ChannelEngine: one-time product feeds

About this article

This article describes how to create, upload, and map a one-time product feed on ChannelEngine.

Table of contents

Introduction

Requirements

How one-time feeds work

Overview

Create a product feed

Add a one-time feed template

Configure feed settings

Map your attributes

Upload a one-time feed

Edit the feed

After mapping the feed

Introduction

A product feed is a file that ChannelEngine uses to import your product data onto the platform. There are two types of product feeds:

• Scheduled product feeds - automatically and continuously import product data from a dynamic URL.
• One-time product feeds - import a static product file and manually update it as many times as needed.

This article describes one-time product feeds.

Use a one-time feed to upload product data directly to ChannelEngine without connecting a PIM system or setting up an ongoing synchronization. Using a one-time feed can be useful to:

• Add a new field to your existing products.
• Import a specific product catalog from a static file.
• Manually update a file and upload it to replace the existing values.

Access your one-time product feeds at Products, Product feeds, One-time feeds.

Unlike scheduled product feeds, one-time product feeds are not imported automatically. If you need ChannelEngine to update your product data on a schedule automatically, check out ChannelEngine: product feeds.

Requirements

Before uploading your product feed file to ChannelEngine, make sure it meets the following requirements:

• The format of the product feed file must be CSV, XML, or JSON. Check the corresponding links to learn more about each format.
• Each product must include a Merchant product number, which makes the product unique in ChannelEngine's database. Other attributes are optional, especially if you only intend to update a specific field.
• If you aim to create a new product from scratch, the feed should include all the necessary attributes. For guidance, check out Which attributes to include in your feed.
• Your feed file size must not exceed 25 MB.

How one-time feeds work

Creating a one-time feed is a two-step process.

1. The first file that you upload acts as a template file. ChannelEngine uses it to read your product attributes and display example products in the mapping interface. This file should contain one to three products. Once you complete the mapping and click Save, the feed is ready to receive product data.
2. The second file that you upload is the actual product feed. It must use the same template as the first file, including the file format, delimiter, and product attributes. After the template is in place, you can upload the product feed as often as needed to create new products or update existing ones.

A one-time feed can update products that are also managed by a scheduled product feed or another one-time feed – as long as the products share the same Merchant product number. It is however important to differentiate feeds by including separate attributes into them to avoid overwriting values from one feed by another.

Overview

Manage your one-time product feeds at Products, Product feeds, One-time feeds. The product feed page lists up to 20 product feeds and contains the following information:

• Name - the name of your feed.
• Type - the type of feed (CSV, XML, or JSON).
• Most recent import - the timestamp of the import of the feed to ChannelEngine.
• Next import - disregard this as this is not applicable to one-time feeds.
• Status - the result of the import of the feed. The feed status remains New until you upload and process an actual product file. For a full list of statuses, check out ChannelEngine: product feeds.
• Validation report - redirects you to a separate page, which shows the number of active, inactive, and new products from the last import. For details on the validation report, check out the Validation report. 
• Actions 
  • Edit - allows you to edit an existing product feed. This redirects you to the feed mapping.
  • Delete - deletes an existing product feed. Note that deleting a one-time product feed does not delete the products that were imported through it.

Create a product feed

To upload your feed to ChannelEngine, you need to create it first. You can use your own system to extract the product data and save it in the form of a file.

Alternatively, create a one-time product feed from scratch. For guidance on which file formats to choose and which attributes to include, check out Create a product feed.

Add a one-time feed template

The first file you upload is used for template and mapping only, not for the actual product import.

To upload your feed template to ChannelEngine:

1. From the sidebar menu, go to Products, Product feeds.
2. Open the One-time feeds tab.
3. Click Add product feed.

4. In the Upload example product feed file section, select a file or drag and drop it.
    

   

5. In Feed type, select the file format from the dropdown.
6. For CSV files, select the delimiter.
7. Click Upload.

Once the template is uploaded, the Settings and Mappings sections appear below. Configure the feed settings and complete the Mappings step, and then proceed to uploading the file to create or update your products. 

