Catalog Feed
The catalog feed is a structured list of products and categories. This feed keeps your product information current in Emplifi Ratings & Reviews.
Providing the catalog feed
You can provide your catalog feed to Emplifi Ratings & Reviews by manually uploading the file, supplying the file's URL or FTP location, or setting up an automated collection via the TurnTo API for Emplifi Ratings & Reviews.
Manual File Upload
Feeds uploaded through the Ratings & Review Portal have a 250 MB file size limit. Larger feed files should be delivered via FTP or through the API.
Steps:
In Emplifi Ratings & Reviews, click Settings → Feeds → Upload Feed.
From the Feed Type dropdown menu, select TurnTo Catalog.
(Optional) Select an encoding.
Choose your file.
(Optional) Select Validate Only.
Instead of uploading the feed, we validate that the contents match the selected format.Click Submit.
Upload File by URL or FTP
Steps:
In Emplifi Ratings & Reviews, click Settings → Manage Site.
Check the Catalog Feed Pull Enabled checkbox.
From the Catalog Feed Type dropdown menu, select TurnTo Tab-delimited.
(Optional) From the Catalog Feed Encoding dropdown, select an encoding.
Click Add catalog url, enter the file URL or FTP location, and click Save.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Update to save your changes.
To deliver via the TurnTo API for Emplifi Ratings & Reviews, see Automating Feeds with the TurnTo API for Emplifi Ratings & Reviews.
TurnTo catalog feed format
Emplifi Ratings & Reviews can work with multiple feed formats. However, using the TurnTo feed format avoids the need for data transformation and gets you up and running the fastest.
Ensure that your feed file adheres to these formatting requirements:
The feed must be a tab-delimited text file.
The first row of the tab-delimited file must include at least the required headers, in any order.
For syndicating outside of Emplifi Ratings & Reviews, you must provide at least one of: MPN, UPC, ISBN, EAN, JAN. Provide as many of these fields as you can.
For syndicating to partner sites on Bazaarvoice's CGC platform, you must provide UPC or EAN.
For Google Shopping Feed syndication, Google recommends submitting brand, MPN, and GTIN (one of UPC, ISBN, EAN, or JAN) to help boost ad performance and help users find your products. To see requirements or to contact Google for help, see Google's document about unique product identifiers.
Supported data field
Header | Header Required | Value Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
SKU | Yes | Yes | The unique identifier for the item in your catalog. This should be an identifier for the item on the product page. Read more about variant SKUs. When the historical order feed or JavaScript order feed transmits an order for an item, it should use the same SKU as your catalog feed. Prohibited Characters |
TITLE | Yes | Yes | The name of the product or item. |
ITEMURL | Yes | Yes | The URL of the item on your site. We support both relative and absolute link URLs. |
IMAGEURL | Yes | No | The URL of the image of your catalog item to display in the widgets and in emails. Although it's not required, we highly recommend that you include it in the feed. |
PRICE | Yes | No | Formatted as |
CURRENCY | Yes | No | Defaults to USD. |
CATEGORY | Yes | No | The name of the category that this item belongs to. An item can only belong to one category. If you will be specifying a category path, include the Read more about |
ACTIVE | No | No | Boolean value (1 or 0, Y or N). Defaults to |
CATEGORYPATHJSON | No | No | To pass Emplifi Ratings & Reviews a category path for this product, include a JSON array of category objects in the order of most general to most specific. Required fields for each object in the array:
Optional field for each object in the array:
|
INSTOCK | No | No | Boolean value (1 or 0, Y or N). Defaults to |
VIRTUALPARENTCODE | No | No | An arbitrary string used to group products. For example, if your catalog has a row for each color variant of an item, those variants can be grouped in Ratings & Reviews as similar items by setting this column to the same value for all of them. When a question is asked about one variant, it will automatically appear in the Q&A widget on each of the other variant pages as a question about a similar item. |
ISCATEGORY | No | No | Boolean value (1 or 0, Y or N). Defaults to |
MEMBERS | No | No | If this product is a bundle of other products, specify the SKUs of the members (comma-delimited). To learn more, see Members. |
BRAND | No | No | The product's brand name. If used together with |
MPN | No | No | (Manufacturer part number) The string that uniquely identifies the product to its manufacturer. If used together with You can specify more than one value by comma-separating multiple MPNs. This is useful when your feed contains only parent products but you'd like to pass MPNs for child (variant) products, such as different sizes of a shirt. |
