Primary, supplemental and inventory feeds

Google accepts more than one kind of feed. Most stores only ever need a primary feed. The other types solve specific jobs, and knowing which one fits saves a lot of trial and error in Merchant Center.

Primary

The main product feed. It carries every attribute for every item and is the source Merchant Center builds your listings from. Create one primary feed per target market or channel.

Supplemental

A partial feed that adds or overrides attributes on items that already exist from another source. It always carries the item id as the join key plus only the attributes you pick. The classic use is attaching custom labels to items the native Google channel already syncs, without replacing that channel.

Inventory

A local inventory feed reporting stock per physical store. Each Shopify location maps to a Google Business Profile store code, and the feed tells Google what is in stock where. It powers local listings for stores with physical shopfronts.

Product reviews

A ratings feed that carries your product reviews to Google so stars can appear on listings. The app builds it from your review provider. Judge.me is supported today. It refreshes once a day, and whenever you change its settings.

How each type registers

• A primary feed registers as a product data source, by URL or API push.
• A supplemental feed registers as a supplemental source and must be attached to your primary source in Merchant Center.
• An inventory feed registers as a local inventory source and needs your Business Profile linked to Merchant Center.
• A product reviews feed registers as a product ratings source. Google approves ratings sources manually.