Simple Google Shopping
The Simple Google Shopping extension allows you to export quickly and safely a valid and well-structured data feed of your complete catalog of products from your Magento website to your Google Merchant Account.
License from
€30
Data Feed Manager
Create csv, txt and xml data feeds for any search engine, shopping engine or market place ! This extension includes all Simple Google Shopping features and 17 pre-configured templates.
License from
€80
What is Google Shopping ?
Google Merchant Center is a product management interface designed to assist merchants in submitting their items to Google Shopping.
How to create my Google Merchant Account ?
http://www.google.com/support/merchants/bin/answer.py?hl=fr&answer=188924
This account gives access to the Google Merchant interface. Here you can manage all your product data feeds and plan any daily, weekly or monthly updating tasks.
What is a product data feed ?
A data feed is a file made up of a unique group of attributes that define each of your products. This allows customers to search and find your items more easily. This file is similar to an RSS data feed but includes some specific XML tags used by Google Merchant Center or any other shopping engine.
To know more about the product data feeds, have a look on the Google Merchant Center support site :
http://www.google.com/support/merchants/bin/answer.py?answer=188478
How to create a products data feed ?
Once the Simple Google Shopping or the Data Feed Manager extensions have been installed on your Magento website, go to your Magento admin panel and select Google Shopping / Data Feed Manager from the catalog menu.
Both extensions include several default configurations which will help you to create your first product data feed. You can also customise a configuration or copy an existing one.
How to configure your templates in order to generate any valid XML files ?
All XML data feeds used by shopping engines, like the one used by Google Shopping, are really simple to build but often have their own specifications.
Simple Google Shopping includes several default configurations that allow you to build a valid and well-structured data feed quickly. In these default configurations, you will find some ready-to-use XML templates. Data Feed Manager also includes several demo configurations that include a ready-to-use template for Google Shopping.
Basically an XML data feed is created using an opening and closing tag that includes a value.
<tag>value</tag>
For each product you are exporting, you need to choose which tag to use. There is a tag for each attribute .
<g:id>123456</g:id> <g:price>45.99 USD</g:price> <title>Nokia Phone n251</title>
When you are building your XML template in Simple Google Shopping or Data Feed Manager, you must include between every opening and closing tag a Magento attribute or a fixed value. An attribute is specified by its code name
and must be enclosed using brackets as shown.
<g:id>{sku}</g:id>
<g:price>{price}</g:price>
<title>{name}</title>
The syntax coloration in Simple Google Shopping / Data Feed Manager will help you to avoid any errors in your template.
For more information about product attributes, you can refer to the following section How to use product atttributes inside of your XML template ?
For more information about data feed specifications for Google Shopping, you can refer to the online support in Google Merchant Center :
http://www.google.com/support/merchants/bin/answer.py?answer=188478
http://www.google.com/support/merchants/bin/answer.py?answer=188494
How to use product atttributes inside of your XML template ?
When you are building your XML template in Simple Google Shopping or Data Feed Manager, you must include between every opening and closing tag a Magento attribute or a fixed value.
All the default Magento attributes and also all your own attributes can only be retrieved in this way. Please refer to the Basic attributes section to learn more.
Some Magento attributes like price, image or url may have further configuration options that will correspond to your specific data feed needs. Please refer to the Specials attributes section to learn more.
Some Magic attributes are unique to the Google Shopping data feeds. These attributes act as shortcuts to create complete portions of XML in your data feed. For example:
{G:PRODUCT_TYPE}
Go further by adding PHP scripts inside your XML templates
It's possible to add PHP scripts to your XML template. These scripts must be included between an opening and closing PHP tag (<? ... ?>). The value you want to display must be retrieved by using the ‘return’
instruction. You can also use a ‘product instance object’ (registered as $product variable) in order to use its specific methods.
For example, you may want to check the quantity of all items of a configurable product :
<?
$childProducts = Mage::getModel('catalog/product_type_configurable')
->getUsedProducts(null,$product);
$stock_count=0;
foreach($childProducts as $child){
$stock_count+=(int)Mage::getModel('cataloginventory/stock_item')->loadByProduct($child)->getQty();
}
return "<g:quantity>".$stock_count."</g:quantity> ";
?>
All incorrectly written scripts will be ignored.
Data Feed Manager extension also allows to create your own options and attributes in the following files:
- app/code/local/wyomind/datafeedmanager/myCustomOptions.php
- app/code/local/wyomind/datafeedmanager/myCustomAttributes.php
Some examples of use are given in the above files.
The created options and attributes can then be used in your data feed configuration like all other attributes and options.
{my_custom_attribute,[my_custom_option_1],[my_custom_option_2]} Basic attributes & basic options
{attribute,[option1],[option2],[option3],[...]}
All options are executed in the order written eg :
<title>{name}</title>
<title>{name,[htmlentities],[strtolower]}</title>
<title>{name,[htmlentities],[strtolower],[ucwords]}</title>
<title>NOKIA© 2610 Phone</title> <title>nokia© 2610 phone</title> <title>Nokia© 2610 Phone</title>
{attribute_code,[substr],[arg1],[arg2]}
- arg1 : maximum length of the value
- arg2 : string that will be added at the end of the string. By default [...]
{attribute_code,[implode],[arg1]}
Joins all array elements in a string
- arg1 : string used between each value. By default a coma (,)
Maybe useful for multi-select attributes like color :
{color,[implode],[,]}
gives eg : black, blue, red, green
{attribute_code,[float],[arg1]}
Converts a numeric value to a floating number
- arg1 : number of floating number. By default [0]
{attribute_code,[php_function]}
Use any PHP function that does not require an argument (ucfirst, ucwords,...).
{price}
If prices are exclusive of VAT and the product is liable to a unique VAT rate, the price retrieved will include this rate. Otherwise, the price exclusive of tax is retrieved.
- arg1 is for currency conversion. This option automatically converts the original product price to a specified currency. It uses an exchange rate already stored by you in your admin panel. By default, your local currency is used.
