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XML feeds
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is used to describe data. The XML standard is a flexible way to create information formats and electronically share structured data.
An XML file containing details on the advertiser's products is a product feed. However, XML files are not limited to products. Blog content, currency conversions and news articles are commonly featured in XML feeds.
Each item (product/article) is a new record in the file and includes the product name, description, URL, image links, categories, and prices. The information in a data feed may vary from brand to brand as there is no standard way of creating them.
All product feeds are unique but they should all share similar properties and structure. An XML product feed will contain these fields:
- ID
- mpn / gtin
- title
- description
- link
- image link (+ any additional product images)
- availability
- stock level
- days in feed / date added to feed (required for new in)
- price
- sale price
- colour
- gender
- size
- mpn / gtin
- master product category (main category e.g. Clothing, Accessories, Shoes, Beauty, Homeware)
- product type category (e.g. dress, skirt, coat, shirt)
- custom labels (can be used to flag products for promotions / events etc.)
New In
To automate new in products, we need to be able to identify that a product is 'new', or that it has been recently added to the feed. The best way to manage new in is by a 'date added' field in the feed. Simply, this is the date that the product was inserted into the product catalogue for the first time. Alternatively, if a date is not possible, some brands use a 'newness' value which indicates how many days a product has been in the feed where 0 = new.
Where there is a date field in the feed, Kickdynamic can order the product feed by date so that products pull through in the order from newest to oldest.
If a date / days in feed field is not an option, it is advised to use a custom label and a 'new' flag. This flag can then be used to filter and find products flagged as new. This requires more management and will need regular updates.
Important note: If out of stock products are removed from the feed, when they come back into stock they should not be time stamped as back in stock date, but as the original date added.
Product Categories / classifications
In order to automate products accurately, they must be accurately, consistently and clearly categorised.
Each product should have the required information and category, for example:
- Gender
- master product category (main category e.g. Clothing, Accessories, Shoes, Beauty, Homeware)
- product type category (e.g. dress, skirt, coat, shirt)
- fit (where applicable)
- size
- custom label
XML Blog feed
An XML blog feed should contain these fields:
- Blog title
- link
- description
- published date
- author
- content category
- blog image
Last modified 2yr ago
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