How to Generate Google Shopping XML Feed for WooCommerce Store

Imagine you building the most organized, well-decorated, and stocked with great products store in the midst of a desert or jungle.

Besides the scorching heat, jumping monkeys, and thirsty camels, what would you be missing?

Paying customers, right!

Same goes for online WooCommerce stores. Without a steady stream of online visitors/shoppers, even the most stunning online shop is just a fancy mirage on the internet.

Thinking of Ads? How about a platform with billions of monthly visitors that lets you promote your products for free?

Google Shopping is the platform that allows you to do so with a product feed. We have explored the platform in detail before, this article will specifically focus on creating Google Shopping XML Feed.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

What is Google Shopping XML feed?

Before diving into the specifics of XML feeds for Google Shopping, let’s first define what a product feed is. 

A product data feed is a data file that contains your WooCommerce product information in textual format. It includes all your product characteristics, such as prices, descriptions, titles, IDs, brands, availability, etc.

All giant marketplaces, such as Google Shopping, Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Shopping, etc., allow you to upload your Woo products and display them on their websites. And a product feed is what you need to do so. 

You basically need to insert all your product information in a feed file and upload it to one of the mentioned platforms in order for them to collect and display your data on their website.

Product feed files are the quickest way to export and list your Woo products on multiple channels. As a result, feed files create the opportunity for you to expand your reach quickly and efficiently.

What is XML and Google feed XML?

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. It is a markup language that is used to store and exchange data. XML files are text-based files that use tags to define the structure of the data.

Tags are enclosed in angle brackets (< >) and can be used to define elements, attributes, and entities.

XML files are often used to store data for websites, applications, and databases. They can also be used to exchange data between different systems.

Along with other formats, Google also allows you to create and upload your product info in XML format.

 Here’s a Google Shopping XML feed example.

As you can see on the above Google XML feed example, different product specifications/characteristics are under tags, and values are inserted inside them.

When you upload this Google Shop XML feed file to Google, the platform will fetch your Woo product data from this file and display it on its pages.

What are the necessary attributes for the Google Shopping XML feed?

The characteristics of the products we have been talking about are called attributes in a Google Shopping product feed. The characteristics you saw on the Google sample XML feed above are the attributes of that feed. 

Google Shopping offers the ability to input an extensive array of attributes into your Woo product feed, categorized into ten sections:

Category	Attributes	Information
Basic product data	9 attributes	Product titles, descriptions, prices, and images fall under this category.
Detailed product description	4 attributes	Additional product details, such as dimensions, weight, and materials, are included here.
Product category	11 attributes	Specifies the product’s category in Google’s taxonomy.
Price and availability	8 attributes	Information regarding the product’s price, availability, and shipping options is covered in this category.
Product Identifiers	5 attributes	Unique product identifiers like GTIN, BRAND or MPN are essential attributes in this category.
Destinations	2 attributes	Information about the product’s shipping destinations.
Shipping	4 attributes	Details about the product’s shipping costs are included here.
Tax	2 attributes	Information pertaining to the product’s tax status.
Shopping campaigns	7 attributes	Details on how the product is being advertised within Google Shopping campaigns.
Marketplaces	3 attributes	Specifies where the product is available for purchase.

Here are the most important attributes your XML feed should include,

• Product ID
• Title
• Description
• Product URL
• Category
• Availability Attribute 
• Image URL
• Regular Price or Sale Price Attribute 
• GTIN/MPN
• Product Condition
• Brand

How to generate Google Shopping XML Feed for WooCommerce store

You know what attributes your WooCommerce product pages have, and you can learn the necessary Google Merchant Center XML WooCommerce attributes from official documents. After that, you can create a Google spreadsheet XML feed using any text or XML editor.

However, this is a completely manual process, and you will have to copy-paste your product data one by one carefully. It will take a long time and is very much prone to errors. Let us explain in detail.

