Product feeds from PrestaShop for Google Merchant Center

Learn how to create your product feed from PrestaShop for Google Merchant Center (GMCNext) [without errors or blocks]. If you are on PrestaShop and want to appear on Google Shopping or launch Performance Max campaigns, it all starts with the feed.

The feed is your digital passport. It’s what Google reads to know what you sell, at what price, with which photo, in which countries, and whether it’s in stock.

What if you do it wrong?

Your products won’t show up. Google won’t tell you why. And you’ll be competing with a ghost catalog.

The solution? Create a clean, structured, and automated feed directly from PrestaShop. And that is exactly what I will teach you in this guide.

What is a product feed and why do you need one?

A feed is a file (usually in XML format) that contains all the information Google needs to display your products on its platforms:

• Google Shopping
• Free product listings
• Google Ads campaigns (Performance Max, standard Shopping)
• Local inventory ads (if you have a physical store)

It is the bridge between your catalog and the outside world.

What does a good PrestaShop product feed for GMCNext need?

• Correct format: XML, CSV, TSV (Ideally: structured XML).
• Mandatory attributes: ID, title, description, price, stock, URL, image, GTIN or MPN, brand, Google category.
• Recommended attributes: condition, custom labels, shipping conditions, color, size, etc.
• Update frequency: Daily minimum. If you sell a lot, every hour.
• Segmentation: By country, language, and channel if you sell in multiple zones.

Step 1: Choose the right module

For PrestaShop, there are three main options:

• Official Google module (free): Limited. Not suitable for large catalogs. Only useful if you have <500 products and sell in a single country.
• Intermediate module (ShoppingFeeder, Common-Services, etc.): Allows feed customization. Multi-country, multi-language, labels, rules, etc.
• Advanced custom solution: If you have more than 10,000 products or a connected PIM, this is the best option. Scalable, API-connectable, and with per-channel adapters.

Step 2: Generate your feed

From the module, generate the feed URL. Ensure you configure:

• Correct currency (EUR, USD, etc.).
• Language corresponding to the destination country.
• URLs that lead to the correct pages (by language and country).
• Optimized main image (no logos, no watermarks).
• Updated stock and price.
• Clean description (no HTML, no duplicate content).

The resulting feed should have a structure like this:

<item>
  <g:id>123456</g:id>
  <g:title>Professional ergonomic chair</g:title>
  <g:description>Office chair with lumbar support, ideal for long workdays.</g:description>
  <g:link>https://tutienda.com/en/ergonomic-chair</g:link>
  <g:image_link>https://tutienda.com/img/silla.jpg</g:image_link>
  <g:price>159.99 EUR</g:price>
  <g:availability>in stock</g:availability>
  <g:brand>DeskandSit</g:brand>
  <g:mpn>DS00145</g:mpn>
  <g:google_product_category>Furniture > Office Furniture > Office Chairs</g:google_product_category>
</item>

Step 3: Schedule automatic updates

In Merchant Center, when uploading the feed, choose:

• Feed type: scheduled.
• Frequency: daily (minimum).
• Time: early morning (to avoid traffic spikes).

This ensures that every change in PrestaShop is reflected in Google without manual intervention.

Common errors to avoid:

• Uploading a manual feed (obsolete within a few hours).
• Not including GTIN or MPN (products rejected).
• Using descriptions with HTML or generic text.
• Not adapting the language of the title and description.
• Leaving URLs with strange parameters or tracking (Google penalizes them).
• Not including Google product category (you will lose relevance).

What if you have thousands of products or sell in several countries?

That is where PrestaShop can fall short if you don’t have a robust module.

At Avafa Consulting, we structure feed architectures for large eCommerce businesses with multilingual and multi-platform needs. We connect feeds with PIMs, automatically adapt descriptions, and optimize for high-performance campaigns. A well-built feed will save you hours of operational headaches, avoid rejections, and ensure your products are always visible and optimized. Technology should work to facilitate your sales, not become an obstacle in the process.

FAQs about product feeds

Can I use the same feed for all countries?

We don’t recommend it. Each country should have its own feed with adapted language, pricing, currency, and terms and conditions.

How often should a feed be updated?

At least once a day. If you have a high volume of sales or dynamic stock, update it every hour.

What if I don’t have GTIN or MPN?

Google may accept brand and category information, but it is much stricter without identifiers. Some products simply won’t appear.

Can I add custom labels to the feed?

Yes. You can use fields like custom_label_0 to custom_label_4 to segment products by campaigns, margins, or seasons.