- arg2 is a floating value between 0.00 and 100.00 that represents an arbitrary VAT rate to apply. This option rewrites the VAT rule for the product except if the product doesn't have any tax class.
To completly remove the VAT from all prices, you can use [0]
Example : {price,[EUR],[20.0]} will apply a 20% VAT rate.
Example : {price,[USD],[0]} will converts the price from EUR to USD and will not apply any VAT rate.
/!\ : from Simple Google Shopping >= 5.1.0, and Data Feed Manager >= 3.0.0
arg2 may be an ISO2 code corresponding to one of the countries for which you specified a VAT rate in your tax setting. This code may also be completed by an area code, eg : {price,[USD],[US/NY]} or {price,[EUR],[FR]}.
You can also deduce the VAT corresponding to a country/area by using this syntax : {price,[USD],[-US/NY]}
{normal_price}
Retrieves the price and ignores any existing special price value.
{normal_price,[arg1],[arg2]}
- arg1 is for currency conversion. This option automatically converts the original product price to a specified currency. It uses an exchange rate already stored by you in your admin panel. By default, your local currency is used.
- arg2 is a floating value between 0.00 and 100.00 that represents an arbitrary VAT rate to apply. This option rewrites the VAT rule for the product except if the product doesn't have any tax class.
To completly remove the VAT from all prices, you can use [0]
Example : {price,[EUR],[20.0]} will apply a 20% VAT rate.
Example : {price,[USD],[0]} will converts the price from EUR to USD and will not apply any VAT rate.
/!\ : from Simple Google Shopping >= 5.1.0, and Data Feed Manager >= 3.0.0
arg2 may be an ISO2 code corresponding to one of the countries for which you specified a VAT rate in your tax setting. This code may also be completed by an area code, eg : {price,[USD],[US/NY]} or {price,[EUR],[FR]}.
You can also deduce the VAT corresponding to a country/area by using this syntax : {price,[USD],[-US/NY]}
{special_price}
{sepcial_price,[arg1],[arg2]}
- arg1 is for currency conversion. This option automatically converts the original product price to a specified currency. It uses an exchange rate already stored by you in your admin panel. By default, your local currency is used.
- arg2 is a floating value between 0.00 and 100.00 that represents an arbitrary VAT rate to apply. This option rewrites the VAT rule for the product except if the product doesn't have any tax class.
To completly remove the VAT from all prices, you can use [0]
Example : {price,[EUR],[20.0]} will apply a 20% VAT rate.
Example : {price,[USD],[0]} will converts the price from EUR to USD and will not apply any VAT rate.
/!\ : from Simple Google Shopping >= 5.1.0, and Data Feed Manager >= 3.0.0
arg2 may be an ISO2 code corresponding to one of the countries for which you specified a VAT rate in your tax setting. This code may also be completed by an area code, eg : {price,[USD],[US/NY]} or {price,[EUR],[FR]}.
You can also deduce the VAT corresponding to a country/area by using this syntax : {price,[USD],[-US/NY]}
{price_rules}
If prices are exclusive of VAT and the product is liable to a unique VAT rate, the price retrieved will include this rate. Otherwise, the price exclusive of tax is retrieved.
- arg1 is for currency conversion. This option automatically converts the original product price to a specified currency. It uses an exchange rate already stored by you in your admin panel. By default, your local currency is used.
- arg2 is a floating value between 0.00 and 100.00 that represents an arbitrary VAT rate to apply. This option rewrites the VAT rule for the product except if the product doesn't have any tax class.
To completly remove the VAT from all prices, you can use [0]
Example : {price,[EUR],[20.0]} will apply a 20% VAT rate.
Example : {price,[USD],[0]} will converts the price from EUR to USD and will not apply any VAT rate.
arg2 may be an ISO2 code corresponding to one of the countries for which you specified a VAT rate in your tax setting. This code may also be completed by an area code, eg : {price,[USD],[US/NY]} or {price,[EUR],[FR]}.
You can also deduce the VAT corresponding to a country/area by using this syntax : {price,[USD],[-US/NY]}
{is_special_price}
{is_special_price?[arg1]:[arg2]}
- arg1 value to retrieves if a special price exists. By default 1.
- arg1 value to retrieves if no special price exists. By default 0.
{min_price}, {max_price}
If prices are exclusive of VAT and the product is liable to a unique VAT rate, the price retrieved will include this rate. Otherwise, the price exclusive of tax is retrieved.
- arg1 is for currency conversion. This option automatically converts the original product price to a specified currency. It uses an exchange rate already stored by you in your admin panel. By default, your local currency is used.
- arg2 is a floating value between 0.00 and 100.00 that represents an arbitrary VAT rate to apply. This option rewrites the VAT rule for the product except if the product doesn't have any tax class.
To completly remove the VAT from all prices, you can use [0]
Example : {price,[EUR],[20.0]} will apply a 20% VAT rate.
Example : {price,[USD],[0]} will converts the price from EUR to USD and will not apply any VAT rate.
arg2 may be an ISO2 code corresponding to one of the countries for which you specified a VAT rate in your tax setting. This code may also be completed by an area code, eg : {price,[USD],[US/NY]} or {price,[EUR],[FR]}.
You can also deduce the VAT corresponding to a country/area by using this syntax : {price,[USD],[-US/NY]}
{image}
- arg1 index of any additional images to retrieve. By default 0 (the main image).
{uri} or {url_key}
<url>http://www.mywebsite.com/mystore_code/{uri}</url> {is_in_stock}
- arg1 value to retrieve if the product is in stock
- arg2 value to retrieve if the product is out of stock
{categories}
{categories,[arg1],[arg2],[arg3]}
- arg1 number of lists to retrieve. By default infinity.
- arg2 level from which to start. By default 1 (root catalog).
- arg3 number of categories in each list.
{review_count}
{review_count,[arg1]}
- arg1 id of one your store views. If not specified the current store view is used.
"*" will count all reviews for all store views
{review_average}
Retrieves the average score of all the evaluations that your customers have left for the product.
