Introduction
To advertise your products, we need to connect automatically to a product feed on your website. This guide explains what a working feed looks like, what file formats we support, and what information each product needs. Checking these points yourself before sending us your feed link is the fastest way to avoid delays during onboarding.
Step 1: Test Your Feed Link
Open your feed link in a private or incognito browser window (so you’re not automatically logged in) and see what happens.
Good signs — your feed is likely ready:
- The file downloads automatically.
- A plain text or table-style file opens, with columns like id, title, price, url, and image.
- The page begins with XML markup such as <?xml, <rss, <feed, or <products>.
- You can see many repeated products, not just a single example item.
Signs your feed link needs fixing:
- It opens your normal online shop instead of raw data.
- It asks you to log in.
- It shows a cookie banner or consent page.
- It shows an error, “access denied,” “forbidden,” “not found,” or a “verifying your connection” page.
- It requires clicking a button before anything downloads.
- It opens as a Google Sheet, PDF, or a dashboard screen.
If your link shows any of the signs above, please review your current product feed before submitting it to your Partner Portal.
Step 2: Use a Supported File Format
We accept:
- CSV files.
- XML files with one repeated block per product.
We do not accept:
- JSON feeds.
- HTML pages.
- PDFs or screenshots.
- Excel previews or Google Sheets links.
- Feeds that only work after logging in, accepting cookies, solving a CAPTCHA, or clicking a button.
Step 3: Include the Required Product Fields
Every product in your feed should include at least the following information:
| Field | What it should contain |
|---|---|
| Product ID or SKU | A unique identifier for each product. |
| Product title | The name of the product as shown on your site. |
| Product page URL | A direct link to the product’s page on your website. |
| Image URL | A direct link to an image of the product. |
| Price | The current selling price, including currency. |
| Availability / stock | Whether the product is in stock, out of stock, or on backorder. |
Step 4: Avoid These Common Issues
Your link opens a webpage rather than a feed
Please send us a direct feed URL, not a link to your webshop, a category page, or a download page that requires a click.
The feed only works in your own browser
Our system needs to download the feed automatically, without logging in, accepting cookies, or clicking anything. If your feed requires any of these, please provide an alternative link that doesn’t.
Your feed is in JSON format
We’re not able to accept JSON for Direct Integration. Please provide CSV or XML instead.
Special characters in XML aren’t escaped
In XML, characters like & must be written as &. This most often causes problems in URLs or product names that contain an ampersand.
Not recommended:
<url>https://example.com/product?id=123&color=blue</url>
<title>Shampoo & Conditioner</title>
Recommended:
<url>https://example.com/product?id=123&color=blue</url>
<title>Shampoo & Conditioner</title>
Tip: if a title contains special characters and you’re not sure how to escape it, you can wrap it in a CDATA section instead, for example: <title><![CDATA[Shampoo & Conditioner]]></title>
Products aren’t clearly separated
For CSV files, each row should represent exactly one product. For XML files, each product should sit in its own repeated block (for example item, product, offer, or entry).
Need Help?
If you’ve checked your feed against this guide and it still isn’t working, or you’re unsure about any of the points above, please reach out to our Customer Success team at partner@shoparize.com.
Sharing your feed URL and a short description of what you see when you open it will help us assist you faster.
