The Google Shopping Feed plugin generates a Google Merchant Centre product feed for your store and publishes it at a stable feed URL. You submit that URL to Google Merchant Centre as a scheduled fetch, and Google collects your latest product data on a regular basis, ready to power Google Shopping listings and Shopping campaigns.
The feed is produced as a standard XML file in the Google Merchant Centre RSS 2.0 format, so it works with Merchant Centre out of the box without any manual file uploads.
Features
- Google Shopping XML feed in the standard Merchant Centre RSS 2.0 format, with the Google product attributes Merchant Centre expects.
- Scheduled refresh so the feed regenerates automatically at the interval you choose, keeping prices, stock and product details up to date.
- Stable feed URL that you paste once into Merchant Centre as a scheduled fetch; you never have to upload a file by hand.
- Variant support so each product variant is published as its own item, grouped under the parent product.
- Default Google product category fallback to give items a category when no specific mapping applies, avoiding rejections for a missing category.
- Category mapping from your own store categories to Google product categories.
- Product filtering by status (active only or all) and an option to include or exclude out-of-stock products.
- Default brand fallback applied to any product that has no brand of its own.
- Sale price support, where a higher compare-at price becomes the list price and the lower price becomes the sale price.
- Multiple feeds per store, each with its own settings and schedule.
- Built-in validation so you can check a generated feed before relying on it.
This plugin is free to install and use.
Before you start
You will need:
- A Google Merchant Centre account for your business. If you do not have one, create it at the Google Merchant Centre website and complete the standard business and website verification steps.
- Your storefront URL (the public web address of your shop), which is used to build the product links in the feed.
- Products in your Orbit Commerce store with the details Google expects, such as titles, descriptions, prices, images and, where available, a barcode (GTIN).
The plugin reads your products and store categories to build the feed. It does not need access to your Google account; you simply give Google the feed URL.
Getting started
- Install the plugin. Open the plugin store in your Orbit Commerce dashboard, find Google Shopping Feed and install it. A new Google Shopping Feed entry appears in your dashboard menu.
- Create a feed. Open the plugin and choose to create a feed. Give it a name (for example, Main Google Feed).
- Set the basics. Choose your target country (the United Kingdom is the default), confirm the content language and currency, and enter your storefront URL so product links are built correctly.
- Set a default brand (optional). If some products have no brand set, you can provide a fallback brand name here.
- Choose product filtering. Decide whether to include only active products or all products, and whether to include out-of-stock products.
- Enable a schedule (recommended). Turn on scheduled generation and pick how often the feed should refresh.
- Map your categories (optional but recommended). On the feed's detail page, map your store categories to Google product categories so items are classified correctly.
- Generate the feed. Use Generate Now to produce the first version of the XML feed.
- Copy the feed URL. On the feed's detail page, copy the Feed URL shown in the Feed URL panel.
- Add it to Merchant Centre. In Google Merchant Centre, add a new product feed, choose the scheduled fetch method, paste your feed URL, and set Google's fetch frequency. Google will then collect the feed automatically.
How the feed works
When the feed runs, the plugin reads your current products and writes them into a single Google Shopping XML file, then publishes that file at your feed's URL.
What's included. Each product (and each variant, where a product has them) becomes one item in the feed. For each item the plugin includes, where the data is available:
- A unique item ID, plus an item group ID that links variants of the same product.
- The product title, with variant option values appended (for example, Blue / Large).
- A plain-text description, with any HTML formatting stripped out.
- A link to the product on your storefront.
- The main product image and up to nine additional images.
- Availability (in stock or out of stock), based on the quantity.
- Price, and a sale price when a compare-at price is higher than the current price.
- Brand (the product's own brand, or your default brand fallback).
- Condition, which is set to new.
- A barcode as the GTIN when the product has a valid one; otherwise the SKU is sent as the MPN.
- The Google product category (from your mapping, or the default category fallback).
- Shipping weight, when set on the product.
How often it refreshes. When you enable a schedule, the feed regenerates automatically at the interval you choose: every 30 minutes, every hour, once a day, once a week, or once a month. Without a schedule, the feed only updates when you press Generate Now. The plugin also keeps a regularly refreshed copy of your product data behind the scenes so each run uses recent information.
The feed URL. Each feed has its own fixed URL, shown in the Feed URL panel on the feed's detail page. It looks like https://your-feed-address/api/feeds/your-feed-id/xml. This is the URL you give to Google as a scheduled fetch. Because the URL stays the same, Google can keep fetching the newest version without any further action from you.
Settings
Each feed has its own settings, which you can change at any time by editing the feed.
- Feed name — a label to identify the feed in your dashboard.
- Target country — the country you are selling into. The United Kingdom is the default; selecting a country also suggests its usual language and currency.
- Content language — the language of your product information, as a two-letter code (for example, en).
- Currency — the currency used for prices in the feed (for example, GBP).
- Storefront URL — the public address of your shop, used to build product links such as https://your-store.com/products/product-handle.
- Default brand — an optional fallback brand applied to any product without its own brand.
- Product status filter — include only active products, or all products regardless of status.
- Include out-of-stock products — choose whether products with no stock appear in the feed.
- Schedule — turn automatic generation on or off and choose the refresh interval.
On the feed's detail page you can also manage:
- Category mapping — match your store categories to Google product categories so items are classified correctly in Merchant Centre.
- Default Google product category — a feed-level fallback category. When a product has no mapped category, this default is applied so the item still carries a valid Google product category. This matters because Merchant Centre can reject or limit items that have no category at all.
Troubleshooting
The feed isn't updating in Merchant Centre. First check that the feed has actually regenerated: the feed's detail page shows when it was last generated. If you are relying on automatic updates, make sure scheduled generation is enabled and an interval is set. Also check the fetch schedule on the Google side, as Merchant Centre collects the feed on its own timetable. If needed, use Generate Now to produce a fresh copy immediately.
Products are disapproved for a missing or invalid category. Google requires a Google product category for many items. Map your store categories to Google product categories on the feed's detail page, and set a default Google product category as a fallback so every item is classified even when no specific mapping applies. Regenerate the feed afterwards so the change takes effect.
Prices, images or descriptions look out of date in Google. The feed reflects the product data captured when it was last generated, and Google then fetches on its own schedule. Update the affected products, regenerate the feed, and allow time for Google's next fetch. Remember that descriptions are published as plain text with formatting removed.
Some products are missing from the feed. Check the feed's product filtering. If the status filter is set to active only, products in other statuses are excluded, and if out-of-stock products are not included, items with no available stock are left out. Adjust these settings, then regenerate and use the built-in Validate Feed check to confirm the contents.
Support
For help with this plugin, visit the Orbit Commerce Help Centre, or use the Get support link on the plugin's store page.