If your shop has a wide assortment with over one hundred items, adding product cards and keeping them updated manually may be inconvenient and very time-consuming. When you have to process lots of items, you may want to use the feed as a way to optimise your workflow.
What is the feed all about? Who may find it useful?
The feed is a special file that contains all the information about items, their characteristics, product photos, and other parameters. On most of the popular marketplaces, product card details are uploaded using the feed.
On Flowwow, you can upload files in XML format. This is the most popular file format because it can be conveniently exported from the Seller’s website (e-commerce website) or from the shop’s CRM system. The feed looks like a set of tags in HTML code.
You can configure Auto-update for your storefront to be updated automatically. In this way, item stock availability will be pulled from your website or CRM system, keeping your FW shop profile updated at all times.
This tool is suitable for large Sellers with lots of listed items. If your FW shop has 20–30 product cards, it's easier to fill them out and update manually.
How can I generate an XML file? Where do I upload it to?
Normally, you don't have to generate a feed file manually because you already have it on your website or in your CRM system. The only thing you need to do is download it — on your own or with the assistance of your e-commerce website webmaster.
Once downloaded, please verify whether the XML file complies with all requirements, then upload it in the web version of your Flowwow Seller personal area:
go to the "Items" section, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the page, then select "Item Import via XML".
To configure Auto-update for your storefront, click on the cogwheel button next to an already uploaded feed file and select the update frequency.
XML File Requirements
All files must contain mandatory parameters without which they will be uploaded with errors. Apart from mandatory parameters, there are additional parameters that allow you to specify more details about your items.
Mandatory parameters:
- The name of the product is “name”, the tags “offer” or “product” are allowed for the product itself
- Link to product photo → “picture”
- Price → “price”
- Item description → “description”
Additional parameters are optional:
- The previous price (if you want the price to be displayed as discounted) → “oldprice”
- Item stock availability (number of items in stock) → “qty”
- Weight (parsed from the description or item name, but there is also a separate tag) → “weight”
- Minimum order → “minorder”
- Item composition → “consist name”
- Product size via “param name”
To learn more, please refer to the guide. However, please note the following:
- If an item has multiple photos, each link must be added as a separate parameter.
- Use the feed to upload only active and currently available items in order to avoid cluttering of your catalogue.
Requirements for feed files of flower shops
Composition is a mandatory parameter in a feed file for bouquets. Flower shops have two ways to upload a feed file.
The best way. Adding bouquet composition details to the feed using the following tag: “consist name”. If the categories in the file are similar to Flowwow subcategories (Flowers in a box, Florist's specials, etc.), you can simply upload a feed file and correlate them. If the categories in a feed file do not match Flowwow subcategories (for example, Bouquets for Mum, Bouquets for a Girlfriend, Gifts for National Unity Day), they are likely to include bouquets such as florist's specials, sweet bouquets, etc. In this case, you can also correlate each category with a Flowwow subcategory, but after uploading the file you will have to check everything carefully and reassign incorrectly assigned subcategories.
The difficult way. If you don’t want to add bouquet composition to a feed file, you can upload such items to Flowers & Gifts (category) — Other (subcategory). However, in this case you will have to perform lots of tasks manually as you assign all items to correct subcategories and specify the composition for them.
Summary
If you see that your assortment is so large that it is almost impossible to add items manually any longer, please consider importing items via a feed file. This is a way to simplify and automate your workflow. As you are getting started, it’s best to seek assistance from developers or marketing specialists who have some experience in working with feed files.
Need help or have any questions? Reach out to our Support chat – we're happy to assist!
