Overview
Before you start building products, take a few minutes to choose the right setup path. ArcSite gives you three ways to get your catalog into the system, and the best one depends on what you already have, how big your catalog is, and how much you want to customize.
This guide takes about 5 minutes to read and will route you to the right detailed setup article.
Before you choose: three building blocks
Whichever path you pick, you'll be working with the same three concepts. Worth a quick read before you decide:
Products — the individual items and services you track (a board, a labor charge, a permit fee, a helical pier).
Product Groups — a set of related products where the user picks one (e.g., three post cap styles, one used per job).
Bundles — a packaged collection of products and/or groups placed on the canvas as a single object (e.g., a fence section that includes pickets, rails, and hardware).
For more detail, see ArcSite Product Environment Overview.
The three setup paths
Path A — Start from a pre-built library
Best for: Fence, foundation, turf, pest control, and other supported verticals where ArcSite has done the structural work for you.
Time: Fast start. The import itself is quick; plan additional time afterward to adjust pricing and add your specific products.
What you get: A working catalog of common products, groups, and bundles for your industry, ready to customize.
Trade-off: You may still need to add or rename items to match your business. The library is a head start, not a finished catalog.
Choose this path if:
You're new to ArcSite and want a working catalog fast.
Your business is in one of the supported verticals.
You want to see examples of how products, groups, and bundles fit together before building your own.
Next step: Use ArcSite's Pre-created Libraries
Path B — Build in the User Site (browser)
Best for: Smaller catalogs, hands-on admins, or anyone who wants to learn the system as they build.
Time: Allow time to learn the flow. Building your first few items takes longer; the pace picks up once you're familiar.
What you get: A catalog built exactly the way you want it, with full visibility into every field as you create each item.
Trade-off: Slower than Excel for large catalogs. If you have a lot of items, switch to Path C.
Choose this path if:
You have a smaller catalog.
You want to understand how each setting affects the result.
You're not comfortable with Excel formulas or large spreadsheets.
Next step: Build Your Product Catalog in the User Site
Path C — Build in Excel and import
Best for: Large catalogs, batch updates, or admins who already have product data in a spreadsheet.
Time: Front-loaded. Setting up the spreadsheet takes longer up front, but importing scales well — adding more rows doesn't add much time once the template is set up.
What you get: A faster path for large catalogs, plus a reusable spreadsheet you can use for ongoing edits.
Trade-off: Steeper learning curve. The template has strict rules about column values, dependencies between tabs, and exact name matching. Mistakes show up as import errors that you'll need to troubleshoot.
Choose this path if:
You have a large catalog or already have product data in a spreadsheet.
You're comfortable with Excel and don't mind reading a detailed spec.
You want to do bulk pricing or naming updates regularly.
Next step: Use Excel with the ArcSite Product Template
You can combine paths
These aren't mutually exclusive. A common workflow:
Start with Path A to get a working library for your vertical.
Use Path B to add a few of your specific products and adjust naming.
Switch to Path C when you need to do bulk pricing updates.
All three paths edit the same underlying catalog. Changes you make in one show up in the others.
Vertical-specific guides
If your business is in a supported vertical, start there instead of the generic articles above. Vertical guides are written end-to-end for your industry's terminology and patterns.
Before you start (any path)
Have an admin account. Product setup is admin-only. If you're not sure whether you have admin access, ask whoever set up your ArcSite account.
Pull your existing catalog together. Whether it's a price list, vendor catalog, or last year's spreadsheet — having it open while you build saves time.
Decide on your pricing approach. ArcSite supports two pricing methods (Input Price and Calculated Price). You don't need to decide right now, but it'll come up. See the Pricing collection when you get there.
Getting help
Setting up a product catalog is one of the bigger pieces of work in ArcSite. If you get stuck:
Check the troubleshooting article for your path.
Reach out via the chat icon in the bottom-right of the ArcSite User Site or this Help Center.
Post in the ArcSite Community to see how other admins solved the same problem.