price lists with suppliers of small and medium-sized businesses
• Price lists up to 10,000-20,000 items
• Cases where manual data correction is required
• Working with managers who lack technical skills
• Temporary or one-time imports

CSV - ease and speed of processing

CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is a delimited text format that represents tabular data as plain text. Despite its apparent simplicity, CSV remains the gold standard for exchanging large volumes of structured data.

Technical specifications

• Format: plain text
• Separators: comma, semicolon, tab
• Encoding: UTF-8, Windows-1251, UTF-8 BOM
• Restrictions: there are no technical restrictions on the number of lines
• Size: smallest file size among all formats

Separator options

Comma (,):

 SKU,Name,Price,Stock 12345,"iPhone 15 Pro Max, 256GB",89990.15 67890,"Samsung Galaxy S24",74990.23

Semicolon (;):

 Item;Name;Price;Remaining 12345;HP 15 Laptop;45990;8 67890;Dell 27" Monitor;23990;12

Tab (\t):

 ID Product Price Quantity A001 Keyboard Logitech 1990 45 B002 Mouse Razer 3490 30

Advantages of CSV

• Minimum size: 5-10 times smaller than Excel for the same volume
• Processing speed: Parsing is 10-20 times faster than XLSX
• Versatility: readable by any text editor
• Ease of generation: easy to create programmatically from any database
• Lack of complexity: does not contain hidden metadata
• Git-friendly: changes are visible in version control systems

Flaws

• Problems with encodings: Cyrillic may not be displayed correctly
• No formatting: no colors, fonts, highlights
• One sheet: It is impossible to divide into categories as in Excel
• Shielding: problems with commas and quotation marks in data
• No typing: All data is text and needs to be converted.

When to use CSV

Ideal for:

• Large price lists (50,000+ items)
• Automated data exchange between systems
• Export from databases and 1C
• APIs and web services
• Situations where processing speed is important
• Integrations with marketplaces (many support CSV)

XML - structured hierarchical data

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a universal format for exchanging structured data. It is used in enterprise systems, B2B integrations, and data exchange standards such as GS1.

Technical specifications

• Format: text-based, tag-based
• Structure: hierarchical (tree-like)
• Validation: XML Schema (XSD) for structure validation
• Encoding: UTF-8 (default)
• Size: More CSV, but less Excel

XML price list example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><price_list date="2025-10-20" supplier="TechSupply"><product><sku> LAP-HP-001</sku><name> HP Pavilion 15 Laptop</name><category> Laptops</category><price currency="RUB"> 45990</price><stock warehouse="MSK"> 12</stock><specifications><cpu> Intel Core i5-1235U</cpu><ram> 16GB DDR4</ram><storage> 512GB SSD</storage></specifications><images><image type="main"> https://cdn.example.com/hp001.jpg</image><image type="gallery"> https://cdn.example.com/hp001-2.jpg</image></images></product><product><sku> MON-DELL-024</sku><name> Dell UltraSharp 27 Monitor</name><category> Monitors</category><price currency="RUB"> 32990</price><stock warehouse="MSK"> 8</stock><stock warehouse="SPB"> 5</stock></product></price_list>

Advantages of XML

• Hierarchical structure: nesting of categories, characteristics, options
• Self-description: the data structure is clear from the tags
• Validation: validate against schema (XSD) before processing
• Attributes: additional metadata in tags
• Standardization: many ready-made formats (ONIX, GS1 XML, BMEcat)
• XSLT: transformation into other formats
• Namespace: combining data from different sources

Flaws

• Redundancy: many service characters increase the size
• Complexity: understanding of the structure is required to create
• Slow parsing: especially DOM parsers for large files
• Inconvenience of editing: difficult to edit manually
• Syntax requirements: one mistake breaks the entire file

When to use XML

Ideal for:

• B2B integrations with corporate systems (SAP, Oracle, 1C)
• Exchange of complex structured data
• Compliance with industry standards
• Situations where structure validation is important
• Integration with ERP and PLM systems
• International Data Exchange

YML is a format for marketplaces and feeds.

YML (Yandex Market Language) is an XML-like format originally created for Yandex.Market, but has become the de facto standard for uploading products to various marketplaces and trading platforms.

Technical specifications

• Format: XML with a defined structure
• Version: the current YML 2.0 specification
• Encoding: UTF-8 (required)
• Update: Recommended daily or by API
• Validation: specification compliance check

YML file structure

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><yml_catalog date="2025-10-20 12:00"><shop><name> TechStore</name><company> TechStor LLC</company><url> https://techstore.example.com</url><currencies><currency id="RUB" rate="1"/><currency id="USD" rate="95.50"/></currencies><categories><category id="1"> Electronics</category><category id="10" parentId="1"> Laptops</category><category id="11" parentId="1"> Smartphones</category></categories><offers><offer id="12345" available="true"><url> https://techstore.example.com/laptop-hp-15</url><price> 45990</price><currencyId> RUB</currencyId><categoryId> 10</categoryId><picture> https://cdn.techstore.com/hp-15-main.jpg</picture><picture> https://cdn.techstore.com/hp-15-side.jpg</picture><delivery> true</delivery><name> HP Pavilion 15 Laptop (i5, 16GB, 512GB SSD)</name><vendor> HP</vendor><model> Pavilion 15-eg2000</model><description> A productive laptop for work and study</description><sales_notes> Minimum order amount is 3000 rubles.</sales_notes><country_of_origin> China</country_of_origin><barcode> 4891234567890</barcode><param name="Процессор"> Intel Core i5-1235U</param><param name="Оперативная память"> 16 GB</param><param name="Накопитель"> 512 GB SSD</param><param name="Диагональ экрана"> 15.6"</param></offer></offers></shop></yml_catalog>

