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Google Merchant Center

1. Connect your store to Google Merchant Center​

Connect your store to Google Shopping through a respective account on Google Merchant Center.

Register an account​

Ensure you have a Google account; otherwise, create it on accounts.google.com. Next, follow these steps to connect your Google account to the marketplace:

Steps

  • Navigate to Google Merchant Center.

  • Click Start now and sign in to your Google account.

  • Set places for shopping. Choose where customers can buy your products. This can be:

    • Online store. Choose Yes and provide the URL of your website.
    • Local store. Choose Yes if you have a brick-and-mortar store.

  • Enter information on your store. Provide your company's business information. List the following data:

    • Company name
    • Registered country

Verify and claim your website​

Google will show your products only after you prove ownership of your store's website. Follow these steps to connect your online store to Google:

Steps
  • Sign in to Merchant Center.
  • Navigate to Business info > Details.
  • Under Your online store, click Confirm online store.
  • Enter your Store URL.
  • Choose one of the five verification methods. Google recommends the Use your ecommerce platform method for Shopify stores.
  • Follow the instructions Google provides.
  • When you finish, click Verify your online store.
  • After successful site verification, click Claim website.

2. Create the product feed​

To upload your products to Google Merchant Center, you need to create and configure the product feed. Log in to your Shopify store admin and follow these steps to create the feed:

Steps
  • Navigate to Apps > Mulwi Feeds > Feeds.
  • Click Add Feed to generate the new feed.
  • Choose Google Shopping feed template.
  • Pick the feed format: TXT/CSV or XML.
  • Click Create.
  • Fill in the information on the General tab:
    • Internal name. Give your feed a descriptive name.
    • Status. Set to Active.
    • Product Category/Collection. Map your categories to the Google Product Taxonomy. If your products have the same category, use Static Value. Start typing category name or ID and choose the appropriate category from the dropdown menu. For multiple categories set your own taxonomy with Dynamic Mapping.
    • Source of prices. Set product prices from Markets or Price Lists.
    • Stock Location. Select where your stock is.
    • Exported File. Limit amount of products in the feed, compress the feed file, or password-protect your feed if required.
    • Translation. Translate your feed if necessary.
    • Applied Filters. Filter your products if needed.
  • On the Attributes tab, pick appropriate values for Google's required attributes.
  • Configure Google Analytics tab if necessary.
  • Click Save to finish and generate feed.

If you need to customize your feed, refer to this page for more details.

NOTE

For correct product placement you may need to use Category Mapping. Check the Google Merchant category mapping reference for guidance.

3. Upload the feed​

You can upload your feed to Google Merchant Center in several ways. Sign in to your Google Merchant Account and follow these steps to upload your product feed:

  1. Click the gear icon on the top panel and choose Data sources.
  2. Click the Add product source button.
  3. Choose Add products from a file.
  4. Pick the upload method you prefer and follow the instructions below to finish upload.
NOTE

We recommend using SFTP method due to more frequent feed updates and data encryption.

Submit a feed by URL

In the Mulwi Shopping Feeds app:

  • Navigate to the feed you want to upload.
  • Copy feed URL from the Feed block.

In the Google Merchant Center:

  • Choose Enter a link to your file.
  • Paste the feed URL in the input field.
  • Change the fetch frequency in the Edit schedule block if necessary.
  • Add authentication information if your feed is password-protected.
  • Choose the countries where you sell and select the feed language.
  • Click Continue to finish and upload the feed.
Upload over SFTP

In the Google Merchant Center:

  • Choose Add a file using SFTP or Google Cloud Storage.
  • Leave the input field blank. You will fill it in later.
  • Click View SFTP and Google Cloud Storage details.
  • To generate the password, click Generate password. Ignore the Fingerprint value: you won't need it.
    Copy the provided credentials.
WARNING

The generated password will show only once. Write the password down in a safe pace.

In the Mulwi Shopping Feeds app:

  • Navigate to the feed you want to upload.
  • Fill in the copied credentials on the FTP/SFTP Upload tab:
    • Auto Upload. Set the frequency of the automatic feed upload.
    • Protocol. Set SFTP.
    • Host. Copy the Server value from the Merchant Center credentials.
    • Port. Copy the Port value from the Merchant Center credentials.
    • Authorization type. Set Password.
    • User. Copy the Username value from the Merchant Center credentials.
    • Password. Copy the Password value from the Merchant Center credentials.
    • Upload Directory. Leave empty.
  • Click Save to apply changes.
  • Click Upload now to upload the feed to Google Merchant Center.
  • Copy the feed name (with file extension) from the Feed block.

Back in the Google Merchant Center:

  • Click Done to close the window with the credentials.
  • Paste the feed name in the input field.
  • Choose the countries where you sell and select the feed language.
  • Click Continue to finish and upload the feed.
Direct file upload

In the Mulwi Shopping Feeds app:

  • Navigate to the feed you want to upload.
  • Click on the feed URL in the Feed block to download the feed to your device.

In the Google Merchant Center:

  • Choose Upload a file from your computer.
  • Click Browse to open the file explorer.
  • Locate the feed on your device.
  • Select the file and click Open.
  • Choose the countries where you sell and select the feed language.
  • Click Continue to finish and upload the feed.
NOTE

Google Merchant Center supports files up to 4 GB in size. If your feed exceeds the limit, break the feed down in multiple files.

FAQ​

Missing shipping information error

To solve this problem, you must set shipping rates for your products. You can add shipping information in two ways:

  • In the Google Merchant Center. Follow the steps below to configure shipping in your Google Merchant Account:

    • Navigate to Shipping and returns > Shipping policies.
    • Click Add shipping policy.
    • In the respective tabs provide information about Countries where you ship, which Products the new shipping policy affects, Delivery times, and Shipping costs. Navigate between tabs with Continue and Back buttons.
    • Click Save to create your new shipping policy.
    • Check the information Google added to your Merchant Center and click Done to finish configuration.

  • Directly in the product feed. Follow the steps below to add shipping rates to your feed:

    • Navigate to the feed you want to configure.
    • If you are using a pre-installed template, fill the Country, Region, Service and Price fields on the Attributes tab.
    • If you have customized your feed, add [shipping], [shipping_label], [shipping_weight] attributes to the feed template.
NOTE

Google recommends setting up shipping rates on account level.

Missing tax information error

If you sell in the US, you must set tax rates for your products. You can add tax information in two ways:

  • In the Google Merchant Center. Follow the steps below to configure taxes in your Google Merchant Account:

    • Navigate to Products > Sales tax.
    • Click Edit.
    • Pick the states where you sell.
    • Set tax rates for each state.
    • Click Save to finish configuration.

  • Directly in the product feed. Follow the steps below to add tax rates to your feed:

    • Navigate to the feed you want to configure.
    • If you are using a pre-installed template, click Customize Feed to customize your feed.
    • Add [tax], [tax_category] attributes to the customized feed template.
NOTE

Google recommends setting up tax rates on account level.