From CSV to your first Google Shopping listing

Before you start

This walkthrough takes you from a local CSV file to live products in Google Merchant Center. By the end, your products will be visible in Google Shopping search results (after Google's review, which typically takes one to three business days).

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A CSV file containing your product data (with columns for product names, descriptions, prices, images, and other attributes).
• A Google account with access to an existing Google Merchant Center account, or permission to create one.
• An active Vendably merchant account with admin access.

Step 1: Import your CSV as a file source in DataHub

Before: Your product data sits in a CSV file on your computer. Nothing is connected to Vendably yet.

After: Your CSV data is uploaded to Vendably's DataHub as a file source, ready to be mapped to product fields.

1. Log in to your Vendably account and navigate to DataHub.
2. Select the option to create a new file source.
3. Choose CSV as the file type.
4. Upload your CSV file from your computer.
5. Vendably will scan the file and display a preview of the first few rows.
6. Confirm the upload. Your file source is now active in DataHub.

Step 2: Review and correct the automatic field mapping

Before: Your CSV columns are raw data without any connection to Vendably's product fields.

After: Each CSV column is mapped to the correct Vendably field (such as title, description, price, image_link, gtin, google_product_category, and others).

1. In DataHub, open your file source and navigate to the field mapping section.
2. Vendably will attempt to auto-map your CSV columns to standard product fields. Review each mapping carefully.
3. For any column that is mapped incorrectly, click on it and select the correct field from the dropdown menu.
4. Pay special attention to these critical fields:
   - title: The product name displayed in Google Shopping.
   - description: Product details and benefits.
   - price: The selling price.
   - image_link: The URL of the product image.
   - gtin: The Global Trade Item Number (barcode), if available.
   - google_product_category: The product category code for Google Shopping.
5. If your CSV does not include a column for a required field (such as gtin or google_product_category), you can add default values or use a formula to populate them during mapping.
6. Save your field mapping once all columns are correctly assigned.

Step 3: Check product quality scores and fix critical gaps

Before: Your mapped data has not been validated against Google Shopping requirements.

After: You have identified and resolved any missing GTIN, category, or other critical data that would prevent products from being approved.

1. In DataHub, navigate to the data quality section for your file source.
2. Review the product quality scores. Vendably will flag missing or invalid data in key fields.
3. Look for any products with low quality scores. Click on individual products to see what data is missing.
4. The most common issues are:
   - Missing gtin: If your products have barcodes, ensure the gtin field is populated. If not, you may need to source this data or check if Google will allow approval without it for your product category.
   - Missing google_product_category: Assign the correct Google product category code to each product. Consult Google's taxonomy if you are unsure which code applies.
   - Missing or broken image_link: Verify that all image URLs are valid and point to accessible images.
5. Update your file source or add data transformations in DataHub to fill these gaps.
6. Re-run the quality check to confirm improvements.

Step 4: Connect your Google account via OAuth

Before: Vendably has no access to your Google account or Merchant Center.

After: Vendably is authorised to access your Google Merchant Center account on your behalf.

1. In Vendably, navigate to Settings > Integrations or the equivalent section for third-party connections.
2. Find the Google integration option and select Connect.
3. You will be redirected to Google's login page. Sign in with the Google account that has access to your Merchant Center.
4. Google will ask you to grant Vendably permission to manage your Merchant Center account. Review the permissions and click Allow.
5. You will be redirected back to Vendably. The connection is now active.

Step 5: Link your Merchant Center account

Before: Vendably is connected to Google, but does not know which Merchant Center account to use.

After: Vendably is linked to your specific Merchant Center account and can send products to it.

1. In Vendably, navigate to the Google Merchant Center settings.
2. Select your Merchant Center account from the dropdown list. If you have multiple accounts, choose the one where you want your products to appear.
3. Confirm the selection. Vendably will verify the connection.
4. Once confirmed, your Merchant Center account is now linked.

Step 6: Create a Shopping feed destination

Before: Your data is mapped and validated, but there is no channel sending it to Google.

After: A Shopping feed destination is configured and ready to export your products to Merchant Center.

1. In Vendably, navigate to Destinations or Feeds.
2. Create a new destination and select Google Shopping as the destination type.
3. Choose your linked Merchant Center account from the dropdown.
4. Confirm any additional settings (such as which product fields to include or exclude).
5. Save the destination. It is now ready to send data.

Step 7: Trigger your first export

Before: The destination is configured but no products have been sent to Google yet.

After: Your products have been exported to Merchant Center and are queued for Google's review.

1. Open your Shopping feed destination in Vendably.
2. Look for a button or option to manually trigger an export (often labelled 'Export now' or 'Sync').
3. Click the button to start the export.
4. Vendably will process your products and send them to Google Merchant Center. This may take a few minutes depending on the size of your product feed.

Step 8: Monitor the export for validation errors

Before: You have no visibility into whether the export succeeded or encountered errors.

After: You can see a detailed export log showing success or any validation errors that need to be corrected.

1. In your Shopping feed destination, navigate to the export log or activity history.
2. Look for your most recent export run. It should show a status of 'Completed' or 'Completed with errors'.
3. If the status is 'Completed' with zero validation errors, your products have been successfully sent to Google Merchant Center.
4. If there are validation errors, click on the error log to see which products failed and why. Common errors include:
   - Invalid gtin format.
   - Missing required fields.
   - Broken image URLs.
5. Correct the errors in your file source or field mapping, then trigger another export.
6. Repeat until your export log shows a completed run with zero validation errors.

What you should see: the checkpoint

Once you have completed all eight steps successfully, you should observe the following:

In Vendably:
- Your Shopping feed destination's export log shows a completed run with a status of 'Success' or 'Completed'.
- The log displays zero validation errors.
- The product count matches the number of products you expect to have been exported.

In Google Merchant Center:
- Navigate to the Products section and select your product feed.
- You should see your products listed with a status of 'Approved' or 'Pending review'.
- The diagnostics page shows no critical disapprovals or warnings related to missing data.
- If any products show as 'Disapproved', check the reason (usually missing gtin, category, or image) and correct it in Vendably, then re-export.

On Google Shopping:
- Allow one to three business days for Google to complete its own review process.
- After that period, your products should begin appearing in Google Shopping search results when users search for matching terms.
- You can verify this by searching for one of your product names or keywords on Google Shopping.

If you see validation errors in the export log or disapprovals in Merchant Center, return to Step 3 to review and correct the data quality issues, then re-export. Once your export log is clean and your Merchant Center diagnostics show no critical issues, your products are live.