{review_average,[arg1],[arg2]}
- arg1 the base number. By default 5.
- arg2 d of your store views. If not specified the current store view is used.
"*" will count all reviews for all store views.
{category_mapping}
Retrieves any new category that you have assigned (in the filter section / category filter) to the item’s own product category. If no mapping is assigned to the first category found, the second category will be used etc.
{category_mapping,[arg1]}
- arg1 index of the category mapping, eg :
<category>{category_mapping,[0]}</category>
<category>{category_mapping,[1]}</category>
<category>{category_mapping,[2]}</category>
<category>{category_mapping,[3]}</category>
<category>{category_mapping,[4]}</category>
Will retrieve a maximum of 5 category mappings in 5 separate tags.
/!\ from Simple Google Shopping >= 5.0.0 and Data Feed Manager >= 3.0.0
Special Attributes (Stock In the Channel users)
The Stocks in The Channel users can use the following attributes in order to build their data feeds :
{SC:URL}
Retrieves the canonical url of the product :
<link>http://www.example.com/product.html</link>
Can be used in Data Feed Manager with : {sc:url}
{SC:EAN}
Retrieves an unique ean value of the product :
<g:ean>1234567891234</g:ean>
Can be used in Data Feed Manager with : {sc:ean}
{SC:IMAGES}
Retrieves the associated image of each product :
<g:image_link>http://www.example.com/media/catalog/image.jpg</g:image_link>
Can be used in Data Feed Manager with : {sc:images}
{SC:DESCRIPTION}
Retrieves the description for the product :
<g:description>...product description ...</g:description>
A default value is retrieved when the description is empty.
Can be used in Data Feed Manager with : {sc:description}
{G:SALE_PRICE}
<g:sale_price>{price}</g:sale_price>
<g:sale_price_effective_date>{special_from_date}/{special_to_date}</g:sale_price_effective_date>
<g:price>{normal_price}</g:price>
{G:SALE_PRICE}
{G:IMAGE_LINK}
<g:image_link>{image}</g:image_link>
<g:additional_image_link>{image,[1]}</g:additional_image_link>
<g:additional_image_link>{image,[2]}</g:additional_image_link>
... {G:PRODUCT_REVIEW}
<g:product_review_average>{review_average}</g:product_review_average>
<g:product_review_count>{review_count}</g:product_review_count>
{G:PRODUCT_TYPE}
<g:product_type>category A > sub-category B </g:product_type> <g:product_type>category A > sub-category B > sub-category C</g:product_type>
Options : see {categories}
{G:GOOGLE_PRODUCT_CATEGORY}
Is the shortcut for :
<g:google_product_category>{category_mapping,[0]}</g:google_product_category>
This magic attribute retrieves the Google category that you assigned (in filter section / category filter) of the first category found to which the product is linked. If no Google category is assigned to the first category found, the second category will be used, if no Google category is assigned to the second, the third will be used etc.
To find the Google categories that matche to your categories :
http://www.google.com/support/merchants/bin/answer.py?answer=160081
Options : see {category_mapping}
/!\ from Simple Google Shopping >= 5.0.0 and Data Feed Manager >= 3.0.0
Parent Attributes
/!\ From Simple Google Shopping v4.8.1 and Data Feed Manager v2.6.1
Most of the time simple products are related to parent products like configurable, grouped and bundle products. That is why you might need to retrieve Parent attribute values instead of simple product attribute values such as url, image, description...
All the above attributes (Basic, Special and Magic) may be used to retrieve a Parent attribute value instead of a product attribute value.
All options are still available, eg : {description parent,[htmlentities]}
{attribute_code parent}
Retrieves the first parent attribute value.
The parent value is retrieved only if the simple (item) product is associated with a parent product, if not, its own attribute value is retrieved.
The parent product may be configurable, grouped or a bundle product. The first parent product that matches the simple
product is used to get the attribute value.
{attribute_code configurable}
Retrieves the first configurable parent attribute value.
The configurable product value is retrieved only if the simple product is associated to a configurable product, if not, its own attribute value is retrieved.
Usefull links for Google Shopping
Google Shopping allows you to create datafeed in destination of Google Shopping.
Here are some tips which will be usefull to create your datafeed.
First, we recommand you to look at these 2 links which will be helpfull:
Google Shopping's feed specifications
Google Shopping's taxonomy
File format with Google Shopping
Google Shopping handle CSV or XML file format (More information).
The following explanations will only concern the most used method : XML files.
File name should remain consistent for all updates. Do not include the date in your file name.
File name cannot contain spaces or illegal symbols.
Required attributes with Google Shopping
Required attributes with Google Shopping are depending on what kind of products you want to submit.
For complete informations about required attributes, please refer to the dedicated page on the Merchant Center.
Here are the most frequent required attributes used by Google Shopping.
