What Are Product Feeds in Shopify and Why Do They Matter for Marketplaces?

A product feed is an important tool for advertising and selling products on third-party marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Google Shopping, and others. However, even if you plan to sell your items only through your Shopify online store, a feed can still be handy for internal automation and analytics. Creating a feed is a simple process, thanks to various convenient apps and services — many of which offer free versions or trial periods (7 days and more). Let’s take a closer look at what a product feed is and why it’s so important.

What is it and why do I need to create a feed?

A product feed is a file with structured information about your Shopify store’s products in CSV/XML/TXT format. It contains basic fields (Title, Description, Price/Sale Price, Image URL, etc.), as well as additional and optional attributes (color, size, seasonality, material, etc.). A feed is generated using specialized applications, such as Mulwi, which automate the process, making it faster and reducing the risk of errors. The main reasons to create a feed:

• To automatically upload products to third-party marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and others). This will allow you to expand your audience, improve brand recognition, and increase sales. At the same time, integration of feeds through specialized applications is easier than manual uploading, especially if a direct link to a specific marketplace is provided;
• To automatically update the product catalog on other marketplaces. Synchronization options are often available, ensuring that the information is always updated on time (this is especially important in the context of prices and availability/absence of certain items). In many applications you can also choose the frequency of updates;
• To set up dynamic advertising. Thanks to the optimized feed, your customers will see your products at current prices;
• For analytics and automation of processes inside Shopify. For example, you can make mass editing of products, not individual items + transfer data to the accounting system in the form of a feed.

Why do I need a feed for marketplaces, and what should it look like?

Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Google Shopping, and other major platforms support the option of uploading a feed – a catalog of products that must be created in a specific format and include required information and categories. This allows store owners to upload hundreds or even thousands of items at once and start selling immediately. While adding products manually is often possible (without creating a feed) it is a slow and often inefficient process, especially if you have a large store with an extensive catalog. The exact requirements for a feed depend on the policy of the particular platform, but there are general rules:

• The feed must be submitted as a file in a specific format: for Google Shopping – XML, for Amazon – TSV/XML, for Etsy – CSV, and so on;
• One of the most important requirements is the correct choice of product category. If you use an application to create a feed, the most appropriate category will be automatically selected for you;
• Fill in the mandatory fields. In most cases this includes Title, Description, IMG URL, Product ID, Price;
• The product photo must be in a specific format. For example, for Amazon a white background is mandatory, for Google Shopping a white background is recommended but not mandatory, and so on. One important requirement is the absence of watermarks. The platforms also set minimum image sizes, most often from 500×500 px, but sometimes from 1000×1000 px;
• It is obligatory to specify the currency.

Additional tips for creating a feed

Since the requirements for feeds differ from one platform to another, it is necessary to create separate files for each marketplace. At the same time, applications often set limits depending on the chosen tariff (for example, 1-3 feeds). You should give preference to software that offers ready-made templates for the specific marketplace you are interested in, but flexible custom solutions are also suitable.

For the feed to yield good results and increase sales, it should be optimized. The process includes selecting relevant headlines, adding additional attributes, choosing the most appropriate images, and so on.

Also, to reduce the risk of errors, it is worth testing the feed before uploading the file to the marketplace. To do this, you can use the built-in tools and backtesting mode within your chosen application or additional services, such as Google Merchant Center, Validator.V3.org, and GoDataFeed. The built-in tool for highlighting errors is available in the Mulwi app. The feed will be displayed as a table, with deficiencies and empty fields highlighted in red.

More information can be found at https://mulwi.com/