Google Merchant Center Feed Templates: Free Download & Examples (CSV & XML)

The fastest way to launch your eCommerce products on Google Shopping is with an accurately formatted product data feed. Whether you want to build a manual spreadsheet or audit an automated export, having a verified template prevents account suspensions and product disapprovals.

Skip the guesswork. Use our verified, 2026-compliant templates below to format your inventory data perfectly for Google Merchant Center.

Google Merchant Center Data Feed Template Download (Quick Option)

• XML Format: Download Google Shopping Product Feed XML Template
• CSV Format: Download Google Shopping Product Feed CSV Template
• TSV Format: Download Google Shopping Product Feed TSV Template
• TXT Format: Download Google Shopping Product Feed TXT Template

Note: We used the CTX Feed plugin free version to create these clean, pre-configured templates.

Google Merchant Center Feed Examples

If you are building your own export or configuring a feed generator, use these real-world structures as your formatting baseline.

Google Product Feed Example CSV

This layout serves as your standard comma-separated or tab-separated structure. Ensure your column headers exactly match Google’s attribute naming conventions.

id	title	price	availability	brand	gtin	google_product_category
SKU-001	Blue Running Shoes – Size 10	59.99 USD	in stock	Nike	012345678905	Apparel > Shoes
SKU-002	Black Workout Hoodie – Large	45.00 USD	in stock	Adidas	098765432109	Apparel > Clothing

Google Merchant Center XML Feed Example

For larger product catalogs or automated server crawls, use this standard RSS 2.0 valid XML structure.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:g="http://base.google.com/ns/1.0">
  <channel>
    <item>
      <g:id>SKU-001</g:id>
      <g:title>Blue Running Shoes – Size 10</g:title>
      <g:price>59.99 USD</g:price>
      <g:availability>in stock</g:availability>
      <g:condition>new</g:condition>
      <g:brand>Nike</g:brand>
      <g:gtin>012345678905</g:gtin>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

Google Merchant Center Product Feed Requirements

Google updates its validation rules regularly. Whether you are cross-referencing against legacy Google Merchant Center product feed requirements from 2025 or aligning with the latest updates, every single item in your primary feed must carry these core attributes. Missing values will result in immediate item disapprovals.

Core Required Attributes

• id: Your internal unique product identifier (SKU).
• title: The exact product name. Pro Tip: Place your highest-value search keywords (Brand, Color, Size) at the absolute front of the title.
• description: Your product details (Aim for 500–1,000 characters highlighting materials and features).
• link: The live, canonical URL of your product landing page.
• image_link: A high-resolution, unwatermarked image URL (minimum 800x800px on a white background).
• price: Must display numeric value alongside the currency code (e.g., 59.99 USD). This must match the checkout price on your site.
• availability: Google only accepts three exact values: in stock, out of stock, or preorder.
• brand & gtin: Mandatory for all designated brand-name products globally.

How to Fix Missing Inventory Data:

If your products are getting rejected for inventory sync issues, make sure your availability terms match Google’s lowercase values exactly. Additionally, set up a daily Scheduled Fetch inside GMC so Google crawls your spreadsheet automatically to catch inventory updates before a crawler flag occurs.

Understanding Feed Types: Primary vs. Supplemental

What is a Primary Feed?

Your primary feed is the absolute foundation of your catalog. It houses your entire product data ecosystem. Every store requires exactly one active primary feed, which can be uploaded via Google Sheets, a direct CSV text file, an hosted XML URL, or the real-time Content API.

What is a Supplemental Feed?

A supplemental feed acts as an optional overlay data layer. It cannot create new products; instead, it matches your primary feed’s id column to inject or override specific values.

• Use cases: Running a temporary promotion (injecting sale_price), grouping products for custom ad campaigns (custom_label), or adding missing product data points without risking edits to your core catalog export.

How to Download a Free Google Shopping Feed Template

Google provides an official Google Merchant Center feed template you can copy directly into your Google Sheets account. Here’s how to get it:

1. Go to your Google Merchant Center account.
2. Navigate to Products > Feeds.
3. Click the “+” button to add a new Primary Feed.
4. Select Google Sheets as the feed input method.
5. Choose ‘Generate a new Google spreadsheet from a template.’ Google will create a pre-formatted sheet with all required columns.

The template includes all standard product attributes as column headers. You simply fill in one row per product.

How to Create and Upload Your Product Feed on Google Merchant Center? Step-by-Step Guide

To start uploading your product data feed using Google Sheets, you have to enter all the information into the fields manually. If you want a modern and simple feed creation method, you can use a product feed generator plugin like CTX Feed to make your product feed creation task easier and quicker. 

