A data feed tool is required by every retailer who intends to advertise on Amazon, Facebook, Google, or any other shopping platform. It basically forms the foundation of all the PPC campaigns implemented by retailers. A well-optimized data feed can actually affect the performance of campaigns to a great extent. And with a plethora of options available in the market to choose from, you are bound to get confused as to which data feed optimization tool to choose. So, here are a few things you should expect data feed optimization tool:
1. Downloading And Updating Of Data Feed
The data feed optimization tool must be capable of connecting to your shopping cart and downloading data pertaining to the products. It should seamlessly integrate your eCommerce platform, be it Shopify, Magento, or any other platform with the help of a plugin or via API. It should also help in downloading the most widely used file types such as XML, CSV, etc. from a particular URL or an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) location. In fact, the retailer must be able to download the product data on a daily basis and should be a rather automated process.
In addition, the data feed tool should also be capable of generating variants that might be needed for different channels. Infact, in order to make all the data pertaining to products up to date, it is important that the data feed tool is well-suited for multiple updates.
2. Optimizing The Quality Of Feeds
The data feed tool must be able to provide unlimited opportunities to improve your product data feed. With the help of the tool, you should be able to modify the values of individual products as well as for products in bulk. Whether you intend to remove, recalculate, combine, or replace, all the operations should be easily carried out for each field without any hassles. If the data feed tool is good enough, it might actually allow you to edit the values on a rather granular level by uploading an entire list of products to be edited.
Choose a data feed tool that allows you to add a relevant detail or value in a simplified manner. You should be able to incorporate missing data and upload additional data values seamlessly. For instance, if you intend to extract the color of the product along with the category of product from the product description, it should be easily extracted. Since product images are the most essential part of a product listing, it is important that you pick the best photo for the ads. If a particular data feed tool offers that kind of functionality, go ahead with it!
3. Curating Data Feeds For Various Shopping Channels
The data feed optimization tool should be able to make things simpler for the advertiser. It should help create feeds for advertising on different shopping platforms. It should be able to meet the requisite requirements of the channels including the file formats. The templates should be such that it doesn’t allow any mistakes to happen like missing the mandatory field or inputting a value that isn’t accepted. It should also give the option of auto-correct to rectify the typical errors.
Additionally, determine which shopping channels are offered by the data feed optimization tool. If the channel you are intending to use isn’t covered in the tool or the country isn’t as per your choice, you must search for a tool that does, and if possible, request them to provide you the same. If you plan to leverage more than one shopping platform, you must ensure that the tool caters to all of them.
Try and build a customized data feed based on your specifications. Even if you intend to use the same feed on another channel, it should be easily done without any hassles. In addition, the categories and subcategories must be pre-loaded to spare the advertiser from entering the entire data all over again. There is no point entering every detail manually when you can take the help of a tool to automate the process.
4. Improving Campaign Performance
Effective eCommerce product data feed management can actually boost the performance of your campaigns. By using a suitable data feed tool, you get to track and monitor the performance of every product. It can further contribute to increasing the ROI.
The data feed tool so chosen should include cost data for each and every product in order to determine the good and bad performers. This way you can discontinue the products that are not performing well and promote the ones that are giving significant profits. The tool should showcase various metrics such as ROAS and CPA and give the option of excluding the bad performing products. If you come across certain categories or products that are bringing down the overall ROI, then removing them with a single click is a great feature to leverage.
In addition, you can also sync the orders between your online store and marketplace. For instance, if you are advertising on Amazon, then you can better manage the orders by offering only the products that are in stock and not sold out. Improving the performance of your campaigns across various platforms will be a five-finger exercise if you leverage gross margin, price rank, and other features in your product data feed. So, you will need to find a data feed tool that helps you collate product data from various sources and merge it into a single source feed.
5. Addressing Other Issues
There exist a number of issues that need to be addressed while finalizing a data feed tool. Pricing, for instance, is an important factor to be considered while reviewing the data feed tools. The tool should be easy on your pocket and shouldn’t burn a hole in your advertising budget. In short, don’t just go and pay for a Ferrari when your purpose can be solved by buying a Jeep. Apart from pricing, the tool should also be easy to use.
Conclusion
You can easily handle your eCommerce database if you have a small online store. But, as you grow, you will eventually need an expert to look into your data feeds and manage your entire product data feed to improve the performance of your advertising campaigns. After all, hiring eCommerce product data feed management experts can help you manage your feeds better and boost your campaign performance and consequently ROI.
QuikTek Info is an offshore service provider offering support in categorizing, product data upload, and managing your data feeds. Go for our shopping feed management services and give an enriching shopping experience to your potential buyers. Connect with us at mail@quiktekinfo.com to get started.
