Using feeds to upload products

The most ideal way for us at Four Green Steps to upload and update a large number of products for you would be through the use of a feed. A feed is basically a comprehensive file that you can open in spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel, which contains all the details about your products.

Typically we ask our vendors to provide a Google feed (aka GoogleBase or Froogle). This format is the most common type of file that ecommerce sites can provide. To see an example file, please click Tab delimited (.txt). The following are instructions from the Google Merchant website on the format of the feed that we require. 

Creating your Data Feed

Step 1: Open your spreadsheet program

Using a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel makes it easy to create a feed and convert it to the proper format.

Step 2: Create a header row

On the first row of the spreadsheet, enter the names of the attributes that describe your items, each in its own column. Include all the required attributes and any relevant recommended attributes (see below).

An example using all the required attributes in the header row would look like this:

Step 3: Enter your item information

In the rows below the header row, enter information about your items for the attributes you've chosen. Each item should be listed in a separate row, and its information divided into the appropriate columns. (For example, an item's description should be in the same column as the "description" header.)

Step 4: Convert your spreadsheet

Most spreadsheet programs allow you to export data into a tab-delimited file. Either of the options below will create a file with a name ending in the ".txt" extension. This is the file you should submit to Google Merchant Center.

• For Microsoft Excel: Save the spreadsheet as tab-delimited text (.txt) by using the Save File as command in the File menu and specifying the format type. In the Save as type drop-down box, select the Text (tab delimited)(*.txt) option.

• For Google Spreadsheets: Select Export from the File menu, choosing .txt as the file. Your tab-delimited text file will be displayed in a new window. Select the Save as command from your browser's File menu to save as a .txt text file.

Step 5: Submit your data feed

Check that your file meets our format requirements below and email it to us at support@fourgreensteps.com.

Format Requirements

• The file must be tab-delimited plain text.
• The first line of the file is the header -- it must contain attribute names, separated by tabs.
• One item per line; separate each attribute in that line by a tab.
• Do not include trailing tabs at the end of lines.
• Do not include tabs or line breaks in the attributes themselves.

Required attributes:

• id - An identifier of the item
• title - Title of the item
• description - Description of the item
• price - Price of the item
• shipping_weight - Weight of the item for shipping
• image_link - URL of an image of the item
• product_type - Your category of the item

Recommended attributes (to list your products on Google, provide at least 2 of the following):

• brand - Brand of the item
• 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 - Manufacturer Part Number (MPN) of the item. This code uniquely identifies the product to its manufacturer. In particular, the combination of brand and MPN clearly specifies one product.