(Between brackets, specific name for XML files)
| Attribute | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| General attributes | id (<g:id>) |
The unique identifier for your product (usually the SKU code) |
| Title (<title>) |
The name of your item (limited to 70 characters) For variant products, you are required to include the common title of the variant items. |
|
| Description (<description>) |
The description of the item. Google Shopping recommend you submit around 500 to 1000 characters, but you can submit up to 10000 characters. |
|
| Google product category (<g:google_product_category>) |
Google's category of the item. Indicates the category of the product being submitted, according to the Google product taxonomy. By example, for hard drives items: Electronics > Computers > Computer Components > Storage Devices > Hard Drives Please refer to our Category mapping FAQ to understand how to use it with Simple Google Shopping. |
|
| Link (<link>) |
The URL directly linking to your item's page on your website. Note: In addition, you may also specify an adwords_redirect attribute for tracking purposes. |
|
| Image link (<g:image_link>) |
The URL of the main image of the item. Google Shoppgin recommends images of at least 400 x 400 pixels. The accepted image formats are JPG (or JPEG), PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF. |
|
| Condition (<g:condition>) |
The condition or state of the item. Only accepted values: new, used, refurbished. |
|
| Prices and Availability | Availability (<g:availability>) |
The availability status of the item Only accepted values: in stock, available for order, out of stock, preorder |
| Price (<g:price>) |
The price of the item. Important : - For the US, don't include tax in the price. For all other countries, value added tax (VAT) has to be included in the price. - The price must include a currency according to ISO 4217 Standard. (by example : EUR for euros, USD for US Dollars, GBP for pounds). - For products on sale, you must use <g:sale_price> (see below) and use normal price in <g:price>. Example : <g:price>15.00 USD</g:price> |
|
| Unique Product Identifiers |
Note about unique product identifiers : except for custom made items, you need to submit at least two of the three attributes 'brand', 'gtin' and 'mpn'. | |
| Brand (<g:brand>) |
The brand of the item. You must not provide your store name as the brand unless you manufacture the product. |
|
| GTIN (<g:gtin>) |
Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) of the item. These identifiers include UPC (in North America), EAN (in Europe), JAN (in Japan), and ISBN (for books). |
|
| MPN (<g:mpn>) |
Manufacturer Part Number (MPN) of the item. This code uniquely identifies the product to its manufacturer. |
|
| Only Apparel Products | Gender (<g:gender>) |
3 accepted values: male, female, unisex. Note: Required for all apparel items in feeds that target the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. Recommended for other countries and product categories (might become required in the future). |
| Age group (<g:age_group>) |
2 accepted values: adult, kids. Note : Required for all apparel items in feeds that target the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. Recommended for other countries and product categories (might become required in the future). |
|
| Shared by Apparel and Variants | color (<g:color>) |
Color of the item. This defines the dominant color(s) of an item. Note : When a single item has multiple colors, combine them with '/' (/ with XML files) in order of prominence (dominant color first, then accent colors). |
| Size (<g:size>) |
Size of the item. Note : - required for 'clothing' and 'shoes' sub-categories within the 'apparel and accessories' category targeting the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. - For apparel variants submitted to the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP: Each different size or size combination must be submitted as its own item, in conjunction with the 'item group id' (<g:item_group_id>). |
|
| Item group id (<g:item_group_id>) |
Shared identifier for all variants of the same product. Allows to identify all variations (size and/or color) of a same item. We recommand you to use the product'SKU parent as item group id value |
|
Recommended attributes with Google Shopping
Here are some attributes (non-exhaustive list) recommended by Google Shopping that we think could be quite usefull to add in your template:
(Between brackets, specific name for XML files)
| Attribute | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| General attributes | Product type (<g:product_type>) |
Your category of the item. This attribute also indicates the category of the product being submitted, but you can provide your own classification. You can include more than one 'product type' attribute value if products apply to more than one category. |
| Additional image link (<g:additional_image_link>) |
Additional URLs of images of the item. You can include up to 10 additional images per item by including the attribute multiple times. |
|
| Sale price (<g:sale_price>) |
Advertised sale price of the item. Important : - You must still include the <g:price> attribute in your feed, which must reflect the non-sale price you have previously sold the item for. - As the normal price, the sale price must include a currency according to ISO 4217 Standard. - You must not include a price value of 0.00 USD. |
|
| Sale price effective date (<g:sale_price_effective_date>) |
Used in conjunction with sale price, this attribute indicates the date range during which the sale price applies. Information about time format: Start and end dates separated by a forward slash (/). The start is specified by the format (YYYY-MM-DD), followed by the letter ‘T’, the time of the day when the sale starts, followed by an expression of the timezone for the sale. The end date should be in the same format. Example : 2011-03-01T13:00-0800/2011-03-11T15:30-0800 |
|
| Tax and Shipping | Tax (<g:tax>) |
Value added tax (VAT). Providing this attribute for an item overrides the default tax costs specified in your Google Merchant Center settings. Note : This attribute is only accepted in the US, if your feed targets a country outside of the US, please do not use this attribute. More informations about tax |
| Shipping (<g:shipping>) |
Shipping cost. Providing this attribute for an item overrides the global shipping settings you defined in your Google Merchant Center settings. More informations about shipping |
|
| Shipping weight (<g:shipping_weight>) |
The weight of the product used to calculate the shipping cost of the item. If you have specified a global shipping rule that is dependent on shipping weight, this attribute will be used to calculate the shipping cost of the item automatically. Accepted weight units: lb, oz, g, kg. |
|
| AdWords attributes |
Note : These attributes help you to organize your AdWords campaigns and track the traffic to your website. | |
| Adwords grouping (<g:adwords_grouping>) |
Used to group products in an arbitrary way. It can be used for Product Filters to limit a campaign to a group of products, or Product Targets to bid differently for a group of products. Required if you want to bid differently to different subsets of products in the CPC or CPA % version. It can only hold one value. Example : <g:adwords_grouping>comforters</g:adwords_grouping> |
|
| Adwords labels (<g:adwords_labels>) |
Very similar to <g:adwords_grouping>, but it will only only work on CPC. It can hold multiple values, allowing a product to be tagged with multiple labels. Example : <g:adwords_labels>clothing</g:adwords_labels> <g:adwords_labels>shoes</g:adwords_labels> |
|
| Adwords redirect (<g:adwords_redirect>) |
Allows advertisers to specify a separate URL that can be used to track traffic coming from Google Shopping. Example : <g:adwords_redirect>http://www.merchant.com/product.html</g:adwords_redirect> |
|
Example of template with XML format with Google Shopping
Here is an example of template in XML format:
<g:id>{sku}</g:id>
<title>{name,[substr],[70],[...]}</title>
<link>{url}</link>
<!-- you must change the currency unit or convert the price to match with your magento store and your merchant account setting -->
<g:price>{normal_price,[USD]} USD</g:price>
{G:SALE_PRICE,[USD]}
<g:online_only>y</g:online_only>
<description>{description,[html_entity_decode],[strip_tags]}</description>
<g:condition>new</g:condition>
{G:PRODUCT_TYPE,[10]}
{G:GOOGLE_PRODUCT_CATEGORY}
{G:IMAGE_LINK}
<g:availability>{is_in_stock?[in stock]:[out of stock]}</g:availability>
<g:quantity>{qty}</g:quantity>
<g:featured_product>{is_special_price?[yes]:[no]} </g:featured_product>
<g:color>{color,[implode],[,]}</g:color>
<g:shipping_weight>{weight,[float],[2]} kg</g:shipping_weight>
{G:PRODUCT_REVIEW}
<g:manufacturer>{manufacturer}</g:manufacturer>
<!-- In most of cases brand + mpn are sufficient, eg. :-->
<g:brand>{manufacturer}</g:brand>
<g:mpn>{sku}</g:mpn>
<!-- But it is better to use one of these identifiers if available : EAN, ISBN or UPC, eg : -->
<g:gtin>{upc}</g:gtin> How to create a data feed in Google Merchant Center?