Offer types in YML

Vendor.Model: for products with a clear manufacturer and model

• Electronics, household appliances, gadgets
• Required fields: vendor, model

Book: for books

• Specific fields: author, publisher, year, ISBN

Arbitrary: custom goods

• Clothing, accessories, goods without an obvious model
• Minimum required fields

Advantages of YML

• Standardization: a single format for multiple platforms
• Marketplace support: not only Yandex, but also other platforms
• Rich semantics: many fields for detailed description
• Categories: hierarchical structure with parentId
• Currencies: support for multiple currencies and rates
• Specifications: flexible params for any attributes
• SEO-oriented: fields for search engine optimization

Flaws

• Specification complexity: many nuances and requirements
• File size: larger than CSV due to XML structure
• Strict validation: Marketplaces reject applications due to errors
• Site restrictions: Each marketplace can add its own requirements
• Generation: specialized software or development is required

When to use YML

Ideal for:

• Listing products on marketplaces
• Integrations with Yandex.Market, Goods.ru, and other platforms
• Price aggregators and price comparison services
• Creating product feeds for contextual advertising
• Export a catalog with full description and characteristics

Comparison table of formats

Big Data Performance

How to choose the optimal format

The choice of price list format depends on several factors: data volume, update frequency, technical capabilities, and integration requirements.

Selection criteria

1. Data volume

• Up to 5,000 items: Any format is suitable, choose according to your convenience
• 5,000-20,000 positions: CSV or XLSX is preferred
• 20,000-100,000 positions: CSV for speed, XML for structure
• 100,000+ positions: CSV only or optimized XML

2. Update frequency

• Once a week/month: Excel is suitable (easy to edit manually)
• Daily: CSV or XML (automatic generation)
• Several times a day: CSV (fast processing)
• Real-time: API (JSON/XML) instead of files

3. Technical expertise of the team

• No programmers: Excel (familiar to everyone)
• Basic skills: CSV (simple structure)
• There are developers: XML/YML (complex integration)

4. Purpose

• Internal use: Excel (ease of use)
• Exchange with suppliers: CSV or Excel (compatible)
• Uploading to marketplaces: YML (site requirements)
• B2B integrations: XML (exchange standards)
• Import to CMS/ERP: depends on system support

Combined approach

Many companies use several formats simultaneously:

• Basic price: CSV from 1C/ERP for uploading to the online store
• Marketplaces: YML feed generated from the store database
• Suppliers: We accept Excel and convert it internally to CSV.
• B2B Partners: Industry-standard XML

Tools for working with formats

Programs for creating and editing

Microsoft Excel

• Formats: XLS, XLSX, CSV
• Pros: familiar to everyone, powerful functionality
• Cons: Paid license, problems with large CSV files
• Advice: Use "Data - From Text" to import CSV correctly

LibreOffice Calc

• Formats: XLS, XLSX, CSV
• Pros: free, open source, cross-platform
• Cons: slightly less user-friendly interface than Excel
• Advice: Works better with CSV in different encodings

Google Sheets

• Formats: import/export XLS, XLSX, CSV
• Pros: cloud, shared, free
• Cons: 5 million cell limit, internet dependency
• Advice: Great for small price lists and collaborations

Specialized editors

For CSV

• CSVed: a specialized editor with advanced features
• Modern CSV: A powerful tool for large CSV files.
• VS Code + Rainbow CSV: editing with column highlighting

For XML/YML

• Oxygen XML Editor: professional editor with validation
• XMLSpy: a powerful tool for XML development
• VS Code + XML Tools: free version with plugins
• Notepad++ + XML Tools: lightweight editor for Windows

Format converters

• Convertio: online converter between formats
• CloudConvert: cloud conversion
• Pandas (Python): software conversion via scripts
• Apache POI (Java): library for working with Excel

Validators

• XML Validator: XML validation for XSD conformance
• YML Validator: YML validation for Yandex.Market
• CSV Lint: Checking the correctness of CSV files

Conclusion

Choosing the right price list format is a balance between ease of use, performance, and integration requirements. There's no universal "best" format—each is optimal for its own needs:

• XLS/XLSX remains the gold standard for small businesses and manual processing thanks to its familiar interface and flexibility
• CSV unrivaled for large data volumes and high-speed automation
• XML essential for corporate B2B integrations and compliance with industry standards
• YML became mandatory for working with marketplaces and product aggregators

Key findings

For beginner online stores: Start with Excel for simplicity, move to CSV as your product range grows.

For large stores: CSV for internal processes, YML for marketplaces, XML for B2B partners.

For marketplaces: YML is required, but check your specific platform's requirements - there may be additional fields.

For automation: CSV for speed, XML for reliability and structure validation.

Practical recommendations

1. Standardize internal processes: determine the basic format for the work
2. Document the structure: create a description of all fields and rules
3. Automate conversion: use specialized tools
4. Validate the data: check files before importing
5. Keep history: archive all versions of price lists
6. Test on small samples: before mass import
7. Train your team: Make sure everyone understands the chosen format