You can get a full-fledged product data feed with a feed generator plugin within a few clicks.

However, for now, let’s go ahead with the traditional way of uploading your product data feed on Google Merchant Center with a template.

Step 1: Go to the Feed Section of Google Merchant Center

Log in to your Google Merchant Center account. Go to Products > Feeds. Click the ‘+’ icon under Primary Feeds.

Step 2: Fill up the Basic information

The first option in the Basic information step is to add the targeted countries. You should add all the countries where your products are sold or delivered. 

Click on “Add” and choose your desired countries. Once you’re done, click on the “Save” button. 

Then, select the language of the content in your feed. 

Now, you’ll be able to see the targeted country’s Feed label by default. You should only customize the feed labels if necessary. Note that the Feed label should contain only uppercase and no spaces. 

Below, there will be an option to select the destinations at the bottom of the page. You can choose Free Listings and Shopping Ads based on your objective. 

Once you’re all done, click on “Continue”. 

Step 3: Fill up the Name and input method 

Start with giving your primary feed a name. Go down and choose “Google Sheets” as your method to set up your product feed and connect data to the Merchant Center. Once you’re done, click on “Continue”. 

Once you click on continue, a new window will appear to let you choose a Google account that will be used to make updates to your product data in a Google Sheet. 

Any updates you make on the Google Sheets will be automatically updated to your account. 

Also, allow the Google Merchant Center to access your Google account. 

Step 4: Register a Google Spreadsheet from the Setup tab

Here you can either generate a new Google spreadsheet from a template or select an existing Google spreadsheet.

For this tutorial, we’re generating a new Google spreadsheet from a template. 

Below, you can also choose to create an upload schedule (optional)

Once done, click on the “Create feed” button. 

Step 5: Access the Google Sheet and Fetch

Now, it’s time to open the Google Sheet product data feed template by clicking on the “Access Google Sheet” button.

After opening, fill it up according to Google Merchant Center requirements. You have to insert the product id, title, description, link, condition, price, availability, image link, GTIN, mpn, brand, and google product category for each product. 

Once you’re done filling up the data feed with your product information, go to the Feeds page’s Processing tab and click on the “Fetch now” button. Now, your product data will get uploaded to Google Merchant Center. 

That’s all. 

Pro Tip: After uploading, go to Products > Diagnostics to review any feed errors or warnings. Fix attribute issues promptly disapproved products won’t appear in Shopping results.

How to Upload a Feed to Google Merchant Center?

Once your feed file is ready, here’s how to upload it:

• Google Sheets: Set up a scheduled fetch. Merchant Center will pull your sheet automatically at the frequency you choose.
• CSV / TXT file: Go to Products > Feeds > Primary Feeds > select your feed > Upload File. Upload the file directly.
• XML feed: Host the XML file on your server. In Merchant Center, add your feed URL under ‘Scheduled Fetch’. Google will crawl it at the set schedule.
• Content API: Send product data programmatically using the Google Content API for Shopping. Best for large stores with frequent inventory changes.

Automate Your Google Merchant Center Feed with a Plugin

Creating and maintaining a Google Shopping feed template manually is time-consuming especially for large product catalogs. If your store runs on WooCommerce, a product feed generator plugin like CTX Feed can automate the entire process.

With CTX Feed, you can:

• Generate a complete GMC feed automatically no manual data entry.
• Choose from pre-built templates for Google Shopping, Facebook Catalog, Bing Shopping, and 100+ other channels.
• Schedule automatic feed updates so your prices and availability are always current.
• Map custom fields, add rules, and filter products from your WordPress dashboard.

It’s the fastest way to create, manage, and optimize your Google Merchant Center product data feed without touching a spreadsheet.

How to Create WooCommerce Product Feed for Google Shopping (Video Tutorial)

Want a detailed video on how you can create a WooCommerce product feed for Google Shopping?

If yes, you should watch this video:

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Words

A well-structured Google Merchant Center data feed is the foundation of successful Google Shopping campaigns. Whether you use a Google Sheets feed template, a CSV product feed, or an XML file, the key is accuracy and completeness.

Start with the required attributes: id, title, price, availability, brand, and GTIN. Then layer in optional attributes to improve feed quality and Shopping ad performance. If you want to skip the manual work, a product feed generator plugin can create and maintain your Google Shopping feed automatically, saving hours of spreadsheet work every week.