In order to submit your products to Google Shopping, you'll have to create a data feed in your Google Merchant Center .
Once you're login into Google Merchant Center, go in the Data feeds section.
You can choose between creating a New Data Feed and a New Test Data Feed .
We recommend that you start by creating a New Test Data Feed .
After clicking on New Test Data Feed , you have to choose the target country and a name for your data feed ("datafeed_test" by example).
You can confirm by clicking on Save changes .
Now you can see your data feed appears in the data feeds list.
Next step will be to setup this data feed so it will import the data feed you created with the extension Simple Google Shopping in your Magento store.
Click on the link Create schedule . You are now accessing the schedule upload options.
You can manage the Google Merchant's importation frequency. You can choose to import you data feed monthly, weekly or daily at a specific time.
Paste your data feed's URL in the field Feed URL .
Click on Schedule and fetch now to start the importation and the process of your data feed.
Your data feed'status shows Processing...
After a few minutes, Google Merchant Center shows you the number of inserted items and offer you to display errors in your data feed.
Click on View errors will show you errors in your data feed.
Google Merchant Center discern 2 kind of anomaly : errors and warnings.
As long it will remain errors in your data feed, Google Merchant will not display your items in Google Shopping.
It's very important to read errors'descriptions. It will help you to understand and fix quickly your data feed's issues.
Once the errors fixed, you'll be able to proceed to the creation of a new data feed (not a test one this time) which will perform the processing and referencing of your items by Google Shopping.
Warning : the validation of the first submission of your data feed to Google can take some days because it's performing manually by Google's teams. The next submissions will be validated almost instantly.
What's the difference beetwen Simple Google Shopping and Data Feed Manager?
Data Feed Manager includes all the features of Simple Google Shopping but allows you to create more kind of data feeds (csv, txt, xml) and with special features like extra-header for any shopping engine, market place or search engine like BingShopping, Shopping.com, Shopzilla, Amazon,...
Which countries are supported by Simple Google Shopping Extension?
All countries are supported (tax rates and currencies). You just need to edit the feed for the target country.
You also may have to use the appropriate currency when using prices attributes.
Does Simple Google Shopping support multi-currency rates?
Yes. You can use different values in price attributes in order to convert currencies.
Which version of magento is supported by Simple Google Shopping?
Simple Google Shopping extension is compatible with Magento versions : 1.2.x, 1.3.X, 1.4.X, 1.5.X, 1.6.X, 1.7.x This extension also works with Magento Enterprise Edition and Magento Professional Edition.
If I want to test an extension first on a staging server, do I have to buy 2 licenses for 2 domains ?
No, you just need to contact us once you are ready to switch to your production server.
Is Simple Google Shopping compatible with the last Google Shopping requirement planned on March 2013?
Yes. The Simple Google Shopping and Data Feed Manager extensions are fully compliant with the latest Google Merchant requirements.
We are always looking for ways to improve our extensions so as to offer you the best features and user-experience.
How many products may be exported at once in a data feed File ?
Simple Google Shopping extension has been tested successfully on a file containing more than 70,000 products.
Remember that the generation and export time for any quantity of products will depend on your server capacity. Generally, exporting a data feed with 10,000 products shouldn't take more than 2-3 minutes on a standard shared server.
Is the feed automatically send to Google Shopping?
No, it's Google Merchant which will retrieve automatically and periodically your data feed.
You must first create a Google Merchant Account and then you have to upload the generated file for the first time manually.
Once your file has been validated (it can takes days for the first submission due to a manual validation from Google team), you can create a cron job (a scheduled task) on your Google Merchant Account in order to download automatically the feed from your website. You can manage download periodicity in your Google Merchant Account.
Does Simple Google Shopping work with Magento compiler?
You can use a Magento compiler with Simple Google Shopping.
Just be careful to disable it before installing Simple Google Shopping and re-enable it when Simple Google Shopping is installed.
What is the char encoding of the generated data feed ?
The char encoding of the data feed generated is UTF-8 for Simple Google Shopping. It allows the use of special characters, such as accented letters, but also Arabic and Chinese letters.
If you are using Data Feed Manager, the default char encoding is UTF-8, while no char encoding is specified in the XML header.
How to manage shipping and tax?
You have 2 ways to manage shipping and tax with Google Merchant :
- 1. Managing your shipping and tax settings in your Google Merchant Account (Settings > Shipping and tax)
- 2. Adding shipping and tax informations directly in your data feed template.
You can refer to Google Merchant specifications for further informations about tax and shipping :
http://support.google.com/merchants/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=160162&topic=2473824&ctx=topic
How to setup tax (US Only)?
Please note that tax setting should only be used for merchants submitting feeds to the US. For all other countries, it is required to submit prices which are tax inclusive.
Either you can manage tax in your Google Merchant account by choosing between these 3 options :
- 1. Opt to not charge tax.
- 2. Set a tax rate based on the state an item ships to.
- 3. Use an estimate based on the destination ZIP code. Note: To estimate the tax rate, we use data from Tax Data Systems based on the destination ZIP code.
Either you can also use the tax attribute in your data feed.
