More and more e-merchants are seeing huge opportunities for attracting new customers through Google Shopping. For those who’ve built their online stores on Magento 2, this can mean some extra development costs for configuring product listing feeds to Google’s unique requirements. Here, we’ll go over how to connect a Magento 2 store to Google Shopping, and show you a stellar shortcut that makes the whole process easier, and easier to scale beyond Google Shopping.
To connect a Magento 2 store to Google Shopping, you must sync your product feed.
To send out a product feed to almost any new channel, including Google Shopping, you must be able to export product data in the form you’ve already created, complete with all tags, variations and attributes, to another product listing platform with its own product listing formats–which are unique on every channel. Unfortunately, Magento 2’s platform does not support feed generation for marketing channels; you either need to build out your own extension, or purchase a compatible module from external sources. All of the Magento-compatible modules are built on Open Source (CE).
Shopping in the Magento Marketplace
The Magento Marketplace has a Google Shopping extension module ($50) that’s made specifically for connecting your Magento store with a Google Merchant Account. Getting a Merchant Account is always the first step in how you connect a Magento 2 store with Google Shopping. It creates an XML feed to sync inventory that’s refreshed daily, and maps your product categories to Google’s requirements. (That’s categories, not product tags or attributes. More about that later.)
Whatever extension you use, to sell through Google Shopping you must first have a Google Merchant account. These are free, and easy enough to set up with the proper documentation. All product listings, schema, etc. that you then need to build to connect a Magento 2 store to Google Shopping will flow through Merchant Center. If you’re already using Google Ads, you already have a GMC account. GMC centralizes all of your store’s transactions and Google Ads activity into a unified account.
A shorter path that can get you a lot farther
This Google Shopping extension for Magento will give you the basics you need, but there’s a better way that’s faster, easier, and more versatile all-around. Another module available in the Magento Marketplace is Shoppingfeed, a subscription-based service that will not just connect a Magento 2 store to Google Shopping, but gives you over 1000 channels to connect with.
Shoppingfeed lets you easily create synced listings on Google Shopping, Amazon, eBay, Walmart.com, as well as other types of channels such as shopbots and ad retargeting platforms. Orders from those channels import automatically into your Magento order pane. Manage refunds, shipping, or fulfillment directly from Magento, and inventory status will sync to your connected marketplace. And the customer stays informed every step of the way.
There are a lot of good reasons to start with Shoppingfeed when you first go to connect your Magento 2 store to Google Shopping. These include:
- Title stacking for increased visibility
- Custom labels assignment
- Bid management
- Shopping Actions integrations built in, with SEO-friendly product attributes expressly for Google
Because Shoppingfeed is a SaaS provider, not a one-off app developer, you get plenty of customer support and hands-on help at the front end, and we do all the heavy lifting when it comes to syncing to Google’s specifications.0
Google Shopping is fast becoming one of the most powerful channels for e-commerce. With help from a smartly syndicated product feed, you can rapidly expand your customer base and grow your store’s sales.
