Snapchat Catalog Feed

The Snapchat Feed plugin turns your store's catalogue into a Snapchat-compatible product feed (a CSV file) that you can connect to a Snapchat catalogue in Ads Manager. Once connected, Snapchat reads the feed on a schedule to power Dynamic Product Ads and Collection Ads, keeping the products, prices and stock levels shown to shoppers in line with your store. The plugin can also install the Snap Pixel on your storefront and mirror purchase events to Snapchat's Conversions API for more accurate ad measurement.

Features

• Snapchat catalogue feed (CSV). Generates a feed in the column format Snapchat expects for catalogues, including the required fields (id, title, description, availability, condition, price, link, image link) plus recommended fields such as brand, sale price, item group, colour, size and product category.
• Variant support. Each product variant is published as its own item and grouped under the parent product, so Snapchat can show size and colour selectors.
• Scheduled refresh. Set a feed to regenerate automatically every 30 minutes, hourly, daily, weekly or monthly. You can also generate on demand at any time.
• Stable feed URL. Each feed has a fixed URL that always serves the latest generated file, so you only paste it into Snapchat once.
• Default product category fallback. Set a default Google product category that is applied to any product without a mapped category, so no item is rejected for a missing category.
• Category mapping. Map your store's own categories to Google product category IDs for more accurate targeting.
• Stock and status filtering. Choose whether to include out-of-stock products, and whether to publish active products only or all statuses.
• Sale prices. When a product has a higher compare-at price, the original price and the discounted sale price are both included.
• Snap Pixel. Optionally install the Snap Pixel on your storefront to track page views, product views, add-to-carts, checkouts and purchases.
• Conversions API (CAPI). Optionally mirror purchase events to Snapchat server-to-server, deduplicated against the Pixel for more reliable measurement.

Before you start

You will need:

• A Snapchat Business account with access to Snapchat Ads Manager.
• Permission to create or edit a catalogue in Ads Manager.
• Products in your store with, at minimum, a title, an image and a price. Products also need a public storefront so the feed can link to them.
• Your storefront URL (for example https://your-store.com), used to build the product links in the feed.

The Snap Pixel and Conversions API features are optional. To use them you will also need a Snap Pixel ID (found in Snap Ads Manager under Events Manager, then Pixels) and, for CAPI, a Snap Conversions API access token.

Getting started

1. Install the plugin. From the OrbitCommerce plugin store, install Snapchat Catalog Feed and approve the requested permissions. A Snapchat entry appears in your dashboard menu.
2. Create a feed. Open the Feeds tab and choose to create a feed. Give it a name (for example "Summer Collection Feed").
3. Set the basics. Choose your target country (this sets a sensible default language and currency), confirm the currency, and enter your storefront URL.
4. Set defaults and filtering. Optionally set a default brand and the default condition (most stores sell new goods). Decide whether to include out-of-stock items and whether to publish active products only.
5. Set a category fallback (recommended). Open the feed and set a default Google product category so every item carries a category even before you map your own categories.
6. Choose a schedule. Turn on scheduled generation and pick how often the feed should refresh, or leave it off and generate manually.
7. Generate the feed. Run the feed once so a file is produced, then check the run completed successfully.
8. Copy the feed URL. Open the feed and copy the Feed URL.
9. Add the feed in Snapchat. In Snapchat Ads Manager, create or open a catalogue, add a data source using a scheduled feed (URL) fetch, and paste the feed URL. Set the fetch schedule on Snapchat's side to match (or run more often than) your feed schedule.

How the feed works

When a feed runs, the plugin reads your current products, applies your filters, and writes a CSV file containing one row per in-scope item. The file is saved and exposed at the feed's stable URL, which always returns the most recently generated version.

Key behaviour:

• Variants. A product with variants produces one row per variant, each grouped under the parent product so Snapchat treats them as one product with selectors. A product without variants produces a single row.
• Availability. An item is marked in stock when it has stock, otherwise out of stock. Out-of-stock items are skipped entirely unless you have chosen to include them.
• Pricing. Prices are formatted with the feed's currency. If a product has a higher compare-at price, that becomes the listed price and the lower price becomes the sale price.
• Descriptions. HTML is stripped from descriptions. If a product has no description, its name is used instead, because Snapchat requires a non-empty description.
• Categories. If a product's category is mapped, that mapping is used; otherwise the feed's default Google product category is applied. This prevents the empty or invalid category values that Snapchat rejects.
• Identifiers. A valid barcode (8, 12, 13 or 14 digits) is published as a GTIN. When there is no valid barcode, the SKU is published as the MPN instead.
• Attributes. Colour, size, material, pattern, age group and gender are filled in from matching variant options where available. Age group and gender are normalised to the values Snapchat accepts.

After a successful run the plugin records the product and item counts, the run status and the time it finished. Scheduled feeds automatically calculate their next run time.

Settings

Each feed has its own settings:

• Feed name. A label to identify the feed in the dashboard.
• Target country. The market the feed targets; selecting a country pre-fills a default language and currency.
• Content language. The language code for the feed (ISO 639-1, for example en).
• Currency. The currency used for all prices in the feed (for example GBP).
• Storefront URL. Your store's public address, used to build product links (for example https://your-store.com/products/product-handle).
• Default brand. A fallback brand used for any product that has no brand set.
• Default condition. New, refurbished or used. Snapchat requires a condition for every item.
• Include out-of-stock products. Off by default; turn on to publish items with no stock.
• Product status filter. Publish active products only, or all statuses.
• Default Google product category. The category applied to products without a mapped category.
• Category mapping. Map your store's categories to Google product category IDs.
• Scheduled generation. On or off, with an interval of every 30 minutes, hourly, daily, weekly or monthly.

Snap Pixel and Conversions API are configured on their own tabs:

• Snap Pixel. Enter your Snap Pixel ID to install the pixel on your storefront; remove it at any time. The pixel tracks page views, product views, add-to-carts, checkouts and purchases, each carrying a deduplication ID.
• Conversions API. Enter your Snap Pixel ID and a Snap CAPI access token to mirror purchase events server-to-server. An optional test event code lets you verify events using Snapchat's Test Events tool before going live. Recent dispatched events and their status are listed for troubleshooting.

Troubleshooting

The feed URL returns "Feed has not been generated yet." The feed exists but has not produced a file. Open the feed and generate it once, then confirm the run completed before adding the URL to Snapchat.

Snapchat rejects items for a missing or invalid product category. Set a default Google product category on the feed so every item carries a valid category, and map your own categories to Google category IDs for better accuracy. Regenerate the feed afterwards.

Products are missing from the feed. Items are excluded if they are out of stock (unless you include out-of-stock products), or if they do not match the product status filter (for example a draft product when the filter is set to active only). Check the product's stock and status, adjust the filters, and regenerate.

Product links in Snapchat do not work. The links are built from the storefront URL on the feed. Make sure it is set to your live store address with no trailing path, then regenerate the feed.

A run finished with errors. Some products may have failed to map while the rest succeeded. Open the run to see how many items were affected, correct the underlying product data, and run the feed again.

Support

For help with this plugin, visit the Orbit Commerce Help Centre, or use the Get support link on the plugin's store page.