You have 4 different attributes about tax :
- 1. Country (optional), using ISO 3166 country code
- 2. region (optional), using two-letter state abbreviation, ZIP code or ZIP code range using * wildcard
- 3. rate (required), the tax rate as a percent of the item price.
- 4. tax ship (optional), boolean value for whether you chage tax on shipping (y or n). n is default value.
Here is an example of tax attribute group :
<g:tax> <g:country>US</g:country> <g:region>CA</g:region> <g:rate>8.25</g:rate> <g:tax_ship>y</g:tax_ship> </g:tax>
How to setup shipping?
Either you can manage shipping in your Google Merchant account by choosing between these 3 options:
- 1. Specify a flat shipping rate (or free shipping).
- 2. Define custom tables if the shipping rate you charge varies by price, weight, or number of items.
- 3. (US only) Apply a carrier-calculated rate if the shipping rate you charge is based on rates from UPS, FedEx, or USPS. Note: We use daily rates for UPS, and standard (non-retail counter) rates for FedEx.
Either you can also use the shipping attribute in your data feed.
The shipping attribute is an item-level override for merchant-level shipping settings as defined in your Google Merchant Center account.
You have 4 different attributes about shipping :
- 1. country (required), using ISO 3166 country code.
- 2. region (optional), using two-letter state abbreviation, ZIP code or ZIP code range using * wildcard
- 3. service (optional), the service class or delivery speed (by example : Ground)
- 4. price (required), fixed shipping price (including VAT) with currency code.
Here is an example of shipping attribute group :
<g:shipping> <g:country>US</g:country> <g:region>MA</g:region> <g:service>Ground</g:service> <g:price>5.95 USD</g:price> </g:shipping>
How does the category mapping work?
What is category mapping?
Categories names you are using in your Magento aren't always the same that ones used by Google Merchant to reference your products.
This means you have to find out which Google Merchant categories have the best matching with yours, according to the Google product taxonomy .
By example, if your are selling furnitures like coffee tables , you'll have a coffee table category in your Magento.
But Google Merchant doesn't handle this kind of category. The closest Google product category could be Kitchen & Dining Room Table .
So this should appears this way in your data feed:
<g:google_product_category>Furniture > Desks & Tables > Kitchen & Dining Room Tables</g:google_product_category>
This Google product category should be in your data feed, using this attribute:
<g:google_product_category>closest_google_category_name</g:google_product_category>
Please note that this attribute is different from product type where you can use your own category names.
Google recommend you include this attribute for all products, and for all target-countries. It will result in better categorization for your products.
Here are a few guide lines for choosing the most appropriate category:
- • Use the category that best describes your item. To do this, first determine the primary function of the products you are submitting. For specific items like MP3 Players, select the MP3 Players category. While some MP3 players can also serve different functions, like those that contain a clock, they are primarily MP3 Players.
- • Use only one category. For some products, more than one category might be relevant. For example, an adapter to allow an MP3 player to be used in a car could be in both categories Motor Vehicles > Audio & Video and Electronics > Audio > Audio Accessories > MP3 Player Accessories. In such cases, choose the category that seems the most appropriate to you, but don't include more than one.
- • Use the most specific category possible. Being specific will help improve your data quality and in turn ensures that offers are presented in the right category. When viewing the taxonomy, try to navigate to the most specific category that still covers all the products being submitted. For instance, if you are submitting MP3 player chargers use the category MP3 Player Chargers. Conversely, if you are submitting multiple types of chargers use the category Chargers.
How to map my categories with Simple Google Shopping?
Simple Google Shopping provides you an easy way to input Google product categories matching yours.
In your data feed configuration, go in the Categories tab. Then, in Category selection and mapping section, you'll find a treeview of all your categories.
For each category, you have a little arrow and mapped as . This is the place where you have to paste the Google product category matching to your category.
Tip : if your press End key of your keyboard after typing a category mapping, the value will apply to all sub-categories.
Once all your categories are mapped, you can click on the Save button.
How to schedule my data feed generation with Simple Google Shopping?
Simple Google Shopping provides you a fully configurable schedule in the Scheduled task tab of your template configuration for each data feed.
Warning : in order this to work, you must have one main scheduled task running from your server side and targeting cron.php (or cron.sh) - located in the root directory of magento - each hour (ideally).
If the management panel from your hosting compagny doesn’t provide such a service, you can use a remote service such as : http://www.mywebcron.com
Simple Google Shopping also provides you a cron job reporting, so you can get email reports on each data feed you will generate.
How do filters work?
Simple Google Shopping provides you multiple ways to adjust which kind of products you want in your datafeed.
In the Filters tab of your datafeed configuration, you'll find 3 sections:
- - Product type
- - Product visibility
- - Advanced filters
Product type
In this section, you could choose which kind of product type (Simple, Configurable, Bundle, Grouped, Virtual, Downloadable) you want to export.
By example ( Case 1 ), if you're selling t-shirts and you want to export every sizes and every colors individually , just tick Simple checkbox and leave others empty.
But if you only want ( Case 2 ) to export your t-shirts and specify appart sizes and colors available , tick Configurable checkbox and leave others empty.
PLEASE NOTE that Google Merchant specify that for feeds targeting US, UK, FR, and JP : Any apparel item that varies by 'color', 'material', 'pattern', and/or 'size', must be submitted as a unique combination (like in our Case 1 ).
Product visibility
In this section, you will be able to export in your datafeed the products depending on their visibility in Magento.
In our Case 1 , your simple products are probably not visible individually (because connected to configurable products). So you'll have to tick Not visible individually checkbox.
If you're in the Case 2 , just tick Catalog and Search checkboxes, it'll do it great.
Advanced filters
This is probably the most powerful part of the filters section.
This section will allow you to filter your products with barely all the ways you want to. You can apply condition on each attribute of your products, like price, name, SKU, color, size, etc.
Most of the conditions available are pretty obvious : = , < , > , ≤ , ≥ , ≠
Like and Not like are to use like wildcard.
