Using Website-reported Autofeeds provides your online store’s inventory data to Google when customers check product availability in your stores using a Google Tag Manager tag implemented in your site. With this, local inventory data is no longer required when adding your online store’s in-store inventory to Merchant Center.
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How it works
Website-reported Autofeeds simplifies the process of showing your local inventory information on Google.
Here's how Website-reported Auto Feeds works:
Customer action: A customer on your website shows interest in a product and wants to check its availability in nearby stores. This might involve them clicking a "Check in-store availability" button or selecting a "Find nearby" option.
Tag trigger: The customer action prompts a Google Tag Manager JavaScript tag embedded in your website's code.
Data collection and transmission: The tag collects relevant inventory data for the product, such as:
- Merchant Center ID
- Product ID
- Current availability (in stock or out of stock)
- Store codes (unique identifiers for your physical locations)
- Price
- Country
- Language
Data transfer to Google: The tag sends the compiled inventory data to Google.
Merchant Center update: Google automatically matches the received data with your existing product listings in Google Merchant Center.
Local inventory display: Your in stock listings, now enriched with real-time local availability information, are displayed to nearby customers searching on Google. This helps drive those customers to your stores.
In essence, Website-reported Autofeeds automates the updating of your local product availability in Google Merchant Center, ensuring that customers have the most accurate information and encouraging in-store visits.
Requirements
Website capabilities:
At a minimum, product pages with in-store availability allow you to send your customers to your product landing pages where a customer can browse the availability and price of products in different stores. Learn more About product pages with in-store availability.
Technical implementation:
- Google Tag Manager integration: Google Tag Manager is a requirement for this implementation, which allows for easy and safe deployment on your website.
- Dedicated IT resources: Your site must be capable of providing product and inventory data into the Google Tag Manager tag, or custom tag. Having expertise on your site's architecture and Javascript will be critical for the implementation.
By fulfilling these requirements, you lay the foundation for accurate and efficient local inventory reporting through Website-reported Autofeeds. This ensures a smooth and informative experience for customers looking for your products in nearby stores.
Implementation
1. Merchant Center onboarding
Activate the local inventory ads or free local listings add-on after you've added your stores to Merchant Center.
2. Choose your product page experience
Choose between opting into product pages with in-store availability or store-specific product pages with in-store availability and price. Ensure that you meet the landing page and primary data source requirements.
3. Site Google Tag Manager implementation steps
Google Tag Manager is required for this implementation. Learn more here.
1. Add the Google Inventory Collector tag:
- Go to Tags, then click New.
- Choose Google Inventory Collector as your tag type.
- Name your tag (for example, "Google Inventory Tag").
- Enter your Merchant ID.
- Configure the required parameters: Target Country, Language, Item ID, Store Code, Price and Availability.
- Each parameter should be assigned to its respective variable as you configure, for example, data layer variable. Learn more about Google Tag Manager variables.
- Set the Triggering according to your selected product page experience.
- For example, if you choose product pages with in-store availability product page experience, you can set the triggering as the button clicking of in-store availability check. Learn more about Google Tag Manager trigger setup.
- Click Save.
2. Verify and publish your tag:
After the tag is saved, and your custom trigger event is configured on your website, you can validate the tag configuration through “Preview” in Google Tag Manager:
- Click Preview on the upper right corner, then enter your website's URL.
- Click Connect to begin previewing your container.
- In your Tag Assistant, go to the event you defined in step 1 and check for the tag firing status.
- Alternatively, click on the Summary tab and look for the tag firing status. If the tag failed, go to Console to look for debug information.
- After verifying the tag, return to your Google Tag Manager container. Click the Submit button on the top right corner, and publish your changes.
Frequently asked questions
How does the tag work?
Will the tag create local inventory data on my Merchant Center account?
How do I implement the tag on my site?
<header>, and configuring a custom event that will be triggered when the inventory data is ready in your data layer (typically, when your site presents store availability to users).Should I just send inventory data for the store picked by the user?
Is a product data source still required when the tag is implemented?
Most common issues
Can the tag affect my site's loading performance?
What data is collected by the Google Inventory Collector?
What Product ID or SKU should I provide in the tag?
[id] that is provided in your primary product data source. Some retailers may have different types of identifiers for each product or variant, so we advise to check your data source before proceeding with the implementation.