UPC | No | No | (Universal Product Code) A unique, 12-digit identifier for commercial products that's usually associated with a barcode printed on retail merchandise. Used mainly in North America. You can specify more than one value by comma-separating multiple UPCs. This is useful when your feed contains only parent products but you'd like to pass UPCs for child (variant) products, such as different sizes of a shirt. |
ISBN | No | No | (International Standard Book Number) A unique numerical identifier for commercial books published since 1970 that can be found on the back of the book along with the barcode. |
EAN | No | No | (European Article Number) A unique numerical identifier for commercial products that's usually associated with a barcode printed on retail merchandise. Used mainly outside of North America. |
JAN | No | No | (Japanese Article Number) A unique numerical identifier for commercial products that's usually associated with a barcode printed on retail merchandise. Used in Japan. |
ASIN | No | No | (Amazon Standard Identification Number) Uniquely identifies each product sold on http://amazon.com. |
MOBILEITEMURL | No | No | The URL of the item on your mobile site. |
LOCALEDATA | No | No | A JSON field that allows the specification of locale specific product titles and urls. In order to be utilized, the locale must be setup for the site. Valid locales include both the language and country code. For example, "fr_CA" has "fr" for French and "CA" for Canada. If
Example using two locales:
|
IDs must be unique. Do not use TurnTo feed format examples
For your reference, the following are sample catalog feed files in the TurnTo format:
SKU TITLE ITEMURL IMAGEURL PRICE CURRENCY CATEGORY CATEGORYPATHJSON MPN BRAND UPC
SKU1 Product Title 1 https://www.domain.com/SKU1 https://www.domain.com/images/SKU1.png
SKU2 Product Title 2 https://www.domain.com/SKU2 https://www.domain.com/images/SKU2.png
SKU3 Product Title 3 https://www.domain.com/SKU3 https://www.domain.com/images/SKU3.pngSKU IMAGEURL TITLE PRICE CURRENCY ACTIVE ITEMURL CATEGORY KEYWORDS INSTOCK VIRTUALPARENTCODE CATEGORYPATHJSON MEMBERS BRAND MPN ISBN UPC EAN JAN ASIN MOBILEITEMURL LOCALEDATA
195 https://domain.com/product_images/195.jpg Blue Shirt 14 USD Y https://domain.com/en_US/195.html Y 195 [{"id":"collections","name":"Collections","url":"https://domain.com/en_US/collections"},{"id":"shirt-collection","name":"Shirt Collection","url":"https://domain.com/en_US/shirt-collection"}] MyBrand 846733254966 https://domain.com/en_US/195.html {"fr_CA": {"title": "Bleu Chemise", "itemUrl": "https://domain.com/pathToFrenchProductPage", "mobileItemUrl": "https://domain.com/pathToMobileFrenchProductPage"}, "en_DE": {"title": "Blau Hemd", "itemUrl": "https://domain.com/pathToGermanProductPage", "mobileItemUrl": "https://domain.com/pathToMobileGermanProductPage"}}Other accepted feed formats
We can work with additional feed formats. However, using the TurnTo feed format avoids the need for data transformation and gets you up and running the fastest.
Yahoo objinfo.xml
Google Products search XML (Atom 1.0 version) with Google's own namespace extension
Google Products search XML (RSS 2.0 version) with Google's own namespace extension
Google Products tab-delimited
Bazaarvoice Product Feed
Virtual parent code (VPC) and members
The VIRTUALPARENTCODE field and the MEMBERS field both create an association between individual products. So what’s the difference between these fields? And when should you use one instead of the other?
Virtual parent code
Use VIRTUALPARENTCODE to associate items together. The virtual parent code is not an identifier for an actual product. It creates a "sibling" relation between products that have the same virtual parent code.
Example: paperback, hardcover, and ebook variations of a book. Each variation is related to the other variations because the content of the books is the same.
The VIRTUALPARENTCODE field contains a string that you define as the unique way to identify a set of associated products.
Here’s an example of how to use the VIRTUALPARENTCODE field (several fields omitted for simplicity):
SKU | TITLE | VIRTUALPARENTCODE |
|---|---|---|
45722 | Selling Llamas Online (paperback) | 5a2c28-llama |
45723 | Selling Llamas Online (hardcover) | 5a2c28-llama |
65270 | Selling Llamas Online (ebook) | 5a2c28-llama |
Example: Virtual parent code in tab-delimited format
SKU TITLE VIRTUALPARENTCODE
45722 Selling Llamas Online (paperback) 5a2c28-llama
45723 Selling Llamas Online (hardcover) 5a2c28-llama
65270 Selling Llamas Online (ebook) 5a2c28-llamaHow virtual parent codes impact your installation
Reviews and questions for each "sibling" product (any product that shares the same virtual parent code) can display as related content in each of the other siblings' review and Q&A widgets.
