How to create a product feed for marketplaces?

You want to sell your products on marketplaces? In order to do so, you must first create a feed of product data, i.e. a product catalogue that meets the specific criteria of the marketplace through which you want to sell. This product feed could then be updated whenever necessary.

Creating a product data feed is a two-step process:

• producing a product catalogue in a file meeting the required format (CSV or XML, sometimes via an API) including information on product listing (names, pictures, descriptions, price, stock, conditions of shipment…), and making sure the catalogue ‘s categories match those of the selected communication channels.
• sending the flow of product data to the marketplace while sticking to the attributes required and/or recommended by each platform, with a regular updating of the information  provided from a marketplace interface. Complying with attributes enables you to enrich your flow of product data, and thus improve their visibility to consumers.

The flow of product data allows marketplaces to integrate your online catalogue while keeping its specificities. After having created your flow, you are able to update it whenever you want so as to take into account all changes in the product data.

But watch out for duplicate content! Creating a feed of product data implies copying all or part of your site’s catalogue to one or more marketplaces. Hence, you might find yourself with a single flow (with the same descriptions and the same pictures) for ten or fifteen different platforms… That could entail a penalty from Google! You’d be better off creating a specific flow of product data for each marketplace – and different from the one you use for your own website.