Why manually creating a Google Shopping XML feed is not recommended

Here are notable statistics highlighting the challenges associated with manual product feeds:

• In 2022, Google Shopping Feeds faced a rejection rate of 7% due to significant data errors.
• Product listings can be rejected by Google if accurate GTIN values are not provided, affecting 5.53% of products with submitted GTINs as of 2022.
• Shipping discrepancies are the leading cause of product feed rejections, constituting 23.49% of all rejections.

These numbers show how unreliable it is to add products to a product data feed manually. Let us dive deep and show you the challenges in detail. 

Time-consuming and tedious: Having a large number of products makes creating a product feed file manually a time-consuming and laborious task. It can take hours or even days to manually enter all of the product data into a spreadsheet or other file format.

Error-prone: It is easy to make mistakes when manually entering data, which can lead to errors in your product feed file. These errors can prevent your products from being displayed correctly on other channels, which can lead to lost sales.

Difficult to maintain: Manually created product feed files can be difficult to maintain, especially if you have frequent product updates. It can be time-consuming and error-prone to manually update all of the product data in your Google Shopping feed file.

That is why,  it is never recommended to do XML feed creation of Google merchant file manually. Automated tools can save you time and effort, and they can help you avoid errors.
As for any other task in WooCommerce, a number of plugins are available for creating product feeds for Google Shopping as well. And the best one in the market is CTX Feed – WooCommerce Product Feed Manager Plugin.

CTX Feed – WooCommerce Google Shopping XML feed plugin

If you’re not tech-savvy, you might feel confused or even intimidated by what we’ve covered so far, especially when it comes to creating a Google Shopping XML feed. Handling tags or codes isn’t everyone’s forte.

That is where the CTX Feed plugin comes into play and excels. 

With this plugin, you can create an XML feed for Google Shopping in just two clicks. The plugin has a dedicated template for Google Shopping that contains all attribute guidelines.

It will also copy-paste all your Woo product data inside the feed file automatically for you. What else, you ask? See for yourself.

Why CTX Feed

✔️ Unlimited Feeds ✔️ Unlimited Products ✔️ Optimized and Error-free Feeds ✔️ Least Amount of Time ✔️ 100+ Pre-configured Templates  ✔️ Supports 100+ Marketing Channels  ✔️ User-friendly interface ✔️ Supports All Product Feed File Types ✔️ Supports all WooCommerce product types ✔️ Multi-language and multi-currency support ✔️ Dedicated Support Team

How to generate a Google Shopping XML feed using CTX Feed

To use the CTX Feed, the first thing you need to do is visit your WordPress dashboard and go to “Plugins > Add New Plugin”. 

Then you should search for “CTX Feed”.  What Next? Quickly install and activate the plugin.

After activating, you need to click on the Make Feed option.

This is how it will look at first.

Now, select your desired country from the ‘Country’ section. What about the other sections? Well, the template dropdown is the place where you will find all the channels. Select your channel from there. 

Select XML as your file type for your Google Shopping data feed.

As soon as you select the channel, CTX Feed starts its magic. The plugin will automatically generate the necessary attributes for you. 

Done with the attributes? Click the ‘Update and Generate Feed’ to complete the process. 

As we have mentioned already, CTX Feed will copy-paste your data automatically according to the attributes. You will get your Google Shopping feed XML for WooCommerce immediately. 

See? CTX Feed makes the task way easier for us. 

Including custom fields on Google Shopping XML feed

WooCommerce lacks certain fields like Brand, ISBN, EAN, and MPN needed for Google Shopping. Installing a plugin to add these custom fields can be technically challenging.

Luckily, CTX Feed solves this by offering a comprehensive range of custom fields. If an attribute isn’t included, the plugin allows you to create additional custom fields for any unknown attributes.

Go to the CTX Feed menu and click on Settings >> Custom Fields. There, you will find all the custom attributes.

Now, let’s say you want to include GTIN, MPN and a couple of other fields in your WooCommerce product pages. Toggle and enable them.

Go to a product page and jump to the Product Data section. Click on the Inventory tab, and there you will see a dedicated custom field section created by CTX Feed.

You can input your value here, and CTX Feed will include this data in the feed XML google shopping file. To insert Brand data, go to Products >> Brands by CTX Feed.

On that page, you can create your brands.