The feed status remains New until you upload and process an actual product file.

Configure feed settings

To configure your product feed's settings, click Settings to expand the section.

• Name (required) - the name of the product feed. If you plan to use multiple feeds, distinguish them by using different names.
• Use comma separator in numbers (optional) - by default, ChannelEngine's servers are set to the international locale. This means that for numbers (e.g.: prices, dimensions, etc.), ChannelEngine expects a period as the decimal separator (e.g.: EUR 9.95). If your feed uses numbers with a comma as the decimal separator (e.g.: EUR 9,95), enable this setting to prevent prices from being 100 times higher than your intended value.
• Generate parent products (optional) - if enabled, ChannelEngine automatically generates parent products for the products grouped by the parent SKU – without a parent product available in the feed. 
• Generate grandparent products (optional) - if enabled, ChannelEngine automatically generates grandparent products for the products grouped by the grandparent SKU – without a grandparent product available in the feed.

Generate parent and grandparent products

ChannelEngine works with grandparent-parent-child structure for product variations, where child products are sellable products, parent products are virtual products that are used for grouping children, and grandparents are virtual products that are used for grouping parents. To learn more, check out the article ChannelEngine: parent-child relationships. 

If your feed does not contain specific data for (grand)parent products but you require the grandparent-parent-child structure for the channel, ChannelEngine can automatically create (grand)parent products.

To generate parent products on ChannelEngine, your child products in the product feed must share the same Parent SKU. Similarly, to generate grandparent products, your parent products must share the same Grandparent SKU to group them.

To learn more about each setting and how exactly (grand)parent products are generated, check out Generate parent and grandparent products.

Mappings 

Overview

Next, map your feed's attributes to fields on ChannelEngine. Mapping ensures that your product content is accurately imported into ChannelEngine and is available for all connected channels. 

In the Mappings section, you are presented with the following overview:

• Search bar - search for a specific ChannelEngine field, stock location, or custom field.
• Show - filter by Mapped and Unmapped fields or stock locations.
• Preview - preview the first ten products from your feed, based on which attributes you map to the given fields in the center column.
• Unmap all values - remove any existing mappings from fields.
• Left-side menu - lists the types of fields to which you can map the attributes from your product feed: ChannelEngine fields, Stock locations, and Custom fields.
• Center column - map the attributes from your feed here. E.g.: Merchant product number may be mapped to the SKU attribute from your feed. In the initial load of the feed, suggested attributes from your feed file are highlighted in green.
• Right-side column - shows a preview of a specific value for that attribute. 

Auto-suggestions

ChannelEngine automatically suggests mapped fields from your feed. The light Auto mapped label and the bulb icon indicate that the mapped field is auto-mapped as a suggestion. 

If you agree with the suggestion, save the feed mapping, after which the light bulb changes into a check mark. The check mark indicates that the mappings were saved.

Map your attributes

ChannelEngine fields

Map your attributes to ChannelEngine's standard fields. These include the most essential attributes required by a marketplace to create a viable product. E.g.: Name, Description, GTIN, etc.

1. From the left-side menu, click ChannelEngine fields.
2. To map the field to one of your feed's attributes, select your attribute from the Products section in the dropdown.
3. If you want to set channel-specific values for this field, or this field is already mapped via another product feed file, select one of the Not mapped options. Check out the Not mapped fields section below for guidance.
4. To define dynamic values for the field, select Advanced rule to set up a set of conditions that build on top of your feed file's attributes. Check out the Advanced rules section below for guidance.

Stock locations

Make sure that your stock levels per product are included in your product feed. The values of your stock attribute must be positive integers, e.g.: '55'. Text and decimal values are not supported as stock values.

