Product variations are similar products and differ in color, size, material, pattern, gender, or age group.
It is recommended to use variations if you have similar products. For example, we have FeedArmy’s Premium paint, and I have ten different colors. If I submit these ten products without adding the variation values, Google will consider them duplicates and not list them on Google Shopping. However, if you add the variation values, the variant products will be listed inside Google Shopping.
If you have browsed Google Shopping, you might have noticed that certain products have options available in the form of a select dropdown. Unfortunately, these will not always be available to you. Currently, as of writing, only Apparel products can have options inside Google Shopping. However, Google has mentioned that it plans to integrate this feature in the future for other product types. Therefore, products outside of the apparel category will be listed as normal.
Adding groups
When adding groups, you need to give each group a unique identifier. This can be any random number and or name, as long as all groups that belong to each other have the same Group Identifier.
XML
<g:item_group_id>myproduct01</g:item_group_id>
TXT
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | id | title | description | item_group_id |
| 2 | id1 | my title – blue | my description | id1 |
| 3 | id2 | my title – orange | my description | id1 |
Adding multiple colors, patterns, sizes or materials
When adding colors, you can have one primary color and up to two accents. For example, if you have brown shoes with a grey accent. You would add the following identifiers separated with a / (Brown/ Grey).
- You can add up to 3 colors
- The forward slash / in an XML data feed must be replaced with a html entity /
Color
XML
<g:color>Brawn / Grey</g:color>
TXT
- Header : color
- Item Row value : Grey
Notes: You can have one primary color (first color in the value) and up to 2 accent colors, each color separated by a forward slash. If you have jewelry, you can use the gold Karat as a color.
For Example: Navy Blue / Orange / White
Patterns
XML
<g:pattern>Striped</g:pattern>
TXT
- Header : pattern
- Item Row value : Striped
Notes: Only one pattern per product
Sizes
XML
<g:size>XL</g:size>
TXT
- Header : size
- Item Row value : XL
Notes: Only one size per product
Example size values :
- XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL, 1XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL, 6XL
- 00, 0, 02, 04, 06, 08, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34
- 24×30, 24×32, 24×34
- 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, 11.5, 12, 12.5, 13, 13.5, 14, 14.5, 15, 15.5, 16
Materials
XML
<g:material>Leather</g:material>
TXT
- Header : material
- Item Row value : Leather
Notes: You can have one primary material (first material in the value) and up to 2 secondary materials
Tips!
- Be sure to add similar titles and descriptions for each grouped product
- When adding an item group id it is required to at least fill in one of the 4 group values, Color, Pattern, Size, or Material
- If you are selling jewelry, you can add the karat as a color, so for example, White Gold 8 Kt
Why are my products not listed as a group on Google Shopping?
If you have listed clothing items and are not listed as a group, you most likely have not added the same item group id. (item_group_id). Double-check you have added identical IDs. Or the titles are not similar enough.
If they are not clothing items, then you need to wait until Google has this feature available for your products. Unfortunately, at the moment, all products can’t be listed as grouped items. So it would be best if you simply waited until Google has added this feature for other products.