As part of the 2015 update to Google Shopping specifications, Google has announced that all product data feeds now need to contain a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and brand to be accepted by the company.
Google Shopping, where companies pay to have products listed in the search engine’s results, works by matching consumers to the items they are searching for, allowing them to compare different brands and prices.
A spokesperson for the company says that finding the right customers online starts with creating a good product data feed that specifies clearly and accurately which products you have for sale.
Part of this is using GTINs, which are the numbers above or below a barcode on product packaging that help to identify items as they move through the global supply chain.
“We’ve found that providing GTINs in your product data feed increases the likelihood that your offers are matched to the Google Shopping catalogue,” explains the spokesperson.
“This helps us surface relevant, accurate results on Google Shopping; in fact, early experiments indicate that offers matched to the catalogue receive up to 40 per cent more clicks than those that do not.”
As the Australian member of non-profit supply chain standards organisation GS1, GS1 Australia recognises the importance of using GTINs and Mark Fuller, chief operating officer, says that for retailers and manufacturers, they are a vital part of business in the digital age.
“As one of the main building blocks of the GS1 system, the GTIN enables items to be sourced and traded globally in the knowledge they can be scanned and have data retrieved from them in any application that is GS1 compliant,” Fuller says.
“As the world continues to transition through the digital transformation and the emerging retail reality of the omni-channel shopper, companies are actively undergoing a process of change to embrace the digital future.”
Along with Google, Amazon and eBay are also requesting sellers use GTINs in their new listing feeds to enhance the quality of product data and to improve online and mobile search results.
A valid GTIN is required for any Google Shopping feeds targeting markets including Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and US.
If you don’t already have correct GTINs in your data feed, Google offers these tips:
1. Find GTINs individually: look for the 12 or 13 digit number printed below the barcode on your product’s packaging.
2. Find GTINs in bulk: GTINs are used in many warehouse management systems to identify and manage inventory and can often be exported from this in bulk.
3. Make sure you’re using the correct brand: sellers may mistakenly give the incorrect brand for a product by using ‘brand’ to indicate that a product’s compatibility. E.g. a mobile phone case that is compatible with an Apple iPhone 6 listing ‘Apple’ as the brand is misleading and can result in your ads being disproved. Instead, you should provide the brand for the product and use the title and description fields to explain compatibility information.
By Ruth Cooper