To map your product stock to a ChannelEngine stock location:

1. From the left-side menu, click Stock locations.
2. To map your stock to ChannelEngine, select the relevant stock attribute from the Products section in the dropdown.
   • If you use the multiple warehouses and stock locations feature, map your stock attributes to the stock locations that you have set up on ChannelEngine. E.g.: map your "StockNL" attribute to the stock location Het warenhuis. For details on the multiple stock locations feature, check out ChannelEngine: advanced order management [add-on].
   • If you have only one stock location, simply map the attribute that contains your stock levels to Default warehouse. 

Custom fields

Use custom fields for attributes that are not available as standard ChannelEngine fields. For guidance, check out ChannelEngine: custom fields. Then, map your own attributes, such as "Package height" or "Collection" to your custom fields on ChannelEngine.

To map your custom attributes to custom fields:

1. From the left-side menu, click Custom fields.
2. The custom fields that are created on ChannelEngine appear in the center column.
3. Next to each custom field, select your custom attribute from the Products section in the dropdown.
4. Click Save.

Not mapped fields

There are two options for not mapping an attribute in a feed:

• Not mapped - clear value - useful when the attribute should have a different fixed value per channel. The fixed value can be mapped on each marketplace's Mappings page on ChannelEngine.
• Not mapped - keep value - useful when another product feed already maps this attribute.

In most situations, it is advised to use Not mapped - keep value as a value. Using Not mapped - clear value triggers data removal, which can lead to undesired results if the attribute is not mapped in another product feed.

Advanced rules

To adjust any attribute value before it is saved on ChannelEngine, you can apply advanced rules for product feeds.

An advanced rule is a configurable rule that modifies an attribute’s value based on a condition you set. E.g.: whenever a product’s name contains 'Nitro', use an advanced rule to map its value to 'Nitro Smartphone Ultra'. 

Or if your feed contains empty price values, use an advanced rule to prevent mapping errors to the ChannelEngine Price field, using the below example.

To learn how to set up advanced rules, check out the article ChannelEngine: advanced rules for product feeds.

Upload a one-time feed

The second file you upload is used for the actual product import. Make sure that this file uses the template that you uploaded before, including the file format, delimiter, and product attributes.

To upload a feed to ChannelEngine:

1. In the Upload product feed file section, select a file or drag and drop it. 
    

   

2. The second upload (as well subsequent ones) serves as the actual upload of products.
3. The format and delimiter are preselected and must correspond to the template uploaded before.
4. Click Process feed.

Once the file is processed, the included products become available on your connected channels. The status of the feed now changes from New to Success or Partial success/Fail, depending on how the feed processing went.

Importantly, you do not have to repeat configuring settings or mappings. Those are already in place.

Edit the feed

Remap your attributes from the feed at any time by clicking the edit icon next to the feed after it is created. 

If any of the values in the feed changes, you can manually update the file and upload it again as many times as needed using the same steps as in Upload a one-time feed.

After uploading the feed

After your product feed is uploaded, you are ready to start using your products on any of your connected channels. 

Additionally, continue to manage your data with the help of validation reports and continuous editing. To get you started on your next steps, check out:

• ChannelEngine: add a channel
• ChannelEngine: product selection
• ChannelEngine: content mappings
• ChannelEngine: custom feed builder [add-on]

FAQs

Can I update my feed file and upload it again?
Yes. Once you have set up a template and saved the mapping, you can upload additional files – either the same file or a different one – as long as they follow the same template (the same file format, delimiter, and product attributes). Each upload creates new products or updates existing ones based on the Merchant product number.

Can I use the same products across multiple one-time feeds?
Yes, but note that the last uploaded file overwrites previous values for that product. To avoid unintended data loss, use unique attributes per feed – apart from the Merchant product number, which is required across all feeds to identify products.

Can I use the same products across one-time feeds and scheduled feeds?
Yes. Both feed types can update the same products as long as they share the same Merchant product number. However, if both feeds map the same field, the scheduled feed will overwrite the one-time feed's values on its next run. To prevent this, keep the attributes managed by each feed separate. E.g.: use the one-time feed only for attributes that your scheduled feed does not cover.