Many merchants or AM (affiliate managers) have asked me this question, "How do you create a good DataFeed file?" I have decided to create this thread to answer those questions and help increase datafeed standards awareness.
What is a Datafeed file?
A datafeed file is an electronic file containing products information from a particular store. The obvious purpose of creating this file is to share it with affiliates, vendors and advertising partners. Some affiliate network call this feature Merchandiser (Linkshare) or Product Catalog (Commission Junction).
What are the benefits for providing a DataFeed file?
1. Easily and accurately share your product data.
2. Allow partners (affiliates) to advertise your products.
3. Known to increase traffic and sales.
What are the disadvantages for providing a DataFeed file?
1. Competitors may use to help improve their product data.
2. Competitors may use to compare your prices.
What data should be contained inside my datafeed file?
I always suggest putting as much information as possible but not too much.
Most of the time merchants do not provide enough information which makes it difficult for affiliates and vendors to use the datafeed properly. Here are a list of fields which are ordered by priority from top to bottom.
1. UPC / EAN / GTIN
2. Manufacturer Name (brand name)
3. Manufacturer Part Number (model / series)
4. Short Title (less than 300 characters)
5. Long Description (less than 1000 characters)
6. Store SKU (your own store SKU or Item Number)
7. Product Image URL (http link to the image file of the product)
8. Product Web Page URL / Target URL (landing page when shoppers click)
9. Category (tree / category number)
10. Price (selling price not list price)
11. Warranty Information
12. Shipping Cost
more fields (optional)
How can I share my datafeed file (how to upload or download)?
The typical way to allow others to download your datafeed is by putting the file on your server or your hosting company's server. Depending on your server's capability you can allow FTP and/or HTTP download. FTP (file transfer protocol) is preferred due to its error control and resume download capability). HTTP is easier for novice users because it can be downloaded straight from any internet browser.
How and which technology you should use must be discussed with your server administrator or hosting company support. Simply ask them this question, "I have a file at this location ______ and you would like others to download the file using FTP and/or HTTP. What do you need to do to enable this?"
After the location and technology has been setup, make sure you test downloading the datafeed file yourself several times using different FTP software and/or using different browser for HTTP.
I upload to my affiliate network, is that good enough?
It depends, many affiliate networks manage datafeed very well such as Linkshare, Commission Junction and ShareASale. Some cost may be incurred for datafeed delivery service (your must check yourself). Some networks are not as good, you should ask them the same questions I have highlighted here to determine whether they are well equiped or not.
Also keep in mind that affiliate networks may charge additional fees to affiliates to access / download your datafeed.
What interval should I update my datafeed file?
It depends on your industry. Merchants in the computer industry updates at least once per day because frequent price and availability changes. Other industries such as clothing and apparel can update once or twice per week. Basicaly you need to ask yourself, what kind of trouble would you get if you receive angry shoppers trying to order a product you no longer have or the price has changed. And how frequently can that situation happen?
For more information I suggest reading this very detailed explanation about datafeed file by my friend Carsten Cumbrowski:
http://www.squidoo.com/Datafeed/
I hope this thread will help answer some of these commonly asked question about datafeeds and help raise the standard of datafeed we all can benefit from.
What is a Datafeed file?
A datafeed file is an electronic file containing products information from a particular store. The obvious purpose of creating this file is to share it with affiliates, vendors and advertising partners. Some affiliate network call this feature Merchandiser (Linkshare) or Product Catalog (Commission Junction).
What are the benefits for providing a DataFeed file?
1. Easily and accurately share your product data.
2. Allow partners (affiliates) to advertise your products.
3. Known to increase traffic and sales.
What are the disadvantages for providing a DataFeed file?
1. Competitors may use to help improve their product data.
2. Competitors may use to compare your prices.
What data should be contained inside my datafeed file?
I always suggest putting as much information as possible but not too much.
Most of the time merchants do not provide enough information which makes it difficult for affiliates and vendors to use the datafeed properly. Here are a list of fields which are ordered by priority from top to bottom.
1. UPC / EAN / GTIN
2. Manufacturer Name (brand name)
3. Manufacturer Part Number (model / series)
4. Short Title (less than 300 characters)
5. Long Description (less than 1000 characters)
6. Store SKU (your own store SKU or Item Number)
7. Product Image URL (http link to the image file of the product)
8. Product Web Page URL / Target URL (landing page when shoppers click)
9. Category (tree / category number)
10. Price (selling price not list price)
11. Warranty Information
12. Shipping Cost
more fields (optional)
How can I share my datafeed file (how to upload or download)?
The typical way to allow others to download your datafeed is by putting the file on your server or your hosting company's server. Depending on your server's capability you can allow FTP and/or HTTP download. FTP (file transfer protocol) is preferred due to its error control and resume download capability). HTTP is easier for novice users because it can be downloaded straight from any internet browser.
How and which technology you should use must be discussed with your server administrator or hosting company support. Simply ask them this question, "I have a file at this location ______ and you would like others to download the file using FTP and/or HTTP. What do you need to do to enable this?"
After the location and technology has been setup, make sure you test downloading the datafeed file yourself several times using different FTP software and/or using different browser for HTTP.
I upload to my affiliate network, is that good enough?
It depends, many affiliate networks manage datafeed very well such as Linkshare, Commission Junction and ShareASale. Some cost may be incurred for datafeed delivery service (your must check yourself). Some networks are not as good, you should ask them the same questions I have highlighted here to determine whether they are well equiped or not.
Also keep in mind that affiliate networks may charge additional fees to affiliates to access / download your datafeed.
What interval should I update my datafeed file?
It depends on your industry. Merchants in the computer industry updates at least once per day because frequent price and availability changes. Other industries such as clothing and apparel can update once or twice per week. Basicaly you need to ask yourself, what kind of trouble would you get if you receive angry shoppers trying to order a product you no longer have or the price has changed. And how frequently can that situation happen?
For more information I suggest reading this very detailed explanation about datafeed file by my friend Carsten Cumbrowski:
http://www.squidoo.com/Datafeed/
I hope this thread will help answer some of these commonly asked question about datafeeds and help raise the standard of datafeed we all can benefit from.