By example, this will return only products whose name contains 'rock and roll' (like 'rock and roll pants', 'rock and roll shirt', etc):
[Name] [Like] [rock and roll]
null and is not null are used to identify products with empty attributes.
in and not in are used to identify products with possible multiple values (like t-shirts whose color is black or blue or red by example).
PLEASE NOTE that attributes with multiple values (like Shirt Size) appear as a list (Small, Medium, Large). This makes you easier to select specific products.
How to exclude some specific products in Simple Google Shopping?
Sometimes, advances filters from Filters’section aren’t enough to generate you data feed in the way you want it to be.
By example : let’s say you want to extract all your catalog products, except the ones whose category mapping is Shoes. If you tick all categories except Shoes category in the Categories section, you’ll miss all uncategorized products.
In that kind of case, you’ll have to use a small code in your template wich will exclude Shoes category.
Warning : It will only work if you untick all categories in Categories section.
<?if("{category_mapping}"=="Shoes") $myPattern=null;?>
(if category is Shoes then skip the product).
In a general notation :
<?if("{attribute_code}"=="value") $myPattern=null;?>How to setup group ID with my configurable products in Google Merchant?
According to Google Merchant’specifications, "All items that are color/material/pattern/size variants of the same product must have the same item group id".
This group id must be show up like this in you data feed:
<g:item_group_id>AB12345</g:item_group_id>
Simple Google Shopping has a magic attribute to do this:
{G:ITEM_GROUP_ID}
It’s a shortcut for this:
<g:item_group_id>{sku configurable}</g:item_group_id>How to limit the number of products exported ?
You can limit the number of exported products (eg : 500) in your data feed by adding the following script in the product pattern:
<? $this->_limit=500 ?>
How to remove VAT from prices in my data feeds?
You just need to use {price,[CUR],[0]} instead of {price} in your template.
Replace CUR by the currency you need (USD for US dollars, EUR for euros, etc)
How to apply a custom VAT on my products?
You can use {price,[X.XX]} instead of {price} in your template. X.XX is a floating number between 0.00 and 100.00 representing the percentage you want to apply to the price.
How to improve my datafeed generation process?
If you have a huge number of products in your Magento (10 000+), it may occur that your datafeed generation either took too much time, either returned you an error.
This issue is usually due to the URL rewriting system.
In order to improve this process, you can try to run the following request in your database :
DELETE FROM `core_url_rewrite` WHERE `core_url_rewrite`.`options` = 'RP';
or you can completely re-initialize the whole url rewrite process in 2 steps :
1. Empty the table named core_url_rewrite in Magento database by using this syntax:
TRUNCATE core_url_rewrite
2. Reindex your URLs in your Magento admin (System>Index Management)
How to export adword labels in my data feed in order to advertise in Google PLA (Product Listing Ads)?
You have to add a new attribute in your attribute sets named adwords_grouping.
You have to go in : Catalog > Attributes > Manage attributes
Then click on Add New Attribute .
In Properties tab, enter adwords_grouping (by example) in Attribute Code field.
In Manage Label / Options tab, enter Adword Grouping (by example) in Admin field.
Click on Save Attribute and that's it, you new attribute is created!
Then you have to use it in you data feed configuration. You could use this syntax :
<g:adwords_grouping>{adwords_grouping}</g:adwords_grouping>Product type and Google product category
<g:product_type> is for categories that you have defined independently.
You can easily fill this XML section by using {G:PRODUCT_TYPE}
Read also : http://support.google.com/merchants/bin/answer.py?answer=188494#FR
<g:google_product_category> is used for categories already defined by Google.
Read : http://support.google.com/merchants/bin/answer.py?answer=160081
You must include this section for each of your products
Missing recommended attribute: google product category
You didn't specify any category mapping for listed categories.
Categories names you are using in your Magento aren't always the same that ones used by Google Merchant to reference your products.
This means you have to find out which Google Merchant categories have the best matching with yours, according to the Google product taxonomy.
Read our FAQ about category mapping
Missing recommended attribute: product_type
Reminder : product_type is an attribute which indicates the category of the product being submitted, but you can provide your own classification. Unlike the 'Google product category', you can include more than one 'product type' attribute value if products apply to more than one category.
In Simple Google Shopping, you have a magic attributes realizing this for you :
{G:PRODUCT_TYPE}
It creates a list of all the categories where the product may be found :
<g:product_type> category A > sub-category B </g:product_type> <g:product_type> category A > sub-category B > sub-category C </g:product_type>
It happens Google Merchant reports you warnings about missing product_type. The issue usually come from simple products that are associated to the configurable ones. You could try to use this code which will retrieves the parent "product type" for each product :
{G:PRODUCT_TYPE parent,[10]}Missing recommended attribute: image link
Some of your products don't have any image attached.
This generally happens with simple products that are linked to a configurable product with images.
You just need to use:
{G:IMAGE_LINK parent}
this will display the parent product's images instead.
If you still have some missing images in your data feed, this may mean that some of your product doesn't have images at all. In a such case you must use the attribute filters in order to remove these products from the feed :
Base image ≠ no_selection
Base image IS NOT NULL
Missing required attribute: unique product identifier
Google requires some Unique Product Identifiers.
These informations may be a brand, a MPN (manufacturer part number), an EAN, an ISBN or a any other global identifier and must be added like this:
<g:ean>{ean}</g:ean>
If you do not have any "strong identifier" to provide to Google, you can use an association of brand and MPN.
This means that you must add in your data feed configuration this code snippet :
<g:brand>{manufacturer}</g:brand>
<g:mpn>{sku}</g:mpn>
"Manufacturer" is your own attribute for manufacturer or for brand and your "sku" attribute is used as a manufacturer part number. If you do not have a manufacturer attribute, you can also hard coded this value like this :
<g:brand>your own brand</g:brand>
Missing required attribute: gender
You didn't specify gender.
Gender is required for all apparel items in feeds that target the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP.
3 values accepted :
- - male
- - female
- - unisex
Read our documentation about required attributes with Google Shopping
Missing required attribute: age group
You didn't specify age group.
