Connecting a product feed to your Google Merchant Center enables shoppers to discover your products through Google Shopping and Google Product Listing Ads.
If you choose to use these Google products we recommend also connecting a reviews feed to your Google Merchant Center so your product listings can be augmented with review data. This will help you capture more search traffic as a result.
If you have followed our Google Shopping Set Up help article, but have failed to sync successfully, check to see if any of the below features or steps have been missed.
Google Shopping Identification Preference
Ensure that all your products within Shopify have both a SKU and a barcode (UPC, EAN). Providing more information to Google increases the chances of successfully syncing feeds. Google requires merchants to provide either of the following for each product:
Product barcode/GTIN
Product MPN
Google's preference is always for the barcode/GTIN.
Types of Product Identification:
Internal:
Stock Keeping Unit (SKU): Generally eight alphanumeric digits.
Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): A series of numbers and letters.
External (Global Trade Identification Numbers aka GTIN):
Unique Product Code (UPC): Generally twelve alphanumeric digits.
European Article Number (EAN): Generally thirteen alphanumeric digits.
International Standard Book Number (ISBN): Specific to books, thirteen numeric digits.
You can input these options under each product listing page within Shopify. For variants, select the "edit" button next to the variant.
Mirroring SKU as MPN
Shopify does not have a specific section to input a unique MPN. Okendo offers a toggle on/off feature to assign the SKU of your products as the MPN. This can be found in the Okendo Integration Settings (Settings > Integrations) for Google Shopping.
Google Shopping Feed App
If you use the Google Shopping Feed App to pull your product feed into your Merchant Center, ensure the sync information is set to the correct level:
Integrations > Feed Settings > Default Settings > Default Identification Management:
Select option: Submit Brand Name, MPN (SKU), and GTIN (Barcode).
Manage Products > Product XYZ > Identifier Management:
Select: Submit Brand Name, MPN (SKU), and GTIN (Barcode).
Common Error Messages & Solutions
Missing value [gtin]: The identified product does not have an associated GTIN.
Invalid value [gtin]: The input data in the identified product's GTIN field on Shopify does not follow a valid GTIN template (e.g., missing numbers).
Violation of Shopping ads policy: Google may flag your product for various issues. Click on the identified product to read the violation details.
Ambiguous value [gtin]: The submitted GTIN of a product isn't recognized (e.g., missing leading zeros or deprecated format like ISBN-10).
Unsupported value (reserved) [gtin]: The submitted GTIN of a product hasn't been released for use yet by GS1.
FAQ
When integrating with Google Shopping, two feeds are needed so your reviews can be published: the product feed (or Shopping ads/offer feed) and the reviews feed (or Product ratings feed). Both feeds require matching product identifiers such as GTINs and SKUs.
Why are my Google Shopping ads' reviews counts not matching with Okendo?
Mismatch of Product Identifiers:
Both the product feed and reviews feed need to have matching product identifiers. Okendo generates the reviews feed by pulling data from your Shopify inventory, such as the SKU for MPN and the barcode for GTIN. Ensure that the SKUs and GTINs in your Google Merchant Center (GMC) product feed match those in your Shopify inventory.
Creating and Managing the Product Feed:
The product feed is created by the merchant in the Google Merchant Center or through a third-party data app (e.g., DataFeedWatch). Okendo does not create, control, or modify a merchant's product feed in their merchant center. Ensure that your product feed is correctly set up and contains accurate product identifiers.
Discrepancies in Review Counts:
If there is a discrepancy in the number of reviews, it's possible that the SKU or GTIN in your GMC does not match what you have in your Shopify inventory. To resolve this, update your product feed in the Google Merchant Center to include accurate product identifiers.
Steps to Ensure Successful Sync:
Check SKUs in Google Merchant Center:
Ensure that the SKUs listed in your Google Merchant Center match the SKUs in your Shopify inventory. This is critical for aligning the product and reviews feeds.
Assigning MPN:
Since Shopify does not have a specific section for MPN, you can use the feature in Okendo Integration Settings to assign SKUs as MPNs. This will help Google match your products but is not a guaranteed solution.
Using the Google Shopping Feed App:
Make sure the sync settings in the Google Shopping Feed App are set correctly to submit Brand Name, MPN (SKU), and GTIN (Barcode). Check both the default settings and product-level settings to ensure consistency.
Where to find the SKU in Google Merchant Center:
If you are still having issues in successfully syncing your feeds, please feel free to reach support@okendo.io.