Create a feed
Instead of adding products to Google or Meta one by one, create a feed once and let Google or Meta pick up your whole catalog on a schedule, for the market you sell in.
What is a feed?
A feed is your product list for Google or Meta, for one market. The app keeps your feed as a file online. Google or Meta collects it on the schedule you pick. A market is one country, language and currency, taken from your Shopify Markets. Sell in three countries? Create three feeds.
You'll find it in the app under Manage feed → Create feed. The form has three tabs: General, Products and Attributes. A localize feed shows only General.
Before you start
- Connect your Google or Meta account in Settings. The app then adds the feed to Merchant Center or your Meta catalog for you. Not connected yet? You can still create the feed. Copy its feed URL afterwards and add it in Merchant Center or Commerce Manager yourself.
- Check your feed count. At 10 feeds, the Create feed button is greyed out. Delete a feed or contact us to raise the limit.
Pick the right feed type
Most stores only need a Primary feed. The other two types build on a feed you already have.
| Primary | Localize | Supplement | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In short | Your main feed. Start here. | Local price or translated text for one market | Extra details for products already listed |
| Channels | Google, Meta | Meta | Google, Meta |
| Puts your products on the channel | ✅ | — | — |
| Changes price or stock | ✅ | ✅ (one country) | — |
| Changes title and description | ✅ | ✅ (one language) | — |
| Fills in extra details, like material | ✅ | — | ✅ |
The key difference: a primary feed puts your products on Google or Meta. A localize or supplement feed only adjusts products that are already there.
You can't change the feed type, sales channel, market or fetch schedule after the feed is created. To reuse a setup for another market, use Duplicate in the feed's row menu.
How to create a feed
Choose a sales channel
Go to Manage feed and click Create feed. In Choose a sales channel, click Google or Meta.
Name the feed and pick its type
On the General tab, enter a Feed name you'll recognise, like "Google Shopping - US". Customers never see it. Then pick a Feed type. For your main feed, keep Primary - hosts a file Merchant Center fetches (Google) or Primary - hosts a file your catalog fetches (Meta).
Picked the wrong channel? Click Change under Sales channel before you save.
Pick when Google or Meta collects the feed
Choose a Fetch frequency and a Fetch time. Google offers Daily, Weekly and Monthly. Meta offers Daily, Hourly and Weekly. The time uses the time zone shown under the field.
On Meta, also pick a Meta catalog: one of your existing catalogs, or Create a new catalog.
Set the target market
Under Target market, pick a Country, Language and Currency. The lists come from your Shopify Markets, so your ads show the price shoppers really pay.
Choose the products
On the Products tab, pick what to list:
- All products: every product that can be listed.
- Specific collections: click Select collections and pick one or more.
- Specific products: click Select products and pick products or single variants.
Under Variants, choose All variants to list each size or colour on its own, or First variant only for one listing per product. This choice doesn't apply to Specific products.
Check the product details
The Attributes tab decides which Shopify detail fills each Google or Meta field. The app fills the common ones for you, so most stores only check and move on. See Fill in product details below.
Save the feed
Click Create feed at the top of the page. The feed's page opens and the app starts building your feed file.
Once the file is ready, Google or Meta collects it at the fetch time you picked. Follow approval results on the feed page. Nothing changes in your Shopify store.
Fill in product details
Complete product details help Google and Meta approve more products and show them to the right shoppers. Details are grouped: Product details, Product images, Price, condition & availability, Product identifiers, Marketing methods, Labels, Apparel product details, Additional details and Shipping & returns. Meta feeds don't have Marketing methods or Shipping & returns.
For each field, pick a Shopify field, a preset or your own value, or Not included. Required fields can't be turned off.
- Insert variable: click the
</>icon in a text field, or type/. Add each product's own title, SKU or a Shopify metafield, so one setting works for every product. - Google product category: the app picks the right Google category for you. To choose your own, pick Custom category, click Select a category, and choose it in Select a Google product category.
- Custom labels: under Labels, click Add custom label (up to 5). Use them to group products, like "on sale", for ad bidding.
- Design template: under Image link, choose Design template, then a template and an Image format (1:1 or 4:5). Your ads show a branded image instead of the plain photo. See Image templates.
Product page on your online store, Price, Availability and Sale price always come from Shopify. They stay correct on their own, so you can't edit them here.
Set up a localize or supplement feed
Create a primary feed first. Then add these on top of it.
Localize (Meta). Show a local price or stock level in one country, or translated text in one language. It copies its products and settings from your main feed.
Choose the feed type
In Feed type, choose Localize - override price or text for a market.
Choose country or language
In What it overrides, choose Country - price & availability or Language - title & description.
Pick the main feed and schedule
Pick the Feed to override, then a Fetch frequency and Fetch time. Under Override locale, choose the country or language it applies to. You can also open this form from Add override feed in a Meta feed's row menu on Manage feed.
Supplement (Google, Meta). Add details like GTIN or material without touching your main feed. It never changes price, stock or link.
Choose the feed type
In Feed type, choose Supplement - add product attributes to a feed (Google) or Supplement - add product attributes to a catalog (Meta).
Pick the feed and schedule
Pick the main feed in Feed to supplement. You can only add to a feed in this app. Then choose a Fetch frequency and Fetch time. On Google, you can also start from Add override feed in the feed's row menu.
Fill at least one detail
The Attributes tab shows only the details a supplement can add. Set a value for at least one, then click Create feed.
On Google, a supplement only fills fields your main feed leaves empty. With a connected Meta account, the app adds localize and supplement feeds to your catalog for you. On Meta, each feed can have one supplement.
Good to know
- Changes reach Google or Meta at the next fetch, not instantly.
- Each product is identified by its SKU. Products without a SKU use their Shopify variant number.
- Out-of-stock products are always held back from the channel.
- If a product's compare-at price is higher than its price, it shows as on sale.
- Prices follow your Shopify Markets price for the country. With no market price, the app uses your store currency.
- A localize feed shows Override locale instead of Target market. Most supplements use their main feed's market.
- Duplicate in a feed's row menu copies all settings into a new feed. The copy keeps the same market.
FAQs
Do I need a separate feed for each country?
Yes. One feed covers one country, language and currency. Use Duplicate to set up the next market faster.
Will creating a feed change my Shopify products?
No. The app only reads your products. Edits you make in the feed never change Shopify.
How fast do my changes reach Google or Meta?
At the next fetch time you picked. To rebuild the file sooner, open the feed and click Regenerate XML file. Google or Meta still picks it up at its next fetch.
Can I change the market later?
No. The feed type, sales channel, market and fetch schedule are fixed once the feed exists. Duplicate the feed and change the copy instead.
Still have questions?
Chat with us from the app, any time.