Definition
A feed destination is a configured export target that receives your product data in the format a specific platform expects, whether that is a shopping channel, a marketplace, a social commerce catalogue, or a custom file delivered by SFTP or email.
Why feed destinations matter
Your product catalogue is stored once in Vendably. A feed destination lets you export that same catalogue to multiple channels, each shaped to fit that channel's requirements, without duplicating your underlying product data.
Each destination has its own field requirements and validation rules. Google Shopping, for example, requires specific fields like gtin, image_link, and availability. An affiliate network might require different fields altogether. Instead of maintaining separate product lists, you configure one destination per channel, and Vendably handles the field mapping and formatting at export time.
This approach saves time and reduces errors. When you update a product description or price in your catalogue, the change flows through to every destination on your next export cycle. You do not need to manually update each channel separately.
How feed destinations work in practice
Suppose you sell homeware online. You maintain your product catalogue in Vendably with fields like title, description, price, brand, and product_type. You want to reach customers through three channels:
- Google Shopping (to appear in Google search results and Google Ads)
- An affiliate network (to earn commission on sales referred by partner sites)
- Your own website (via a direct product feed)
You create three feed destinations:
- Destination 1 (Google Shopping): Maps your internal product fields to Google's required fields. Includes only products marked as 'active'. Exports daily. Validates that every product has a gtin and image_link.
- Destination 2 (Affiliate network): Maps to the affiliate network's schema. Includes only products with a margin above 20%. Exports weekly. Includes affiliate-specific fields like commission_rate.
- Destination 3 (Your website): Maps to your website's product feed format. Includes all products. Exports every 6 hours. Includes internal cost data that the other destinations do not need.
Each destination pulls from the same underlying catalogue. When you update a product price, all three destinations pick up the change on their next scheduled export.
Feed rules per destination
Feed rules apply per destination at export time. This means you can apply a transform or filter to one destination without affecting the others. For example, you might add a rule to Destination 1 that appends '[Sale]' to the title of products marked as on sale, but this rule would not apply to Destination 2 or Destination 3. You could add a different rule to Destination 2 that removes products with zero stock, while Destination 3 exports all stock levels as-is.
This flexibility lets you optimise each channel independently while maintaining a single source of truth for your product data.
Related terms
Shopping feed: A feed sent to a shopping channel such as Google Shopping or a CSS (Comparison Shopping Service): what it is. Shopping feeds typically require standardised fields like gtin, image_link, price, and availability.
Marketplace feed: A feed sent to a marketplace such as Amazon or eBay. Marketplace feeds often have their own field names and validation rules specific to that platform.
Feed rule: A transform, filter, or validation applied to a feed destination at export time. Feed rules let you modify product data or exclude products for a specific destination without changing your catalogue.
Product data export: The process of extracting product information from your catalogue and formatting it for delivery to a destination.
Feed field mapping: The configuration that tells Vendably which of your product fields correspond to the destination's required or optional fields.