Google’s Website-reported Autofeeds offer a streamlined method to automatically import your in-store inventory data into Google Merchant Center—no extra feed files required.
How It Works
- Customer action: A user checks in-store availability on your site (e.g., clicks a “Check Availability” button).
- Trigger GTM tag: A custom Google Tag Manager tag fires.
- Data captured: Tag collects key info:
- Merchant Center ID
- Product ID
- Availability (in stock/out of stock)
- Store codes
- Price
- Country & language
- Data sent to Google: Google matches and updates listings in Merchant Center.
- Display everywhere: Local availability appears in Shopping ads, free listings, and on Google Maps when shoppers search nearby.
🛠 Requirements & Setup
From Google’s documentation (support.google.com):
- Website readiness: Product pages must support in-store availability.
- Google Tag Manager: Required to deploy the “Google Inventory Collector” tag.
- Technical resources: You or your developer must configure GTM variables and triggers (e.g., checkout interaction or button click).
Implementation steps:
- In Merchant Center, enable local inventory ads or free local listings.
- Choose page type:
- Product pages with store availability
- Store-specific product pages including price
- In GTM:
- Create a Google Inventory Collector tag
- Add Merchant ID and relevant variables (item ID, store code, etc.)
- Trigger on the appropriate user action
- Publish the change after testing in Preview mode.
🌐 Compare with Other Local Inventory Methods
Google offers five ways to add local store inventory to Merchant Center via the Additional sources tab:
- Ship to store: Use
[pickup_SLA]
and[pickup_method]
attributes for items shipped to store. - Auto‑add from online store (classic crawling): Google scrapes your site daily for store availability—simple, but often limited to top products and subject to crawling delays.
- Website‑reported Autofeeds (this new method): Real-time updates via GTM tags when users check availability.
- Local inventory feed file: You upload a daily feed with full store-level data.
- Content API: Full programmatic control over inventory data.
- Local data provider: Third-party manages inventory updates on your behalf.
Method | Setup Complexity | Real-time Accuracy | Inventory Coverage |
---|---|---|---|
Feed File | Medium–High | Daily | All stores/products |
Content API | High | Often real-time | All |
Crawling | Low | Daily/limited | Popular items |
Autofeeds (GTM) | Medium (GTM expertise) | Near real-time | Triggered items only |
Ship-to-store | Low | Based on attributes only | Individual items |
Local provider | Varies | Varies | All, outsourced |
✅ Pros and Cons
✅ Advantages of Autofeeds:
- Removes the need for a separate local inventory feed
- Near real-time updates when customers check availability
- Syncs data seamlessly with Merchant Center
⚠️ Considerations:
- Requires GTM and coding capability
- Limited to products that trigger tag events
- Potential issues with lagging Google crawling
📝 Who It’s For
This method suits:
- Midsize to large merchants
- Sites with dedicated dev resources
- Platforms like Shopify that allow custom GTM integration
- Use cases where real-time stock visibility is critical
Smaller sellers or those relying on daily batch updates may find feed files or Content API easier to manage.
🛠 Implementation Tips
- Select your page experience: basic vs. store‑specific.
- Deploy GTM tags: include all required data fields.
- Test thoroughly: use GTM’s Preview mode and check Merchant Center’s tag diagnostics.
- Monitor crawling frequency: review “last crawled” under Product Details > Additional Details in Merchant Center.
- Check coverage: ensure tags fire consistently on every product interaction.