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SOP 218: How to Set up Google Shopping Product Feed

Goal: 
To feed product data to your Google Merchant Center account.

Ideal Outcome: 
You successfully create and upload your product data to your Google Merchant Center.

Prerequisites or requirements: 

If you’re new to Google Merchant Center, you will need the following tasks to be completed before using this SOP:

  • Set up a Google Merchant Center (SOP 213 – web version)
  • Familiarize yourself with the type of feeds available. (refer to types of feeds)
  • You must adhere to Google’s formats before feeding your product data to your Google Merchant Center. (Refer to file formats)
  • It is recommended to use Google Excel Sheets instead of Microsoft Excel saved as “Tab-separated values (.tsv, current sheet)”. (Refer to how to convert spreadsheet)
  • You will need to create a new primary feed Excel sheet. Click on the ready-made Google Excel sheet (Template 068 – web version). Copy it into your Gmail business account. A few examples are given in excel for your reference. Key in your product information according to the attributes.

If you already use Google Merchant Center, you will need the following tasks to be completed before using this SOP:

  • If you already have a primary feed previously set up, use the ready-made supplemental feed Google Excel sheet (Template 069 – web version). Copy it into your Gmail business account.

Why this is important: 
When you add your product data to your Google Merchant Center, it enables you to run shopping advertising and promote your products across Google's various platforms. The Google Shopping data feed is crucial to the success of your Google shopping campaigns.

Where this is done: 
In Google Merchant Center and Google Excel.

When is this done: 
Whenever there are new updates to your products.

Who does this: 
The business owner/manager or the local/agency digital marketer.

Preparing the data feed

  1. If you are a new user, you will need to create a new primary data feed in Google Excel. Please refer to the Primary feed Google Excel sheet.
  2. In the Google Excel sheet, go to “File” and click “Make a copy”.

3. Ensure that you have the right folder to copy into and hit “Make a copy”.
4. Next, you will need to fill out your product attributes such as ID, Title, Description, Price, Condition, Link, Availability, and Image link. A few examples are illustrated below.
If you already have a primary feed previously set up and would like to add data that are missing from your primary feed, follow the same steps above and fill out the Supplemental feed Google Excel sheet (Template 069 - web version)

How to set up a new primary feed

  1. Sign in to your Google Merchant Center here. Choose the appropriate Gmail account and log in with your password. Click “Next”.

2. Go to the “Feeds” section under “Products” in your Merchant Center.

3. Click the plus button in the primary feeds section.

4. Next, click “Add” under target countries.

5. Search and add the targeted country you have in mind. Click “Save” to proceed.

In this section, you are allowed to choose more than one country. We recommend selecting as many as possible for wider exposure. However, this would depend on your business and marketing objectives.
6. Next, select a language.

[Optional] If you need to customize feed labels, click “If you need customized feed labels, you can choose to edit them”. Key in a feed label.

7. Next, under “Select destinations”, check the free listings box and click “Continue”.

8. Next, name your primary feed name and select “Google Sheets”.

9. Choose a Gmail account that consists of your Google Excel (primary data feed) sheets.

10. Click “select an existing Google spreadsheet”. It will automatically link to your Google account. Select the appropriate Excel data feed sheet. Click “Save”.

11. You should be able to see your selected Google Excel sheet name as shown below. Click “Create feed” to move forward.

[Optional] You can set a scheduled fetch for your product data. This lets Merchant Center get fresh feeds without you needing to manually upload your data.

How to set up a supplemental feed

  1. Sign in to your Google Merchant Center here. Choose a Gmail account and log in with your password. Click “Next”.

2. Go to the “Feeds” section under “Products” in your Merchant Center.

3. Click “Add supplemental feed”.

4. Key in the supplemental feed name and select “Google Sheets”. Click “Continue”.

You will be prompted to choose a Gmail account. Select the appropriate account that contains your Google Excel supplemental feed data. The product ID in the supplemental feed must be identical to the product ID in the primary feed. Additional attributes (such as COGS, title, price, custom labels, etc.) are linked to the item ID.

5. Next, click “select an existing Google spreadsheet”. It will automatically link to your Google account. Select the appropriate excel data feed sheet. Click “Save”.

6. You should be able to see your selected Google Excel sheet name as shown below. Click “Create feed” to move forward.

[Optional] You can set a scheduled fetch for your product data. This lets Merchant Center get fresh feeds without you needing to manually upload your data. Select the appropriate fetch frequency, time, and time zone before you hit “Create feed”.

7. Add to your primary feed(s) by selecting the appropriate primary feed you have uploaded previously. Click “Create Feed” to proceed.

Troubleshoot your data feeds

  1. Go to your Google Merchant Center and click “Diagnostics” under “Products”.

2. Click “Feed issues”. You will be able to review all the errors you have for feeds. If you are unsure of how to fix the issue, click on the question mark icon to reveal more details. Click “View samples” to see which feed is facing an issue.