In the book example, the VIRTUALPARENTCODE field creates the following "related content" relationships:
Members
Use MEMBERS when a product SKU includes one or more products that are also listed under their own SKUs.
Example: a camera kit. All of the pieces can be sold individually, but the kit has its own SKU, title, price, product image, etc.
The MEMBERS field contains a comma-separated set of the SKUs that this item contains.
Here’s an example of how to use the MEMBERS field (several fields omitted for simplicity):
SKU | TITLE | MEMBERS |
|---|---|---|
99674 | Camera Kit | 78515, 95178, 98254 |
78515 | Digital SLR Camera | |
95178 | Camera Carrying Case | |
98254 | 50mm Lens |
Example: Members in tab-delimited format
SKU TITLE MEMBERS
99674 Camera Kit 78515, 95178, 98254
78515 Digital SLR Camera
95178 Camera Carrying Case
98254 50mm LensHow members impact your installation
Reviews and questions for the bundle can display as related content in the individual members' review and Q&A widgets. Reviews and questions for each member product can display as related content in the bundle product’s review and Q&A widgets.
In the camera kit example, the MEMBERS field creates the following "related content" relationships:
The MEMBERS field does not create any relationship between the individual bundle members. In other words, they don’t become "sibling" products.
Variant SKUs
Consider a shirt that comes in three possible colors: red, green, or blue. You want reviews for the shirt to be shown together, regardless of the color. You have to decide how to represent that shirt within your Ratings & Reviews catalog feed. You have two options: use a SKU for each variant and relate them through the VIRTUALPARENTCODE field, or use a master SKU for all variants. This section explains each option, along with pros and cons.
Use a SKU for each variant
If you want each variant in your original catalog to have its own entry in your Emplifi Ratings & Reviews product catalog feed, you can relate variant items together by including an identical VIRTUALPARENTCODE value for all variants. Your variants likely already have a code from your originating system that ties them together. Use that code in the VIRTUALPARENTCODE field.
Pros
In this scenario, the t-shirt's red, green, and blue color variants each have their own SKUs in your original catalog:SHIRT83-RED,SHIRT83-GREEN, andSHIRT83-BLUE. Since you created a catalog entry for each variant, you should include a row in your catalog feed for each of the three colors. On each row, you should also include a value in theVIRTUALPARENTCODEfield that ties the variants together, such asSHIRT83. Note that in this exampleSHIRT83is not a SKU in your Emplifi Ratings & Reviews product catalog feed.Cons
Requires more detailed understanding of how Emplifi Ratings & Reviews widgets function. For example, reviews do not post at the virtual parent code level. Reviews post at the SKU level, which in this case is specific to the variant rather than the product. The Review List widget can list all variants' reviews combined ("mixed in"), or list just this SKU's reviews and then show other variants' reviews in a separate "Reviews for Similar Products" area.
Example: One catalog entry for each color of a t-shirt
In this scenario, the t-shirt's red, green, and blue color variants each have their own SKUs in your original catalog: SHIRT83-RED, SHIRT83-GREEN, and SHIRT83-BLUE. Since you created a catalog entry for each variant, you should include a row in your catalog feed for each of the three colors. On each row, you should also include a value in the VIRTUALPARENTCODE field that ties the variants together, such as SHIRT83. Note that in this example SHIRT83 is not a SKU in your Emplifi Ratings & Reviews product catalog feed.
Use a master SKU
If you want to collapse a set of variants from your original product catalog into a single item in your Emplifi Ratings & Reviews product catalog feed, you can use a "master" SKU that represents all of the variants. You can include variants in the single catalog entry by listing variant UPCs in the UPC field.
Pros
Since one SKU covers all of the variants for a product, all of the variants' reviews, questions and answers, and visual content for that product are automatically included on the product detail page.Cons
You lose variant-level details. For example, all variants are represented by one default product image, which may not match the variant purchased but will still be used in the review solicitation email. Similarly, the Checkout Comment modal shows the default (in this case, "master") title and default (again, "master") image rather than a title and image for a specific variant.
Example: One catalog entry for all colors of a t-shirt
In this scenario, the t-shirt's red, green, and blue color variants each has its own SKU in your original catalog: SHIRT83-RED, SHIRT83-GREEN, and SHIRT83-BLUE. To combine these SKUs into a single product listing, use only one entry in the catalog feed for all three variant items. The one entry uses a "master" SKU that represents all colors of the shirt, such as SHIRT83.