Age group is required for all apparel items in feeds that target the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP.
2 values accepted :
- - adult
- - kids
Read our documentation about required attributes with Google Shopping
Missing required attribute: color
You didn't specify the dominant color(s) of the item.
Color is required for all apparel items in feeds that target the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP.
Read our documentation about required attributes with Google Shopping
Missing required attribute: size
You didn't specify the size.
Size is required for all apparel items in the 'clothing' and 'shoes' product categories in feeds that target the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP.
Read our documentation about required attributes with Google Shopping
I have just made a payment for Simple Google Shopping but I haven't received an email
1. The payment confirmation email should only take a few minutes, rarely more than one hour
2. Check your spam filter
3. Contact us: we will try again to send it
How do I activate the Wyomind Simple Google Shopping extension ?
Just copy and paste the code you will retrieve in your Wyomind Manager into: system/configuration/wyomind/extension name in your admin panel and choose an activation method between Automatic (Yes) and Manual (No) .
Automatic (Yes) : you authorize a remote connection to Wyomind's license server
Manuel (No) : you connect by browsing to Wyomind's license server
Once you have put in your activation key and chosen your activation method, go to the extension page in the admin menu (catalog/Simple Google Shopping) and follow the instructions.
How do I install Simple Google Shopping ?
- Download the zipped extension from your Wyomind account ;
- Unzip the folder content ;
- Copy the folder content (app,skin and lib directories)
- Paste all files and directories into your Magento web site root directory ;
- Log-out from Magento admin panel ;
- Log-in to your Magento admin panel and clean the cache ;
- Installation complete.
How do I uninstall Simple Google Shopping?
In order to uninstall Simple Google Shopping, you must remove all the following files and directories:
- app/etc/modules/Wyomind_Simple Google Shopping.xml
- app/code/local/WyomindSimple Google Shopping
- design/adminhtml/default/default/layout/Simple Google Shopping.xml
- design/adminhtml/default/default/template/Simple Google Shopping
- skin/adminhtml/default/default/Simple Google Shopping
- app/locale/lang_LANG/Wyomind_Simple Google Shopping.csv
Clean the cache and re-launch the compiler (if you use it).
I'm getting an error saying "Base table or view not found". How do I fix this?
This issue may be due to a problem during the installation process.
You can fix it by following these steps :
- - Access your database via your control panel (cPanel for example)
- - Delete the entry Simple Google Shopping_setup from the table core_resource
- - Logout from your Magento admin
- - Log into your Magento admin
I get a 404 error instead of the configuration page in admin panel!
I get a 404 error instead of the extension page in admin panel!
For Simple Google Shopping :
DELETE FROM simplegoogleshopping
For Data Feed Manager
DELETE FROM datafeedmanager
I get a 404 error page after deleting a storeview
If after deleting a storeview, you get a 404 error page, you must look in your database (with PhpMyAdmin) which store_id (i.e. storeview ID) has been deleted.
Then to fix the issue, you have to update each element from the table simplegoogleshopping or datafeedmanager (depending on your extension) with another valid store_id.
How do I fix the issues with scheduled tasks?
Be sure that you have correctly configured a scheduled task from the server side (cpanel) targeting the cron.php file in your magento installation.
Simple Google Shopping includes reporting and debug tools for the scheduled tasks in:
system > configuration > Wyomind > Simple Google Shopping
How to disable Google Shopping API ?
In order to install Simple Google Shopping on Magento higher than 1.5 you must first disable the Magento Google Shopping API extension. If you do not disable this extension in some cases this may cause some conflicts.
Open and edit the file : app/etc/modules/Mage_googleshopping.xml and switch "true" to "false".
Then in your data base in table "core_resource" delete the entry named "googleshopping_setup".
Finally, go back in to your admin panel and clean the configuration cache.
Characters from my data feed aren't displayed properly.
First, be sure you used special attributes which will clean your content:
{attribute,[strip_tags],[html_entity_decode],[inline],[cleaner]}
If your data feed still doesn't display properly, maybe it's because you try to read it as an ISO file while Simple Google Shopping creates UTF-8 encoded files.
We recommend you to read it with dedicated programs like Notepad++ or even Firefox (with Display > Encoding type > utf8 selected).
The link for my data feed, in Simple Google Shopping, is black (instead of orange). What does it mean?
I get a fatal error concerning Mage_Core_Model_Resource_Setup.php
If your site crashes and gives this error message after uploading all files to the correct folders:
Fatal error: Class 'Wyomind_Notificationmanager_Model_Resource_Setup' not found in /home/users/silkaftp/silkandbeach.com/includes/src/Mage_Core_Model_Resource_Setup.php on line 234
It probably comes from installing an extension while the compiler is still enabled.
Important note:
• If the compilation is enabled on your website (System > Tools > Compilation). Disable it first before installing any extension. After installation re-run the compilation process and re-enable the compiler.
• Before installing any extension, it's advisable to backup your Magento installation.
Here is the way to disable the magento compiler:
Edit the following file: includes/config.php and add a # before the 2 following lines:
define('COMPILER_INCLUDE_PATH', dirname(__FILE__).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'src');
define('COMPILER_COLLECT_PATH', dirname(__FILE__).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'stat');
to get:
#define('COMPILER_INCLUDE_PATH', dirname(__FILE__).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'src');
#define('COMPILER_COLLECT_PATH', dirname(__FILE__).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'stat');
Then go back to your website admin and re-run the compilation process.
- ✔All data feeds requirements for Google Shopping
- ✔Inclusion of all product types (simple, configurable, grouped, bundle... and custom types)
- ✔Data feed customization with any Magento attributes
- ✔Product and category filtering (exclusion/inclusion)
- ✔Google product categories mapping
- ✔Data feeds automatic update and task reporting
- ✔Data feeds preview and syntactic helper
- ✔Multi-stores, multi-currencies, multi-VAT-rates data feeds
- ✔Time life free support 7/7
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