Managing the Feeds 

Now, where would you find the feed which you have generated? 

You can find the feed in the manage feed section. So, from the CTX Feed menu select ‘Manage Feeds’. 

There you will find the WooCommerce product feed URL that you have just generated.

Here’s how the file looks. It’s an example of a shopping XML feed Google. 

Here’s an important thing!

Can you see the “Update Interval” setting?  It’s like setting a timer for 1 hour. 

When that timer rings, CTX Feed checks if you’ve changed anything. If you have, it takes those changes and updates them in your product feed. 

The plugin offers choices like editing, making new copies, deleting, and more for your feed configurations. 

The plugin also allows you to host your XML feed file on your WordPress hosting and connect to GMC using the feed URL.

Hopefully, you have a solid understanding of creating a WooCommerce product feed for Google Shopping in XML format. 

How to Add the Google Shopping XML Feed in Google Merchant Center 

Now that you have generated the feed, you will need to upload it into Google Merchant Center to show your products on Google Shopping. 

So for that, you need to set up a Google Merchant Center Account for WooCommerce. 

After setting up the account. You need to add the products. So, go to your Google Merchant Center Next homepage, you will see a ‘Products’ option on your left-hand side. Select it. 

Now, you will see two options for uploading your products: ‘Add another Product source’ and uploading products one by one.

Since you already know how to create the product feed, there’s no need to upload products individually. Simply click on ‘Add another product source’.

On the next page, you will get 3 options to upload your products. 

As you know how to generate the product XML feed file, so you should select the first option. 

Once you select it, it will let you add a link of your product feed. 

Copy-paste your feed URL and then click on ‘Continue’. And that’s all! Google Merchant Center (GMC) will grab details about your products from the web link (URL) in your WordPress site’s feed. 

Also, if you are thinking about running a campaign, you can have a look at How to Create a WooCommerce Google Shopping Campaign. 

Benefits of Google Shopping XML feed for WooCommerce

Using a google shop XML feed for your WooCommerce store offers several key benefits that can greatly enhance your online business:

1. Enhanced visibility

By creating a Google XML Product Feed, you increase the visibility of your products. It allows your products to be displayed on Google Shopping, a popular platform where users often search for products. You can Drive Traffic to Your e-commerce Store. 

2. Wider audience reach

Google Shopping has a vast user base, giving you access to a broader audience. Your products become visible to potential customers who may not have found your store otherwise. So, it can have a direct impact on increasing your WooCommerce sales as well. 

3. Detailed product information

The feed allows you to provide comprehensive details about each product. This includes product images, descriptions, prices, availability, and other relevant information. Customers get a clear view of what you offer.

4. Real-time updates

The feed ensures that any changes or updates you make to your products are reflected in real time on Google Shopping. This keeps the information accurate and up to date, enhancing user experience.

5. Targeted advertising

You can use Google Shopping Ads to strategically promote your products to a specific target audience. This targeted approach helps increase the chances of conversion and ROI.

6. Cost-effective advertising

When you make an XML feed for Google Shopping it allows for efficient use of your advertising budget. But how, you ask? Well, You can set your bid strategies and budget allocations based on performance, ensuring optimal spending.

7. Improved conversion rates

With detailed product information readily available, potential customers can make informed decisions quickly. This can lead to higher conversion rates and increased sales.

8. Better analytics and insights

By leveraging Google Analytics, you gain valuable insights into how your products are performing. Understanding customer behavior and preferences allows you to refine your marketing strategies.

9. Integration with WooCommerce

The Google XML Product Feed can be seamlessly integrated with WooCommerce, making it easy to manage and maintain your product data.

10. Competitive edge

Having your products listed on Google Shopping gives you a competitive edge. It positions your products alongside those of competitors, providing a fair comparison for potential customers.

Wrap up

Almost 100% of the time, people who come to price comparison engines like Google Shopping are there to find a product they need or want to buy right away.

Therefore, listing your products on this platform means you are reaching out to your customers directly.

As a result, you can increase your traffic, conversions, and revenue. We hope this guide on Google Shopping XML feed will help you list your store’s products on Google.